An Encouragement Roundup: Writing, Reality, and Wartime Heroes

June 2, 2016.Reading time 4 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep I read. A lot. About writing, art, marketing, business, religion, and homesteading. That’s in between the novels. I do this primarily to learn. But I also do it to encourage myself, which is something I’ve needed more lately. Writing as an intentional practice has been arduous. As an emotional and spiritual […]

Sticky Notes from the Universe You May Have Missed

February 2, 2016.Reading time 7 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep There were sticky notes everywhere. Just to make absolutely sure that the high school and college graduation party for my kids went off without a hitch, my mother had strategically placed important messages throughout the house. “pans for grilled food only” (read: don’t use these pans for E-coli-ridden raw meat holders […]

What it’s really like to quit your day job and freelance write

November 12, 2015.Reading time 8 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep I spent the first-month anniversary of my full-time freelance writing business on top of a mountain. OK, it’s not Mount Everest. But the symbolism in the act of driving down the winding Blue Ridge Parkway, seeing the seasons change before our eyes in the veins of a trillion leaves, and climbing a slippery slope to […]