About Amanda

I moved to New York City in 2007 after having lived here and there on a continent or three, hoping that my experiences as a missionary in Botswana and an ethnographer in Turkey (not to pretentiously mention my master's degrees) might land me an interesting New-York-style job. It turned out that New York didn't care much for my overseas experience or my academic prowess, and by mid-2008 I hadn't yet been able to escape the cold glow of fluorescent lights, uncomfortable shoes, or thirty-minute lunch breaks that make up the life of a temp. Believing firmly that if I had to spend one more minute in an office I would turn into a lemon-scented gelatinous mass of despair, I decided to finally follow the advice of many, many friends and classmates who for years had wondered aloud in my direction why I wasn't writing for a living.

So I hatched a plan. A grand scheme to get out of the office and become a writer--a world-renowned travel writer. I would be a humorous social historian, revealing the ways of the wider world to the mildly scrutinizing gaze of America's armchair travelers. I would be the female Paul Theroux (without all the middle aged angst). I would be the J.K. Rowling of non-fiction. I would conquer the writing world with my wit and wisdom, with my eye for detail and my winning style. I would become....an author.

Two and a half years have passed since I finished my first great work: a travel memoir chronicling my time among the orphans of Uganda. A year has passed since I finished my first great novel. And still, despite all my efforts--my letter writing campaign, my schmoozing with New York's literary big-wigs, my desperate prayers--the steel plated armor of the publishing world still remains maddeningly chink-less.

In recent months, I have had to ask myself a very serious question. Why do I write? Do I write to make money, to earn a living, and possibly achieve a sense of accomplishment or validation?

Or do I write because I love it? Because I know that what I write will help others? Will add to the good things in the world and perhaps change someone's life for the better?

This blog is the answer. I love The Rookery. I am very proud of it. And whether or not I ever make a dime as its author, I want you to enjoy it. Please comment as much as you'd like, and share it with all your friends.

Here's to you...the reader. Thank you for giving me a reason to write!