by Amy Paturel | Apr 12, 2024 | Uncategorized
Artist in Residence: Bob Eckstein A highlight of the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop, Eckstein captured the essence of Erma in real time with his incredible illustrations. I’m ashamed to admit that I wasn’t familiar with Erma Bombeck, or her columns and books,...
by Amy Paturel | Feb 14, 2024 | Uncategorized
Unsplash: Jon Tyson If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you know I’ve been an avid reader of The New York Times “Modern Love” column since its debut in 2004. I frequently share Modern Love essays in my classes and in 2020, I interviewed five authors...
by Amy Paturel | Jan 14, 2024 | Uncategorized
It isn’t often that you get to meet a writer whose work you have read, admired—and yes, quoted—for more than a decade. For me, that writer is Dani Shapiro. When her book, Still Writing, came out in 2013, I consumed it in one sitting. Her candor, her confessions, her...
by Amy Paturel | Dec 9, 2023 | Uncategorized
Ever since I “met” Nikki Campo, and scored a spot on her annual holiday letter mailing list, I have anxiously awaited its arrival every December. The reason: Even if I have a bout of the holiday blues, her letter puts me in stitches. Every. Single. Year....
by Amy Paturel | Oct 6, 2023 | Uncategorized
For more than a decade, I have been toying with the idea of writing a book around my supernatural connection to my husband’s late wife. I just couldn’t figure out which genre made sense. A novel? A memoir? A science fiction thriller? None of these approaches...
by Amy Paturel | Aug 18, 2023 | Uncategorized
If you’ve been a subscriber to this newsletter for a while, you may recall that I launched a Tiny Love Story (TLS) challenge in 2021 using Facebook Groups—and at least five of our 20 participants placed their stories (not bad odds!). Let me pause here to explain what...
by Amy Paturel | Jul 11, 2023 | Uncategorized
If you write personal essays, you’ve probably wrestled with whether the territory you’re covering is too personal, or equally confounding, whether it will upset friends, family, or even strangers on the Internet. Admittedly, I worry about how people will react to my...
by Amy Paturel | May 23, 2023 | Uncategorized
Judy Blume’s timeless classic, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, hit theaters at the end of April. I had the pleasure of interviewing Kelly Fremon Craig, the screenwriter/director of the film for LitHub. Kelly is a master of the craft and Blume isn’t the...
by Amy Paturel | Apr 1, 2023 | Uncategorized
Sometimes publication day is rough. Sometimes it makes you want to hide in a closet. And sometimes, the commenters swallow you whole and spit you out. That’s what happened to me last week when my Washington Post storyabout my sons’ potty mouths dropped. As many of you...
by Amy Paturel | Apr 1, 2023 | Uncategorized
I intended to get this newsletter out before Valentine’s Day, hence the title. But alas, I was wrapped up in the love of sourdough (thanks to you, Nikki Campo!) and lost all track of time, work, and myriad life pursuits. Better late than never, right? I suppose it’s...
