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...
by Amy Paturel | Jan 10, 2023 | Uncategorized
So much of our lives, and our writing, focuses on fear, grief, and loss. The essay examples I most frequently share center around pain of some sort, and most of my students show up to class intending to write about past trauma. And for good reason. Growth often...
by Amy Paturel | Jan 10, 2023 | Uncategorized
Trigger Warning: This Q&A contains content about cancer in children. The first time I read a piece by Amy McHugh, her writing hit me like a truck. She was willing to go deep into a topic that no one wants to discuss: kids and cancer. Every parent’s worst...
