Sarah Schulman:

It is undeniable that people only scapegoat the powerless.  Those with power would never be falsely blamed; there would be consequences.

Ties That Bind, p. 12

Silas House:

The people on my route gave me stories -- sometimes by not even saying a word, but just going about the business of living in plain view.

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 132

Hugh MacLeod:

Stories are not simply nice things to have; they are essential survival tools.

Evil Plans, p. 46

Rachel Held Evans:

...the best “apologetic” for a God of unconditional love is a person of unconditional love.

"After You Read 'Love Wins'..."

Amy releases latest poetry chapbook

Amy's fourth chapbook, Sugar and Spice and Nothing That's Nice: Where Bitter Meets Sweet, is now available for purchase.  Co-authored by Randy Foster, the collection of tea and coffee poems features the poets' love-hate relationships with the brewed beverages, dripping with both disdain and delight.  Contact Amy at hall_amy_e@hotmail to place your order.

John Shore:

Write to find out who you are, what you think, what you feel.  Trust that if you're terribly honest about articulating your personal, richest truths, then what you say will resonate with others, because at that point you'll be ringing the common bell.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

Austin Kleon:

Ask any real artist, and they’ll tell you the truth: they don’t know where the good stuff comes from. They just show up to do their thing. Every day.

"How to Steal Like an Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)"

Sarah Schulman:

Because gay people are ritually shunned in all aspects of social life, dehumanizing us through shunning appears normative and regular.

Ties That Bind, p. 10

Silas House:

The older most people get, the better they get because they start to figure out that the main thing we need to be doing is loving one another.

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 129

Hugh MacLeod:

Human beings need to tell stories.

Evil Plans, p. 46

Rachel Held Evans:

When we recognize that our theology is not the moon but rather a finger pointing at the moon, we enjoy the freedom of questioning it from time to time.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 220

Jeff Pearlman:

Come day's end, I'm tired of staring at a screen.  I do it all day, I do it through much of the night.  I want a book.

"My bookstore is on death row"

John Shore:

Write what you write for you, period.  If others like it, yay.  If not, love them, wave good-bye to them, and get back to your work.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

Austin Kleon:

An artist is a collector. Not a hoarder, mind you, there’s a difference: hoarders collect indiscriminately, the artist collects selectively. They only collect things that they really love.

"How to Steal Like an Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)"

Sarah Schulman:

Ironically, it is often not the fact that a gay person is being scapegoated that makes people angry but the assertion that the perpetrator should have to be accountable that infuriates them.

Ties That Bind, p. 10

Connie May Fowler:

I don't need riches.  All I need is time to write and a roof over my head.  I have so many more stories to tell.

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 81

Hugh MacLeod:

As long as you feel inspired your life is being well spent.

Evil Plans, p. 8

Rachel Held Evans:

I would argue that healthy doubt (questioning one's beliefs) is perhaps the best defense against unhealthy doubt (questioning God).

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 219-220

David Bayles & Ted Orland:

Put simply, your work is your guide: a complete, comprehensive, limitless reference book on your work.  There is no other such book, and it is yours alone.  It functions this way for no one else.

Art & Fear, p. 35-36

John Shore:

Don't think of yourself as a writer.  Think of yourself as an artist whose principal medium is words.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

Amy to Perform at Women's Work

Amy has been invited to present her poetry at the fifth annual Women's Work festival on Sunday, May 8th.  The arts celebration is sponsored by the Tennessee Women's Theater Project and is one of Amy's favorite performances of the year.  More details to come.

Sarah Schulman:

It's not the awful truth that upsets people, but the telling of the truth that gets construed as the problem.

Ties That Bind, p. 10

Chely Wright:

I am standing up for myself, because if I don't, I will never be whole.  That my story might help others find comfort, safety, and understanding is a beautiful by-product of truth.

Like Me, p. 264

Connie May Fowler:

Writing is not for the faint of heart or the greedy.

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 78

Hugh MacLeod:

Finding and implementing your own Evil Plan is without question one of the greatest things you can do with the brief time you're allotted on this earth.

Evil Plans, p. 7

Bertolt Brecht:

As crimes pile up, they become invisible.

David Bayles & Ted Orland:

In the end the work got done the way such things always get done -- by carving out solo time for the project and nibbling away at it one sentence at a time, one idea at a time.

Art & Fear, p. 121

Rachel Held Evans:

...doubt is the mechanism by which faith evolves.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 219

Sarah Schulman:

Unfortunately, the system is twisted so that the cruelty looks normative and regular, and the desire to address and overturn it looks strange.

Ties That Bind, p. 9

Chely Wright:

The only true choices in my story are that I chose to hide and now I'm choosing to stop lying to myself and to the rest of the world.  My plans for a normal and happy life never stood a chance when I was choosing to hide.

Like Me, p. 258

Pat Conroy:

Every day, I gorged myself on the extraordinary stories of perfect strangers.

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 64