Courageous Wordsmith

From Amy: From the beginning, my podcast has done whatever it wanted. It is, at best, loosely scripted. As in: There's no application process. You cannot pitch yourself. I will say no thank you. This is the ONLY way it works: Someone says something that sparks my attention and I reach out to invite them. Most of the time they say yes, and if a conversation never comes to pass, then it isn't meant...

From Amy: My friend Jillian Rae has done this thing twice while we've posed for a photo, once at her album launch, once at my book launch: Jillian points to me and makes a face as if she can't believe her luck to have encountered me personally. And yet, Jillian is a bonafide rockstar . I use that term rockstar broadly, because Jillian refuses to fit into a clear genre. She plays at venues all over...

From Amy: You likely know that Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota two Wednesdays ago. ICE is occupying our state because the Supreme Court said that they could. Specifically, Brett Kavanaugh—who gave me flashbacks to a Third Reich judge* in his confirmation hearings—wrote in September that speaking Spanish was probable cause for detention. *Google the White Rose...

From Amy: I have so much to say about the richness and challenge of my journey through the life coach world, and someday soon I'll be ready to write about that. But if there's anything I would tell my former self, as she moved through that process, it's this: You aren't doing this wrong, and you don't have to justify this training (at an advanced level, no less) by becoming a FULL-BLOWN LIFE COACH...

From Amy: At the heart of my work, I draw connections with and for real-life creatives, often from my lived experience of making those kinds of connections in my own work. Not only would a younger Amy have cringed to see me publish the writing I do, but also at the way I reach out to people and say, "Hey, I have a feeling we could work together," or more simply, "Something you shared resonated wit...

From Amy: Anyone who has been in my world even briefly knows that my work is about books... and yes, I do love a well-written book... and my work is about supporting real-life authors and working creatives... and / but / also there's this affective healing side I'm always paying attention to. This understanding leads people I know to make introductions of people they think I should meet. Kris Jenn...

From Amy: Ten years ago this month, I started my 21st year of teaching with painful confirmations that my career was on its last legs: betrayal by people in power and a frozen right shoulder (my dominant side) that made it hard to write on the board. I didn’t know how or when I would make the leap to the life of a working creative. But I knew I had run out of options in my longtime school district...

From Amy: The big ideas that get us all talking didn't come from nowhere. Someone started talking about them, and somewhere along the way, they got traction. Somebody or something amplified them and they resonated. And that's the big idea behind a TedX talk. It's also the idea behind the partnerships I've been nurturing ever since I decided that I was going to commit my life going forward to being...

From Amy: I am not a fangirl. I'm not that person who waits at the stage door to talk with famous people after a concert or someone who would approach a famous person at a restaurant to ask for an autograph. I'd rather go home and sleep than attend a loud afterparty where I have to engage in group small talk. Better still, I love to connect one on one, in a quieter setting, uninterrupted, around t...

From Amy: Timing for creative work is interesting. Sometimes you start a project that, for whatever reason, doesn't want to come together right then. Later the perfect timing arises, and you understand that this project was preparing itself to meet the moment. I recorded this conversation with Sigrid K. Nielsen two years ago; then my podcast went on a forced hiatus. (As in, my editor quit to be a...

From Amy: Cara Pacific Campbell was the first person who took me up on my offer of a 1:1 Book Writing Mentorship and put her trust in me. I was grateful that someone so vibrant felt drawn to working with me, but looking back, it makes perfect sense. When we are paying attention, we're drawn to our people. Cara and I are both high-performing women who worked way too hard and paid a steep price with...

From Amy: When Keri and I recorded this episode in late 2022, I was still editing my second memoir for publication and she was drafting a book that's also now nearing publication. The podcast never got produced at that time, but I happened onto the recording this past winter and it caught my attention. Keri and I are still writing today. I'm starting new books and she's preparing to deliver a TED-...

From Amy: I am so ridiculously proud of my latest podcast episode with Corinne Bauer of Tiny Art Maui. And I really hope you will listen to it. Everything about this conversation and how it came to be is unexpected. I met Corinne at an art show in a Hawaiian hotel lobby. But when I talk about Shiny Objects and allowing myself to play freely in their presence, this is what I’m talking about. On the...

From Amy: I always knew that I loved writing. But I'm not sure I understood—until I went through a major transition, and not by my own choice—that writing is healing. At first it's writing just for me, raw and unwieldy and terrifying, but I always have the sense that this writing is something that, when I'm ready, is meant to be shared. Because stories tell us we're not alone. And they help people...

From Amy: As long as I've known Sara Taylor, I've thought of her as a gifted writer who—when she gained momentum—would write volumes I want to read. Which is how she was an early participant in what has become my Circle for Real-Life Writers; I've been an up-close witness. Sara's subject matter and how she frames it fascinates me. If I'm interested in the inner working of stories around generation...

From Amy: My junior year in high school, we read Thornton Wilder's play Our Town in English class. My senior year, that same English teacher, Carol Ottoson, directed the play and cast me as the Stage Manager. That role, which spends so much time reflecting on details in life and their meaning, had a huge influence on how I see the world, and I'm certain that's rubbed off on me as a writer of creat...

It's a new season for Courageous Wordsmith. My first two books are launched and I'm focused on helping Real-Life Writers find their voices. Here’s what has my attention, and why. Amy Hallberg is the author of Tiny Altars: A Midlife Revival and German Awakening: Tales from an American Life. She is the host of Courageous Wordsmith Podcast and founder of Courageous Wordsmith Circle for Real-Life Writ...

From Amy: This year, more than ever, I wanted to honor Black History Month, at a time when attempts have been made to erase it. I invited my friend Terry Newby to help me do that. As a white woman in America, I loved literature, but I did not grow up reading many marginalized voices. While I knew the name James Baldwin, I couldn't have told you what he stood for. And now? I know him as a Black man...

From Amy: Welcome to my 100th Episode! Thank you for celebrating with me. When I launched this podcast as Frau Amy's World on January 1, 2019, Sarah Bamford Seidelmann was my very first guest. As the original name suggests, I was still transitioning out of my teaching career, through the life coach world, into this literary life as a writer and editor of my own unfolding design. My first true-life...

From Amy: This episode, in which my dear colleague and peer Orla Collins interviewed me in 2023, introduces my 52-card Tiny Altars oracle deck. My books are available through distributors other than me, and I haven't been interested in opening a storefront to sell these decks. I already tried that with my first book and my first products, and I could do that again, but it's not where I want to put...

From Amy: When Cara Pacific Campbell first inquired about working with me as a 1:1 Book Writing Mentor, she was reluctant, but not because she was my first book writing client per se. She was reluctant because she'd never written a book, especially about such tender topics, but she was determined to write her book because it wouldn't leave her alone. As in, she was still living the experience she...

Bridgette Boudreau is a Master-Certified Coach and Advisor for business owners. Bridgette's coaching philosophy is rooted in compassion and finding one's intrinsic motivation versus pushing or hustling. She acts as a strategic thought partner, providing a confidential and supportive environment for her clients to grow their businesses and themselves. With over 15 years of coaching experience, she...

From Amy: I met Nicole Diaz in the life-coaching world around the time that I was first envisioning my online community for real-life writers. She demonstrated a brilliant understanding of the creative process, and I had this idea of hosting Idea Parties as the centerpiece of my work with writing groups, with Parker Palmer's work as my model. Nicole was a Parker Palmer fan too. So for a few years,...

From Amy: I met Nicole Diaz in the life-coaching world around the time that I was first envisioning my online community for real-life writers. She demonstrated a brilliant understanding of the creative process, and I had this idea of hosting Idea Parties as the centerpiece of my work with writing groups, with Parker Palmer's work as my model. Nicole was a Parker Palmer fan too. So for a few years,...

From Amy: I met Nicole Diaz in the life-coaching world around the time that I was first envisioning my online community for real-life writers. She demonstrated a brilliant understanding of the creative process, and I had this idea of hosting Idea Parties as the centerpiece of my work with writing groups, with Parker Palmer's work as my model. Nicole was a Parker Palmer fan too. So for a few years,...