Ladies and gentlemen, newsflash from this here rare bird who is just as comfortable living in the South as the North: Having a Southern accent does not mean you're stupid. I don't know why it's necessary for Southerners, and friends of Southerners, to have to explain this all the time, but it's very painful. I lived in South Carolina during my formative years, age six to 12, during the 1960s. I went to college and began my career as a newspaper reporter in Florida, covering alligator festivals and the like, and learning that Florida is almost as "rebby" as South Carolina. A pivotal moment for me, however, was earlier, when I was 12 and my family moved back north from South Carolina. I lost my accent (learned to hide it) by lunchtime on the first day of school. Read More
Born to Write
A Blog by Author Amy Hill Hearth
Finding a Balance with Social Media
June 22, 2013
I took a break from social media last week. There are three occasions when this seems necessary for me: When I'm writing fiction; when I'm taking a day off for no reason at all except to clear my mind (in order to write fiction); and when I'm visiting my elderly parents. I love social Read More
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The Mysteries of Book Publishing
June 5, 2013
Publishing is a business in which everything has to be explained to you, or so it seems. Even if you go to workshops or get an MFA, and have the best training in the world, you're going to make mistakes. Last month, for example, I went to a book signing for a debut novelist Read More
Florida, the Most Misunderstood State?
May 22, 2013
When most people think of Florida, what comes to mind is Disneyworld and beautiful beaches, yet that's a very narrow view of a very complex state. As a writer who lived in different parts of Florida, and whose husband grew up in the far-southwest part of the state, these misperceptions are so intriguing to Read More
"I Think You Are My Best Friend's Sister..."
May 7, 2013
Strange how a book can reunite friends from long ago. After the Columbia, SC newspaper, The State, ran a story about me, I received an email through the link on my website. "I think you are my best friend's sister," the subject line stated. The message was polite: "Please forgive my contacting you electronically. Read More