Once Upon a Story with Amanda Leigh

A wrap up of all of the books that I read in June and July. Including a Manga Horror trilogy, a Marvel comic collection (Hawkeye), a poetry collection, and a SciFi/Super Hero novel (or anti-hero novel, really.) How was your June and July reading?

Join us for another group episode!! Rebekah Palmer, Jessica VanderWerff, and I come together to talk about all things poetry. Our process when writing poetry, our favorite poets, titling our poetry collections, and the big question: what is our first love? Fiction or poetry?... Plus MORE!!

Welcome back to out National Poetry Month series!! Today on the podcast my good friend Jessica VanderWerff is on the podcast again, to read us some more of her poetry, And this time she's reading us BRAND NEW poems for us!!

Also mentioned in this podcast: Charles Xavier, Vision, Erik Lehnsherr (probably lol), and I know a few other Marvel things are mentioned hahaha. Enjoy!!

My good friend, Rebekah Palmer, hoins us to read her poetry from the anthology Strength: Lives Touched by Cystinosis, as well as a short story from our short fiction blog, The Cat Chat Writers. We hope you enjoy this episode, and Happy National Poetry Month!!

Ania and I connected through Instagram. Ania is the co-founder of Quill and Cup, a women-led writing community that I am now a part of. I knew I had to interview her for my podcast. In this interview we talk about Quill and Cup (of course), killing your writer's ego (a big thing in Quill and Cup), and much more!! Enjoy, and please leave a review or share if you enjoy this content. :) 

I decided to record a quick episode explaining why I changed the name of this podcast. I am getting back into the swing of recording and uploading episodes, so I hope you can be patient with me as I do. :) In short, I changed the name because I felt the need to talk about more things. You can hear a longer explanation in this episode. I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think on social media. Or leave a review if you enjoyed, please. It would mean so much. 

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So, July Camp NaNoWriMo did go AT ALL as I planned, but I am very okay with that. Also, I'm taking a little break from the podcast. Or rather, from posting new episodes. You can hear all about it in this episode. :) And the podcast is not going away, it will be back very soon. 

I had a blast talking to Karen on this interview!! We talked about so much stuff; writing, editing, self publishing, Fantasy, Paranormal, outlining, marketing, struggles as an author, music, shows, movies, and more!! I honestly can't even remember it all. What I do remember is having a blast doing it, AND Karen also gave some of the most tangible advice on the podcast for anyone wishing to go down the self-publishing/indie route. Lots of good advice and gems in here you DO NOT want to miss!! It's a long episode, but a great one!! It's impossible to pick favorites out of my interviews, but this one is up there for sure.

July camp NaNoWriMo has officially begun!! I wanted to do a bonus episode to talk about my Camp NaNoWriMo plans. Let me know what your plans are. You can message me on my Facebook page, Instagram or e-mail me. :) Good luck and happy writing!!

Today marks ONE YEAR since I started this podcast!! I can't believe it's already been a year. So I jumped on to record a podcast, and I honestly was not sure what I was going to talk about, I just dove in and went. I ended up talking about what I want this podcast to be going forward, reflecting on my favorite episodes, and talking about other episodes I would like to do!!

Favorite Episodes:

Join us today for a virtual poetry reading. My good friend, Jessica VanderWerff, shares one poem from each of her collections and ,lets us in on the inspiration behind them all. We also talk about the writing process, the stigma on mental health, stereotypes, and more. As always, we have a great time, and this is a great poetry reading and chat. Check it out!!

Jessica's Links:

Like A Child: https://www.amazon.com/Like-Child-Collection-Original-Poetry-ebook/dp/B01DQ6UF0O/

With Hopeful Eyes: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073QJDTDF/

Beneath the Willow: https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Willow-Collection-Poetry-Prose-ebook/dp/B07WKKNZSZ/

Like A Child Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LikeAChildJV

With Hopeful Eyes Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WithHopefulEyesBook

Episode with Jessica VanderWerff and Rebekah Palmer: https://bit.ly/3vZWzwG

Start my Beauty of the Dark Series today!

Hello again!! I'm back for the last week of National Poetry Month!! I've compiled all of the videos of me reading poetry for the week from my Instagram and YouTube into a podcast episode. Tune in and enjoy some new to you poets!! In celebration of National Poetry Month, I decided to do a daily series on my IGTV and my YouTube!! Reading a poem a day. I compiled them all from the first eleven days here for you, if you want to listen instead of watch. I hope you enjoy!! Let me know below how you are celebrating National Poetry Month!!

Check Out the Series on My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaleighya/channel/ AND on my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU1Eg3lXTLe55rB2py8IEwpBQIyJ0LPZ-

Check Out Jessica's Books Here: https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-VanderWerff/e/B01D94M2RW

Check out Rebekah's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Map-My-Heart-Portrait-Behind-ebook/dp/B07Y3XHDBH/

Check Out My Books Here: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Leigh/e/B00G7466GK

Start my Beauty of the Dark Series today!

Hello again!! I'm back for week three of National Poetry Month!! I've compiled all of the videos of me reading poetry for the week from my Instagram and YouTube into a podcast episode. Tune in and enjoy some new to you poets!! In celebration of National Poetry Month, I decided to do a daily series on my IGTV and my YouTube!! Reading a poem a day. I compiled them all from the first eleven days here for you, if you want to listen instead of watch. I hope you enjoy!! Let me know below how you are celebrating National Poetry Month!!

Check Out the Series on My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaleighya/channel/ AND on my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU1Eg3lXTLe55rB2py8IEwpBQIyJ0LPZ-

Check Out Jessica's Books Here: https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-VanderWerff/e/B01D94M2RW

Check out Rebekah's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Map-My-Heart-Portrait-Behind-ebook/dp/B07Y3XHDBH/

Check Out My Books Here: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Leigh/e/B00G7466GK

Start my Beauty of the Dark Series today!

Hello again!! I'm back for week two of National Poetry Month!! I've compiled all of the videos of me reading poetry for the week from my Instagram and YouTube into a podcast episode. Tune in and enjoy some new to you poets!! In celebration of National Poetry Month, I decided to do a daily series on my IGTV and my YouTube!! Reading a poem a day. I compiled them all from the first eleven days here for you, if you want to listen instead of watch. I hope you enjoy!! Let me know below how you are celebrating National Poetry Month!!

Check Out the Series on My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaleighya/channel/ AND on my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU1Eg3lXTLe55rB2py8IEwpBQIyJ0LPZ-

Check Out Jessica's Books Here: https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-VanderWerff/e/B01D94M2RW

Check out Rebekah's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Map-My-Heart-Portrait-Behind-ebook/dp/B07Y3XHDBH/

Check Out My Books Here: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Leigh/e/B00G7466GK

Start my Beauty of the Dark Series today!

In celebration of National Poetry Month, I decided to do a daily series on my IGTV and my YouTube!! Reading a poem a day. I compiled them all from the first eleven days here for you, if you want to listen instead of watch. From here on out, for the rest of the month, I will be posting these podcast episodes for the previous week. I hope you enjoy!! Let me know below how you are celebrating National Poetry Month!!

Check Out the Series on My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaleighya/channel/ AND on my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU1Eg3lXTLe55rB2py8IEwpBQIyJ0LPZ-

Check Out Jessica's Books Here: https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-VanderWerff/e/B01D94M2RW 

Check Out My Books Here: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Leigh/e/B00G7466GK

Start my Beauty of the Dark Series today!

Check out this interview with a friend of mine, Christina Herrara!! She recently published her third book, Kissing the Skater Boy. We talk about everything from favorite books, our writing process, to audiobooks to Stephenie Meyer and Twilight!! Grab a cozy beverage and join us for our chat!! 

I thought it would be fun to do a monthly goal update, so this is my first one. Updating you all on how my goals are going so far, and how they ave gone for the months of January and February. Some are on track, some...not so much, Send me a message on Instagram if you want to let me know how you're doing. I'd love to hear from and support you if I can. 

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Begin Again, and Forbidden, my last two books, have ticked off a few people. Initially, this is rather hard to take in. In today's episode, I talk about why this isn't necessarily a bad thing. And why, it might even be...a good thing. 

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This is a super exciting episode for me!! K. Webster is one of my favorite authors, and an amazingly prolific fellow indie author. We chat about everything from writing, chatty characters, our scatterbrained author's brains, our love for Dark Romances, taboo subjects, favorite movies (including Crimson Peak), and so much more!! If you're a fan of K. Webster, want more insight into a writer's process, or want some great tips for getting in your writing time, then this episode is a MUST LISTEN!! 

K. Webster's Website: https://www.authorkwebster.com/ 

Instagram: @authorkwebster 

Newsletter: https://www.authorkwebster.com/newsletter/ 

K. Webster on Eden Books: https://edenbooks.org/vendors/k-webster/ 

Start my Beauty of the Dark Series today!

Season two premiere!!

I am SO EXCITED about this season premiere!! I have two of my closest friends, and fellow authors, on the podcast with me today. We just jump i and talk about so many topics. Bad Reviews, our writing process, fairytales, Ableism, invisible illness, writing a series, and so much more!! So much I can't even remember it all. But there is some good stuff in here. You have GOT to give this one a listen. It's a long one, so grab a cup of tea, sit back, and listen to all the wisdom and the fun in this one!!

Jessica's Links:

Like A Child: https://www.amazon.com/Like-Child-Collection-Original-Poetry-ebook/dp/B01DQ6UF0O/ 

With Hopeful Eyes: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073QJDTDF/ 

Beneath the Willow: https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Willow-Collection-Poetry-Prose-ebook/dp/B07WKKNZSZ/ 

Like A Child Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LikeAChildJV

With Hopeful Eyes Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WithHopefulEyesBook 

Rebekah's Links:

A Letter to My Friend: https://www.amazon.com/Letter-Friend-Sharing-Learned-Teenager-ebook/dp/B00DYBS3EW/

A Letter to Myself: https://www.amazon.com/Letter-Myself-Speaking-After-Silence-ebook/dp/B01HDOTE5M/

Map of My Heart:https://www.amazon.com/Map-My-Heart-Portrait-Behind-ebook/dp/B07Y3XHDBH/

Instagram: @jupiterreba @cystinosisociety

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomanofJairus

Website/Blog: https://cystinosisociety.wordpress.com/ 

Start my Beauty of the Dark Series today!

A little bonus episode to wrap up how NaNoWriMo 2020 went for me. ... It did not go as planned or hoped....

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Join me today for a very special episode!! I have debut author, Dana Muwwakkil, on the podcast today for an interview!! Dana and I have known each other for seventeen years. Join us in this interview to get vulnerable about our mental health and mental illness struggles, hear us go on a tangent about horror movies, talk about our favorite books, the self publishing process, and MORE!! 

Check out Dana on her website, Instagram, and buy her book!!

The Anxiety Diaries: https://amzn.to/33VIllh

Dana's Website: https://www.theanxietydiaries.com/

Follow Dana on Instagram: @doesanyonewritelettersanymore

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Today I have the amazing Magic Kathi on the podcast!! Kathi and I "met" online about a year ago, and it has been quite a year, hasn't it?? One of the loves we both share is journaling, so when I decided I wanted to do more episodes on journaling in preparation for my upcoming Journal Challenge, I knew I had to get Kathi on the podcast to talk all about journaling together!! If you've been thinking about starting, feel intimidated, or want to start again, this episode will really help you.

Find Kathi On Instagram for Weekly Astrology Forecasts, and much more!! >> https://www.instagram.com/magic_kathi_official/ 

Listen to Kathi's Podcast, The Magic Kathi Show!! >>  https://anchor.fm/magic-kathi-show

Start my Beauty of the Dark Series today!

Join me in this episode for an interview with Aimee Shaye!! The first interview that I recorded for my podcast. Aimee and I have known each other since 2014 and we had a TON OF FUN doing this interview. We talk about everything from writing, editing, Supernatural, Leonardo DiCaprio, our favorite books, our favorite characters from our books, and lots more in between. 

Want to get some insight into a writer's mind? Then definitely check out this podcast!!