Amelia Martens, Author
1. If money were no object, how would you spend your time?
I would read! I also love cooking, traveling, gardening, and learning. I love teaching and helping people access the power of language. I'd want to spend time learning more about art and music. For an example day, I'd do yoga near the ocean, go to a local bookstore, play with my daughters in the garden, cook dinner mostly from ingredients in our yard, read and write a bit with a smooth, old bourbon on the porch and watch the sun go down. Probably I'd spend other days working on problems related to literacy education and social justice.
2. What book impacted your life the most and how?
The summer before ninth grade, for Honors English, we were assigned to read several books, including Sula by Toni Morrison. The way Morrison uses language in this book (and in all her works) connects to something deep in my experience of being human. Before reading Morrison, I didn't know words could be like paint or music notes. I didn't know a writer could have a voice or make a world that would become part of the reader forever.
3. Tell us something about you that would surprise most of the people who think they know you.
I used to work on movie sets as a greensman and set dresser, and have awesome truck loading skills, in addition to being able to drive a scissor lift and a condor.