Amelia J. Byrnes

Okay, I’m not one for new years resolutions. I used to make general assertions that I was going to be happier, and then when another year passed and I would realize that I’d forgotten to be happier and then get depressed. What vicious cycle. But this year, I thought I’d give myself a little goal. … Continue reading »

Random House and the folks at Schwartz & Wade have once again emerged as the light in my life. Left without water and electricity in the East Village, I thought I would be cooped up in my sister’s apartment in the Upper West Side, but the Random House building is open and ready for business…mostly. … Continue reading »

Moving to New York City didn’t go as smoothly as I’d hoped. I thought since I was moving into another dorm, it wouldn’t be a bit deal. I’d lived in a dorm in the city during the summer for NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute. And that was really great. I couldn’t have asked for a better … Continue reading »

Not too long ago–although my sense of time has been failing me lately–I wrote about a bookstore in Chelsea called Books of Wonder. What makes this place so amazing is that it is a bookstore just for children’s books. In the many times I’ve visited the store since the the last time I wrote about … Continue reading »

Do you ever have those moments where you feel like you have so much you want to tell someone and then when you finally have the chance, it all comes out in a mess of awkward sentences and switches back and forth from one subject to the next and then back again?  That’s me right … Continue reading »

At New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute, we get to see so many amazing people and hear about their brilliant, envy-worthy careers.  So far, however, I have to say that the best experiences in the program have taken place outside of the Woolworth building.  To have the chance to see so many different places, all … Continue reading »

When I signed up for the tour to HGTV Magazine, I wasn’t incredibly excited about it. I knew it would be interesting, but in my mind, I could only think about how we would be taking a different route than the one we take to the Woolworth building each morning. Over the past three weeks, … Continue reading »

Last Thursday, Book Expo America 2012 wrapped up, leaving a gaping hole in the hearts of those of us who attended for the very first time. I was lucky enough to get to the Javits Center Thursday morning–after wrestling with the bus schedule–with a Power Reader badge around my neck and what normally would have … Continue reading »

When I was in kindergarten, my mom gave me a bowl cut—yes, I still hold this against her. A rulebook should be given to each parent concerning their children’s hair and fashion, and the first rule should be never to cut your daughter’s hair shorter than her ears unless she requests it. I suggest this … Continue reading »

Am I the only one who gets overwhelmed when looking as the massiveness that is the writing and publishing business?  We’re all looking to find the secret to being successful writers, and there are about a million agents and editors and publishers all telling us something different—though that isn’t to say any of them are … Continue reading »

The other day Steve shows up to spend his weekly father-daughter quality time with Lily.  When after an hour or two he retreats from her bedroom, he dawdles in the kitchen, pitching useless conversations to Mom and me. “When are Molly and Caitlin coming home?” It’s normal for him to inquire about my two absent … Continue reading »

                   Okay, I have to admit something right off the bat.  I’m only just getting into The Hunger Games.  On the very day the film was released, I bought the first book.  I read it in about ten hours.  Now I’m reading the second book.  I really … Continue reading »

It’s International Women’s Day today!  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in celebration of such an auspicious day.  I thought maybe I would contemplate where women are now, how far we’ve come.  Or maybe I would argue the implication that there is a day dedicated to us.  Why should we need a day?  … Continue reading »

I was apparently the world’s worst baby.  My mother often referred to me as the “poster child for birth control.”  All day, I would just cry uncontrollably, for I was what they called a colicky baby.  There was no discernable reason for my crying, at least not to the people trying to get me to … Continue reading »