New interview with Amy Sprenger, a writer full of humor and fun stories

Amy Sprenger is back with us. You may remember her fun interview back in January with her book Baby Bumps: The Almost, Barely, Not Quite True Story of Surviving Pregnancy, Bed Rest and One Batshit Crazy Family. If not, check it out.

Today’s she’s telling us about her newest book, a memoir titled, Yes Mommy: The Mayhem and Madness of Not Saying No.

Bio:

Amy Sprenger is the author of Baby Bumps: The Almost, Barely, Not Quite True Story of Surviving Pregnancy, Bed Rest and One Batshit Crazy Family (first-place winner of the 2013 Shirley You Jest fiction contest), Over My Dead Potty, and Yes Mommy: The Mayhem and Madness of Not Saying No. Amy has three young kids and a penchant for getting herself into ridiculous situations. A former news and sports reporter, Amy lives with her husband and children in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood where she silently judges all the other parents.

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, Amy.

Thanks for having me again!

Please tell us about your newest release.

My newest book, Yes Mommy: The Mayhem and Madness of Not Saying No is a memoir about the month I decided to stop saying no to my three kids. Spoiler alert: I’m still alive, so it didn’t actually kill me. It just felt like it some days. The outcome was surprising and sometimes silly and made me take a hard look at my parenting techniques. My husband also got a surprise “yes wife” day out of the deal and booked himself three vacations during that twenty-four-hour span. That was much worse than any request the kids made.

What inspired you to write this book?

I was sick of being the mom who always yelled, who helicoptered her kids, who freaked out when her kids mixed Play-doh colors and didn’t put the puzzle together starting with the outside pieces first. So I jokingly told my husband one day that I was going to stop saying “no” and let them go all “Lord of the Flies” and the more I thought about it, the better the project sounded. It was also a fun party trick to tell other moms about my plan and watch their horrified reactions.

What’s the next writing project?

I’m about to start on a completely fresh novel that won’t feature me or my kids, but will appeal to a broader female audience. Writing fiction is actually more challenging for me than writing memoirs, even though everyone thinks it’s easier because “you can just make stuff up” so this will be a good creative exercise.

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book?

The biggest challenge for me when I write is actually sitting down and banging it out. I look for any reason to procrastinate and have to actually discipline myself to put my butt in the chair and stop reading US Weekly’s breathless updates about Kim and Kanye’s wedding and ignore the blinking Facebook status bar that shows I have new updates.

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

Like all world-famous authors, I have a dedicated writing room with cozy furniture, spectacular natural light, a wall full of my favorite books and a pristine desk and comfy chair. Ha, I kill myself. In reality, the actual office in our house is in the basement, doesn’t have a window and is littered with my husband’s papers and is overpowered by a large elliptical machine that no one has actually used in the entire four years we have owned it. Instead, I dragged an old Ikea desk and chair into the upstairs hallway and write in front of a window so I can at least see daylight. This is also the desk that features the desktop computer the kids use, so it’s littered with “Frozen” drawings, second-grade math equations and broken Hello Kitty pencils. It’s as glamorous as it sounds.

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

I just finished Fan Girl by Rainbow Rowell and absolutely loved it. It was the perfect mix of snarky and sweet with the most amazing dialogue I’ve ever read. It’s hard to capture young adult angst and she really did it so well.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

I hope you’ll check out Yes Mommy – it’s available in both ebook and print on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and iTunes.

Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!