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!

Interview with humor writer Amy Sprenger - 1st place winner of SYJ 2013 contest

Reviews and Interviews is a host to the winners of Shirley You Jest! Book Awards. SYJ! honors books by self-published and traditionally published indie authors who "deliver the funny" in the categories of fiction and non-fiction.

Today’s guest, Amy Sprenger, is the winner of the fiction competition with her book, Baby Bumps: The Almost, Barely, Not-Quite-True Story of Pregnancy, Bed Rest and One Batshit Crazy Family.

Bio:

Amy Sprenger is the author of the award-winning blog, SnarkyMommy.com, where she tells it like it is and isn't afraid to make fun of herself or her questionable parenting prowess. She has three kids under eight years old 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, Amy, and congratulations! Please tell us about your current release.

When I was twenty weeks pregnant with my first child eight years ago, a doctor told me I had an incompetent cervix, scheduled emergency surgery to stitch it shut the next day, and strapped me to a bed for the next four months. While we were worrying about getting through the next twenty weeks of the pregnancy in this state, we were also gut-rehabbing our house (we had no walls, no stove, and no fridge), my husband traveled for work and my mother had to move in with us. Along the way we found laughter really is the best medicine, especially when it comes to using bedpans. I guess I would call this your typical “humorous high-risk pregnancy book” – that’s a genre, right?

What inspired you to write this book?

When I was living this nightmare, it was a scary time in my life. Every book I read about pregnancy complications scared the beejesus out of me. I wished I would have had this book to read when I was stuck in bed for months on end so I would know that not everything has to be doom and gloom all the time. Although, peeing yourself when pregnant is a very real possibility with this book, so buyer beware.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I recently published a short collection of humorous essays on potty training, called Over My Dead Potty, and I’m currently finishing up a memoir tentatively titled, Yes Mommy, about the month I spent saying nothing but yes to my children. It was as crazy as it sounds. However, spoiler alert, I’m still alive so they obviously didn’t kill me.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I was actually a journalism major in college and worked as a news and sports reporter for most of my adult life before becoming a mom. Seeing my byline on the front page of the paper or the main story of a website was always a thrill, but seeing my name on the front of my first book was incredible.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

If you ask my husband, he would tell you I procrastinate full-time, but that’s because he doesn’t understand the life of a stay-at-home mom/author. Yoga is as important as writing, yo. I have roughly six child-free hours per day while my kids are in school and I try to write for at least two of those hours. Although “try” doesn’t always mean “do” as I have the attention span of a gnat and am easily distracted – oooh look, a quarter! Shiny! Besides, there’s laundry to be done, dinners to be cooked, groceries to be bought, lunches to be made, children to be bathed, homework to be helped with, fights to be refereed, time-outs to be given, dishwashers to be unloaded, skinned knees to be kissed, and bedtime stories to be read. My writing still takes a backseat to my mom duties most days, and that’s OK with me.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I laugh at my own jokes. I’ve never been one of those tortured writers who sit and stare at the screen, agonizing over every single word choice. I sit down, bang out whatever comes to mind and then re-read it, convinced it’s the funniest thing ever. Narcissistic much?

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I just wanted to be a grown-up, period, so I could make all my own rules and do whatever I wanted. However, I don’t eat cake for dinner or stay up all night watching TV, so my childhood self would probably be very disappointed in my adult choices.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Here are some ways to connect with me:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Thanks, Amy!