The Indian Trails Master Naturalists will host a talk with experienced journalist and nature book author Amy Martin who will reveal her creative process and what it takes to become a professional writer.
Taking place at 6:30 p.m. on February 6, 2024 at the Waxahachie Parks Department, 401 South Elm Street in Waxahachie, the presentation will be an informal discussion during which Amy will answer questions and share her experience and advice, specifically about writing about nature and the environment with implications for any topic.
“We’ll be chatting about what it took to create Wild DFW, Explore the Amazing Nature In and Around Dallas-Fort Worth,” Amy says about her latest book available through Barnes and Noble, Amazon and most local bookstores. “I think the talk will be of most interest to naturalists who like to read, but also writers who are interested in the topic of nature. A lot of folks as they get retired, they have a little more time and they’re more interested in blogging and writing about their experiences.”
Amy describes the process of writing as “terribly unromantic” and says her talk will dispel common misconceptions about the writing profession.
“I don’t write in the morning like a lot of people. I edit in the morning and write at night when I’m looser and I’m thinking more creatively,” she says. “I’ll also talk a little bit about chasing sources and that you have to be careful about what you find on the Internet and that you need to make sure that if you’re stating a fact, it either comes from an impeccable source or is sourced from two or more separate, unrelated sources.”
Amy says she’ll also reveal how she uses technology to gather the impressions, details and photos on her hikes and explorations that she uses in her written work.
“I’ll also talk a bit about working with a national publisher and what that’s like, and how sometimes the restrictions they place on you spur creativity,” she says.
In her 40 years as a writer and journalist in Dallas, Amy built her career on covering the topics of entertainment and the environment. Her work has appeared in the Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Observer, D Magazine and the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald. She now serves as senior features reporter for Green Source DFW. Amy has also authored several published books and is currently working on a biography of Dallas-based lawyer and nature preservationist Ned Fritz whose work includes saving the Trinity River and the Trinity Forest from being converted into a barge canal and inland harbor.