By Katelyn Nguyen & Catherine Vu
There is rarely a silent moment in room 133—unless, of course, it’s silent reading time. Behind her desk, English teacher Amy Hollingsworth supervises her pods of students busy at work on their latest collaborative assignment. Although she fosters a creative environment for students to express themselves, Hollingsworth is rather reticent about her own life.
Many may be surprised that outside of school hours, Hollingsworth transforms into aspiring middle grade author Amelia Hooke, who has the magical ability to take readers on thrilling adventures to fantastical worlds filled with countless captivating characters.
Hollingsworth has been honing her craft since childhood. As far back as she can remember, she was immersed in storytelling.
“My mom would take me to used bookstores a lot and my dad told me stories before bedtime. I had a friend whose mom was a librarian, so we kind of lived [at the library],” she said.
As she grew older, Hollingsworth was no longer satisfied with just consuming media. Serving as their own playwrights, screenwriters and directors, she and her friends would perform plays and film shot by shot movie remakes in their spare time.
For Hollingsworth, creating stories was not just a means of entertainment but also a vehicle for self-expression.
“I was such a shy little kid, but theater and communicating through words was the way I could still be myself without being the center of attention all the time,” she said
Even though creative writing has always been a part of Hollingsworth’s life, she never thought her hobby could become a career.
Throughout her 20s, Hollingsworth would tell people she was going to write a book. However, it wasn’t until she had just completed her master’s degree and became a teacher that she had time to write her first book, a gothic coming-of-age young adult mystery called “The Shadow Man.”
Hollingsworth wasn’t alone when she worked on her first book; when her friends and family heard about her aspirations to write a book, she was met with encouragement. She said they all had confidence in her, from her mom—her number one supporter—to the friends with whom she still loved to tell stories.
“Even in my 20s my friends and I were still making movies. I was kind of thinking it might be cool as an adult to write a play and turn it into a movie, so I had written a play. And then I turned that into my very first book that didn’t really go anywhere,” she said.
Despite the disappointment, Hollingsworth didn’t let the lack of publisher interest hold her back.
“[Your first book] will just be something that you’ll put under the bed in a shoe box and never look at again,” she said. “I feel a little bit like that, but that was a really beautiful book.”
So with unwavering resolve, Hollingsworth began planning her second novel in October 2017 in preparation for a then-daunting event that has now become part of her creative process and helped her find fellow writers to connect with, making the entire writing process much less lonely.
“In November, there’s something called National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), so people around the world joined this online effort to write 50,000 words,” she said. “That’s how I’ll write my first draft. It’s super fast, I’ll be writing 2,000 words a day, which is a lot.”
After finishing her initial rough draft during NaNoWriMo, Hollingsworth will usually rewrite three more drafts of her manuscript before sending it out to teachers near and far, test readers on Facebook and friends. Hollingsworth’s favorite part of the process is revising and taking a minute to realize what she wrote.
“It’s like a metaphor for you to be able to surprise yourself,” Hollingsworth said. “Like ‘oh, we’re getting a real book. I wrote something that is worthy.’ That’s exciting.“
Once she believes her book is complete, Hollingsworth contacts agents and pitches the new book, setting a goal of an email a day at first and slowing down to one a week when she sees some interest. Hollingsworth is currently pitching her third book “Hyde Island” to agents.
The book is about Prynn, a twelve-year-old girl seeking adventure who finds herself trapped on a supposedly deserted forbidden island. She eventually finds other people who are living in a decrepit resort. But not everything is as it seems on Hyde Island, and Prynn must figure out who to trust if she is to make her way back to her family. A story of survival, ingenuity, trust and family, “Hyde Island” is sure to appeal to middle grade readers.
When asked what has been the most helpful during her journey as an aspiring novelist, Hollingsworth pointed to solidarity with other aspiring writers.
“Knowing that other people are going through this kind of struggle [as an author] too, and hearing from people and their own journeys of getting an agent or self-publishing or writing their book—to know that I’m not the first writer in the world to have been rejected or to have a hard time figuring out what my character’s motivation is [helps],” Hollingsworth said.
To learn more about Hollingsworth’s books, visit www.ameliahookebooks.com.
This article was originally published in the 2021 RED Magazine. Stop by room 306 to pick up a copy.
