Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Dykes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with important influences in our lives. Is there a historical figure you look up to?

Fred Rogers is one of my great heroes.

1) He would do great things on behalf of a single soul. When 5-year old viewer, Katie, wrote to him saying she worried the fish in the aquarium were hungry, her father explained that Katie was blind. After that, Mister Rogers would narrate his actions, saying, “I’m feeding the fish now” as the cameras rolled. All because of Katie.

To me, this is such a beautiful reminder that no matter how broad an audience or platform (and mine is nothing compared to Mister Rogers’s), if we lose sight of the individual heart and soul, then we’re toiling in vain. Words reach hearts…and I never want to forget about the uniquely beautiful hearts they will someday be held in. If a message reaches a thousand and looks polished on the outside but never penetrates hearts, what are we doing? On the other hand, if the individual reader is kept in mind, heart, and prayer throughout the process, and perhaps it only reaches a handful of people or even one but stirs something in those hearts…that is a treasure. and who knows what the ripples going out from those hearts will be.

2) He’s the epitome of the age-old quote, “Don’t curse the darkness; light a candle.”

Mister Rogers did not like television. He was concerned, watching its effect on minds and society. But rather than curse the medium which was fast becoming a mainstay, he dared to wonder what difference he could make–whether he might light a candle, so to speak, and use this medium for good.

Like Mister Rogers, we’re living in a time of innovation, when new technologies and tech habits are having troubling effects on minds, hearts, relationships, and society. While it’s wise for us to handle these things with care and moderation and forethought for the future, we also often have an opportunity to ask: how can we use this for good?

3) He persevered with heart. Think of your favorite shows– how long have they been on the air? Ten years is often a record-breaking run. Mister Rogers…his show aired for thirty-three years. For someone who was continually lighting a candle, helping to guide hearts through difficult subject matter, living through the trials of life just like everyone else…that is a beautifully long stretch of heart-filled, purposeful perseverance, and I imagine it took courage and sacrifice to keep going, many times over.

It’s true that sometimes, our endeavors or callings may last for a shorter season, and there can absolutely be just as much meaning and fullness in a shorter-spanned endeavor. But even so, I believe we can all draw inspiration from the long faithfulness of Mister Rogers.

Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I write historical fiction set throughout history. I’ve jumped in setting from Maine to England to France to Venice and now, for my upcoming release, to the mountains of Colorado. My stories offer up rugged hope, a touch of enchantment, lyrical prose, and sometimes a dose of quirky humor. I hope they’re simultaneously a place of joy, safety for those grappling with difficult trials, and a source to help fuel hope and faith.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

While social media can be a fun way to connect, it’s in my newsletter list that I connect with a core group of faithful readers. I consider them the “newsletter family” and as such, try to pack it with content that gives them value, from aesthetics to content.

Often newsletters can feel intimidating– what do we say? How can we provide something fresh and of value in every installment, while maintaining consistent branding/messaging?

Perhaps this is over-simplifying it, but the one single question that helps me whittle down and zero in on what to include is, “what would I want to read?” Not to make it about me, but rather to put myself in the reader’s shoes, which ends up making it mostly *not* about me. Thinking about our readers/customers, what they feel like at the end (or start) of their day, what they would value seeing land in their inbox…it makes it a joy to compose each month.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As a person of faith, I believe very much that each person has such unique purpose. Rather than hiding from the gifts that have been entrusted to me for whatever reason (as I am sometimes inclined to do), I’ve learned and continue to learn that my job is to ask: “what now?”

My tools are words, and words can be used for many things. Books, poems, letters, words spoken aloud– and that purpose can be so dynamic in each moment that my main job is to lean in, pay attention, see the people around me, and ask that question: “what now?” Sometimes the biggest impact I might be able to make is in a card written that only one person will ever see. Sometimes it’s in not saying a thing, and instead just listening. Sometimes it’s toiling for months and often years over a single book. Sometimes it’s praying a prayer nobody but God will ever know about.

We as people of creativity and business do need to be good stewards of all sides of things: business, ROI, how to be purposeful about where we put our energy, keeping up on potential new ways to reach people. But when we don’t balance those things with the “why” and the “who,” we can burnout so quickly.

We can burn out even when we are doing our best to keep the “why and who” forefront. I’m writing from the edge of burnout right now, to be transparent. But when a flame’s flickering down and about to burn out, its fate is not sealed. All it needs is some fuel and oxygen to keep going…and so even burnout can have great and beautiful purpose, inviting us to hunker down, rest, re-examine, draw strength, and approach things with fresh light and energy when the time is right.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amandadykes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanda_spins_stories/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-j-dykes-47bb76225/
• Other: Newsletter Family: https://amandadykes.com/newsletter-subscription/

Image Credits
Picture of Venice Canal with book in foreground courtesy of reader Milinda Yount Picture of Amanda in field walking, courtesy of Graham Chase