Oprah:   First of all, I want to thank you for coming on my show and expressing your values and principles of writing.

Amy:   Thank you for inviting me on your show.    I am thankful to be able to express my beliefs about writing and what I hope to have accomplished for my personal goals.

Oprah:   What do you hope your writing will have accomplished for you and for others?

Amy:   Mainly, I want to feels as if, in some way, I made a difference.   Not

necessarily   to the community as a whole, but for myself and those close to me.   When I write, it comes from my personal beliefs or something that I strongly agree with.   When I am able to pick a topic to write about, I choose one that I can back up with my personal beliefs and facts.    When I was going into my freshmen year at Millikin University, I remember not understanding my writing style and where I was as a writer.   Now, I fully understand why I write and where it comes from.   I have made a great deal of progress from my freshmen year to where I am now in my writing style.   Personally, I feel good about myself and how far I have come along with my writing. Before, I did not feel as comfortable as I do today about my writing

skills and the difference I feel within myself.   It feels great to be satisfied with my progress towards writing!   As for others, I hope they have been impacted by reading and enjoying what I have done and how hard I have worked to get where I am today.

Oprah:   What are your highest long-term motives for writing?

Amy:   One long-term goal of mine is to someday publish a children's literature book.   I am also interested in relationships between teenagers and newlyweds.   To me, listening to friends of mine talk about their relationships within their family, boyfriends, sisters, brothers, cousins, etc. is fascinating to me.   It expresses who they are and where they come from.   I want others to see that in my work.   When they first read my book or look at my work, they may not think I am the best writer they know, however, I want them to know that I am a good person writing good information.   I am working on my first children's book right now.   From this book, I just want to get my name out there and let readers know and trust that my work is good and well thought out.   It is important to readers if you are trustworthy enough to continue to buy and read their books.  

Oprah:   Do you hope your writing helps you seek fame, influence, and entertainment?

Amy:   Honestly, I am not interested in the fame and fortune part; I would rather make no money and just feel satisfied that I have touched a chid's life in some positive manner.   I want to be able to know that I have helped someone make a difference in the way they view writing.   Influence is a major key in my writing abilities.   When I am writing, I always think of who I am influencing and why I want to influence children and other readers.   I think children and their peers need influence in their lives, especially, when it comes to reading and writing.   If they are reading something they enjoy, then their influence on writing would reflect positively on them.

Oprah:   What about Love?...Do you hope writing helps you seek love or friendship with a significant other?

Amy:   I do, however, I am in love and have been for an extremely long time.   My writing helps me understand how to love again.   Any time I feel frustrated with myself or my significant other, I try to write my feelings down, whether it be a poem, story, or just a journal entry; I try to remind myself why it is that I love him so much.   Writing helps me express my different forms of love, love for my friends and love for my significant other.   For instance, with my dear friend, Alyse, I write notes to her every once in awhile.   I do not do this to make her feel better, but to make our friendship stronger.   To let her know how much I care and what exactly it is that I think of her and my feelings towards her.   It is a great tool that I use to judge even my own feelings!

Oprah:   So, you use writing as a tool to benefit your relationships with others?

Amy:   Most definitely!   My goal in writing is to benefit others well-being and my own well-being!   An example is, my dream of publishing a children's book; I want to open children's eyes to the wonderful books and ideas out in the world!   Relationships is another good example, I am interested in reaching teenagers about relationship issues and how it is okay to feel different ways about them.   Personally, I think many students feel fake because they feel as if they cannot express what they truly feel and think.   So, instead of getting rejected from their peers, they act fake and don't really handle the relationship issue.   It is important to me to write about this, to let the children and society as a whole, understand where I come from as a writer and what my intentions are.

Oprah:   How do you hope your lifetime of writing will be judged or viewed by others?

Amy:   For me, it is not as important to feel that people are judging my work.   I would rather feel as though society is viewing my work and deciding whether or not they like or dislike my style of writing.   Most of my writing is based on true-life situations.   What I write comes from my heart and my true feelings.   If I even write a small note to a friend, I do not like to exaggerate or add   in minor details of false information.   I want to be as truthful and caring as I can.    I want to be able to read something that I think is true and know that I can trust the author.

Oprah:   Thank you so much, Amy, for expressing how you feel about your writing and your personal goals as a writer.

Amy:   I am pleased to be a guest on your show and able to verbally express what my intentions are as a writer.   I hope I have helped you and others see what I plan on accomplishing as a writer and my future plans as a children's publisher. I deeply care how society views my writing style and understands where I am as a writer.   I still have a lot to work on and improve, to be where I want to, and achieve what dreams I have set for myself.   There are many goals each person sets for themselves, I hope to reach my goal as a publisher to help others see that reading and writing can be interesting.   I think it will make a big difference in a child's life if he or she begins to read and enjoys what they are reading.   They may look at it in a whole new light, and that is my main purpose in life as a writer.   Making a difference in someone else's life is a big priority for me, and I hope to accomplish that as I get older and hopefully wiser!   Again, my deepest thanks for inviting me on the show!