{"id":3222,"date":"2022-01-25T13:47:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T18:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/?p=3222"},"modified":"2022-01-25T13:47:44","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T18:47:44","slug":"amber-smiths-transformation-from-art-curator-to-author-of-books-for-young-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/blog\/2022\/01\/25\/amber-smiths-transformation-from-art-curator-to-author-of-books-for-young-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Amber Smith\u2019s Transformation from Art Curator to Author of Books for Young People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I met Amber Smith a few weeks ago at Park Road Books, where she was signing copies of her just-released, middle-grade novel titled Code Name:\u00a0 Serendipity.\u00a0 <\/em>I bought a copy of her book and talked with her about her experiences as a Charlotte author while she was signing the book.\u00a0 She told me that she moved to Charlotte from Buffalo, New York, and that she launched her writing career after moving to Charlotte.\u00a0 I was going to ask her about her three young adult novels, but then some actual young adults (previously known as teenagers) showed up, so I said goodbye to Amber and headed home with my new book in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since meeting Amber, I have done a little research into her career, and I was surprised to learn that she worked as an art curator before becoming a full-time author.\u00a0 She published her debut young adult novel, The Way I Used to Be, <\/em>in 2016, and the book went on to become a New York Times <\/em>bestseller.\u00a0 She then wrote two more critically acclaimed YA novels:\u00a0 The Last to Let Go<\/em>, which came out in 2018, and Something Like Gravity<\/em>, which appeared in 2019.\u00a0 Her three YA novels deal with serious and sometimes troubling topics, such as gendered violence, but her new middle-grade novel is more upbeat in tone. For readers who want to know more about Amber and her books, please click on the following link:\u00a0 https:\/\/ambersmithauthor.com\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Code Name:  Serendipity <\/em>is about the special relationship between an eleven-year-old girl named Sadie and a stray dog named Dewey.  The story is also about Sadie\u2019s family, which includes her two moms, her older brother, and her grandfather.  The plot, however, revolves around Sadie\u2019s mission to rescue Dewey.  In some ways, the book reminds me of Charlotte\u2019s Web <\/em>in which a girl named Fern sets out to rescue a pig named Wilbur.  In both cases, there is a magical bond between the girls with the animals they set out to save.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Code Name:  Serendipity<\/em> is already receiving very positive reviews.  For example, the reviewer for Publishers Weekly <\/em>wrote, \u201cSmith creates three-dimensional characters and a warm family dynamic, sensitively portraying learning differences and a beloved grandparent with dementia, and exploring difficult feelings without offering easy answers. Sadie\u2019s struggles with friendship and being taken seriously ring true, as do her sympathetic voice and heartfelt love of dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I contacted Amber and asked her for more information about her writing career and her latest book.  Here is what she sent to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While I\u2019ve always been involved with the arts and creative writing, it wasn\u2019t until I moved to Charlotte nearly thirteen years ago that I began seriously writing fiction. I grew up in Buffalo, New York, and also went to college there (I have my BFA in Painting and my Master\u2019s in Art History). I moved down to Charlotte after grad school in 2009 (joining the huge Western New York contingent that lives here) to work at The Mint Museum, where I spent six years in its modern and contemporary art department, honing my nonfiction writing skills.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spending so much time with visual artists, writing about their lives and work, helping to tell their stories\u2026I eventually felt inspired to start telling my own, which led me to begin writing what would become my debut young adult novel. After I sold that book, I made the difficult\/scary\/rewarding decision to leave the museum world to be a full-time writer. I think a huge part of that decision was knowing that there is such a strong literary community here in Charlotte, from its indie bookstores and libraries, and all the amazing writing groups, I have connected with so many fantastic writers who live here. Honestly, their counsel and friendship has been life-changing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Code Name: Serendipity is my fourth novel, but it is my first for middle-grade readers (age 8-12). After writing three young adult novels that dealt with pretty serious, hard-hitting topics, I felt like I needed to give myself a bit of a break, and so this book is a departure into new territory for me. It\u2019s about a lonely eleven-year-old girl who meets a stray dog and discovers they have a deep, magical connection. Like all of my books, this one stemmed out of something from my life. I started writing <\/em>Code Name: Serendipity not long after I had to say goodbye to my sweet dog, Darwin. He was with me for twelve wonderful years, a constant source of love and companionship through all of life\u2019s ups and downs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever since I was a little kid, a huge part of my heart has been reserved for animals. I\u2019m especially passionate about rescuing those misunderstood animals who either have behavioral or health issues that make second chances hard to come by (my wife and I currently have seven of these rescues\u2014two dogs and five cats). This book was inspired by Darwin, and each of these beautiful misfit souls who just needed to be shown a little love and patience. I firmly believe that animals are here to show us humans how to be the best versions of ourselves \u2013 and that\u2019s really the message at the heart of <\/em>Code Name: Serendipity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amber is participating in a virtual event titled \u201cWriting Younger Characters\u201d with Paula Martinac.  Hosted by Charlotte Readers Podcast, this event will take place on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, from 5:30 to 6:30.  For more information about this event, please click on the following link:  FACEBOOK LIVE with AMBER SMITH & PAULA MARTINAC<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a lover of words, I like Amber\u2019s use of the word \u201cserendipity\u201d in the title of her book, for I think that \u201cserendipity\u201d is a cool word.  My dictionary defines the word as \u201cthe gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.\u201d Serendipity is involved when Sadie finds Dewey in the woods near her home.  I think that serendipity was also involved when Amber found her voice as a writer after making Storied Charlotte her home.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I met Amber Smith a few weeks ago at Park Road Books, where she was signing copies of her just-released, middle-grade novel titled Code Name:\u00a0 Serendipity.\u00a0 I bought a copy of her book and talked with her about her experiences as a Charlotte author while she was signing the book.\u00a0 She told me that she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-3222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-storied-charlotte","tag-middle-grade-novel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3222"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3227,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3222\/revisions\/3227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}