CWW: Amanda Hocking

Amanda hocking was born and raised in Austin, Mn aka SPAMtown USA.Fun Fact: This is where SPAM was invented and they even have a  SPAM museum. Her roommate/assistant/platonic life mate Eric is very supportive of her writing and her obsession with animals.She has a dog, three cats, two fish, and Eric has a guinea pig.

Amanda began telling stories as a child even before she could write. When she learned to write she would jot down all of her tales.When she was 12, she decided that writers were boring people, and she didn’t want to be boring, so she saved writing for her “safety” career while she tried out other ones. She had written her first novel at age 17. It was never published. After high school she was eemployed as a group home worker until 2010, she wrote 17 novels in her free time. She self published her books through e-readers in 2010 and became a success. Some of her most poplar works are: My Blood Approves series, Trylle series, and the Wake series.

Connecting it to the class
Self publishing was also not her first option. She had tried for years to be published but was always rejected. She kept writing and trying to be published instead of giving up. As we read from bell hooks, she is a very popular and influential writer. An excerpt from her essay "Talking Back"; Although i have wanted writing to be my life-work since childhood, it has been difficult for me to claim writer" as part of that which identifies and shapes my everyday reality. Hocking has known and announced she is a writer from day one. She didn't feel the discrimination from friends or family as hooks did which made it all easier for her.

 Hocking writes about female protagonist in supernatural situations. She loves to write about teenagers and their struggles. Adding in all of the supernatural things just makes it more interesting and she enjoys the paranormal romance genre even before it became really popular. Spoiler alert:

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right.
With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

With all this talk about motherhood, i though this book would be best to showcase because of the disconnect between a mother and child. SA: Wendy was switched at birth and her mother knew that she was not her daughter. Growing in a home where your mother can't stand you or consider you her own is awful. Throughout the series she discovers where she came from and what lies ahead for her future. She faces discrimination, heartbreak, and twist of fate. Hocking puts in many life choices that almost all teenagers have to make. One in particular is: Who do i want to be?