Hi there! I’m Amanda.

In a previous life I graduated from divinity school and served as an ordained Congregational minister. I worked in a lovely church, but being a minister never really fit with my heart, so I left when I was thirty-three, unsure of the next Big Thing, but sure that I wanted to do something that felt right to me.

Since I love food and nature, I went to work at a cheese shop and on my cousin’s small farm. To my surprise, I fell in love with the farm—five acres of organic pick-your-own flowers and vegetables outside of Boston—and stayed for five seasons. I also started farm-to-table catering. My crowning achievement: a rustic country wedding for a hundred. After that, I decided I’d stick to cooking just for fun.

Somewhere in there I started writing, and it turned into a book, The Do-Over, a memoir about letting go of the “shoulds” and creating a life you love. My first novel, Christmas at Cooper Hill, is a feel-good holiday romance.

I still preach occasionally, though I’m more spiritual than religious. I practice yoga, meditation, and appreciating simple joys—hot coffee! A flannel shirt, a glass of something sparkly—and I’m constantly rediscovering that there’s no map for life, but that’s what makes it beautiful.