Join us as we hear from our BookSparks authors on where they write to find inspiration.
Introducing – Where I Write!

Where I Write – Amanda Stauffer

I tend to do my best writing in public primarily because I’m much more productive when I can’t access Internet or log onto Wifi. I’ll usually re-read and revise a day’s work from the comfort of my own home that same night, so I can sleep on the themes I’ll tackle the next day. All ofĀ Match Made in ManhattanĀ was written while I was living in Paris, and I can still remember where I typed certain scenes (The Tom chapter: a crĆŖperie-cafĆ© down the block from my apartment. The correspondence with Older Luke from Istanbul: a bench in the Tuileries Garden.)

Photo: Once upon a time I lived and wrote in this old house in Paris that was covered with vines . . . C’est chic, non?

Photo: The café in the 9e arrondissement where literary dreams and dreamy crêpes were made, and where Tom was born.

Photo: Yes, that was actually my view of the Louvre when I conceived of the culturally and artistically curious correspondence between Alison and Older Luke.

A lot of my current WIP has been written on the roof of my building in ManhattanĀ or in the Danish cafĆ© a few blocks from my apartment. I’m not really picky about which scenes get written in which environments; I’ll take any free chair in a cafĆ©, park, library, etc. andĀ pick up wherever I left off. I generally only write when I have 2 or more hours of uninterrupted quiet time—though between work, life, and family, that’s been pretty unpredictable the last few years. As long as my laptop is within reach, I write whenever I can, wherever I am.

Photo: An old #bookstagram from the rooftop of my apartmentĀ building in New York City, where I finished my Match MadeĀ in Manhattan copy edits and proofreading.

Photo: Joe & The Juice near Grand Central, where the first half of myĀ WIP has come to life.

Amanda Stauffer

Amanda Stauffer is a thirty-something graduate of Yale and Columbia Universities who works as an architectural conservator. When she grew frustrated with New York City’s dating scene, Amanda headed to www.match.com. Her experiences provided her with a lifetime of warm and fuzzy memories, a few friends, and an abundance of material for a book or a career in comedy. Amanda is a fan of Italian neorealist cinema, mojitos, and—well, you can just read her protagonist’s Match profile in this book, because Alison lifted heavily from Amanda’s own profile. An erstwhile expat who has lived in Bangalore, Sicily, and Paris, Amanda currently lives in Manhattan, where she is busy writing her second book.