Meet Amanda McDowell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda McDowell.

Hi Amanda, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in the surrounding greater Seattle area, you could say I am a true Pacific North-Westener. People always are so surprised when I mention where I was born, and ask if I regret moving south. I do miss the mountains and the puget sound sometimes. Ultimately, though, I do not regret moving to Nashville. I feel like my soul was born here.

In February 2020 I landed my dream job as a flight attendant for a domestic airline. Right as I graduated ground school Covid-19 hit the US hard. Thus, dramatically changing the aviation industry for the next several years. Shortly after starting this career I found out I was pregnant with my first child — a little baby boy. In December 2020 we welcomed our son, Kazi into the world.

Having been very lucky to have had a smooth pregnancy, I was sad to have a semi-traumatizing birthing experience. We pushed through and in the end we were discharged from the hospital both healthy and happy. Which I am eternally grateful for.

Ultimately, all of this was nothing compared to my postpartum journey. In November of 2021 my divorce was finalized, and I was a full-time single mom. I was starting over in a new state, and having to grasp the fact I not only had to let go of my marriage and my dream career, but also figure out how I was going to support my little family alone was rough on me. This led me to begin writing again. Which has been something I’ve turned to in difficult times.

This book actually started out just as a poem. I wrote it late one night when I couldn’t sleep and was struggling emotionally. This poem fell onto the pages of my journal like a bursting balloon. After tons of research I decided to self-publish it as a children’s picture book.

‘Forever, It’s We’ is about our lives and daily activities. I hope other parents in all situations can relate to and see their families inside this story.

Although I did illustrate the book in the image of my son and I. I have considered reimagining the illustrations to incorporate more diversity for other families. After considerable thought I did write this as a dedication to my son, so I have tabled that idea for now. Ultimately, I have not decided if I will make a special re-illustration release of the book to accomplish this. I hope ultimately that different families reading the book will be able to see themselves in the words of the book. Whether they’re single, stay-at-home, military, or foster families I hope they can all relate to and feel seen by our book.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Gosh. I feel like a lot of my struggles leading up to this book are shared by a great number of other women (and men) all over the world. That being said — Covid-19, Postpartum anxiety and depression, my divorce, career changes, and the economy/recession, would be the main points of struggle for us.

Honestly, I think the ability to care and provide for our children and families has changed dramatically for the foreseeable future. Our children (and ourselves) have suffered major hits to our immunity and our overall health in general. Parents are having a hard time dealing with the demand of our employers while having constantly sick children at home. This becomes even more difficult for single parents – many of us do not have a significant other or resources to stay home from work to care for them.

Daycares, schools, and other childcare centers can not allow children who are sick to attend their centers. This impacts all aspects of our lives as we lose income and run through all our PTO or sick leave to stay home with them.

Personally, my son was sick for weeks back to back from August through the end of December of 2022. Having gone through constant cases of Flu, RSV, Croup, colds, and inevitably ear infections from those illnesses. I think this by itself is going to drive families to seek more passive income or self-employment and flexibility for their families.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The diversity issues which arise in early learning, education, and literature have been at the forefront of the publishing industry for the past few years.

Great steps forward have been made to include more diverse ethnicities so our children can see themselves inside the books they read and they see on store shelves. These steps have been specifically targeting ethnicity, emotional/personal health, and sometimes gender roles.

I would take this a step further and ask this important question… Why are we not seeing more representation of the family dynamics. Single parents, parents of the foster care systems, LGBTQ single parents, families of adoptions/multiple adoptions, surrogacy dynamics, and putting out there to our children just because they don’t have the ‘American Family Dream’ as their family dynamics does not mean they’re not normal. I firmly believe this is going to harm the next few generations as we see long-term marriages decrease, divorces on the rise, and single parenthood as a first choice. These dynamics should be represented in the children’s literature market.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I really enjoyed school growing up. And, I still take any opportunity to go back whenever I can. I was homeschooled K-12 so I am a huge promoter and supporter of alternative schooling choices for all families. Education should be trailered towards the child and not a cookie cutter system. It also needs to be more available around all areas of the country and not just in major cities.

Knowing now I am a highly sensitive person (HSP) and my personality type as a whole. I am confident in saying the public school system as it stands would not have benefited me as a child. In fact, I would venture to say it probably would have harmed my education in the long run. The ability to learn at my own pace, and using different learning styles for subjects I found more difficult was very valuable for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.authoramandamcdowell.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/authoramandamcdowell
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoramandamcdowell
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authoramandamcdowell/
• Twitter: www.Twitter.com/foreveritswe
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@authoramandamcdowell/featured
• Other: https://amazon.com/author/amandamcdowell 

Image Credits
Life N Light Studios @lifenlight and Mimi @hellominibianco