Amy Wallen

Amy lives in San Diego, where she writes, teaches, and hosts the Open Mic events here at The Grove. She has recently published the book Moon Pies and Movie Stars. Visit her MySpace page or her official website. www.firstfridayprose.com

[from AmyWallen.com:]

Amy Wallen was raised by a wild pack of Texans. But she's an oddity to the Texas cousins because she never lived in the state, and still likes barbecue, beer and pinto beans. Because her dad worked for an oil company, she grew up in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada, Nigeria, Peru, Bolivia and Oklahoma. She's still crazy for plane rides. Most of her writing inspiration comes from spending her summer vacation helping out her grandmother at her roadside convenience store on Highway 90 in Brackettville, Texas.

She graduated from the University of Oklahoma, Norman in 1986 with a BA in Journalism/Advertising. She majored in Advertising thinking she could be a creative writer and make a living -- another one of her silly illogical ideas, like when she thought skydiving would be no big deal, or that aerobics would be enough of a workout to insure she was in shape for her trek to the Everest Base Camp.

Upon college graduation, she decided she'd had enough of the Midwest and took off for San Diego, California with no job, a few hundred dollars, and the key to an apartment of a friend of a friend. She worked her way through a variety of jobs from advertising to legal administration. All the while, she plodded away at her short stories, essays and novels.

Currently, Amy teaches creative writing at UC San Diego Extension, leads an advanced private read and critique group, along with other occasional workshops around San Diego. She hosts the monthly Open Mic prose reading sponsored by San Diego Writers Ink and she sits on their advisory board.

She started piano lessons at the age of 40 and can now play the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" television show theme song, and John Lennon's "Imagine".

Current Classes

• Open Mic