I love that Amy essentially got asked to write a book because of her reading habits! I think that's a great goal for all of us to be such quality readers and learners that our publishing opportunities will grow out of that.
I think I could have worded my question better, or asked more simply what Amy's approach is to using her own voice within her books. There are a range of approaches, from books like "Thunderclap" (an amazing nonfiction book by Laura Cumming that is half personal memoir, half art history) to biographies like Walter Isaacson's "Leonardo da Vinci" (where he will just occasionally give personal thoughts and interpretation but you otherwise get lost in the history) to books where historians wouldn't dream of mentioning themselves along the way (though their personal biases don't hide as well as they think.) I'm trying to balance this in the book I'm writing on the family life of J.S. Bach, moving my personal stories and perspectives back and forth between the main text and the footnotes to decide where they belong. Some are ending up as Substack posts so I can link to them later without taking up so much space in the book!
Anyway, Amy's answer is helpful in that she said "exceptional skill" is needed, so I'll keep working at it!
Hi Alexander, I'm so pleased you enjoyed the interview, it was such a pleasure to take part. Apologies for misunderstanding your question, on reading your comment I think I'm definitely guilty of letting my bias slip through on occasion! However, that's not a bad thing, much of history is open to interpretation and I think it's perfectly acceptable to present your interpretation of history. I think as long as we remain open to alternative theories there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving your opinion.
This is great, Holly! Thanks for sharing your journey and expertise, Amy!
Glad you enjoyed it! Was there any part in particular that struck you? How did you find Amy’s answer to your Q?
I love that Amy essentially got asked to write a book because of her reading habits! I think that's a great goal for all of us to be such quality readers and learners that our publishing opportunities will grow out of that.
I think I could have worded my question better, or asked more simply what Amy's approach is to using her own voice within her books. There are a range of approaches, from books like "Thunderclap" (an amazing nonfiction book by Laura Cumming that is half personal memoir, half art history) to biographies like Walter Isaacson's "Leonardo da Vinci" (where he will just occasionally give personal thoughts and interpretation but you otherwise get lost in the history) to books where historians wouldn't dream of mentioning themselves along the way (though their personal biases don't hide as well as they think.) I'm trying to balance this in the book I'm writing on the family life of J.S. Bach, moving my personal stories and perspectives back and forth between the main text and the footnotes to decide where they belong. Some are ending up as Substack posts so I can link to them later without taking up so much space in the book!
Anyway, Amy's answer is helpful in that she said "exceptional skill" is needed, so I'll keep working at it!
Hi Alexander, I'm so pleased you enjoyed the interview, it was such a pleasure to take part. Apologies for misunderstanding your question, on reading your comment I think I'm definitely guilty of letting my bias slip through on occasion! However, that's not a bad thing, much of history is open to interpretation and I think it's perfectly acceptable to present your interpretation of history. I think as long as we remain open to alternative theories there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving your opinion.