Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Martin.
Hi Amy, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I loved to write by the time I was 8, but since it was easy and pleasurable, I didn’t think of it as a potential occupation. Became a cucumber farmer after high school instead. Then I received an award from Ned Fritz and Texas Committee On Natural Resources (Texas Conservation Alliance) for a series of articles on nuclear power I wrote on a lark. Now I am writing Fritz’s posthumous biography. Full circle!
The Dallas Morning News, D magazine, Dallas Observer, the late Dallas Time Herald, and more—I’ve written for or been on staff for most of the area’s larger publications. Eventually ended up as a contributing editor and columnist at Garbage, a national environmental magazine. Was a commentator on KERA FM for a few years. I rode the journalism technology shifts and began writing for online publications, including TheaterJones (RIP) and GreenSourceDFW, where I am now senior features writer and columnist.
Throughout them all, I alternated between environment and entertainment—a day job/night job kind of thing. My entertainment specialty was comedy and was the first full-time critic in the South/Southwest. As I got older, I shifted to reviewing cirque and magic, which was tons of fun. You can find my latest writings at https://moonlady.com.
After being a recycling and petrochemical specialist for many years, I now focus on writing out the outdoors and the people who care for it. My book, Wild Dallas-Fort Worth: Explore the Amazing Nature of North Texas, will be released on Timber Press in late 2023. Before that, I self-published Itchy Business: How to Treat the Poison Ivy and Poison Oak Rash, Prevent Exposure and Eradicate the Plant (http://itchy.biz/) and Holy Smoke: Loose Herbs & Hot Embers for Intense Group Smudges & Smoke Prayers (https://moonlady.com/moonlady-media/).
For 20 years, I presented seasonal celebrations, including the acclaimed Winter SolstiCelebration performance and ceremony revues, which attracted up to 1100 people. Summer SolstiCelebrations were held outdoors (hot!) and even larger, with two drum-circle and dance party-focused ones at White Rock Lake drawing over 2000 people. The promotions driver for all these was a pre-social media listserve called Moonlady News after my nickname.
I live in the Eastwood neighborhood in the Eastlake area just east of White Rock Lake with my ever-patient husband, computer animator/artist/writer Scooter Smith, my silly and very large dog Sally, and a passel of cats.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Writing is a bit of a rollercoaster; the way markets and formats are constantly shifting. And while immensely satisfying, it’s never been lucrative. My health has been through many ups and downs, with neurological ataxia, two locally aggressive cancers, and a leukemia-like bone-marrow condition. Topping off all that, two years ago I shattered by C2 vertebra, an injury which kills half its victims, paralyzes the other half. I am in the 2% that walked away, albeit with 6 hours of surgery and a bone graft to fuse the top three vertebrae. (Read the story, C2: A Hangman’s Tale at my website.) The biggest challenge now is making time for enjoyment and soul-restoring quiet time in nature.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My biggest thrill as a journalist is helping people discover the world around them, whether it be a performer who can open their mind or a nature place that will make them appreciate the land where they live. I’m now focused on helping North Texans appreciate the beautiful nature around them, even in the midst of the city, so much they feel compelled to preserve it by speaking out and taking action. It’s not just being a tree hugger. DFW has much-uptapped potential in nature tourism.
I’ve very excited about being named to the Trails and Preserves Program board at Dallas County Open Space where I hope to expand their soft-surface trail mileage. My volunteer work with Native Prairies Association of Texas and North Texas Master Naturalists is deeply satisfying. My efforts in nature and wildlife habitat rehabilitation ensure my mark on this planet continues long after I’m gone.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Find what gives you the most emotional reward and pursue it, and when life gives you an opportunity, however odd, take it. I started out getting a degree in television/film because I thought that’s what the job market demanded. Hated it. Then one day, while avoiding doing schoolwork by hanging out at the SMU radio station, the phone rang and it was jazz musician Pat Metheny on the line. I’d already bought his first two albums and played them constantly. He asked if I wanted to do an interview. Of course! Scribbled on a dozen tiny pieces of paper I could find in the station. That led to more articles and reviews, and my career was off and running.
A few years later, I helped a neighborhood recycling center get going in my local park. I called a Dallas Morning News editor to convince them to cover it. Ended up writing about it myself and that turned into a career in recycling journalism. Do lots of good deeds for the world and make lots of connections. One of them just might recommend you for a book.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://moonlady.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilddfw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildDFW
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/WildDFW/
- Other: http://itchy.biz/
Image Credits
Stalin SM. Group
Kristi Kerr Leonard
Scooter Smith
Dianne Frossard
