For as long as I have known Amanda she has always wanted to be a writer. 
But before I ever spoke to her, I thought she was Russian.

I’m not kidding.

When I first saw her she was speaking fluently in Russian with someone else.
I didn’t even know if she spoke English.

She later informed me she was born and raised in Maryland.

She had been studying Russian through high school and college and had studied abroad there.

She had even planned at one time to work for the CIA or NSA as a spy or something cool like that.

Beyond the cool spy stuff, I will say that there was something about Amanda that struck me from the beginning.

She wasn’t like other girls I’d met.

She had this tenacity, an inner strength about her. She was tough and tattooed and wicked smart. And the best part: she seemed to actually like talking with me.

She was a lot fun. We were about as opposite as you can get in many ways, but we still clicked.

I was thrilled when I learned that she liked me as much as I liked her.

The rest is history. Three months later we moved into together. The next year we married.

In those early years, we were just scraping by.

Amanda had long ago given up her spy ambitions once she learned she would be disqualified by her poor vision.

She had her sights set on being a writer. Amanda was one of those kids that wrote from a young age. She still has a huge binder full of them from her childhood.

But those first years of marriage were focused on bringing in enough money to pay the rent.

Amanda worked as a waitress, bartender, house cleaner, and bookkeeper while I finished college.

She dabbled at a number of writing projects in her twenties, but she found her voice as a writer after we had kids.

We love our kids more than anything, but when they were babies, they were TOUGH. Really tough.

It was a good thing that Amanda and I were really solid as a couple because the kids tested our resolve and relationship every day.

Amanda had read a number of parenting books leading up to having our kids, but she found that none of them really prepared her for the difficulty, most just sowed the seeds for the guilt she would constantly feel about not parenting well enough.

All these challenges and emotions she was feeling created a spark with her writing voice, because it wasn’t long after we had kids that Amanda dove into her first book.

She told her story, with all her sassy wit, unfiltered humor, and bold personality.

Her first book was titled, This Little Piggy Went to the Liquor Store.

It took her a couple of years to write. And a couple of years after she first published it, it hit the New York Times Bestseller List.

The book struck a chord with people because it wasn’t your typical “having kids is all sunshine and rainbows” kind of book.

Amanda was brutally honest.

She made people laugh and told unfiltered stories about our experiences with our “Night Fury” daughter, and all the mis-steps and adventures of life and raising kids.

She wrote two more books in that series. All of them did very well and won many awards.

I share all this with you because TODAY is a special day for Amanda.

Her publisher is re-releasing her first book. It’s been updated with a few new stories added. This new version is the “Infused” edition, playing off of her liquor bottle book cover.

If you’ve never read Amanda’s books, and you can handle and even enjoy some unfiltered humor, then I highly recommend ordering Amanda’s book.

You’ll may learn WAY too much about our family, but I’m okay with that. You’ll get some good laughs at our expense.

I’m so proud of Amanda. She followed her dream of becoming a writer. She put her heart and soul into this book, and has continued to write and publish books ever since.

I knew from the beginning that Amanda was someone special, someone capable of doing great things. She makes me laugh every day, and I’m sure you’ll laugh too when you read her stories.

So here’s to Amanda. My super awesome writer wife. Who somehow made a writing career cooler than being a spy. Only Amanda could pull that off.

Here’s the link to her newly released book.
https://tinyurl.com/piggyliquorstore

Or ask for it at your favorite book store.
AND, it makes a great gift. Hint, Hint.

Congratulations Amanda!

Mike Turner

Co-Founder: Impact Club Boise
Host: Idaho Speakeasy
Collaborator: Value Drive Approach
Founder: Front Street Brokers
Author: Agent Entrepreneurs
Voice: 208-340-8399