In 1999, I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail by myself. I have written a memoir about the six-month adventure which will be published in 2025 by Black Rose Writing.

I'm a writer and editor living in Ithaca, NY. My writing passion began with personal journals and short stories as a child, which morphed into a series of mommy blogs after I had my son in the mid-aughts. Nearing forty, I decided to follow my dream and returned to school to earn my MFA in creative nonfiction from Chatham University (where Rachel Carson earned her degree in 1929!). In recent years, my writing has appeared in a wide range of places, online and in print, from literary magazines to the local newspaper. 

The opportunity to work at Literary Mama opened the door for more editing experience and I stayed there for 11 years. I started as a blog editor, moved to the creative nonfiction department, and then became a senior editor. I served as Editor-in-Chief from 2018-2022. During that time I incorporated the all-volunteer organization as a 501(c)3 nonprofit and led several successful fundraising campaigns. 
​Find more of my work there.

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Since 2018 I have served on my County Legislature. I have participated in many committees and boards, focusing on environmental, water resources, health and human services, and government operations issues. You can find out more about the Tompkins County Legislature on our website. (I serve under my married name, Amanda Champion!)

I love trees, mountains, the Adirondacks, and everything in nature, and I spend as much time as I can outside. When not writing or editing, you can find me on a trail somewhere.