Amanda Lewis

I’m happy to announce I’ve joined the new Hookup Team at the Centre for Social Innovation. This CSI initiative connects experts with other community members who are looking for professional advice. I’ll be offering free one-on-one consultations on storytelling and marketing. I love helping individuals and organizations use storytelling to create positive social change, and I’m…

Welcome to the first instalment in my irregular interview series. “Irregular” because I don’t yet know how often I will post interviews, and also because the interviews won’t always follow standard Q&A procedure. Essentially it’s a place to showcase A1 friends, family members, and colleagues doing amazing work. My blog, my rules. First up: one…

I recently joined the board of Charlie’s FreeWheels, a Toronto non-profit that uses bicycles to mobilize, empower, and engage young people. Its flagship program is Build-a-Bike, which teaches basic bicycle building, mechanics, and safety skills to youth. Participants leave the program with a bike they have built, along with a lock and helmet.

Today I attended the annual Park People Park Summit at Daniels Spectrum. This free event attracts City parks and rec staff, park friends groups, and lovers of parks. It’s always wildly popular, and features speakers and stories from groups in Toronto and around North America.

Today I had the distinct pleasure of teaching a private yoga class for Andrea and three of her friends, in honour of Andrea’s upcoming wedding. The class was a blend of hatha, meditation, and restorative yoga, working (appropriately enough) with the theme of love.

I’ve filed the stickies, shelved the dictionaries, and hung up my apron for the season. The office is now closed and I am merrily on my way to the AGO for the Mystical Landscapes exhibit. Because when editors party, we party.

Community Food Centres Canada invited me to write a guest blog post for their #myfoodhero campaign. This holiday campaign celebrates the food heroes in our lives and encourages donations to support empowering food programs in low-income communities. I was delighted to contribute a story about my dear friend Diandra Oliver. Read my post about how we met,…

One week to go… Stocking-ready gift certificates for my editing/project management/consulting services are now available!

I’m happy to see Startle and Illuminate: Carol Shields on Writing, edited by her daughter Anne Giardini and her grandson Nicholas Giardini, featured on Eleanor Wachtel’s list of “books to give this holiday season.” She calls Startle and Illuminate “a necessity.” It’s the perfect gift for teachers and students of creative writing, as well as those who…

Don’t plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me. Choke those little bad days. Choke ’em down to nothin’.