Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a writer (for both adults and children), creator, and creative inspiration. I was thrilled to be given the chance to interview her.

I love the Howard Thurman quote: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs—ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” What makes you come alive?

I love that quote, Keris. It’s so weird because I was preparing notes for a talk I’m giving today at a middle school. And I came up with this bit of advice for them: “pay attention to what you pay attention to.” I think this is aligned with Howard Thurman’s (way more eloquent) doctrine.

What makes me come alive? Ideas! Travel! Music!

Do you have a theme song?
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life does. Have you heard it? It’s on the book’s website, and also on my site. Check it out! Written and performed by Tony Rogers.

Tell us about Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.
It’s an alphabetized memoir, and was my attempt to chronicle a typical 21st century life in all its typical everyday glory.

And The Beckoning of Lovely…
This is a project that has been brewing on one way or another for 10 years and has evolved in a very organic way, bit by bit, step by step.

If you could ask one question of anyone, living or dead, who would you choose and what would you ask?
When my son was little he said, “I wish I could ask God who invented velcro?” Can’t top that. But if I really could ask one question, I would ask “Will my children all be ok?” I’m not sure if that question would be directed to a god, to a psychic, to a gypsy??

What, if anything, do you yearn for?
Meaning. Maybe not so much yearn (because I do have much of it in my life) but continually striving to keep it there, to compound it, to not lose it.

What one object would you save from a house fire?
My kids could answer this unanimously! I keep what we call our “Black Books” which are these big over sized black art books, blank pages inside. I use them to record their lives, each of them individually and collectively, and just our family life in general.

They’re not at all “baby books.” I couldn’t stay in the lines of that format. It’s just a hodge podge of everything, all kinds of stuff all over the place. They’re my absolute treasure. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I think I’m on book 7. We moved about a year ago and my eldest son (who is now 15) said, “It’s good where you have them now (by our front door) because if we ever had a fire, you could just grab them.”

Your children’s books are charming—what are you hoping to teach with them?
I don’t set out to teach per se; I set out to write what I feel, what I see, what I know, explore what I don’t know, capture what I’m psyched about at any given moment.

What do you collect or have a lot of?
Music and potato chips.

What inspires you?
Music quite often. I do some of my best thinking and writing in concerts actually, on little pieces of paper in my purse.

What books, movies or music have inspired you?
The movie and soundtrack to Once. Miranda July’s work. Finding Nemo. The Contender with Jeff Bridges and Joan Allen. The movie Dancer in the Dark. Anything written by William Steig. I love Wilco, Radiohead, classical music, Snow Patrol, soundtrack to Rent, Liz Phair, and best of all, listening to my daughter hum to herself.

How would you define your style?
Earnest.

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Photo courtesy of Nels Akerlund/Daily Mail

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