Like many kids from the Peninsula, Amanda Glaze was captivated from an early age by the Winchester Mystery House in the South Bay. Known for its peculiar architecture and haunted reputation, the mansion’s tales about its former owner, Sarah Winchester, piqued her curiosity. Legend has it that the widowed Winchester was compelled to build endlessly, possibly at the guidance of a medium, to appease the spirits of those who fell victim to Winchester rifles.
“On the other hand, there’s a potential theory that Sarah Winchester designed it herself and was simply a really bad architect,” Glaze chuckled. “We simply don’t know. As a writer, that’s the best thing we can hope for because it gives it that what-if factor.”
This notion sparked Glaze’s imagination: What if the legends were true? What if Sarah Winchester had descendants still residing in the mansion, haunted by the ghosts of the past? These questions inspired her latest young adult novel, The Lies of Alma Blackwell.
Set in the fictional California town of Hollow Cliff, Glaze’s book centers around the “Blackwell House of Spirits,” a home steeped in mystery and tradition. The Blackwell family has lived there for generations, turning the house and town into a tourist attraction. Seventeen-year-old Nev is expected to succeed her grandmother as the town’s sworn protector—a duty dating back to Alma Blackwell, Nev’s ancestor, who vowed to keep vengeful spirits at bay. However, the arrival of Cal, a new tour guide with secrets tied to Nev’s past—including the mystery of her mother’s disappearance—challenges everything she knows about her family legacy.
“I’m a wimp when it comes to jump scares and horror, but I really like a spooky, mysterious vibe,” Glaze admitted. Her previous novel, The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond, also explores the world of spirits. “You don’t know who to trust; everyone has a secret, and you’re constantly a little bit off-kilter … That’s the vibe I enjoy,” she explained.
When it comes to the book’s magical elements, Glaze draws inspiration from her fascination with almanacs, herbs, and historic figures often labeled as witches, who were typically midwives and healers. The Blackwell women use charms made from everyday items to weave their spells, with Nev attuned to each object’s unique vibrations.
“I wanted this book to feel like our world, but with a touch of magic,” she said. “The ordinary can feel sacred if you look at it in the right way.”
While the narrative delves into the supernatural, readers will resonate with Nev’s struggle to meet family expectations. “How do you embrace your true self when you’re struggling under the weight of family demands? It can feel like an actual curse weighing on you,” Glaze shared. For Nev, this curse is quite literal. “It was my way of exploring how it feels to grow up with those kinds of family expectations and how young people can navigate them to embrace their own life paths,” she added.
Nev’s loyal feline companion, Tabitha, serves as an “externalization of Nev’s instincts,” reflecting her internal conflict between trusting her gut and adhering to what she’s been taught. “Animals can sense things on a level that humans can’t,” Glaze noted, often writing with her own two cats nearby. She also wanted to incorporate an element of joy into a story that addresses darker themes. “For me, that’s cats.”
Glaze never anticipated becoming an author, but her lifelong love for books laid the groundwork. A self-proclaimed “theater kid” from Los Altos, she cherished participating in plays with Los Altos Youth Theater, particularly those based on literary works. “I played heroines like Jo March, Mary Lennox, Jane Eyre, and Anne Shirley. The book writer was already emerging; I just didn’t realize it,” she reflected.
As a teenager, she worked at Linden Tree Books, where she gained confidence in reading and engaging with customers. “That experience stayed with me,” she said, expressing gratitude to the store’s former owners for their encouragement. “I’ve always loved recommending young adult and middle-grade books.”
Glaze went on to attend UCLA, studying theater with a focus on directing. There, she discovered her talent for collaborating with new playwrights, helping them bring their stories to life. Her career eventually led her to the film and television industry, where she worked as a producer on projects like The Big Sick and Emmy-winning documentaries The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling and George Carlin’s American Dream.
“To be a producer requires a specific skill set, as you filter your opinions through various lenses,” she explained. However, she began to feel disconnected from her own creative voice. “I asked myself, ‘What would I do?’ I had lost touch with that as a creative person.”
Determined to explore storytelling on her own terms, Glaze began taking weekend writing classes for fun, which ignited her passion for writing. She later pursued an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Hamline University. Encouraged by friends, she submitted what would become her debut novel to agents, marking the start of her writing journey.
For her next project, Glaze is researching a story set in the United Kingdom during the Dark Ages, which she describes as “a witchy, feminist Arthurian tale.”
Returning to Linden Tree as an author to celebrate the releases of her books has been one of the most rewarding experiences. “It was incredibly special to go back and see the booksellers I had worked with who remembered me; it felt like a full-circle moment,” she said.
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