Amy Wallen’s NaNoPIEMo cheers on writers while she bakes a pie a day and raises money to support Ocean Discovery Institute where she teaches personal story writing. Inspired by NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month—the internet-famous writing challenge to write a novel in one month, NaNoPIEMo is a pie-lapalooza of fun and excitement as watchers bid on each day’s pies to raise money for Amy’s favorite charity. ODI provides learning experiences for young people traditionally excluded from science due to race, income status, and educational opportunity. Because she believes in kids and writing, and pie is the fuel to persevere, NaNoPIEMo combines all lessons on persistence and believing in yourself.
This fourth year of NaNoPieMo’s internet sensation, Amy will be inviting other authors and scientists to join her for pie baking at Ocean Discovery’s commercial kitchen. As a novelist, memoirist, and teacher, Amy Wallen has quite a few things to say about the writing world. In How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies (October 2022, $19.99), she shares her secrets on how to survive the hard knocks of writing a book and trying to get published—which (spoiler alert) include many obligatory pie breaks. Wallen balances out the challenging stages of the writing process with both sweet and savory goodness, featuring recipes for chocolate pecan pie, salmon and portobello pie, and the best cherry pie ever, all of which will be baked during NaNoPIEMo.
Amy’s pie baking challenge brings attention to how perseverance applies to anything creative or ambitious—from following your dream to publish a novel to building a career in science. Come join us on this 30-day fun and delicious ride on most social media. Facebook every day, and Instagram & TikTok on Fridays. @amylizwrites @amywallen. Come for the pie, stay for the excitement.
