How Mary Rose Amoresano Sits Down & Writes
In her debut book, Mary Rose Amoresano finds abundant inspiration in the care and beauty of house plants.
In Plant Inspiration, Mary Rose Amoresano finds abundant inspiration in the care and beauty of house plants. Packed with stunning illustrations and words of wisdom, you might just find yourself buying one—or five—house plants of your own when you’re finished reading this delightfully charming book.
The best part? Each gorgeous page in Plant Inspiration doubles as a pop-out print you can use to brighten up your home. There’s even a cardboard frame included in the back of the book to help you get started, too.
Equal parts bright and whimsical, Plant Inspiration shows its readers the many lessons to be learned from taking time out of our busy lives to care for plants.
Plant Inspiration is perfect for house plant aficionados and novices alike, as well as anybody in need of a bit of beauty and creativity in their lives.
We caught up with Mary Rose to talk about creativity in quarantine and find out the best house plant for absolute beginners.
Q: Where/When do you like to write the most?
It definitely changes with my mood and what stage of the process I'm in. For the beginning stages of anything, I find I like to write at night at home on my couch or sitting in bed. I feel like when I'm writing at night I can get the ideas out, even if they aren't perfect or any good, without really second-guessing anything. When I start moving to the editing process, I like to post up at a coffee shop on the weekend. I think there's something about that atmosphere that reminds me of writing papers in college, so I'm a bit more studious about it.
Q: Do you prefer writing on a computer or freehand?
Again, something that changes with the stage. In the beginning, I always start with writing it down on paper, unless I don't have any when an idea pops up. I would say about 50% of the 'aspirations' from Plant Inspiration were originally written on my phone while walking to work. I transferred everything I had to paper and did an initial edit by hand before typing it out and editing a little more. The part of Plant Inspiration that actually took me the longest was writing out descriptions of what I wanted each page to look like. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest pretending I was an interior designer; it was actually pretty fun. That part of the project I did solely on the computer. I typed up complete page descriptions with layouts so the editor and illustrator knew what I wanted the pages to look like.
Q: Do you need any particular drinks—coffee, tea, etc—or snacks on hand when you’re writing? If so, which ones?
I don't think I necessarily need anything, but coffee definitely helps, and I probably drank way too much of it working on Plant Inspiration. I love a good Dirty Chai; it's such a cozy drink.
Q: Do you find music helps when you're working/writing? If so, what type of music do you prefer for your creative projects?
I can't remember what I was listening to when I was writing Plant Inspiration, but maybe that's the point. I try to listen to things that just exist in the background when I'm actively writing. I will say, though, I love a good Haim dance party in the morning to get the creative juices flowing. A cup of coffee, Haim, and a little 5-minute dance party in the morning did me wonders.
Q: Where did your initial idea for Plant Inspiration come from?
From my plants! I had a lot going on in my life when this idea came up, and not all of it good. I realized that I was spending a lot of time focusing my energy on things and people that weren't really serving me in any way and that were just bringing me down. One Saturday morning I got up, made myself coffee, had a little dance party in my apartment alone, and then sat on my couch and stared at my plants. I felt really grateful in that moment for them. I know that probably sounds so crunchy granola, but it's true. They were something I could put focus and energy into and they would give something back to me. That attitude kind of seeped into the next few days, and on my walk to work it just kind of came to me.
Q: Where do you normally find story inspiration?
I think if you just pay attention to what's going on around you, you'll find that there's so much inspiration everywhere. Maybe it doesn't all turn out to be something amazing, but if you hear or see something and it sparks an idea, you can follow that and explore it for as long as you want and see where it leads.
Q: How have you been nurturing your creativity during quarantine?
I feel a little bit ashamed to say I haven't really been doing this. In the beginning, I really was just focused on staying relatively active and sticking to a schedule as much as possible. As quarantine kept going I didn't really keep that up, but I've been getting back into a routine in the last month. It may seem counterintuitive because I think most people would associate structure with creativity, but I find when I have my days scheduled out, and I wake up early to have a cup of coffee, I tend to feel more creative because I've given myself the space to. I'm not sure I've been actively doing creative things, but I'm trying to get back to a routine that lends time to creativity.
Q: Why do you think so many people have begun fostering an interest in house plants recently?
For me, it's a type of meditation, and I think that's true for a lot of people. Obviously there's a whole interior decorating aspect to house plants, but I think people are looking for a place to put their attention that's beneficial. Plants are a way to shift your focus, and that's all meditation really is. In this case, you're focussing on the plant instead of your own breath, but it's the same idea. I think there's definitely a link between house plants and wellness.
Q: What house plant do you recommend for an absolute beginner and why?
I always tell people to start with a Pothos. They are so easy to take care of, they bounce back if you forget to water them, and they grow quickly. It makes you feel good when you see a new leaf start to unfurl on a plant, and that happens pretty often with a pothos. It's encouraging for new plant parents.
Q: What are you reading right now?
I just finished reading The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn, which I shamefully bought last year. I think my next read is going to be On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong; I've had it on my TBR pile for a few months, and it came highly recommended by a friend. I've also been digging into some of my travel books to plot an adventure for when quarantine is over.
Pick up your copy of Plant Inspiration by Mary Rose Amoresano from bookshop.org, IndieBound, or Barnes & Noble. Happy reading!
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