Check Out Amanda McCracken’s Story

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Amanda McCracken.

Hi Amanda, I’m so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
When I was in elementary school, I sold greeting cards and books I wrote from my “shop” under my lofted bunk bed. My parents, who still check a draft before I send it to a big publisher, were my best customers. I got my start as a freelance writer as a triathlon coach writing about training for a coaching company’s blog. That was the last time I wrote for free!

While teaching at CU, coaching, and practicing massage, I started expanding my writing to other topics I was curious about or familiar with (travel, massage, dating, Boulder, dating Boulder). More importantly, I asked a lot of questions of people who were doing what I wanted to be doing. I used to be told to focus on something and learn to do it really well. However, diversifying my interests and career paths has benefited my writing and ability to interview different folks. I got my first big break when the New York Times published my op-ed in 2013.

My book, When Longing Becomes Your Lover, comes out with Hachette in 2025. The book grew out of several personal essays I published internationally on relationships, love, and celibacy and my viral TEDx talk. In the book, I use my personal journey of being addicted to romantic longing, aka limerence, to reveal mixed cultural messages about sex and relationships, as well as the neurological and psychological factors creating an intimacy crisis.

Ultimately, I hope to show readers how changing your patterns and reclaiming your agency can result in a healthy relationship.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the many obstacles freelance writers face is getting through the gatekeepers: editors. Sometimes, the problem is finding their email address. Sometimes, it’s a matter of finding the right editor for your topic. Sometimes, it’s getting the editor’s attention without bugging them. (It’s a fine line). I now use my 15 years of freelance writing experience to help my writing clients figure out various ways to break into publications.

Another challenge is overcoming writer’s block. I can’t turn on creativity at any given moment. For me, my creative writing flows best in mid-morning to early afternoon, so I try to protect that time as best I can (which is challenging as the mom of a preschooler). So, if I’m not feeling creative when I have free time, I’ll do admin work. There are several hats freelance writers wear: writing (of course), editing, researching, posting on social media, pitching emails, following up with editors, etc. I have to find ways to balance all the jobs!

Lastly, as a personal essayist, I have learned to deal with the grip of the vulnerability hangover and realize you can’t please everyone (and you shouldn’t).

I appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My writing combines my passion for athletics, communication, travel, and connecting with people.

A few of the places I have been published include The New York Times, The Washington Post, Guardian, NPR, Glamour, Elle, ESPN, AARP, Huffington Post, Outside, Men’s Journal, Runner’s World, Triathlete, Women’s Running, and Boulder Magazine. The pieces I wrote have landed me interviews with Katie Couric, Huffington Post radio, and BBC World News. My TEDx CU talk, “How longing keeps us from healthy relationships?” was a TED editor’s pick.

While I’m heavily involved in the outdoor industry, I also write about tech, medical research, and travel. I’ve written stories about a boat chasing an adventure swimmer across the Caribbean and from a London hotel room on the deadline for the 2012 Olympics. I am comfortable interviewing people in their own homes about their fight against cancer, on a run with a two-time Olympian, in a Tokyo restaurant on the 25th floor with the Tokyo Marathon race director, or on a Quebec mountainside speaking with a downhill mountain bike world champion.

Ask me to describe the décor of a luxurious Aspen hotel or the complex impact a female runner’s menstrual cycle has on her running. I can write in an impersonal tone for a research article on oxytocin or make you cry in an essay about my grandmother. I make mundane academia sound interesting and find the relatable aspects of running blind for the seeing.

My podcast, The Longing Lab, was chosen by the Denver Post as one of ten great Colorado podcasts in 2024. In speaking with individuals uniquely qualified to talk about longing, The Longing Lab takes a deep look at the science of longing and the culture that drives us to long for what we don’t have. The goal of the Longing Lab is to inspire individuals to make positive changes in their lives.

In addition to freelance writing, I’m a writing consultant at CU Boulder, a massage therapist, a triathlon coach, and a competitive athlete. I love eating peanut butter by the spoonful, traveling on a train through France, and hiking trails in the mountains with my husband and daughter. I was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, but after a trip around the world aboard the Peace Boat, I found my rhythm in Boulder, Colorado.

I love helping new writers and speakers find their voices and launch themselves!

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I believe in luck, destiny, fate, serendipity, and God’s timing. All of it. However, I mostly believe in persistence and asking questions. In the world of writing, rejection means you’re trying. Stories I’ve landed in the New York Times have been rejected elsewhere.

My book was rejected by over 50 agents over a period of ten years before I landed it with an editor. I applied to TEDx Denver, got an audition, and was then waitlisted. I applied to TEDx Boulder twice and was rejected. After five years of trying, I got into TEDx CU. You continue asking questions of different people to understand topics/stories from unique perspectives. You keep looking for different doors and keep knocking.

Pricing:

• Writing coaching: $100/hour
• Speaking coaching: $100/hour

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amandajmccracken.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandajmccracken/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmandaJanaeMcCracken
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-mccracken-4716373/
• Twitter: https://x.com/writermccracken
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JqGeP240Tc&t=12s
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-longing-lab/id1606581375

Image Credits
Liv Berger, Tiny Dragon Photography, TED, and Kimberly Coffin