Amy Ammons Garza

"High on the mountain, far away from the closest neighbor, Grandpa sat in the cabin by the fireplace
whittling little birds from Oak wood and telling stories. In the dim light of the kerosene lamp, his frail
form cast shadows on the wall. As I sat on the floor at his feet, I listened to his every word--spellbound.
And now, years later, his stories still live, for now I've become...the storyteller."

Published Novelist: Amy's first book, Retter, A Novel of the Mountains (Winston-Derek, 1988), is based on her grandmother. Her second novel, Cannie, The Hills of Home (Mountain Lights Publishing, 1991) is the story of her mother. Book three, Sterlen, and a Mosaic of Mountain Women is gleaned from her heritage in the North Carolina mountains. A CD of her "Blue Ridge Mountain Stories" has been recorded and is for sale. Her storytelling book, Matchbox Mountain (Bright Mountain Books, 1994) is a book of short stories about Amy and her siblings as children. An accompanying creativity workbook, Catch the Spirit of Creativity, (Bright Mountain Books, 1994) is used as a basis for the creative writing workshops she and her sister, Doreyl Ammons, conduct within the public school systems. Amy's non-fiction book, I Am Somebody, The Story of Tony Queen was released in May, 1996.

(Bright Mountain Books Publishing, 1994)
Matchbox Mountain is a collection of stories told from the heart of a writer and seen through the eyes of an artist. Sisters Amy Ammons Garza, Author and Doreyl Ammons, Artist relive a special year in their mountain childhood, 1952, when they were nine and ten years old, and their brother, David, was seven. Within the words of the book the reader will find children of the land with heartfelt tales depicting a life of pure, honest creativity and its enduring qualities. Over thirty drawings illustrate another firsthand view of the children and their adventures.
ISBN #0-914875-24-8

Catch the Spirit of Creativity $3.50 + Shipping

(Bright Mountain Books Publishing, 1994)
A workbook presenting the idea that everyone is creative and important. Traveling the winding mountain roads of Western North Carolina, two visiting artists found reason to celebrate and honor the children of Appalachia; the children of the world. Based on ten years of successful creativity workshops, Amy Ammons Garza and Doreyl Ammons have compiled activities that demonstrate through participation that every person has a gift of creativity. The concepts in this workbook are simple, yet profound when the children suddenly realize that they have worth and are naturally creative in his/her own unique way. This workbook can stand alone, it can accompany it's sister book, Matchbox Mountain, and it can also be the instrument in a workshop directed toward creative writing and visual art in the public school system. ISBN #0-914875-25-6

Retter, A Novel of the Mountains $16.00 + shipping

(1988) Based in the Western North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains, the book “Retter” is a retelling of the stories Tom Ammons told his granddaughter about his wife, Retter, and how they met, married and how she saved his life. The story begins when at 5 years old, Retter sits on the knee of 20-year old Tom Ammons and eats cornbread and buttermilk. In jest, Tom promises to come back when she grows up and marry the little girl. Tom leaves the mountains to become a gambler on a Mississippi Riverboat. 10 years later he returns and meets the 15 year old Retter. A love story ensues, with Retter and Tom marrying and moving to the top of Cullowhee Mountain, Jackson County, NC. The story follows the trail of the lives of the two, telling of the troubles Retter encounters when Tom, at the age of 39, is knocked off a railroad tressle and almost every bone in his body is broken. Retter saves Tom’s life through the use of a remedy taught to her by a Cherokee grandfather, “Charlie;” With Tom now crippled, Retter takes over most of the breadwinning for their family that now has grown to five children. The story continues with the births of four more children in the wilderness of Cullowhee Mountain in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s...true stories that give my family roots! ISBN #1-55523-092-X

Cannie, The Hills of Home $16.00 + shipping

(1992) When the child Cannie, the 4th daughter of Wiley Owen, a circuit-riding preacher on Wolf Mountain, is hit by lightning, she recovers slowly, discovering her ability to write, and begins a diary...tidbits that run throughout the novel. The girl grows into a beautiful 14-year old and meets 19-year old Frank Ammons. A love story develops as the young man from Cullowhee Mountain is smitten with the red-headed beauty. And then mountain life takes over, when at age 15, Cannie marries Frank and learns what it takes to be a married woman, leaving her beloved Wolf Mountain for Cullowhee Mountain, being in a family that makes white liquor (and drinks it), and then having a child at 16 attended only by her mother-in-law Retter. When Cannie is pregnant with her second child (not yet a year later), the house catches fire and burns completely down. Now, the small family moves to Wolf Mountain to live in a one-room shed underneath Horseshoe Rock, where Cannie gives birth to her second daughter. As World War II comes on the horizon, Frank has to leave his wife and children to fight for his country.
This story takes the reader to another time, to the age of young love and marriage in the early 1940's. It shows the isolation and sensitivity of a girl and how she became a strong mountain wife and mother. Spread throughout the pages of this book is the love of the author's homeland, the Appalachian Mountains. ISBN #0-595-15868-4

(2005) In the tradition and style of “Retter” and “Cannie,” the third book “Sterlen” continues the trilogy of the ongoing saga of the Tom Ammons Family from Cullowhee Mountain and the Wiley I. Owen Family from Wolf Mountain. The novel introduces the reader to Sterlen Galloway, a man who carried a banjo on his shoulder as he traveled from house to house in Western North Carolina carrying his songs, laughter and content-ment. And then he chanced to meet Marthie Ammons, a dark unhappy woman whose sadness tore into his heart. It was only the beginning of a love story that covers the era between 1941 to the blizzard of 1960. All the characters from Garza’s previous novels “Retter” and “Cannie” come into play as their lives are naturally woven into the story of Sterlen. History takes the protagonists through World War II and beyond, while storytelling, the pain of “birthings” and human tragedy, mountain living and love of the land lays the ground work for the love story of Sterlen Galloway and Marthie Ammons. Also included, in the back of the book, is the authentic lineage of the author’s mountain families: Ammons, Owen, Bryson, Galloway, and Coggins. ISBN #0-9753023-2-9

(A CD of mountain stories told by the author) A rendering of family stories gathered by the author. The tape has stories such as
"Grandma and the Panther," The Granny Woman," "Finger in the Fire," "Coon Hunting," and more.