Travel. History. And the stories they inspire.
Welcome to Traveling Author Amy! After exploring more than 30 countries and counting, I’ve taken my passion for travel to Substack. This is where my love of travel meets my fascination with history. I share stories from my travels, the history behind the places I visit, and the historical fiction they inspire.
Subscribe to The Wave and come explore with me.
She survived the Titanic. Could she survive the memory?
Two years after the sinking of the Titanic, Nora Osterly is forced to cross the Atlantic aboard its nearly identical sister ship, the Olympic. To save her father’s legacy, she must do the one thing she swore she never would: return to the sea that nearly killed her.
When the Sea Was Still is a serialized historical novel about grief, legacy, and love in the last golden summer before the Great War. From the glittering decks of a luxury ocean liner to the elegant jewelry houses of Paris, Nora moves through the dazzling world of the Belle Époque, unaware that she is witnessing its final days.
Inspired by a True Story
Nora Osterly is fictional, but her story was inspired by the remarkable life of Titanic survivor Helen Ostby. After losing her father in the disaster, Helen helped run the family jewelry business, Ostby & Barton—a role that required her to cross the Atlantic again for business in Europe. In the summer of 1914, Helen found herself in Germany just as Europe plunged into the First World War.
As a subscriber, you can expect:
📖 Thursday Historical Fiction
Get a new episode of serial novel, When the Sea Was Still each week, following Nora Osterly’s journey from the RMS Olympic to 1914 Paris as she fights to save her father’s legacy on the eve of World War I.
📜 Tuesday Travel Companion
Behind-the-scenes articles diving into the fascinating historical research pulled directly from my travels to Paris and beyond.
🌿 From the Archives
Explore my collection of articles inspired by my first book You Don’t Have to Stay: Leave the Job That Drains You for a Career That Lights You Up.
About the Writer:
For more than a decade, I owned and ran my own travel business, helping people see the world. After the pandemic, I stepped back into the corporate world in search of stability. Four miserable years later that ended in a layoff, I wrote my debut nonfiction book, You Don’t Have to Stay. Drawing on my own experience of leaving corporate exhaustion for a life that lights me up, its a book that offers hope and help to anyone who is where I was.
Today, I have stepped into my new identity as Traveling Author Amy combining my love of writing with my love of travel. My travel adventures fuel my writing, both my historical fiction and my travel essays.
Beyond the Writing
When I’m not at my desk I’m usually planning my next trip to Europe, hiking the trails of Arizona, or spending time with my family—including my two beloved cats who have strong opinions about when it’s time to stop writing for the day.
To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.
