Talking to The Sky is Mayo’s first book, which was almost 15 years in the making.
“When my father died in a shocking way at 49 years old, I started writing down memories of us,” she said. “I didn’t want to forget him or the world we shared together. Then I read the memoir The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls and the day I finished it— I started my book. I think I was trying to digest and understand my dad’s death, and at first, the book was about him.”
She continued, “Gradually, it became a different story about growing up with the dream of becoming a songwriter and no one taking me seriously. My most full-circle moment came when Jeannette Walls, the author of the memoir that inspired mine emailed me that she loved my book, and she related with it just as I had related with her story. She gave me an incredible blurb for the back of the book.”
Mayo is a Grammy-nominated songwriter and author. Her songs have spent 26 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, and albums featuring her songs have sold over 155 million units worldwide. “Amazed,” recorded by Lonestar, is her most popular song to date.
In 2004, it garnered an “8 Million Plays award” from BMI, vaulting it into the top 125 songs in the BMI catalog out of 6.5 million works. “Amazed” also won the ACM (Academy of Country Music) Award for “Song of the Year,” NSAI Song of the Year, and crossed over to the pop charts, where it spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Mayo’s song “This One’s for the Girls,” was recorded by country queen Martina McBride, and it went on to be a theme song for the morning television show The View.
She also served as a judge on the CMT series, Can You Duet.
Aside from McBride and Lonestar, Mayo has penned songs for Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Sara Evans, Backstreet Boys, Kellie Pickler, and Boyz II Men, among others.
She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband, acclaimed songwriter Chris Lindsey, their children, and their two dogs.
Mayo exclaimed about her new book, “This is a book for dreamers. That’s what someone told me that read it A couple of weeks ago. I loved that so much because it summed up my dream for the book.”
“I’ve always hoped it would encourage and inspire people to go after their biggest dream, even if it seems impossible. I also hope that my story will empower anyone who feels stuck in an abusive relationship or lost in the wrong life. I want to remind them there is always a way out and to encourage them not to give up on who they want to be,” she concluded.
Talking to the Sky: A Memoir of Living My Best Life in A Sh!t Show is available on Amazon. For more information on this book, visit its homepage.
To learn more about veteran songwriter and author Aimee Mayo, check out her official website.
