AMANDA EYRE WARD

WHO: Best-selling Austin-based author of books such as How to Be Lost, Close Your Eyes, and her latest, The Nearness of You, released on Valentine’s Day by Ballentine Books. SECRET SAUCE: “Giovanni’s Pizza Stand (2900 S. Lamar Blvd., 512-442-7033; giovannispizzastand .com) hides inside a Valero Mart. We savor the spinach ravioli and penne arrabiata.” ART BREAK: “When I need some calm, I hit the Blanton Museum (200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 512-471-5482; blantonmuseum.org) to stand in the atrium and gaze at Stacked Waters: I feel as if I’m in the middle of the ocean.” SKY VIEW: “On a warm evening, I go to the wine bar at Italic (123 W. Sixth St., 512-660-5390; italicaustin.com) and wait for the aluminum-cased walls of windows to open up, exposing the velvet Austin sky.”