Sara J. Henry's Blog, page 24

Acknowledging that Elephant in the Room

I just read a Sarah Weinman post called "Direct Is The Only Way" that sang to me - I abhor confrontation (remember that Myers-Briggs analyzer) and in the past have cringed suffered agonized in silence. In part, she says:

Empathy is a bitch. Respect is a word I almost never hear used anymore. Anger is a big ball of fire that can be scary. But here's the thing: if you aren't direct, you lose out on so much: honest conversation, being true to who you are, being understanding of why others...

How You Could Help Out a (Very Cute) Dog

My writer friend Christa's dog Butch got very sick recently - it turned out he had a bad infection behind his eyes that was starting to creep into his brain. Yes, they seem to have gotten to it in time, but little Butch's tab ran a tad high. (Note that often "writer" means "staying ahead of the bills but just barely.") So some of us suggested a "Donate to Butchie" PayPal button so we could easily chip in a little to help out. Here's the entire post with details.



Help pay NoirDog's tab!

I Like This Sort of Warning Label ...

From Bookshelf Detective's Kim Tomsic:

WARNING:  "Learning to Swim" is one of those "difficult to put down" type of novels and should come with a warning label smacked across the cover that reads:  This book causes distracted behavior and could make you (1) miss your subway stop; (2) skip out on fun activities in Vegas; (3) volunteer to be bumped on an airplane; (4) hide from your family.

Another Reason to Love Twitter

Yes, Twitter can be a time suck - okay, not as much as Facebook or Backspace, when they start slinging mud over there (yow, it can get ugly when authors and aspiring authors let loose) - but it allows lovely little exchanges like these, which I noticed because I was having a conversation with Roger Ellory myself at the time:





I know Roger well enough that he is now thoroughly confused and trying to figure out what I meant and who the hell I am and why I am in his conversation with Ryan David...

Look, My Book's For Sale on eBay! But Wait ... It's Cheaper to Get it from a Bookstore!

You can now find my debut novel Learning to Swim, in hardback, on eBay. For $24.99, pre-order. Plus another $3.99 shipping. Or, in another listing, for $24 plus $4 shipping.



Never mind that you can call and pre-order it from your local bookstore for $24 and pick it up when it arrives: instant gratification, no shipping, no extra charge for the friendly smile. Never mind that if you want to buy online you could preorder it on Amazon for $16.20, with free shipping with Amazon Prime or if you b...

Soft Fabrics, Bright Colors, Sweet Smells? Don't Think So

Thanks to Adam Purple at Writer, Not, I felt compelled to run my blog through Typealyzer, which suggests your personality type on the Myers-Briggs scale.



It tells me I'm an ESPF, a performer:

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.



They enjoy...

Maple Imposters, Beware of Vermont

On Thursday, Gov. Peter Shumlin said the only maple ingredient in McDonald's Fruit and Maple Oatmeal was extracted from the bark of a bush that is a distant relative of the maple tree. - from "McDonalds, Vermont Settle Maple Complaint," by Lisa Rathke in the Brattleboro Reformer, Feb. 21, 2011

Oh, how I love Vermont. I'm reprinting more of the article below, because it'll disappear from the newspaper's website in a week or so.



So starting Feb. 1, customers at Vermont McDonald's stores can...

Have I Mentioned I Hate Exercise?

I like sports - I like doing things. I love tennis and bicycling and and running and racquetball and tossing a basketball through a hoop. I like motion. I like the air on my face and the thwack a racquet makes when it hits a ball and the blam a basketball makes against the backboard.



I do not like exercise. Lifting weights, exercise machines, anything done in one spot for a set amount of minutes or repetitions. I hate it. (And yeah, I loathed PE, which is a lovely exercise in humiliation and...

Oh, These Are So NOT the Interview Questions to Ask Me

1. Tell me a little bit about LEARNING TO SWIM.

It's a book. I wrote it. It's fiction.



2. Was there any particular thing that inspired the plot?

Yes.



3. Tell me a little bit about the main character in your book.

She's a woman.



4. What's your background?

I'm a reformed soil scientist.



5. What's your writing schedule/habits like? (What's a "typical" day in Sara Henry's life?)

Write like mad, except when I'm too busy or exhausted or have convinced myself I am the worst writer in the...

PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ Up for an Edgar Award!!!

I simply have to rant here that my friend Amy (A.S. King) has just been nominated for an Edgar Award for her (fabulous, wonderful, amazing) book PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ!!!



And she did a phenomenal post over on her blog today about how sometimes your path to your dream isn't quite what or when you wanted: "Now I can see that sometimes, it's not the right time to do a thing. And sometimes, it is."