Stacy Henrie, Author Blog

Last night at book club we were discussing life-changing moments. I didn’t voice a comment – mostly because I couldn’t think of much to say – but I’ve been mulling over today what I might have answered.

I can think of a few obvious life-changing moments: college, marriage, the birth of my first child. Then there’s others that are more personal, less obvious: losing a baby, supporting my husband as he started his own business, and writing my first book.

The turning point, the life-changing moment in my writing was that first book. I’d wanted to publish/write a book for a long time, but the year my oldest was born, my husband gave me some plotting software that I used to start writing my first book.

At that point, I’d never been to a writers conference. I knew very little about publishing and even about writing a novel. I read The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing a Novel (which is actually a great book) and some other writing books and I learned as I went! I wrote the book and I finished it. I became a writer. That was one of my life-changing moments.

What moments in your writing journey have been turning points for you?

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I discovered an inspirational romance author this year who I really like. Her humor, her writing, her stories make for great reading. On a whim, I decided to e-mail her and tell her how much I enjoy her books. Other than the unrealistic hope that she and I would become best friends, I didn’t expect much to happen after I sent the e-mail. A few weeks later I was pleasantly surprised when she e-mailed back.

Her e-mail was gracious and kind–she thanked ME for taking the time to e-mail! Then she asked if I was going to the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference this month.

Of course the answer was no. I looked up the conference just for fun and found out it was in three weeks in Indianapolis. The next day I looked up flights – just for fun, remember. But I kept thinking about the conference and what an great opportunity it would be. When I talked to my DH about it, he said, “Go for it.” (And yes, I thank my lucky stars he decided to marry me!)

So next week I’m flying to Indiana. I’m thrilled (a bunch of the editors and agents from the inspirational market will be there), but I’m also scared. I don’t like flying or being forced out of my comfort zone to meet new people (did I mention I don’t know a soul there?) or unfamiliar situations or having to talk about my books out loud. But I’m going!

If I hadn’t taken the chance to e-mail that author, I wouldn’t be going to this conference. That’s taking another chance in itself. But even if the only thing I get out of it is learning to be more bold personally and professionally, I think it’ll be worth it.

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Last weekend I did something out of the ordinary, something scary. I performed a monologue at our neighborhood talent show.

Acting used to be a regular part of my life. I took drama in junior high, high school and college. I even performed this same humorous monologue (about a mother-of-the-bride who’s daughter won’t come out of the bathroom and get married) in front of a high school auditorium full of people.

But doing acting again after all these years and in front of people I see on a regularly basis really made me nervous. What if I forgot my lines? What if no one laughed? What if they all thought I was weird (most of them didn’t even know I’d ever done anything like this)?

I really wanted to back out – big time. Still, I’d already told my kids about it and how I was scared. I wanted them to know grown-ups get scared too, but we can all do hard, scary things.

So I performed it and the monologue went great! In fact, I even won second place and a chance to perform at the next stage of the competition.

As I prepare to query my third completed novel in the next month, I think this will be my mantra – I can do hard, scary things! Because you just never know how they’ll turn out or what you really can do, until you try.

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As a teenager/young adult I dreamed of visiting England. So after completing junior college in Idaho, I signed up for a three-week study aboard to visit Ireland, Scotland, England, France, and Belgium. Then disaster struck.

I lost my passport right before I was supposed to leave. I went to the airport on the day the group was to depart (without me) and talked to the directors. Once I got my new passport, I would fly alone to Ireland, and the group would pick me up at the airport in Dublin. But I would miss the first three days of the trip.

Being somewhat of an introvert, I was not thrilled with the idea of traveling across the ocean alone. But I did it, and the rest of the trip was amazing.

Was my experience aboard any better or worse from anyone else’s because I came late? No; it was just different. Traveling by myself helped me gain courage for other life experiences to come. And though I only saw Ireland from the bus window, I apparently missed having to spend the night in the least desirable accommodations of the trip because I joined the group later.

All of us have dreams, some of us even have similar dreams, but the way we get there is totally unique. It’s not necessarily better or worse than somebody else’s journey. It’s just different, because it’s your journey.

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Seven years ago, sans children, my husband and I went with my family to Maui. One of the things we got to do was hike to some waterfalls to swim. When we reached the first waterfall, I didn’t go into the water. Not that I’m scared of water (okay, maybe I’m a little nervous about swimming in the ocean – but that’s what Jaws will do to you); I just don’t like cold water.

So I sat on the shore for an hour, working up the gumption to go in and watching the rest of the group having a great time swimming underneath the waterfall. Finally, I mustered up enough courage to wade in the shallow part and then I dove in. Soon after, it was time to go, but now I didn’t want to get out. I was having too much fun!

Sometimes in life there are things we want to do but don’t because they look too hard, too scary, too big, too (fill in the blank). But you’ll never know what you can do – write a novel, travel to a new place, learn a language, make a change within yourself – until you try.

Too often we let our fears (particularly fear of failure) get in the way. The title of a book I read several years ago, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, says it all. Feel the fear, but don’t let it paralyze you. Maybe you’ll write the next bestseller, or turn into an amazing chef, or simply become a better person. You can’t know until you try.

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Here it is:

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