Happy 2022

January 5, 2022January 5, 2022 / Diane Henders / 16 Comments

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you made it into 2022 unscathed by weather, viruses, or discomfort from overindulging in holiday goodies.

Well, maybe a bit of discomfort is okay. As the saying goes, “Everything in moderation, including moderation”. 😉

Hubby and I had a quiet Christmas and New Years for two, but we stuffed ourselves with turkey and trimmings like a pair of champs. And my pastry recipe makes enough for two pies; so I kinda had to make a pumpkin pie and a cherry pie. Two people = two pies, right?

Unlike the rest of the country, we haven’t been plunged into -30°C and -40°C weather, so we’re counting our blessings. But we have been blanketed by snow since mid-December, so don’t get me started about all the times we were told ‘it never snows here’. It’s beautiful, though!

My “holiday” time got a little messed up when my back demanded attention with a loud crack and some crazy nerve sensations. The ensuing trips to doctors and an MRI ate into my writing time as well as my ability to focus on anything other than ‘Why does my spine hate me?’, but I managed to make some progress on Book 17 nonetheless. I don’t know how the back issues will turn out; but for now I’m moving cautiously and not hurting, so I’ll take what I can get.

I hope you all had a happy holiday, and I wish you all the best in the new year!

Book 17 update: I’m on Chapter 9 and Aydan is flying across the country with a man she doesn’t quite trust, to meet another man she definitely doesn’t trust. Let the games begin…

The Christmas Sweater Conundrum

December 22, 2021December 22, 2021 / Diane Henders / 28 Comments

Christmas will be here in only three days, and I have a confession: Even though I hear about them all the time, I’ve never seen an ugly Christmas sweater.

Apparently everyone else has. Everybody makes fun of them. Before COVID, there were even entire parties dedicated to the wearing of ugly Christmas sweaters.

And I… just don’t get it.

I mean, obviously I’ve seen Christmas-themed sweaters, in all sorts of patterns and colours. And (as I discovered when I searched “ugly Christmas sweaters” on the internet) they’re frequently *ahem* off-colour. And educational. For example, I never would have thought of painstakingly knitting a sweater that features reindeer having a threesome. I learn something new every day.

But (excluding the one with Santa taking a dump down the chimney, which was just gross) I still didn’t find an ‘ugly’ sweater.

I have a design degree (though admittedly I sucked at design) and I understand colour theory. So, Christmas sweaters use complementary colour schemes and not-so-subtle patterns; but so what? I still don’t see where the ‘ugly’ comes in.

They’re bright, for sure. Sometimes literally, if you get one with built-in lights and batteries. But since when is ‘bright’ a synonym for ‘ugly’? Is calling them ‘ugly’ just preemptive self-deprecation by people who secretly love to wear them, but fear that some Grinch-hearted fashion guru will mock them? Are our adult lives really so dull and sad and drab that we’re not allowed to break out some exuberant over-the-top colour just once a year?

Or… (this is a distinct possibility) is this just another example of my general lack of fashion sense? Go ahead, lay it out there. I can take it. 😉

But regardless of the Christmas sweater conundrum… if you celebrate Christmas, I wish you a very merry one. If you don’t, I wish you joy in whatever tradition or ritual you do observe; or I wish you the contentment of no celebrations at all. Sometimes the quiet moments are the most precious.

May peace, health, happiness, and prosperity be yours, now and in the New Year!

Book 17 update: I’ve just hit Chapter 6, and things are getting complicated in Aydan’s world already. Stemp has been suspended pending an official inquiry, and charming liar Agent Ian Rand has a mysterious message he insists on delivering in person. What could possibly go wrong…?

Alien Volleyballs And Other Garden Lessons

November 10, 2021 / Diane Henders / 50 Comments

Well, another gardening season has come and (almost) gone. I’ve been gardening for decades, but every year I learn something new. For example:

Never let Hubby start the tomato plants unsupervised. Each spring we talk it over, decide which varieties we want to grow, and figure about twenty plants should do us. Then Hubby plants the seeds in their little cells (allowing a few extra in case of germination failure). This year we had forty-three tomato plants, up from thirty-seven last year. ’Nuff said.

Chickweed is a cover crop. I’ve finally accepted that chickweed springs up to form an impenetrable carpet in the winter here no matter how I try to stop it. So now I’m embracing it. Chickweed conserves nitrogen and protects the soil structure, it’s cheery bright green all winter long, its fragile leaves and stems till easily into the soil in spring; and it’s even edible. Win!

We rarely eat as many beets and carrots as I think we will. If Hubby’s weak spot is tomato plants, mine is beets and carrots. We still have carrots in the freezer and beets in jars from last year, and four long rows of each await me in the garden. Anybody want twenty or thirty pounds of nice fresh beets and carrots?

Pumpkins have a twisted sense of humour. Last year I planted four hills of pumpkin seeds and got four pumpkins. This year I planted two hills and got thirty pumpkins. WTF?!?

“Naturalizing” tulips don’t. They’re gorgeous the first year, smaller the second year, and they vanish without a trace in year three. But they’re so beautiful, I just keep planting them. Some folks never learn. (Other folks buy botanical tulips, which do naturalize. So I planted some of those, too. You can’t keep a good addict down.)

Wet cabbage leaves are SLIPPERY. One moment I was strolling over a layer of discarded cabbage leaves; next thing I knew I was on my knees in cold soggy mud, laughing like a lunatic. Fortunately no cabbages were harmed; and I’ve never been particularly attached to my dignity anyway.

No amount of spring bulbs is “enough”. I planted another couple of hundred crocuses, tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths this fall. That makes over 2,000 bulbs we’ve planted on our property in the four years we’ve lived here. (I need more bulbs…)

I have zero ability to manage outdoor projects. They always take three times as long as I think they will, and something “more important” always comes up. This summer I completed projects I didn’t even intend to start; and didn’t finish projects I’d sworn were top priority. But they all need to be done, so I’m hoping it’ll even out in the end.

Superschmelz kohlrabi is da bomb. I love kohlrabi even though it looks like it was conceived by a green alien with an irresistible attraction to volleyballs. This year I grew Superschmelz for the first time:

No, this isn’t Photoshopped – that kohlrabi really *is* almost as big as my head.

Any alien veggies in your garden?

Book 17 update: I’ve started plotting, woohoo! Stay tuned for regular progress reports starting in two weeks…

This Post Doesn’t Suck

September 29, 2021September 28, 2021 / Diane Henders / 31 Comments

Well, I thought I was over it, but apparently my attention-deficit dyslexia is back. When I first started misreading words almost ten years ago, I figured I’d be doomed to unintentionally discover psychological vomit, lap-dancing, kiss-ass guitars, fanfarts, and killer raisins for the rest of my life.

Maybe I got used to my reading glasses, or maybe my brain finally got its shit together; but my “Wait, WHAT?” moments gradually diminished, and it’s been quite a while since I misread anything. Until last week.

I was skimming an ad for e-books when my gaze snagged on a description that began, “In this absorbing sex bot…”

Wait, WHAT?!?

Some of the sci-fi books I read are a little risqué, and this wasn’t the first time I’d encountered the concept of sex bots. So I ~~eagerly re-read~~ *ahem*… that is to say, I ‘disapprovingly revisited’… the ~~titillating~~ offending text. Much to my ~~disappointment~~ relief, I had mentally transposed the first two letters of the words. In fact, it was a ‘box set’, not a ‘sex bot’. Damn.

(I meant ‘whew’. Honest.)

But since my mind was already in the gutter, it decided to wallow around a bit. I began to wonder: Why don’t we have sex bots?

New technology frequently copies science fiction. After all, flip phones were basically Star Trek communicators; and it wasn’t too long ago that the X-Prize was awarded for a Star Trek medical tricorder. So why not sex bots?

But communicators and tricorders were pretty clearly conceptualized on the show, so maybe the scope of the sex-bot project is too vague. Or maybe the potential consumers of that technology are justifiably skittish after reading about encounters with repurposed appliances like vacuum cleaners, which necessitated awkward explanations in the emergency room.

I don’t know the true reason; but I’ll leave you with a joke that landed in my email this week and made me laugh uproariously. (Thanks, Ethel!)

Hope you all have a week that doesn’t suck… or does; whichever you prefer. I won’t judge…

So, This Happened:

September 15, 2021September 15, 2021 / Diane Henders / 53 Comments

Yes, this really happened. I have no idea why my brain thought it needed to throw out those two particular words this week. I don’t know anyone named Culpepper, and I can’t even remember when I last heard or read the name. I’ve never cooked brisket, or considered cooking brisket; in fact I don’t think I’ve ever eaten brisket.

But I guess if there’s a character named Culpepper in my next book who likes brisket, you’ll know why.

Please tell me I’m not the only one with a brain that wakes me by spewing random words…

Crimes Against Art

September 1, 2021September 1, 2021 / Diane Henders / 35 Comments

This week I’m rejoining my weekly painting group after hiding out from COVID for over a year and half. It feels weird (and a bit scary) to be in a group again; although we’re all fully vaccinated and we’ll wear masks and stay distanced in the studio.

But, scarier still… do I even remember how to hold a paintbrush? More to the point, should I be allowed anywhere near an innocent canvas? I’ve committed a few crimes against art in the past, so art has good reason to be wary of me. But then again, I’ve never really understood what constitutes Good Art, either.

I’m embarrassed to admit I took Art History (among other things) for four long years in university. Apparently those courses were worthless, because I can’t see any artistic value in a canvas that looks as though a house-painter cleaned a used roller on it. But the National Gallery of Canada snaps those puppies up for a cool 1.8 million apiece, and their most convincing argument that it’s Good Art is a snooty, “Well, obviously you can’t grasp the concept.” Very true. I can’t. But there must be something to it, because those two $1.8 million investments are now valued at over $100 million combined.

So how do I know whether I’m creating Good Art or birthing an art-monster that shouldn’t be allowed to live? After in-depth study (and perhaps a teeny bit of hyperbole) based on the National Gallery’s purchases, I’ve come up with a foolproof formula for determining the Value of Art:

Value Of Art = (Bullshit + Snootiness²) × Wealth of Investor × Ego of Investor

It’s important to note that bullshit comes first in the formula, and it has to be linked very early with the all-important snootiness or the whole endeavor fails. That’s why there are millions of brilliant artists, but only a few who make seven-figure sales to the National Gallery.

If they want to hit that million-dollar price point, artists should throw around words like ‘luminous’, ‘weighty’, and ‘atmospheric’, add arcane phrases like ‘perceptualizing the human condition’, and then lay on the all-important snootiness: “Of course, most people won’t grasp the nuanced complexity of this work.” And they need to keep repeating that stuff, loud and proud. Then all it takes is some rich investor eager to prove they’re more cultured than ‘most people’, and an art sensation is born.

Or maybe I’m just boorish and cynical. (Okay, that’s not a ‘maybe’.)

But I am one hell of a bullshitter. So… do you know any rich art investors with fragile egos? If so, send them my way; ’cause every Friday afternoon I’ll be creating paintings that have a whole shitload of nuanced complexity. Positively weighty, in fact. I dunno about ‘luminous’, but with all my bullshit flying around, it’s sure to be ‘atmospheric’. Just don’t inhale too deeply…

Writing update: You may have noticed that I haven’t posted any progress on Book 17 yet. Here’s why: I’m concentrating on the screenplay for Book 1: Never Say Spy. And it’s almost finished, woohoo! So if you know anybody in, or even loosely connected to, a movie production company, I hope you’ll put in a good word for me! (Or better yet, introduce me with an enthusiastic pitch for the screenplay. Hey, I can dream, right?)

“You Seem Like Such A Nice Person…”

July 21, 2021July 22, 2021 / Diane Henders / 34 Comments

The other day I was talking to an acquaintance who mentioned that he was almost finished my latest book (Spy In The Sky). He said he was enjoying it just like he had the previous ones; but then he added, “You always seem like such a nice person, and then I’m reading your books with all that sex and violence…” He trailed off.

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

I guess it’s good to be seen as a nice person; although ‘you seem like a nice person’ is a very different statement than ‘you are a nice person’. But that unfinished sentence sounded a lot like it might be completed by, “…and then I realized you’re actually just a scary pervert, gotta-go-goodbye-don’t-call-me!”

Come to think of it, he didn’t stick around long after saying that, either. Hmmm.

I generally keep a tight rein on my dirty mind and potty mouth when I’m in public because I don’t like to upset people unnecessarily. But then new acquaintances think that’s what I’m really like; and nothing could be further from the truth.

I mean, I like to think I am basically a nice person: I try to be kind and patient, I offer a helping hand and a listening ear wherever needed, I donate and volunteer, and I’ve never once eaten a kitten or puppy for breakfast. Or any other meal (or snack).

But when the wrench slips off the bolt and my knuckles hit solid steel at high velocity, nobody would ever call me ‘nice’. ‘Shockingly vulgar and potentially violent’, maybe.

So that’s my dilemma: Is it better to horrify and repel new acquaintances by letting it all hang out right off the bat? (That’s ‘letting it hang out’ in the linguistic sense, not the physical – I do have some boundaries.) Or should I lull people into a false sense of security, only to shock the shit out of them later?

I’ll let the philosophers decide…

Update: I’ve known this acquaintance for a while, and he has an offbeat sense of humour. He was teasing, and I thought the whole thing was funny. I meant this post to be funny, too; but realized afterward that it might be misconstrued. I hope nobody was upset; and if so, I’m very sorry. I should have mentioned that I was chuckling while I wrote this! 🙂

On The Hot Seat

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021 / Diane Henders / 40 Comments

I’ve done some adventurous things in my life, but as a general rule I play it safe(ish.) So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that I’ve been dicing with death (or at least a painful personal injury) for the past week.

The malevolent heat bubble that pushed our temperatures up to 42C/107F has finally moved on and the weather has been lovely since; so in the evenings I’ve been sitting outside. Our deck chairs are cheap and light, and we leave them hooked over the edge of the deck to prevent them from playing Smash-Up Derby whenever the wind picks up. So every evening I’ve been unhooking a chair, dragging it over to my favourite spot, and enjoying a few peaceful minutes.

No danger in that, right?

Riiiight.

While I’ve been sitting there, I’ve noticed some paper wasps buzzing around the other chair. “Hmmm,” I’ve thought each time. “They must be starting a nest under that other chair. Lucky I grabbed this one. I should probably do something about that nest…” Then I finish my drink and go inside and forget the whole thing until next time.

So yesterday I finally decided to check and see if I needed to deal with a nest. Paper wasps are relatively docile, but they’re still wasps; so I used appropriate caution. I got up from my chair, crept over to the other chair where they were hovering, and gingerly eased it over to look beneath.

No nest.

Whew, that was a relief.

I went back and sat down. But the wasps kept hanging around. Flying under that other chair and circling. And at last realization dawned: The chairs normally sit side by side. They were looking for their nest. It wasn’t under the other chair. Ergo…

Slowly and with dread, I got up again and carefully tipped my chair over.

Yep, there was a wasp nest right under the seat, inches away from where my leg (and some other important parts of my anatomy) had been. And all week I’d been dragging that chair around, sitting down, shifting, getting up and strolling around; all but waving my arms and yelling, “I’m a threat, sting me!” I can still hardly believe they didn’t.

So now I’m torn. After they tolerated my obnoxious presence in peace for a week, it seems rude and ungrateful to smash their home and slaughter them all. But (in a stellar example of applying safety measures after the danger is past) I don’t want to spend another second on, or even near, the hot seat.

I can’t quite bring myself to wipe them out, though. So I guess I’ll be uneasily sharing the deck with them for the rest of the summer. At least I know they’re docile.

Right…?

Critters vs. Me

June 9, 2021June 8, 2021 / Diane Henders / 31 Comments

So, it finally happened: The local critters have ganged up on me.

Last week I had rolled our garbage carts out to the curb and retreated to the house to wash my hands and grab my morning cup of tea to enjoy on our front porch. About fifteen minutes later, I heard the distinctive sound of a garbage cart being rolled over asphalt. And we don’t have neighbours who live close enough to interfere with our garbage carts.

I craned my neck. Sure enough, a big black bear was batting our kitchen waste cart around, about a hundred yards away.

I jumped up and yelled, “HEY BEAR! GET LOST!”

The bear glanced up and a thought-bubble appeared above its head: “Why is that annoying little creature disturbing my breakfast-to-be?”

Since my primary goal is to not die of my own stupidity, I didn’t press the point in person. Instead I got into my car and drove to the front gate, where I bravely honked the horn from behind our 8-foot deer fence. The bear ambled off into the forest, and after a respectful pause I scooted out to retrieve our garbage cart (fortunately bear-proof) and replace it at the curb. But I’m pretty sure the bear was the master of that situation.

The next marauding critters were robins. The cheap plastic mesh we used to protect our strawberries two years ago has rotted away, so we’re constructing a new permanent enclosure with chicken wire. But we’re behind schedule, so the ripening berries are unprotected. I’ll say no more; and simply refer you to my post from two years ago: https://blog.dianehenders.com/2019/06/12/flipped-off-by-the-bird/. It’s an exact repeat.

I wasn’t surprised by the behaviour of the bear and the birds, but the crowning insult of my week was being bested by a bunny.

After discovering that some of our newly-emerged beans and sunflowers had been nipped off by bunny teeth, I deployed a rabbit fence around the garden. I was short on time so I shoved the posts into the ground by hand and strung a two-foot-high barrier of chicken wire between them. It was wimpy, but I figured it was strong enough to stop a not-too-determined rabbit.

And it was. No more rabbit problems.

But the bunnies got the last laugh: A couple of days ago I was striding across the garden with my attention elsewhere and my gaze fixed on the horizon. Moments later I was doing a graceful slow-motion faceplant when the damn-near-invisible rabbit fence tackled me around the knees.

On the bright side, I was lucky my makeshift posts weren’t solidly rooted. I easily broke my fall with my hands in the soft earth, and the only injury was to my dignity. Plus, I made an important discovery at the same time.

Science tells us that rabbits don’t vocalize, except for a truly horrifying scream when they’re attacked. Well, science is wrong.

’Cause I distinctly heard a rabbit laughing.

Anybody else have run-ins with rabbits? Or do things like that only happen to me?

Book News: Book 16 is available in paperback now! If you’re interested, purchasing links are available on my Books page. And Book 17 is swirling around in my brain. No formal plotting yet, but it’s slowly taking shape. Stay tuned…

Hamster-Brain

May 26, 2021May 26, 2021 / Diane Henders / 65 Comments

Well, it’s that time of the book cycle again: The days after releasing a book when the busy hamster that powers my brain is still churning his little legs frantically, but there’s a big sadistic hand preventing the hamster-wheel from turning.

My poor brain-hamster dashes up the side of the unmoving wheel only to plop unceremoniously to the bottom and start all over again, panting and wheezing. I wish the stupid little rodent would just give up and stagger over to curl up in the shavings for a snooze.

But, no. During the day I rocket from one task to the next, trying to catch up on all the things I left undone during the final publishing push. I’m tired and ready to sleep by the end of the day; but unfortunately, hamsters are nocturnal.

As soon as my body gets horizontal, the hamster-wheel in my head accelerates to warp-speed, spitting out to-do lists and urgent reminders of upcoming deadlines both real and imagined. (I’m pretty sure that’s what’s been causing the squeaking noise I hear in my head at night. Or possibly I have bats in my belfry.)

But Book 16 should be released in paperback sometime in the next week or so, and I’ll start to recover from “hamster-brain”. And my usual spring gardening frenzy should ease off in a couple of weeks, too. Then I’ll take some time to rest and let my starved brain gorge on some new reading before I start plotting Book 17.

Which means… I NEED BOOKS!

Any suggestions? My ideal binge-read would be a thriller series with humour in it, but I’ll read just about any fiction if the characters are likeable and it gives me a chuckle. (And no killing off the good guys!) Thrillers, mysteries, cozies, sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, mashups of any of the above; you name it, I’ll read it. I’m not big on horror, mostly because “funny” and “horror” rarely overlap. Romance, women’s fiction, and chick lit aren’t really my thing, either; but I do occasionally read in those genres.

So if there’s a book (or better still, a series) you love, please mention it in the comments below. I’d appreciate any recommendations you can offer! (Book recommendations and/or advice on how to wean my brain-hamster off its addiction to exercise.) 😉

Author Diane Henders

Canadian thrillers with humour and heart

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