When things get silent around here, it means that big things are cooking. Uncork the champagne! It's time for a few announcements in the Henrysphere!

* A pro-edit version of The Homeschoolers: The Ballad of Squirtina will be available within the next two days. The kinks are out, people. The sky is the limit!

* And now that a very skilled editor has gotten her mitts on my manuscript, it's time for print publication! At last! Within the next two days, you'll be able to purchase print copies on Amazon and eventually from distributors across the globe. Buy a few and stuff some stockings this holiday season!

* A spectacular blog tour is in the works! I'm planning all kinds of goodies, surprises and fun stuff for this tour, along with my wonderful blog tour organizer, Holly. These bloggers and their readers are in for the full Henry Circle experience! And here's the tour banner. Pretty, isn't it?


* To celebrate all these happenings, !!!!!!!!!!Wednesday will be the start of a week long price drop in the Kindle version ofThe Homeschoolers!!!!!!!!!!

* And Ricky and all The Homeschoolers are about to make a much awaited re-appearance in a raucously, funny new story, "A Very Ricky Sunday." It's complete and about to roll out onto your e-readers!

* That's just what I can reveal. You won't believe all the amazing things cooking for your old Henry here. I'll tell you all as soon as I can!  Now, go have a good week!

Last chance to get The Homeschoolers: Ballad of Squirtina for free. This is my final free promotion for the book so I hope you get a chance to grab it for nada.  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RH0R2Y


And my blogger blog has been commandeered by Ricky. (Say it ain't so! Can he even read?) http://henrycircle.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-word-from-ricky.html

And in personal news, I am now on the NY Times best sellers list, and I made my first million. I have been picked up by a major publishing company. I'm an overnight sensation! No.. that didn't happen. I sent out press releases that went to spam folders. Ads nobody viewed. Joined forums full of other writers trying to push their own books. Got suspended on twitter for following too many people. When will I give up? I have only been promoting for 2 weeks, but I've already set a "give up" date for my book. I will quit on the 22nd of... NEVER! lol. 

Grab onto to my coattails, my lovelies because Henry is heading straight for the top. I know I'll see all my talented hard-working readers right at the summit! We'll never quit on our dreams! Now, pep talk done. Have a great week!!!!!!!

I change book covers like I change nail polish. Today, I'm feeling pink. As much as I loved the prior cover, I opted for something simpler this time around. Like it?

And tomorrow is a new promotion day, but it's not lasting long so get The Homeschoolers while it's free. Once I get all famous, the price is libel to get jacked up. This way you can say you were introduced to Henry Circle's work way back when she wasn't anything but a novice, giving her book away on Amazon! 
I guarantee that you will get more than one or two chuckles out of this novel. If you aren't one of the lucky ones that get in on the promotion, I suggest you put your $2.99 on the line. Laughter adds years to your life. and laugh, you will! Consider it a personal investment! 

Thanks for stopping by today And please, take the time time to send a few kind words my way on the review page for Amazon. Your Henry would sure appreciate it. Hope you're having a good day. I'm sending much love and good thoughts your way.  -Henry

I've had a few questions about whose hands are on the cover. Not mine! I have sad, chewed up nails and, sprouting hang nails everywhere. And hands that manage to be chapped and flaky, despite the fact that I rarely dip a finger in dish water. My sister was kind enough to be my model. She even shaved her knuckles for me!  I'm lucky to have such a swell kid sister!

I wanted The Homeschoolers book cover to convey the youthfulness and quirkiness of the characters and various elements of the plot. I was a doodle queen in high school so I thought I'd put a little of the old magic on my book. I was pleased with the doodly, girly and less than polished appearance of the art work. Look at the cover again after reading The Homeschoolers. Can't you just see Christina drawing out the page

     While Sunny may sound too sappy, too innocent (even to the point of being one dimensional) to be inspired by a real character, let me tell you, Sunny lives and breathes out there in the world. Unlike the character of Ricky, who is actually based on multiple individuals (yes, with one in particular. See previous post), Sunny's character was someone I knew well in childhood. The wispy blonde hair, the thin frame, the long skirts, the religious-devoutness and sincerity all come from one girl that I actually knew. She always had a kind word or a little gift for me. Maybe I mythologized her innocence over the years, but as I recall, she was Sunny to a "T". I wondered for many years what became of this dreamy, generous little soul. I sort of suspected she might have married a preacher, or become a church missionary. Several years ago (before I was all mom-like and square), I was at a really slummy bar with friends. We were making small talk with a young lady by the pool table;she was about my age, and platinum blonde with obviously augmented breasts, over the top make up, and skin-tight stripper clothes. (No judgement here! She was working the look!) Someone said her name, and after the shock wore off, I threw my arms around her. She wasn't -let me just put this bluntly- a holy-roller anymore, but she was still just as sweet. I like that her life went on an unpredictable course. Surprises make life delicious! I think I might like to see Sunny go down an unexpected road or two in the series someday. We'll see!

      It seems more people than not have had some experience with a school bully. I'm certainly no exception. Initially, it was one particular boy that inspired the Ricky character, though he took on the personalities of several interesting young men I've met over the years as I became involved in character-development. Everyone knows a Ricky. This proto-Ricky, really did torment me in junior high and one year of high school. He sat behind me in most classes, putting tape in my hair, and telling the teacher I wouldn't stop hitting on him. It seems like mostly harmless teasing now, but at the time, he was the bane of my existence. How I hated that boy! He seemed to spend his entire school day thinking up ways to annoy or humiliate me. He eventually joined the masses of drop outs, and I heard he went to prison. I didn't see him for over 10 years. Then, one day, I ran into a friend who was already chatting with a guy I din't recognize. Just a redneck guy. Then, it hit me. "You used to torture me in school!" I shouted. "Oh. I sure did," he said casually, "I recognize your voice now. Sorry about that." That was enough for me. We became what I guess you would call, unlikely friends. He was still the same old scalawag, but I could accept that. During his second stint in the slammer, I met a cute redhead who shared a last name with my "Ricky," but that was about it. This ginger was somewhat of a hipster, very enlightened and keenly intelligent. He actually read books. And lots of them! I quickly learned that they shared last names because they were cousins!  When I married my red-haired fella, I became my bully's family. I became his cousin. My teenage self might have really pooped herself if she had known that!