Introducing William Henry
More than ten years before I published Clear, Concise Compelling and Endangered Words, I attempted to establish myself as a novelist and screenwriter. I was in my mid-20s, gorging on novels (like The Crow Road...
The human condition / William Henry (fiction)
by Simon Hertnon · Published October 11, 2018 · Last modified September 19, 2019
More than ten years before I published Clear, Concise Compelling and Endangered Words, I attempted to establish myself as a novelist and screenwriter. I was in my mid-20s, gorging on novels (like The Crow Road...
Where are we? Thankfully, we’re at a publishing crossroads. The article below was first published by New Zealand Book Month in August 2008, the month after Endangered Words was first published (with the title From Afterwit to...
Optimal performance / The human condition
by Simon Hertnon · Published September 26, 2015 · Last modified April 13, 2016
Wanting ourselves and others to perform optimally is a common goal, but achieving the goal remains a rarity. Below, Simon introduces a 16-word Optimal Performance framework he has developed through his work educating knowledge workers for Nakedize and...
by Simon Hertnon · Published December 21, 2011 · Last modified November 24, 2015
It’s the festive season—a time to gather with friends and family to celebrate the year passed, a time to toast one another’s good health. Health. Such a deceptively dull word and yet the word...
Fine words / The human condition
by Simon Hertnon · Published September 17, 2011 · Last modified November 8, 2018
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 2010 Faber and Faber (UK paperback) ISBN: 9780571272129 282 pagesFirst published 2005 This delicate story has recently been made into a movie (which I haven’t seen), resulting...
We quote others because their words resonate and reveal, often capturing a liberating truth or ‘bringing light to bear on the dark corners where troubles fester’ (Sydney Harris). At times quotations shock or provoke us,...
I was only 10 when Jimmy Carter delivered his ‘Crisis of Confidence’ televised speech to the American people. So his words were new to me when, earlier this year, I heard parts of the...
Fine words / The human condition
by Simon Hertnon · Published December 14, 2010 · Last modified September 22, 2019
A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks A Sunday Telegraph endorsement on the back cover of this novel simply reads: ‘Perfectly constructed . . . a pleasure to read’, and I concur. I loved this...
Optimal performance / The human condition
by Simon Hertnon · Published June 23, 2010 · Last modified November 24, 2015
Born to Run: The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall 2009 Profile Books Ltd (UK) ISBN: 9781861978233 (UK) 282 pages plus acknowledgementsFirst published 2009 by...
I mentioned in my last post that, despite having written three non-fiction books, my first love is fiction. The very first piece of advice I received about writing fiction was that I needed to read...