A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Dentist

 

Meet the Author – Terry Hans

Happy crisp autumn everyone! The days are getting chillier, time for heavier clothes and a fire in the fireplace. And what good is a fireplace without a good book to cuddle up with? It just so happens, I have a book to suggest to you. I’m sitting here with its author, Terry Hans.

Terry has a book out called, Laugh, Rinse, Repeat.

Good afternoon, Terry; it’s so great to have you here. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Terry:   I grew up in Buffalo, New York, and attended Erie County Technical Institute’s dental hygiene program.  I completed my studies, took the state and national licensing exams, and became a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH). It was there I found my calling. I realized most people were nervous and fearful of dental treatment, so I began using humor to relax my patients.

I married Harry after college and had two daughters, Tracey and Christy. We moved from Buffalo to Rochester, NY, when the girls were 4 and 7.  They married, and each had two sons. The youngest is 15, and the oldest is now 22.

Me: For the record, I’m one of those who hates going to the dentist. Wish I’d known you when you were a dental hygienist. Have you been writing long?

Terry: I always enjoyed writing but never really got serious until my first grandson was due to arrive. I composed poems and created scrapbooks to capture his childhood. Along came three more grandsons, prompting me to continue developing my writing skills and expand the types of things I wrote.

Me: What prompted you to write the hilarious Laugh, Rinse, Repeat?

Terry: There were so many stories I told over the years that were just so unbelievable that I had to get them down on paper. Dr. Norman, my employer of 25years had the greatest influence over me. His office staff and his family have become like my family. I wanted to capture his mischievous spirit.

Me: How long did it take you to write the book?

Terry:  I started writing the stories when I moved to NC in 2013, but I never really expected to publish them or do anything with them. At first, some stories were up to 3000 words, and I learned with the helpful guidance of my writing group, NC Scribes, that sometimes less is more. About three years ago, I decided my goal was to write this in book form. I procrastinated, a lot. Even read your book, STOP PROCRASTINATING – GET PUBLISHED multiple times, but I still was hesitant.  It wasn’t until authors in my writing group started pouring out novels that I knew I needed to get serious.

Me: Give us a synopsis of the book.

Terry: Laugh, Rinse, Repeat is a collection of stories of unusual events that happened in the dental office; tales patients have shared. I kept things light-hearted and tried to draw out the humor from every situation.  I wrote about experiences my patients have shared and revealed comical occurrences that transpired while working in a dental office. With the assistance of these award-winning authors in my writer's group, this compilation of stories came to life.

Me: Do you have a favorite story from the book?

Terry:  I have a few favorite stories. In some instances, I embellished or combined two or three incidents into one story or have it happen on the same day. The story titled A Southern Belle’s Exhumation takes the cake for being the funniest and most bizarre story and is verbatim. There was nothing I could add to make it better.   I ended the book with this story because you, my dear friend, suggested that I leave the readers saying, “This is the funniest book I’ve ever read!”

Me: And it is! Is it published and by whom?

Terry: Since I really wanted to get the book out this year, I did not even try the publishing route; instead, I went to Amazon and their KDP self-publishing site. It took some help navigating the site, but in the long run, I am very pleased with the outcome. I am so grateful that KDP allows me to change my book content since I found many spacing errors in the proof copy.  I corrected them and then hit publish.  What a thrill.

Me: How can my readers get a copy?

Terry:  The book is available on Amazon, either under my name, Terry Hans, or under the book title. I have book signings scheduled and would love to autograph books for anyone who can attend.

Me: What else have you written?

Terry:  My first published story was in Chicken Soup for the Soul in 2019, and since that first book, I have had ten stories in Chicken Soup books. I also contributed poems and articles for the award-winning book NC Scribes put together to commemorate 9/11, titled, 9/11 That Beautiful Broken Day.

Me: What other interests do you have?

Terry:  I love scrapbooking the old-fashioned traditional way. I have captured the grandsons’ childhoods since before they were born. Now that they are grown, I concentrate on scrapbooking and documenting their sports, including games, write-ups etc. I have always taken a ton of pictures. A cute story is when I took our New York grandsons to the beach for the first time with the NC grandsons, and it was dusk. Of course, I wanted to take pictures. One grandson yelled, “It’s lightning!” The other said, “No, it's just grandma.”

I love to travel and spend a great deal of time away from home visiting friends and family. I have had wonderful opportunities to travel extensively throughout Europe and the US.

Me: Do you have any advice for would-be writers?

Terry:  Just start writing- put down your thoughts. They don’t have to be in any specific order. Editing and organizing can come later, but you will find that you will forget some of the finer points you want to make if you don’t just jot down all your ideas and memories first.

Me: What do you wish you knew when you started your writing career?

Terry: I guess I wish I knew how to use technology better. I now use an editing program and a grammar program to help me with punctuation, etc. I wish I knew that sometimes shortening my stories has a greater impact.

Me: What’s next for you?

Terry:  I will continue to write short pieces for Chicken Soup, but I might just start thinking of the stories I forgot to tell in Laugh, Rinse Repeat. Who knows where this will take me.

Me: Thank you Terry for spending time with me. I highly recommend everyone get your book. They’ll be glad they did.

 

Quote of the Day: I envisioned a fairytale wedding; instead, I got a scene from the  Wild West.  Excerpt from “The Imperfect-Perfect Wedding” in Laugh, Rinse, Repeat.