Quirky’ writer’s book promises laughs
She’s been called hilarious, odd, offbeat, and quirky; characteristics that have made her columns so popular with readers both in Northern New York and around the country. Now, the zaniness that is Sharie Derrickson is available in book form aptly called "No Bad Deed Goes Unpublished." The book, a collection of her columns that appear weekly in the Thousand Islands Sun newspaper in Alexandria Bay New York, said the project has been a labor of love. “I even have stretch marks from it,” the award-winning writer said. Recently, Sharie's book was named the most recommended book to read by North Country Public Radio (NCPR) listeners during the station's Readers and Writers 2006 Summer Reading List Call-in Show. "I was, like, wow, when there's all that real literature out there. I'm honored. Puzzled, but honored."
“I had so many requests from readers for a collection. I figured a book was a good way to give readers what they want, reach out to new readers, and to raise some funds for those who help our communities,” Derrickson said. “It would make excellent bathroom reading or a great gift for that person you don’t particularly like,” she joked.
“The book pokes fun at daily life and scenarios we all face – taxes, parenthood, slime in your crisper drawer, alien abductions – you know, everyday stuff,” she said. “A lot of it deals with my being so neurotic, especially about my hatred of bats and my fear of rabies and garden gnomes. They’re creepy,” she said.
Derrickson is giving 20 percent of the net profits from her book to local charities and not-for-profit organizations, and is also launching a new "Smiles for Soldier" program that will help provide U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division Soldiers with something to laugh about. It is just one of my kooky ideas that will provide soldiers with something kooky to read," she said. "If the soldiers don't like it, they could give it to the enemy and bore them to death, I guess," the self-deprecating author said.
“This is only my first book. I plan several more in the future, so there will be an opportunity in the then to help other organizations that were not included in this one,” she said. “These organizations are vital to our communities and help describe who we are as Thousand Islanders and New Yorkers. They keep us safe, engaged, and help preserve our heritage. And, it’s better they get the money than the mean old IRS, and don’t get me started on that,” she said laughing. “I might get a nosebleed or something.”
Those who will receive part of the percentage are the Thousand Islands Performing Arts Fund, the Paynter Senior Citizens Center, the Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service, Caring for Cats, Save the River, North Country Public Radio, and local fire departments and libraries.
"There's also the 'Happy Traveler Book Club,' which is where readers leave a copy of my book laying around in airports and train stations and such. The goal is to have someone pick it up, read it, and pass it along to another traveler, and to see how far away the books ends up. Who knows, maybe it will end up in the hands of a dictator and helps to bring on world peace -- probably not, but it might at least make it to Jersey." Those interested in participating can email her or visit her website for details.
"I've been on a very fun 'mini-book tour,'" Derrickson said. "It has been tiring, but nothing makes me happier as a writer than to meet readers. "I can't thank those who hosted me for a book signing enough -- the libraries, the Thousand Islands Performing Arts Fund, the fire departments, Regimens, Borders Books -- all of them have been great. Everyone has been so gracious, and fed me snacks."
The Clayton, New York native joined the U.S. Navy in 1981 where she worked as a photojournalist and news editor at Pacific Stars and Stripes newspaper in Tokyo, Japan, Senior Editor for Pacific Sunday Magazine in Tokyo, and as a combat photojournalist for U.S. Navy Combat Camera documenting military operations and conflicts throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. After Derrickson left the military, she relocated back to her roots where she is a journalist for the Thousand Islands Sun newspaper in Alexandria Bay, where her column, “North Country Quirk,” appears weekly.
She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and the National Press Photographers Association. “I’m also a member of Sam’s Club,” she said.
She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts from Ottawa University, and a graduate of the U.S. Navy’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training program. She received her journalism and photojournalist training from the Defense Information School at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. But, Derrickson said that writing humor has always been her escape. “It is very cathartic for me and a great distraction from all the negative,” she said. “I saw some pretty ugly stuff in the military and I took to writing humor as a way to cope, but after 9/11, I needed to laugh and saw that people needed to have something to laugh about too, so my editor gave me some space for my column. It just took off,” she said. “Plus, it helps calm the voices.”
Derrickson’s column and its odd take on life quickly gained in popularity since its beginnings in 2002 and her readership spans the United States, as well as abroad. “People who summer in the Thousand Islands frequently drop me emails or send me notes saying that they are so glad they have our little newspaper to keep them in touch with what is going on up here, and that they look forward to seeing what nutty thing I’m up to each week,” she said. “I’ve gotten notes from as far away as Ireland, which is pretty cool, even though I’m not really sure where that is,” she mused.
Jeanne Roy Snow, publisher of the Thousand Islands Sun, said that Derrickson’s column is one of the newspaper’s biggest draws. “People are constantly telling me how much they enjoy her column. I laugh out loud myself as I edit it,” she said. “We are so proud to have her on staff, not only as an award-winning humor writer, but as a news and feature writer,” she said. “She is talented, versatile, often poignant, and you can tell from her writing that she really does care about her community. We saw her impressive credentials and her background and snatched her up.”
This past April, Derrickson won First Place Humor Column in her division by the New York Press Association for her column in the Thousand Islands Sun. “This woman is wacky and she made me laugh out loud,” one judge wrote of Derrickson’s columns. “There is an exuberance and creativity in her writing . . . She is a darn good writer.”
This is her second writing award from the organization in two years. Last year, Derrickson won Second Place Feature Story.
Her work is also featured by North Country Public Radio (NCPR) and can be viewed at North Country Public Radio. NCPR Radio Station Manager Ellen Rocco said that he is not only appreciative of Derrickson’s contribution to the station, but also appreciative of her style and humor. “We think she is a perfect fit with the station because she speaks with an honest voice and she connects with her readers because of her observations are our lives, and are made with endearing self-deprecating wit,” she said. “Her unique voice and her humor make for a great read.”
Linda Voorhees, library director at of the Cape Vincent Library said, “Sharie Derrickson's column in the Thousand Islands Sun is a delight. She has a very rare gift of being able to find humor in life's little "oddities,” she said. “When you read her columns you can't help thinking, ‘I feel that way too,’ and all the while you're laughing out loud at the hilarious way she expresses herself. It doesn't seem to matter whether she writes about being the mother of a teenage girl, the long North Country winters, the never-ending battle with Mother Nature or the questionable ‘joy’ of being a homeowner; she captures the universal themes of life,” Voorhees said.
“Sharie's columns are the first thing I turn to when I pick up the Sun, and I can't wait to buy and read her book. Of course we'll be adding a copy or two to the library collections as well.”
Derrickson said that she is a big believer in local libraries. “Not everyone can afford to buy books, but are avid readers, yet libraries are often under-funded despite how integral they are to society,” she said. “We would all suffer greatly if we didn’t have them,” she said. “I just hope that they will now waive my over-due book fees. It’s a good thing that libraries don’t have leg-breakers, or I’d be in a world of hurt.”
Derrickson said that those interested in ordering her her book can contact her via her website, www.shariederrickson.com where one can order it using secure PayPal, email her through the NCPR website, through her main site, call (315) 686-2030, or by snail mail to CSS Promotions, P.O. Box 42, Clayton, NY 13624.
“I can’t tell you how much I enjoy meeting readers because they are what make this job so much fun,” she said, “that and the fact I can do it in my jammies – write, not meet readers, I mean, although that might be fun too.”
Several more book signings are scheduled and other events will be added in the future: “I’ll be in Syracuse and at several locations down river, but I don’t have the dates for those yet, but I’ll keep everyone posted,” she said.
Anyone interested in having Sharie appear for a book signing or a speaking engagement, should email or phone (315/686.2030) Augusta Withington.