Dr. Sarah Ivens roots may be from across the pond, but it’s only made her a stronger writer. The Austin-based author (and frequent Austin Life contributor) says, “I write with a mixture of British humor and honesty and American positivity and drive.”
Sarah’s written 10 books! Her first was at 26-years-old and she says, “I’ll never forget the thrill of knowing something I’d scribbled away at on my commute to and from my magazine day job in London was going to make it out to an audience.” Her latest book, Get Real came out August 31 and her next one, The Zen Mama, will be out later this year!
We caught up with her in her rainbow-colored library that also has a nook where she likes to write, and even that has a story. “It was a dingy space the previous homeowners used to house their two miniature pigs and their feed!” she says, “It was a literal pig pen, an now it’s filled with my pens!”
On Get Real Sarah says…
“It’s an antidote to the smug, fake books out there that tell women to have it all, be it all and do it all without really looking at what’s important, and what can safeguard our sanity. This is a BS-free zone. it’s a memoir-manual to help readers increase their self-awareness, their self-acceptance and to ultimately let go of the stuff that really doesn’t matter. There’s lots of useful anecdotes from relatable women and I share how I got through heartbreaking events like a divorce, infertility and broken relationships with friends and family without hating or doubting myself. We need to learn to be kinder to yourselves.”
On The Zen Mama…
“It’s a motherhood book. I’ve got two children – William, 10, and Matilda, 7, and as I was learning to become a mum, and watching my brilliant, beautiful girlfriends struggle with guilt, doubt and feelings of inadequacy, I knew this was a subject I had to research and build a blueprint for. It’s not a parenting book, it’s a mothering book for women to say no, stay strong, and ignore the competition and criticism that so often flies towards moms.
Sarah says each book takes her about a year and her favorite part of the process is, “Being on my own, with my notebooks and my laptop and having hours to get in the zone. It’s almost meditative. I’d still keep writing for my mental health even if no one wanted to read anything I wrote. It’s healing. It’s scriptortherapy.”