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Sara Zarr

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Sara Zarr

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United States
October 03

Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences

Member Since
January 2014


Sara Zarr is the acclaimed author of ten books, most recently Goodbye from Nowhere, and Courageous Creativity: Advice and Encouragement for the Creative Life--a book on creativity for the young and young-at-heart. She’s a National Book Award finalist and two-time Utah Book Award winner, and is the host and producer of the This Creative Life podcast. Her first book, Story of a Girl, was made into a 2017 television movie directed by Kyra Sedgwick. She lives with her husband and cat, Mr. Donut, in CA and UT.

How I use goodreads: To log books I read in a year, books I want to read, and books by authors who were on my podcast, This Creative Life. (Those also turn up on my read shelf though I haven't necessarily read them!) I don't use the rating
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Popular Answered Questions

Sara Zarr Hi! I'm so glad you were into it :) And aaaactualllyyy, if all goes according to plan*, my next book is about Kyra. So, in the same world with most of…moreHi! I'm so glad you were into it :) And aaaactualllyyy, if all goes according to plan*, my next book is about Kyra. So, in the same world with most of the same characters, but with a focus on her. *(It's in final edits now but with publishing I never like to say something is 100% certain!)(less)
Sara Zarr For me, "writer's block" is usually some combination of fear, resistance, procrastination...just basic avoidance of discomfort. Getting started on a w…moreFor me, "writer's block" is usually some combination of fear, resistance, procrastination...just basic avoidance of discomfort. Getting started on a writing session is ALWAYS discomfortable. That is not a word, but I like it. So I just remind myself it's always hard to start writing cold, accept the discomfort, and try to warm up. Which could mean reading what I've already written on the book, looking at notes, or doing a simple writing warmup. (Like writing down every word I can think of that starts with the letter G, for example.)(less)
Average rating: 3.7 · 75,884 ratings · 9,614 reviews · 20 distinct worksSimilar authors
Sweethearts

3.62 avg rating — 18,353 ratings — published 2008 — 21 editions
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Story of a Girl

3.65 avg rating — 17,500 ratings — published 2007 — 31 editions
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How to Save a Life

3.88 avg rating — 15,934 ratings — published 2011 — 26 editions
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Roomies

by
3.61 avg rating — 6,368 ratings — published 2013 — 18 editions
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Once Was Lost

3.70 avg rating — 5,888 ratings — published 2009 — 23 editions
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The Lucy Variations

3.56 avg rating — 5,061 ratings — published 2013 — 20 editions
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Gem & Dixie

3.70 avg rating — 2,345 ratings — published 2017 — 13 editions
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A Song Called Home

4.02 avg rating — 655 ratings — published 2022 — 9 editions
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Goodbye from Nowhere

3.29 avg rating — 628 ratings — published 2020 — 6 editions
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Kyra, Just for Today

4.35 avg rating — 267 ratings5 editions
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More books by Sara Zarr…

Catching up!

I just sat here and tried to remember everything I've read so far in 2023 so I could log it!

I've made real efforts this year to be minimally online to help with some of my burnout issues - it's helping a lot, even if I feel a little out of it.

A fair amount of my reading lately has been genre fiction, but there's one literary standout: First Love by Gwendolyn Riley. It's just so spare and defies i Read more of this blog post »
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Published on July 17, 2023 16:58
Burn It Down: Pow...
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Sara Zarr Sara Zarr said: " I'm through with part 1 and on to part 2, but part 1 felt pretty messy in terms of structure within chapters. I think it needed trimming and shaping, though the content itself was relevant. While I understand the sheer volume of bad experiences is th ...more "

 
Asymmetry
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My Autobiography ...
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by Jenn Shapland (Goodreads Author)
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Sara’s Recent Updates

Sara Zarr has read
Kyra, Just for Today by Sara Zarr
Kyra, Just for Today
by Sara Zarr (Goodreads Author)
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This is my tenth novel and it is out and available! I would give it 5 stars but I know some GR users don't like it when authors do that, so I'll restrain myself. It's a followup to my last book, A Song Called Home, and it's a lot about being 13 and c ...more
Sara Zarr has read
Sure, I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford
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Sara Zarr has read
The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
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Sara Zarr has read
Reclaim Your Author Career by Claire Taylor
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Sara Zarr has read
Seventeen by Joe Gibson
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Sara Zarr has read
God Gave Rock and Roll to You by Leah Payne
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More of a historical account than anything, which I did find interesting and helpful (as I was reading it for research on my WIP). I would have preferred a strong author POV.
Sara Zarr has read
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory by Tim Alberta
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This was a well researched and interesting read, and I'm glad there are more public voices doing this critique from inside the house. In the third section - The Glory - I had a little trouble feeling the hope that the author and the people interviewe ...more
Sara Zarr rated a book it was amazing
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
Whalefall
by Daniel Kraus (Goodreads Author)
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Absolute one-of-a-kind story. Once I hit the middle, I couldn't put it down and finished in an afternoon. I've never encountered, in a novel, such a mix of absolutely harrowing (and sometimes gross thrills) with pitch-perfect family drama. Great read ...more
Sara Zarr finished reading
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
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Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson
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More of Sara's books…
Quotes by Sara Zarr  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“. . .There are certain people who come into your life, and leave a mark. . . Their place in your heart is tender; a bruise of longing, a pulse of unfinished business. Just hearing their names pushes and pulls at you in a hundred ways, and when you try to define those hundred ways, describe them even to yourself, words are useless.”
Sara Zarr, Sweethearts

“Your greatest creation is your creative life. It's all in your hands.”
Sara Zarr

“When the remembering was done, the forgetting could begin.”
Sara Zarr

Polls

What should we read for December/January? Books should be pubbed between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Write-ins are welcome but PLEASE check the poll first!!! Make sure your book meets the criteria for Printz, too!

 
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  3 votes 25.0%

 
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  1 vote 8.3%

 
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12 total votes
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“I’ve said that if you write, you’re a writer. The reverse is also true: if you’re a writer, you need to write. Even if you’re not achieving certain career or artistic markers on your schedule, you’ll be self-actualized or in the process of self-actualizing, and that’s what helps equip you to give back to the world in a variety of ways.”
Sara Zarr, This Creative Life: A Handbook for Writers

“When I’m at my best, my writing identity comes from a deep and quiet place where the noise of approval and disapproval is a neutral background landscape more than a declaration of who I am. Conversely, the times I feel the worst about being a writer are when I’m looking for likes, fishing for approval, or otherwise in search of evidence that I’m somebody, because I’ve momentarily forgotten I already am.”
Sara Zarr, This Creative Life: A Handbook for Writers




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