TN10: Liz Henry, Writer + Editor + Bold Lip Enthusiast

Your Age: 41

Basic bio: Liz is the writer behind the weekly newsletter, Flop Era. She spent six years as a senior editor at Scary Mommy and later Bustle Digital Group. Diet Coke is her one and only true love.

Beyond the bio: One thing no one tells you about being middle age is, you can probably rent a car now. I didn’t feel like I’d made it as an adult until I could do that. It’s seriously one of the hardest things to accomplish. You have to check off all these things—credit, available credit, a license, now spin three times while chugging coconut water without gagging.

What makes you a grown-ass lady?

When it comes to middle age, I’m like a tomato that’s still ripening on the windowsill. So many of my friends, people I know—for a lot of different reasons—didn’t make it. It’s not so much survivor’s guilt, but it definitely drives my writing. When you’re younger, there’s a fire there and when you’re older, you have to breathe air into those embers because it’s just so easy and comfortable to stay on the couch, inside your house.

Here’s her TueNight 10:

1. On the nightstand: My mini fan (nothing gives me more anxiety than sleeping through still air), Anchor & Heart Lacquer's Vitamin Sea cuticle oil, and the two books I’m currently reading: Bad Vibes Only by Nora McInerny and The Wayward Writer by Ariel Gore.

2. Can't stop/won’t stop: I’m a bit obsessed with collecting indie-made nail polish, and watching YouTube videos of “swatchers” showing off new collections.

3. Jam of the minute: I can’t stop telling everyone about Jessie Ware and her 2020 album, What’s Your Pleasure. It’s the perfect disco-inspired record. She reminds me of Teena Marie and Controversy Prince. Start with the title track, What’s Your Pleasure.

4. Thing I miss: I miss the video store and walking around the house with my head tilted to one side, talking on the phone. I miss the idea that life is about interruption: people call, you have to run to the store, movies outside your house. My house is like a pop culture museum of physical media, but back in the day we just called it “stuff.”

5. ‘80s crush: Kurt Russell, but I have to get specific. Kurt Russell in the misogynist classic, Overboard. When he shows off that custom closet in a tank top, little me was sweating. I wrote a whole newsletter about this very thing, The Russell Test of Hotness.

6. Current crush: Drew McIntyre, he’s a wrestler and walks around with a sword—that is not a euphemist. I just love his whole thing.

7. Latest fav find: I love to discover new-to-me writers, and then shout them out because it’s so hard to break through the noise. Acne: A Memoir by Laura Chinn sounds fantastic. Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste breathes new life into the women who survived the toxic men of their stories—Dracula and Mr. Rochester. Delicious, right?!

8. Last thing you lost: My cat. Turns out she was sleeping in a closet, so technically she was trying to lose me.

9. Best thing that happened recently: My husband and I were invited to a Halloween Party like a couple of adults, and that never happens.

10. Looking forward to: Pennsylvania, the state where I live, just turned Blue.  Democrats haven’t had this kind of power in 20 years—our minimum wage is still $7.25.