School visits to the Blue Valley School District in the Kansas City area
School visits near Rochester, New York
School visits outside of Atlanta, Georgia
School visits in Hudson Falls, New York
School visits in Omaha, Nebraska
School visits in the Tri-Cities area in Washington State
Book tour events in Lake Oswego
Book tour in Chicago area!
TOMEcon and school visits in Georgia
Booklist loves Girl Forgotten
In Henry's latest engrossing mystery, Piper Gray is a true-crime enthusiast with a hunger for investigating unresolved mysteries. After learning of the unsolved case of Layla Trello from more than 17 years earlier, she starts a podcast and digs into the story. The podcast is the distraction she needs, especially after her mother's recent death, which led to her moving to where Layla's murder took place. Her new project leads to a sudden rise in popularity at school, which makes her suspicious of trusting anyone, and the suspense ratchets up when she starts receiving eerie death threats meant to stop her work. Readers will be kept guessing throughout, but they will stay grounded through Piper—especially her struggles and her passion for gory stories—as her podcast grows in popularity and people are reintroduced to the cold case. The pages fly by until a final reveal that will leave readers questioning everything they thought they knew about the story.
—Booklist
—Booklist
A week of school visits in the Houston area
YALSA chooses Two Truths and a Lie as a Quick Pick Top 10!
Two Truths and a Lie has not just been chosen by the youth librarians of YALSA as a Quick Pick (books that appeal even to reluctant readers) but as one of the top ten!
Publishers Weekly raves about Girl Forgotten
Henry (Two Truths and a Lie) questions the ethics of true crime as entertainment in this tightly twisted thriller.
Seventeen-year-old transfer student Piper Gray, a murder podcast enthusiast, attains notoriety at North High when she starts her own podcast about the unsolved murder of teenage Layla Trello, who was found dead in the nearby woods 17 years ago. Determined to crack the cold case, Piper enlists classmate Jonas Shortridge to help investigate. As the inquiry gains traction and suspects reemerge, Piper receives an anonymous demand—“Stop this podcast about Layla Trello. You don’t want to end up like her”—prompting Piper and Jonas to believe the murderer is listening. Henry’s socially aware prose, interspersed with podcast transcripts and newspaper clippings, deftly depicts Piper’s altruistic commitment to justice for Layla alongside her critique of the perfect-victim myth (“Her disappearance and death attracted the kind of attention you probably wouldn’t get if you were poor, disabled, older, homeless, or not white”). Sections read, at times, like a “how-to” guide for podcasting, but red herrings, dramatic cliff-hangers, and a growing body count keep the plot suspenseful. Major characters cue as white.
Seventeen-year-old transfer student Piper Gray, a murder podcast enthusiast, attains notoriety at North High when she starts her own podcast about the unsolved murder of teenage Layla Trello, who was found dead in the nearby woods 17 years ago. Determined to crack the cold case, Piper enlists classmate Jonas Shortridge to help investigate. As the inquiry gains traction and suspects reemerge, Piper receives an anonymous demand—“Stop this podcast about Layla Trello. You don’t want to end up like her”—prompting Piper and Jonas to believe the murderer is listening. Henry’s socially aware prose, interspersed with podcast transcripts and newspaper clippings, deftly depicts Piper’s altruistic commitment to justice for Layla alongside her critique of the perfect-victim myth (“Her disappearance and death attracted the kind of attention you probably wouldn’t get if you were poor, disabled, older, homeless, or not white”). Sections read, at times, like a “how-to” guide for podcasting, but red herrings, dramatic cliff-hangers, and a growing body count keep the plot suspenseful. Major characters cue as white.
Amazing review for Eyes of the Forest in the New Zealand Herald!
What a fun surprise to wake up and find this review from the New Zealand Herald in my Google Alerts. New Zealand is a magical place, and the only country I have visited that I would consider moving to.
"The pace moves at a gallop, the tone light even during the most menacing scenes. Bridget is herself a consciously-written trope - the feisty flame-haired heroine - and the author sets everything up neatly, with no unnecessary padding. Eyes of the Forest - the name of both this novel and Bob’s novel within the book - conveys the power of story and how much the world invests in it, and the way in which a writer who has had success unleashed upon him becomes vulnerable to the expectations of his readers.
"This was a wildly entertaining novel, aimed at a young adult audience of those about 13 years old and up, and actual adults who love a good yarn."
—New Zealand Herald
"The pace moves at a gallop, the tone light even during the most menacing scenes. Bridget is herself a consciously-written trope - the feisty flame-haired heroine - and the author sets everything up neatly, with no unnecessary padding. Eyes of the Forest - the name of both this novel and Bob’s novel within the book - conveys the power of story and how much the world invests in it, and the way in which a writer who has had success unleashed upon him becomes vulnerable to the expectations of his readers.
"This was a wildly entertaining novel, aimed at a young adult audience of those about 13 years old and up, and actual adults who love a good yarn."
—New Zealand Herald
Could you start a short story in less than five minutes?
I just did school visits in South Dakota. A student, Elle, took the writing workshop. Students were given five minutes and a list of words to incorporate and their choice of prompts. Here's what she wrote (TBH, I'm jealous!):
Angel was walking down the road, the sky a blur of darkness as the sunsets in the distance. He ignored the way the world whispered for him to turn around, to walk with steady feet into the inky black that consumed the world behind him. He won’t look. Just keep walking. Stay under the steet lamps. The voice turned honey sweet, begging to be believed as it desperately tried to coax him backwards. Just keep walking. One foot forward. Don’t listen. His eyes dart around as the voice gets louder, get angrier. He can feel the darkness get closer. He remembers when the darkness was first discovered. How the news wondered what it was, this dark so black you disappeared into it. He remembers how it consumed his family, how his parents had halted and listened to the voice and all its gentle coaxing.
Angel was walking down the road, the sky a blur of darkness as the sunsets in the distance. He ignored the way the world whispered for him to turn around, to walk with steady feet into the inky black that consumed the world behind him. He won’t look. Just keep walking. Stay under the steet lamps. The voice turned honey sweet, begging to be believed as it desperately tried to coax him backwards. Just keep walking. One foot forward. Don’t listen. His eyes dart around as the voice gets louder, get angrier. He can feel the darkness get closer. He remembers when the darkness was first discovered. How the news wondered what it was, this dark so black you disappeared into it. He remembers how it consumed his family, how his parents had halted and listened to the voice and all its gentle coaxing.
High praise, indeed!
“April Henry is a prolific author who, in my opinion, consistently writes engaging and authentically teen YA books that remind me of those 90s and 2000s paperback series, and this is the highest compliment I can give her as an author. Just as adults still love to read Harlequin romances, I believe that a lot is being lost in teen fiction and in our libraries by moving away from those quick, fun – and easy to carry because they are paperback – series that you can consistently count on for some great escapist reading that horrifies, delights, and engages. April Henry excels at this…A thing that I appreciate with April Henry is how authentically teen her protagonists feel and sound on a consistent basis. I have never walked away from an April Henry book thinking those characters were adults that they just labelled as 17 to market them as YA. And did I mention they are fun and engaging reads?!”
- SchoolLibrary Journal.com’s Teen Librarian Toolbox
- SchoolLibrary Journal.com’s Teen Librarian Toolbox
First school visits of the 2022-23 school year in Jackson, Missouri
Last school visits/events of the 2021-2022 school year
School visits in Georgia
School visits in Texas
School visits in Junction City, Oregon
School visits in Austin, Texas
Mid-Cities Teen Book Festival October 16 in Texas
Honors for The Girl in the White Van
Every year, the American Library Association's youth librarians choose books as Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. The list identifies titles that encourage reading among teens who dislike to read for whatever reason. The list selects fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novel titles. Criteria for these titles include having a high interest "hook," a catchy title/cover, and an interesting plot.
I'm proud to say that nearly all of my teen books have been Quick Picks!
The Girl in the White Van is also a finalist for Ohio's Buckeye Award.
I'm proud to say that nearly all of my teen books have been Quick Picks!
The Girl in the White Van is also a finalist for Ohio's Buckeye Award.
Awards for Run, Hide, Fight Back
The Oregon Spirit Book Award is given yearly by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English to the author of a distinguished contribution to children’s literature or young adult literature that engages and encourages readers’ imagination, discovery, and understanding, reflecting the spirit and values held by Oregonians.
And this year, it went to Run, Hide, Fight Back!
And this year, it went to Run, Hide, Fight Back!
Run, Hide, Fight Back is a finalist for the 2021-2022 Nebraska Golden Sower Award! Nebraska’s students will be reading it along with the others and choosing their favorite during the next school year. Winners get invited to a conference in 2022 (which means it might be an actual, in-person conference! ).
Hanging out with forensic scientists to get new book ideas
I spent the last week in August at the the annual meeting of the Northwest Association of Forensic Scientists. My favorite part was getting to meet CeCe Moore, a self-taught genetic genealogist. When DNA testing became more widely available, she started helping adoptees find their birth families. Then she began to wonder if those same skills could be put to use identifying unclaimed/unknown bodies (mostly murder victims - and spoiler alert, they could). Then she began to think about cold case DNA. Her techniques have helped solve more than 160 other unsolved crimes.
As someone who has been doing genetic genealogy for six years (ever since my mom died) I found her fascinating. In a room filled with scientists, I asked the most questions.
I also got to attend classes on fingerprints (faking them as well as using pictures of hands to identify killers, pedophiles and drug sellers) and document examination. I'm sure the things I learned will end up in my books!
As someone who has been doing genetic genealogy for six years (ever since my mom died) I found her fascinating. In a room filled with scientists, I asked the most questions.
I also got to attend classes on fingerprints (faking them as well as using pictures of hands to identify killers, pedophiles and drug sellers) and document examination. I'm sure the things I learned will end up in my books!
Cece Moore, the famed genetic genealogist, and me.
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Playing with Fire is a Quick Pick nominee!
Every year, the American Library Association's youth librarians choose books as Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. The list identifies titles that encourage reading among teens who dislike to read for whatever reason. The list selects fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novel titles. Criteria for these titles include having a high interest "hook," a catchy title/cover, and an interesting plot.
Nearly all of my books have been Quick Pick finalists—and Playing with Fire is now a nominee!
Nearly all of my books have been Quick Pick finalists—and Playing with Fire is now a nominee!
Sixth graders at Oak View Middle imagined a theme park based on Girl, Stolen
Librarians create escape room based on The Girl I Used to Be
Librarian Barbara Holland, Barton Middle School, (shown with multiple students) with the assistance of Amy Schutze, who works at McCormick Middle School (both in Texas) created an escape room based on The Girl I Use to Be, including recreating the contents of an old cigar box that the character finds. While I was on tour, I got to see the elements of the escape room. It was amazing and kind of surreal!
Foreign rights sold in Russia for two books
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Foreign rights have been sold in Russia for both my 2010 book, Girl Stolen, and my 2020 book, The Girl in the White Van. This will be the 13th foreign country that has published at lease one of my books.
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A deadly serious message: please consider sharing your DNA files with GedMatch.com
Have you had your DNA done by Ancestry.com or 23andMe? In just a couple of clicks you could also share it with Gedmatch.com - and check the box that helps law enforcement solve horrific murders. Thanks to the hard work of genetic genealogists who build family trees back to the 1800s or sometimes even earlier, law enforcement has been able to put the names to both victims and killers.
Here's a video that explains why people should upload their DNA to Gedmatch to help solve unsolved killings.
Here's a video that explains why people should upload their DNA to Gedmatch to help solve unsolved killings.
School visits in Nevada, Iowa
School visits in Troy, Missouri
School visits in Greendale, Wisconsin
School visits in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Article in my hometown paper, the Medford Mail Tribune
For April Henry to write her 24th mystery-thriller novel, she said three things had to happen: Her father, Jackson County Commissioner Hank Henry had to be stalked by gun nuts, the economy had to be awful when she graduated college in 1982, and mass shootings had to become a familiar nightmare in American society.
Her new book, “Run, Hide and Fight Back,” published by Macmillan/Henry Holt, explores the thoughts and actions of six teenagers who find themselves trapped in a mall while a trio of terrorist-bombers hunt them — after blowing away everyone in sight with assault weapons.
Henry, 60, said she experienced terrorism when her father, a former KTVL anchor-news director, served in the 1980s on the county Board of Commissioners and got death threats from the then-notorious Posse Comitatus. They believed no government above sheriff had any authority over them, says Henry.
“They threatened him on the phone, saying they were coming to kill him,” Henry said. “My dad talked about buying a gun. I was shocked. He was a gentle, loving man, and it was like he said he was getting a kangaroo. It just wasn’t him.”
In schooling herself for writing about terrorism, Henry, studied the Posse Comitatus, The Order (a violent white-supremacist group in the ’80s), Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, and a 2013 terrorist attack on a mall in Kenya that killed 71.
About her new book, Henry says, “It can feel frighteningly real now that random mass shootings are becoming commonplace in America. But I started the book in 2013, after the terrorist attack on the Kenyan mall. The 2015 Paris terrorist attacks made me think even more about what I would do in such a terrible situation. Then I gave that problem to six teens. When domestic right-wing terrorists kill shoppers and then take more hostages, the teens end up hiding in a storeroom. They must decide whether to run, hide or fight back. Spoiler alert: they do all three. Think of it as ‘Die Hard’ meets ‘Breakfast Club.’”
Asked if, after her research, she has any advice for us if caught in a mass shooting, Henry says “Follow the title of the book — run, hide, fight back, in that order. That line is from a Texas Homeland Security video, which shows a real workplace and is very scary. Make yourself a difficult target, shove things in front of a door. It might be enough to save you and make them move on. If you have a phone, of course, call 911. If it’s bad reception, text someone and tell them to call 911.
“Be aware of your environment. Register where exits are, also windows. If you have a weapon, know it can be turned on you. They are ready to hurt you. So it’s better to try and find a way out.”
In her research, Henry brainstormed with a range of security experts, mall managers, got a blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and even hung out at malls, noticing procedures around doors and locks. But she didn’t want to interview survivors of mass shootings.
“I don’t know if I could ask someone to recount that. Like, I couldn’t interview a rape survivor. What are you going to say to them, ‘How was that?’ I just read about it, that’s all.”
In researching leaders of terrorist attacks and their manifestos, she came away feeling they were all intelligent, but deluded about reality. McVeigh thought his bombing would trigger a revolution, but “what they want to happen doesn’t make much sense. In my book, they had a charismatic leader, but what did McVeigh or my characters accomplish? Just killed a lot of people.”
In forging her plot, Henry wanted to avoid the oft-used fallback of Islamic terrorists, so, in a twist — a twist is always desirable in mysteries — they’re domestic bad guys, creating a diversion to draw police while they heist a gold-laden truck. This device she “borrowed” from a 2016 heist of $4.8 million in Florida and includes their use of remotely triggered pepper-spray launchers to disable drivers.
Not just her novels but life itself has unpredictable twists, and for Henry, it was the big recession just as she graduated in 1982 from Oregon State University with a degree in business and minor in labor relations. There were few jobs, and her try at labor relations left her with an impression it was “guys yelling at each other in smoke-filled rooms.”
As a result, she took a job as a hospital receptionist during the quiet swing-shift hours and, with little to do, she started writing novels, horrible at first, she says, but by the fourth book, her agent finally sold it.
From then on, she’s sold well. Her favorite is “Girl Stolen,” about a blind girl who happened to be in her mother’s car when it was stolen. Another is “The Girl I Used to Be,” which was up for an Edgar Award, “the coolest of awards for mysteries, judged by other mystery writers.” It’s about the revenge planned by a woman for the killers of her parents when she was a toddler.
Her new book, “Run, Hide and Fight Back,” published by Macmillan/Henry Holt, explores the thoughts and actions of six teenagers who find themselves trapped in a mall while a trio of terrorist-bombers hunt them — after blowing away everyone in sight with assault weapons.
Henry, 60, said she experienced terrorism when her father, a former KTVL anchor-news director, served in the 1980s on the county Board of Commissioners and got death threats from the then-notorious Posse Comitatus. They believed no government above sheriff had any authority over them, says Henry.
“They threatened him on the phone, saying they were coming to kill him,” Henry said. “My dad talked about buying a gun. I was shocked. He was a gentle, loving man, and it was like he said he was getting a kangaroo. It just wasn’t him.”
In schooling herself for writing about terrorism, Henry, studied the Posse Comitatus, The Order (a violent white-supremacist group in the ’80s), Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, and a 2013 terrorist attack on a mall in Kenya that killed 71.
About her new book, Henry says, “It can feel frighteningly real now that random mass shootings are becoming commonplace in America. But I started the book in 2013, after the terrorist attack on the Kenyan mall. The 2015 Paris terrorist attacks made me think even more about what I would do in such a terrible situation. Then I gave that problem to six teens. When domestic right-wing terrorists kill shoppers and then take more hostages, the teens end up hiding in a storeroom. They must decide whether to run, hide or fight back. Spoiler alert: they do all three. Think of it as ‘Die Hard’ meets ‘Breakfast Club.’”
Asked if, after her research, she has any advice for us if caught in a mass shooting, Henry says “Follow the title of the book — run, hide, fight back, in that order. That line is from a Texas Homeland Security video, which shows a real workplace and is very scary. Make yourself a difficult target, shove things in front of a door. It might be enough to save you and make them move on. If you have a phone, of course, call 911. If it’s bad reception, text someone and tell them to call 911.
“Be aware of your environment. Register where exits are, also windows. If you have a weapon, know it can be turned on you. They are ready to hurt you. So it’s better to try and find a way out.”
In her research, Henry brainstormed with a range of security experts, mall managers, got a blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and even hung out at malls, noticing procedures around doors and locks. But she didn’t want to interview survivors of mass shootings.
“I don’t know if I could ask someone to recount that. Like, I couldn’t interview a rape survivor. What are you going to say to them, ‘How was that?’ I just read about it, that’s all.”
In researching leaders of terrorist attacks and their manifestos, she came away feeling they were all intelligent, but deluded about reality. McVeigh thought his bombing would trigger a revolution, but “what they want to happen doesn’t make much sense. In my book, they had a charismatic leader, but what did McVeigh or my characters accomplish? Just killed a lot of people.”
In forging her plot, Henry wanted to avoid the oft-used fallback of Islamic terrorists, so, in a twist — a twist is always desirable in mysteries — they’re domestic bad guys, creating a diversion to draw police while they heist a gold-laden truck. This device she “borrowed” from a 2016 heist of $4.8 million in Florida and includes their use of remotely triggered pepper-spray launchers to disable drivers.
Not just her novels but life itself has unpredictable twists, and for Henry, it was the big recession just as she graduated in 1982 from Oregon State University with a degree in business and minor in labor relations. There were few jobs, and her try at labor relations left her with an impression it was “guys yelling at each other in smoke-filled rooms.”
As a result, she took a job as a hospital receptionist during the quiet swing-shift hours and, with little to do, she started writing novels, horrible at first, she says, but by the fourth book, her agent finally sold it.
From then on, she’s sold well. Her favorite is “Girl Stolen,” about a blind girl who happened to be in her mother’s car when it was stolen. Another is “The Girl I Used to Be,” which was up for an Edgar Award, “the coolest of awards for mysteries, judged by other mystery writers.” It’s about the revenge planned by a woman for the killers of her parents when she was a toddler.
First school visits of the year - in the Houston area
School visits in Sterling, Virginia
School visits in St. Louis, Missouri
School visit in Chicago
For schools impacted by Covid-19
With many schools around the country closed, and more closing daily, Macmillan wants to support teachers, librarians and parents as they work to keep their students and children engaged with reading and learning via virtual classrooms and other forms of remote learning. During this emergency and when their schools are closed, we have no objection to: (1) teachers and librarians live streaming or posting videos reading our children's books to their students, provided it is done on a noncommercial basis and (2) authors live streaming or posting videos reading their children's books, provided it is done on a noncommercial basis.
Please refer to the link below for further assistance:
https://us.macmillan.com/macmillan-content-use-guidelines/
More links
How to help booksellers [http://publun.ch/supportBooksellers]
How educators can get publisher permissions [http://publun.ch/permissions]
How students can access educational books for free [http://publun.ch/students]
That list of stores that are closed to traffic but still shipping and/or delivering orders [http://publun.ch/stores]
Please refer to the link below for further assistance:
https://us.macmillan.com/macmillan-content-use-guidelines/
More links
How to help booksellers [http://publun.ch/supportBooksellers]
How educators can get publisher permissions [http://publun.ch/permissions]
How students can access educational books for free [http://publun.ch/students]
That list of stores that are closed to traffic but still shipping and/or delivering orders [http://publun.ch/stores]
Research trip to Seattle for The Girl in the White Van (guess who it features?)
School visit in Gresham, Oregon (and yes, I was wearing a jiu jitsu top and pants)
Texas Library Association in Austin
School visits in Hood River, Oregon
School visits in Missouri - spoke to nearly 5,000 students
Emerald City Comic Con
School visits to Bloomingdale, Illinois
Nebraska Literacy Association- an adventure that included a blizzard!
Teen Book Fest by the Bay in Corpus Christi, Texas
School visits in Beaverton, Oregon
Student - "I liked her stories . . . she's really cool."
Student - "I love her books, I can't believe she is really here!"
Student - "I knew I would like her because her books are the best!"
Student - "I have waited for this day to meet her for what seems like forever!"
7th grade teacher - "I love that she talked about the process of writing a story. We tell them all the time, but students will listen to her!"
8th grade teacher - "I have never seen a better adult presentation for teens!"
Book tour for The Lonely Dead
Two new books in the works!
Shoebox dioramas in Virginia! (each relates to a different book)
School visits in Virigina and keynoting VaASL (Virigina Association of School Librarians Conference
Excerpts from letters from students in Omaha
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NCTE/ALAN (conferences for English teachers) in Houston
School visits in Houston, Texas
School visits in Bloomington/Normal, Illinois
School visits in Omaha, Nebraska
Now certified in Wilderness Medicine
I spent 16 hours this weekend learning how to deal with cuts (all the way up to amputations), sprains, broken bones, heat illness, dislocations, burns, frostbite, spinal injuries, head injuries... all complete with moaning (or eerily silent) patients complete with fake blood and bruises. I am now certified in Wilderness Medicine. (I'm also exhausted!) It's going to make the book I'm writing in the next six months so much better!
I got to pick my favorite YA for Nylon magazine
Nylon magazine asked 10 YA authors to each name their favorite YA. This was my pick.
International Literacy Association in Austin
Thrillerfest in New York City! (or how I got to meet George RR Martin)
Launch Pad Astronomy Camp
Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival
Known by most authors simply as "Rochester," this is an amazing event with over 2,000 teens in attendance. It was bittersweet this year, because its founder, Stephanie Curcio Squicciarini, died this spring. While I was at the event, I even met a girl, Savannah T., who the same exact name as the main character in The White Van, which will come out August 2019.
The Girl I Used to Be receives more honors
The Girl I Used to Be has been named:
- Winner of the Anthony Award (named after the founder of the Mystery Writers of America)
- To the ILA (International Literacy Association's) Choice List
- Edgar Award finalist
- Iowa Teen Award finalist
- Missouri Truman Award finalist
- Nebraska Golden Sower Award finalist
- South Dakota Teen Choice finalist
- The Texas Lone Star reading list
- The Banks Street Best Books list
- Winner, Oregon Spirit Book Award
- One of the best books of 2016 by Multnomah County Library
- And rights just sold in China!
4th strip in BJJ!
You have no idea how PROUD I am of this fourth stripe in Brazilian jiujitsu. It literally takes me more time to get a stripe than it does to write a book. It is so much work, especially since my partners are usually 20-40 years younger than me. And most of them are guys, which often means they weigh more and always means they have more muscles.
I have never been a natural athlete. PE was the only reason I didn't graduate with a 4.0 in high school. (Just say the words "round robin tennis" or "creative movement" to make me start feeling sick.) But a kickboxing class I took years ago led to kajukenbo. And kanjukenbo led to kung fu, which lead to BJJ (which is like wrestling, plus joint locks and chokes).
BJJ is the funnest, hardest thing I do.
I have never been a natural athlete. PE was the only reason I didn't graduate with a 4.0 in high school. (Just say the words "round robin tennis" or "creative movement" to make me start feeling sick.) But a kickboxing class I took years ago led to kajukenbo. And kanjukenbo led to kung fu, which lead to BJJ (which is like wrestling, plus joint locks and chokes).
BJJ is the funnest, hardest thing I do.
Last school and Skype visits for the school year
School visits in Mt. Vernon and The Quad Cities, Iowa
School visits in St. Charles, Missouri and Missouri Association of School Librarians conference
School visits in New Hampshire
Battle of the Books in Helena, Alabama and School visits in Le Mars, Iowa
School visits in Long Island and Houston
School visits in Missouri City, Texas
School visits in Garden City, Kansas
This was a whirlwind trip to Garden City, Kansas, my first trip ever to the state. After my schools visits, the librarian took me to the town's museum. The exhibits were an eclectic mix that included a crime room (the events described in In Cold Blood took place nearby) and a giant hairball recovered from a cow. But what was really amazing was that the librarian bought a book for every single student. I've done many school visits and never had that happen before.
School visits in Katy, Texas
Ride Along with Portland Police
For a new book I'm researching, I spent seven hours with a cop working in downtown Portland and the Pearl District.
Things I learned on my ride along:
Things I learned on my ride along:
- It’s not unusual to get dispatched to three suicide calls in a single day.
- There are a lot of drug addicts. We saw so many people passed out or so high that they couldn’t even respond to a question. One couple was pawing thorough the grass in Tom McCall park, either looking for drugs they had dropped or just looking for something that existed only in their imagination.
- Hipster or Addict? If you can’t tell if guys with a bushy beard and layers of antique-looking clothing is a hipster or addict, look at the shoes. Hipsters have nice-looking, well-maintained shoes.
- Most addicts are pretty open about using. It’s either heroin or meth, and lately, it might be both.
- Heroin dealers often keep their product store in tied off balloons in a Big Gulp cup. If they see a cop, they’ll start chugging, swallowing all the balloons.
- A rumor has it that car air fresheners confuse drug sniffing dogs, so a beat-up car with an air freshener gets a second look and its plates run.
- A lot of a cop’s job is social work.
- You can’t let down your guard. If you pull over to fill out a form online, people will come up to your car. Not all of them with good intent.
- It’s a hard job physically. You sit most of the time. We got some sandwiches for lunch, but ended up going out on calls for another 90 minutes. Then when we sat for lunch, we only got about 15 minutes before we got called out again.
- It’s a hard job mentally. Most of the people we dealt with were off - on drugs, mentally ill, or showing signs of dementia. Twice we dealt with people who were passed out and appeared to be dead. The person I rode with used to take different routes home to avoid passing by locations where a person died. Now there are no new routes left to take.
Knife-Fighting class (AKA the things I do for research!)
School visits in Rockaway Beach, Oregon
Third stripe in BJJ!
I did it! Got my third stripe in Brazilian jiujitsu! The average person I roll with is a guy in his 30s. I'm old enough to be a lot of their mothers. I've got arthritis in both knees, and I'm not all that flexible. Basically all I've got is stubbornness.
But stubbornness is the key to success in pretty much anything.
But stubbornness is the key to success in pretty much anything.
Count All Her Bones out now
For years, people have asked what happened after Girl, Stolen ended, begging me to write a sequel. And for years, I resisted. But then I got a wonderful, awful idea.
Kirkus says, "The story of Cheyenne and Griffin continues in this sequel to Girl, Stolen (2010). Six months after her kidnapping, Cheyenne Wilder is preparing for the trial of Roy Sawyer, the man who held her for ransom, dealing with her overprotective parents, and learning self-defense techniques from her new bodyguard. Cheyenne can't—and won't—let being blind stop her from becoming stronger. Yet when it comes to Griffin Sawyer, the boy who accidentally kidnapped her but helped her escape, Cheyenne doesn't feel strong. Griffin is going to testify against his father, Roy, which causes Roy and his half brother, Dwayne, to begin plotting. Cheyenne's blindness makes her an out-of-the-ordinary thriller star, particularly when emotions like confusion and self-doubt are shown, helping readers get under her skin.... Readers will be rooting for Cheyenne and Griffin from the edges of their seats."
VOYA says, "Count All Her Bones is a thrill ride, as fast-paced and exciting as the first installment. Refreshingly, this is not a text where the protagonist’s disability is the sole focus of the plot or her character. Part thriller, part romance, part adventure, the book focuses on Cheyenne’s life post-kidnapping and her extensive self-defense and martial arts training, which make for a narrative of advocacy and self-empowerment. Readers will likely find Cheyenne a fierce, female protagonist to root for, and the text’s surprising turns will keep them hooked."
Booklist says: "As with the previous installment, the real strength is how Cheyenne navigates her world, and the extra layer of difficulty her blindness presents. An exciting and satisfying conclusion to Cheyenne and Griffin’s story."
School Library Journal says, "This book offers the same suspense and tightly paced action as its predecessor.... VERDICT Although written as a sequel, this volume stands on its own and should be considered for any YA collection looking for contemporary suspense titles."
Kirkus says, "The story of Cheyenne and Griffin continues in this sequel to Girl, Stolen (2010). Six months after her kidnapping, Cheyenne Wilder is preparing for the trial of Roy Sawyer, the man who held her for ransom, dealing with her overprotective parents, and learning self-defense techniques from her new bodyguard. Cheyenne can't—and won't—let being blind stop her from becoming stronger. Yet when it comes to Griffin Sawyer, the boy who accidentally kidnapped her but helped her escape, Cheyenne doesn't feel strong. Griffin is going to testify against his father, Roy, which causes Roy and his half brother, Dwayne, to begin plotting. Cheyenne's blindness makes her an out-of-the-ordinary thriller star, particularly when emotions like confusion and self-doubt are shown, helping readers get under her skin.... Readers will be rooting for Cheyenne and Griffin from the edges of their seats."
VOYA says, "Count All Her Bones is a thrill ride, as fast-paced and exciting as the first installment. Refreshingly, this is not a text where the protagonist’s disability is the sole focus of the plot or her character. Part thriller, part romance, part adventure, the book focuses on Cheyenne’s life post-kidnapping and her extensive self-defense and martial arts training, which make for a narrative of advocacy and self-empowerment. Readers will likely find Cheyenne a fierce, female protagonist to root for, and the text’s surprising turns will keep them hooked."
Booklist says: "As with the previous installment, the real strength is how Cheyenne navigates her world, and the extra layer of difficulty her blindness presents. An exciting and satisfying conclusion to Cheyenne and Griffin’s story."
School Library Journal says, "This book offers the same suspense and tightly paced action as its predecessor.... VERDICT Although written as a sequel, this volume stands on its own and should be considered for any YA collection looking for contemporary suspense titles."
School Visits in New Jersey and St. Louis
Tour for Count All Her Bones
The Edgars in New York City
School Visits in San Antonio and Texas Library Association Annual Meeting
School visits in McMinnville (Oregon)
School visits in Arkansas
School visits in Omaha
School Visits in Salem, Oregon
more books in the works (as announced in Publishers Weekly)
YAKfest 2017
Why I have the best job
This summer, you attended a teen-author panel with Brian Doyle at the West Linn Public Library. There was a small crowd of about twenty people. At the very back, there was a young girl of thirteen (that's me!). I write in hopes you would remember the girl you shook hands with that day, and how much you inspired her. Since your visit at the library I Have been more driven to complete my blooming novel.I have also started a writing group for other teens that are looking for a creative outlet. I love your books, and who knows, if I keep writing, people may even see my books on the shelves.
School visits in Missouri
Covered by TV in SPRINGFIELD, Missouri
Getting the Charlotte AWard (as in Charlotte Web) in NY
When I was in El Paso, I was interviewed by ABC-Affilicate KVIA-TV. You can watch it here.
Interviewed by ABC-Affiliate in El Paso
School visits in El Paso, Texas & Las cruces, New Mexico
with a side trip to Juarez, Mexico!
Why I have the best job in the world!
School visits in Nebraska
School visits in virginia
School visits, book festival and more in South Dakota
Join my mailing list for sneak peeks, fun stories
and A chance to win a copy of my latest book
International LIteracy Association annual meeting in Boston
I went to the International Literacy Association's annual conference in Boston in July. What an amazing experience! After speaking at a sold-out lunch, I got to sign books with my wonder editor/publisher Christy Ottaviano by my side!
The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die wins Awards in New York and Nebraska
The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die won the 2016 New York State Reading Assocation’s Charlotte Award. Over 12,000 students voted for their favorite book, and it was the winner in the high school category.
I'll be in Rochester in November to accept the award!
The book was also chosen by Nebraska for One Book for Nebraska Teens - which means teens all over Nebraska will be reading it! And it was chosen for a Nebraska Golden Sower Honor book.
I'll be in Rochester in November to accept the award!
The book was also chosen by Nebraska for One Book for Nebraska Teens - which means teens all over Nebraska will be reading it! And it was chosen for a Nebraska Golden Sower Honor book.
Blood Will Tell named to Kansas State Reading Circle
The Kansas State Reading Circle recommends the best children's literature published each year. It says, "Nick may have started out as a volunteer with Portland Search and Rescue, but this follow-up to the author’s earlier mystery Body in the Woods finds him a prime suspect of murder based mostly on circumstantial evidence. Now his fellow volunteers, crush Alexis and her friend Ruby, must work to clear his name and track down the real killer. Nick’s obstacles to innocence include his violent-scenes doodling in school notebooks, a knife collection, obsession with shoot-em-up video games, and the discovery of his DNA at the crime scene. Narration alternates between characters, including the killer, and combines with solid forensic elements for an action-packed whodunit."
Radio and Print interviews for The Girl I Used to Be
I was interviewed on the show Lake Effects, on Milwaukee's NPR's affiliate. You can listen to the interview here.
I was also interviewed by Crime Spree magazine. You can read the interview here.
I was also interviewed by Crime Spree magazine. You can read the interview here.
Tour for The Girl I Used to be
A special visit for a special girl
In February, I got this note:
April, I can't begin to explain how much of a role model you are to me. I love all of your books; especially Girl, Stolen:) Recently, my dad passed away and my house burned down. And I look to your books and you inspire me to finish and accomplish a book I have been working on. I have been writing a kidnapping novel hence you are my favorite. I never thought i would see myself as a writer, and you have showed me that you can do anything and accomplish my dreams. One day I hope to have my book published and I would LOVE to send a copy to you and get your approval. I can't begin to explain again about how much you mean to me and how skilled you are.
Thank you so much
Your #1 fan, Carlie
When I wrote back, I found out that Carlie was only 13, and that just a month earlier her dad had set their house on fire and then killed himself. This girl had lost so much, yet she was sending love to me.
I sent her back a box of all my books, signed. But I wanted to do more. Maybe a Skype visit? But her librarian, Jessie McGaffin, had other plans, as you can read about here: http://nevadaiowajournal.com/news/bestselling-author-visits-nms.html.
April, I can't begin to explain how much of a role model you are to me. I love all of your books; especially Girl, Stolen:) Recently, my dad passed away and my house burned down. And I look to your books and you inspire me to finish and accomplish a book I have been working on. I have been writing a kidnapping novel hence you are my favorite. I never thought i would see myself as a writer, and you have showed me that you can do anything and accomplish my dreams. One day I hope to have my book published and I would LOVE to send a copy to you and get your approval. I can't begin to explain again about how much you mean to me and how skilled you are.
Thank you so much
Your #1 fan, Carlie
When I wrote back, I found out that Carlie was only 13, and that just a month earlier her dad had set their house on fire and then killed himself. This girl had lost so much, yet she was sending love to me.
I sent her back a box of all my books, signed. But I wanted to do more. Maybe a Skype visit? But her librarian, Jessie McGaffin, had other plans, as you can read about here: http://nevadaiowajournal.com/news/bestselling-author-visits-nms.html.
Could you get out of handcuffs with only a bobby pin?
I recently taught other students at my kung fu school, Westside Academy of Kung Fu and CrossFit Hillsdale, how to get out of handcuffs - with some tips on duct tape, ropes and zip ties as well! (Note that our class was not designed to defeat the cops, but kidnappers.
You've heard of a walk of shame? I recently had a walk of pride at a school visit!
School visits in Downer's Grove, Illinois
Deschutes Public Library Teen Book Fest in Bend
School and bookstore visits in Omaha
Library PALOOza in san Antonio
Another reason I have the best job in the world
I met Garon when I was speaking at a high school in South Texas. He told he hadn't really like to read until he read Girl, Stolen.
Why I have the best job in the world
This is Xena! She's one of the reasons I have the best job in the world. Recently her teacher/librarian, Kat Hill, brought her to presentations I was doing at another school.
Kat said, "Xena is one of those students who walked in, threw down the gauntlet and said, 'I don’t like to read and have never finished a book.' Of course I went to your shelf in the library and said try The Night She Disappeared. A few days later she returned and said, 'This was so good.What else you got?' This is a very typical experience. I am not kidding when I tell you your books are the “gateway drug” I use to hook reluctant readers. Thanks for making my job easy!"
And thanks to Kat for turning kids into readers!
Kat said, "Xena is one of those students who walked in, threw down the gauntlet and said, 'I don’t like to read and have never finished a book.' Of course I went to your shelf in the library and said try The Night She Disappeared. A few days later she returned and said, 'This was so good.What else you got?' This is a very typical experience. I am not kidding when I tell you your books are the “gateway drug” I use to hook reluctant readers. Thanks for making my job easy!"
And thanks to Kat for turning kids into readers!
School visits in South Texas and Teen Book fest by the Bay
The Body in the Woods finalist for State Awards
The Body in the Woods is a finalist for the Iowa Teen Award and the Missouri Truman Award. These are voted on by students.
A couple of years ago, Girl, Stolen won the Truman. I received the award on my birthday and 800 librarians sang Happy Birthday to me. Can't get much better than that!
A couple of years ago, Girl, Stolen won the Truman. I received the award on my birthday and 800 librarians sang Happy Birthday to me. Can't get much better than that!
School visits in the Virginia area
What an amazing two weeks! I spoke to thousands of students about reading, writing, inspiration, research and staying safe. I also taught some talented writers who made me jealous!
"Your visit really resonated with my students. I have 990 copies of your books in my library (I just counted!) and every one is checked out with lots of waiting holds. The kids love your work and loved seeing you speak - there's no telling who you inspired."
--Librarian Jennifer Ashby
--Librarian Jennifer Ashby
Tricky, tricky!
At events for Blood Will Tell, I've been demoing one way to get out of duct tape, and three ways to get out of handcuffs, one of which uses a binder clip!
Climbing Mt. St. Helens
Rochester Teen Book Festival
The Body in the Woods wins Oregon Book Award
The Body in the Woods just received the Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature from The Oregon Book Awards. This was a complete surprise! The other contenders had written excellent books, and I would have bet on anyone else but me to win. I wore a dress designed by someone I take kung fu and Brazilian jiujitsu with: Evelyn Bennett.
It's official: I'm writing a sequel to Girl, Stolen
What did you do on your spring vacation?
I took the Urban Escape and Evasion class from On Point Tactical. We spent two days in a hotel conference room learning to pick or shim handcuffs with bits of metal—including bobby pins and hair clips, pick locks (I now own a lock picking kit—and a pair of handcuffs), steal cars, figure out if you are being followed, disguise yourself and blend into a crowd.The last day you are kidnapped, hooded, restrained, stun gunned and interrogated. Then your captors leave for a smoke break, and it’s your chance to escape using all the skills you just learned. You’re given a series of tasks that are impossible to do unless you persuade strangers to help (but you aren’t allowed to tell them the real reason why) (or to do anything illegal). Meanwhile, 10 hunters are searching for you and they know exactly where you came from and where you are supposed to be going. You have to disguise yourself and find food, water, shelter, weapons, unlock locks, make a fake ID, etc. etc.
It was the most amazing/fun/stressful experience I have ever had. The worst for me was having to climb a 10-foot high fence with twisted metal at the top while being chased by a real-life security guard. But you know what? My friend Hannah and I completely avoided detection. We were told by the hunters that we were "like ghosts."
It was the most amazing/fun/stressful experience I have ever had. The worst for me was having to climb a 10-foot high fence with twisted metal at the top while being chased by a real-life security guard. But you know what? My friend Hannah and I completely avoided detection. We were told by the hunters that we were "like ghosts."
Can you help me find Clem and SLY?
A cashier in Cummings, GA (she is an as-yet unpublished writer) posted this on Twitter. It’s a five dollar bill that’s been written on. On one side, it says, “Clem, use this to buy me Girl, Stolen by April Henry. PS If there is change, but another bargain book. Love you SLY. On the reverse it says, “Don’t forget, Clem!!"
Someone forwarded the woman's tweet to me, and I connected up with her and she sent me the $5 bill. I would love to find Clem and SLY (or possibly Sly - she writes mostly in ALL CAPS) and give them some books, and give their school library some books, too. And if you can help me get in touch with Clem and SLY there's a book or two for you in it, too.
Someone forwarded the woman's tweet to me, and I connected up with her and she sent me the $5 bill. I would love to find Clem and SLY (or possibly Sly - she writes mostly in ALL CAPS) and give them some books, and give their school library some books, too. And if you can help me get in touch with Clem and SLY there's a book or two for you in it, too.
Reporter Jenny Hannson from KOIN-TV came by the house with cameraman Ole to interview me about my search for Clem and SLY. Look for the piece to air Friday, February 20.
"A star, a star, shining in the sky"
I've been humming that little bit of melody ever since I learned that my next book with Lis Wiehl, Lethal Beauty, has been give a star by Library Journal. "Fans of J.D. Robb's Lt. Eve Dallas or The Closer's Brenda Leigh Johnson will appreciate strong female protagonist Quinn. In addressing the tough social issues of sex trafficking and domestic slavery in sometimes graphic detail, the best-selling coauthors combine skillfully multiple story lines with realistic characters and a palpable tension that keep the pages turning. The spiritual message is subtle: evil is everywhere, but where there is faith and people willing to fight for what is right, good will prevail."
CBA Retailers + Resources says it "Has all of the elements of a top notch mystery: missing witnesses, jury tampering, and a parent who tries to take justice into her own hands.”
Publishers Weekly called it, "page-turning," and says "The book moves effortlessly from one interesting character to another."
And Romantic Times says, "Takes the action and intrigue up another notch."
CBA Retailers + Resources says it "Has all of the elements of a top notch mystery: missing witnesses, jury tampering, and a parent who tries to take justice into her own hands.”
Publishers Weekly called it, "page-turning," and says "The book moves effortlessly from one interesting character to another."
And Romantic Times says, "Takes the action and intrigue up another notch."
My gorgeous interior design
I'm so excited to share my new book cover and interior pages with you. It's for Blood Will Tell, the second in my Point Last Seen series. When a woman’s body is found in a Portland park, suspicion falls on an awkward kid who lives only a few blocks away, a teen who collects knives, loves first-person shooter video games, and obsessively doodles violent scenes in his school notebooks. Nick Walker goes from being a member of Portland’s Search and Rescue team to the prime suspect in a murder, his very interest in SAR seen as proof of his fascination with violence. Then Nick's DNA turns up on the victim. How is this even possible? And can his SAR friends Alexis Frost and Ruby McClure find a way to help clear his name before its too late?
The series was inspired by the the real-life Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue, which is a teen-led group that not only rescues people lost in the wilderness, but also does crime scene evidence recovery for local law enforcement. This particular book was inspired by two real life cases where innocent people ended up in jail after coincidences were seen as clear-cut evidence. One involved a person's behavior, the other DNA.
The series was inspired by the the real-life Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue, which is a teen-led group that not only rescues people lost in the wilderness, but also does crime scene evidence recovery for local law enforcement. This particular book was inspired by two real life cases where innocent people ended up in jail after coincidences were seen as clear-cut evidence. One involved a person's behavior, the other DNA.
My Zombies, Run! mission is live!
I love all things zombie. 28 Day Later. 28 Weeks Later. The great book The Girl With All the Gifts. I've been a fan of The Walking Dead since the first TV show aired. And I love, love, love Zombies, Run! It's a phone app that lets you run for your life from a horde of zombies. You can use it walking or on a treadmill, but I use it to run. You listen to a story line that's interspersed with your own music. My favorite part is that you can turn on zombie chases which require you to run 20% faster for a full minute or the zombies close in.
I was listening to a mission a few months ago. The game is set in and taped in England, and in this episode, they had made contact with some survivors in Canada. The radio operator said that pre-zombie-apoloypse she had been a writer and poet. Then she identified herself as Margaret Atwood, which made me laugh out loud in the middle of my early morning dead-quiet neighborhood. I just figured Margaret Atwood was enough in the public eye the writers felt they could borrow her, but the more the person "playing" Margaret Atwood talked, the more I thought it was actually her. I went home and Googled it and it was her!
So I tweeted about it and Naomi Alderman, the co-creator and lead writer for Zombies, Run (and also a novelist, which is how she knows Atwood) replied and asked me if I would like to write an episode. You can see how long I took to think about it.
Now my mission, Love is a Stranger, is live. It's number 43 in the third season! You can hear a little taste above. For reference, Janine is very staid, and Sam, the radio operator, is not.
I was listening to a mission a few months ago. The game is set in and taped in England, and in this episode, they had made contact with some survivors in Canada. The radio operator said that pre-zombie-apoloypse she had been a writer and poet. Then she identified herself as Margaret Atwood, which made me laugh out loud in the middle of my early morning dead-quiet neighborhood. I just figured Margaret Atwood was enough in the public eye the writers felt they could borrow her, but the more the person "playing" Margaret Atwood talked, the more I thought it was actually her. I went home and Googled it and it was her!
So I tweeted about it and Naomi Alderman, the co-creator and lead writer for Zombies, Run (and also a novelist, which is how she knows Atwood) replied and asked me if I would like to write an episode. You can see how long I took to think about it.
Now my mission, Love is a Stranger, is live. It's number 43 in the third season! You can hear a little taste above. For reference, Janine is very staid, and Sam, the radio operator, is not.
News
Girl, Stolen named to national Ireland reading list
A teacher in Ireland just informed me that Girl, Stolen is on the national list of just 20 books recommended for teens in the first year of the Junior Cycle. Other authors: Neil Gaiman, Gary Paulsen, Eoin Colfer, and some guy named JRR Tolkein.
The Writers Police Academy - the Mystery Writer's Summer Camp
I just got back from The Writers Police Academy, the fourth one I've attended since it began five years ago. It's pretty much the most fun you can have, at least if you'e a mystery writer.
I like shiny things
Sold a new book: the Girl I used to be
Fall 2013 - Spring 2014
- I accepted Missouri's Truman Award for Girl, Stolen on my birthday! Eight-hundred librarians sang Happy Birthday to me.
- Girl, Stolen has been named to the Iowa Teen Award list.
- Girl, Stolen has been optioned for film/TV by Jerry Leider and Dean Hargrove.
- Girl, Stolen was the #1 Scholastic teen bestseller in September 2013. The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die was #3. In November, Girl, Stolen was #5.
- Over in England, book groups read Girl, Stolen to raise money for the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
- The Night She Disappeared is on Oklahoma's 2015 Sequoyah Master List.
- The Night She Disappeared is short-listed for Missouri's Gateway Award.
An hour of April
You can listen to an hour-long interview with me on KRUU-FM here.
My day spent with a Portland Criminalist
The Night She Disappeared wins Oregon Spirt Honor Award
What I did on my summer vacation
Training alongside cops, I learned how to fight back in enclosed spaces against knives, guns, garrotes, and even plastic bags! See more here.
Writers Police Academy - The Mystery Writers Summer Camp
Held once a year on the site of an actual police academy, the Writers Police Academy (www.writerspoliceacademy.com) is one of a kind. This year's instructors included people who are or have been: Secret Service Agents, FBI agents, ATF agents, DEA agents, homicide detectives, prostitution decoys, arson investigators, DAs, street cops, police chiefs, judges, and more. Just wonderful fun for everyone.
This year's onsite demo occurred when our instructors planted a backpack filled with explosives. A dog trained to sniff out explosives alerted when she sniffed it. A remote-controlled robot moved it to a safe place, then a suited-up bomb tech (think Hurt Locker - and the suit alone weighs 85 pounds) detonated it. It was loud!
The guy who is the sniper on the local SWAT team showed us his flash-bang (it does exactly like it sounds, and disorients bad guys long enough for the good guys to storm in a room) as well as his sniper rifle. And I got to join a SWAT team in the role of breacher as we cleared a building. Sadly, I was later shot dead by a "bad guy" hiding behind a bathroom door.
When you cuff someone, make sure you put the keyhole at the top, so it's much less likely they can get out with a hidden handcuff key (which are universal). One of my writer friends volunteered to play the bad guy at a felony traffic stop. She has been working on getting out of handcuffs (so a character can) and this cop did not cuff her very tight. She actually managed to slide her hands free, and when the cop opened the door to put another "prisoner" in, she tossed the cuffs at him and said, "This ain't my first rodeo!" He laughed. Nervously.
I also got to drive the ambulance simulator. They called ambulances "trucks." Very realistic - hard to drive, the seat slewed around, and it even bumped up and down when you hit the curb. I also got hit by the idiot in the red car. And no one pulled over for me. Or they got freaked out and pulled in front of me and then stopped.
The most important part for me was meeting Dan E. Krane, an international DNA expert, who has been helping me with my 2015 book.
This year's onsite demo occurred when our instructors planted a backpack filled with explosives. A dog trained to sniff out explosives alerted when she sniffed it. A remote-controlled robot moved it to a safe place, then a suited-up bomb tech (think Hurt Locker - and the suit alone weighs 85 pounds) detonated it. It was loud!
The guy who is the sniper on the local SWAT team showed us his flash-bang (it does exactly like it sounds, and disorients bad guys long enough for the good guys to storm in a room) as well as his sniper rifle. And I got to join a SWAT team in the role of breacher as we cleared a building. Sadly, I was later shot dead by a "bad guy" hiding behind a bathroom door.
When you cuff someone, make sure you put the keyhole at the top, so it's much less likely they can get out with a hidden handcuff key (which are universal). One of my writer friends volunteered to play the bad guy at a felony traffic stop. She has been working on getting out of handcuffs (so a character can) and this cop did not cuff her very tight. She actually managed to slide her hands free, and when the cop opened the door to put another "prisoner" in, she tossed the cuffs at him and said, "This ain't my first rodeo!" He laughed. Nervously.
I also got to drive the ambulance simulator. They called ambulances "trucks." Very realistic - hard to drive, the seat slewed around, and it even bumped up and down when you hit the curb. I also got hit by the idiot in the red car. And no one pulled over for me. Or they got freaked out and pulled in front of me and then stopped.
The most important part for me was meeting Dan E. Krane, an international DNA expert, who has been helping me with my 2015 book.
Face of Betrayal hits top 25 bestselling E-book list - 4 years after first publication
Wow! To be on the same list as Dan Brown, Lee Child, Cassandra Clare, John Green, James Patterson, and JK Rowling is amazing!
Face of Betrayal, which I co-wrote with legal analyst Lis Wiehl, hit #17. Pretty good for a book that first came out in 2009. It was the first in our Triple Threat series.
Face of Betrayal, which I co-wrote with legal analyst Lis Wiehl, hit #17. Pretty good for a book that first came out in 2009. It was the first in our Triple Threat series.
International Reading association fun
Literacy Coach Joy Olenick brought this poster her kids made about Girl, Stolen all the way from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Antonio, Texas to give it to me at the International Reading Association conference. Earlier she told me, "This book has ignited a love for literacy in several students and teachers in my building. I have witnessed students hanging in the classroom after the bell to read just a few more sentences before having to move on to the next class. This week I have overheard students excitedly sharing which page number they were on and searching for others as far as they were in the text so that they could talk about what had just happened! One student, knowing that I had read the novel this summer, mouthed to me "Mrs Olenick page 183 O-M-G!!" To which I whispered back "Keep reading! It gets even better!" We now have a waiting list of students who want to read Girl, Stolen next in their literature discussion group. A teacher who is retiring this year thanked me for sharing the book with her and endorses it to her students as the best book she has read in her career as a Language Arts teacher."
Girl, Stolen wins state Awards in South Dakota and Missouri
Over the last five months, 2,078 South Dakota teens voted for their favorite book. And the winner for 6th to 8th graders was Girl, Stolen. This is the third state award the book has won. And I have never even been to South Dakota!
Girl, Stolen has also been selected by students in Missouri for the Truman Readers Award. I've been asked to come to the state conference in 2014 where I will accept the award on my birthday! It doesn't get much better than that.
Girl, Stolen has also been selected by students in Missouri for the Truman Readers Award. I've been asked to come to the state conference in 2014 where I will accept the award on my birthday! It doesn't get much better than that.
The Night She Disappeared named IRA young Adults Choice
The Night She Disappeared has been named to the 2013 IRA Young Adult's Choices Master List. Pretty cool to be on the same list of books chosen by teens across the nation that includes authors like John Green, David Levithan, and Rick Riordan!
Black-Eyed SUsan Award
Just got my Black-Eyed Susan award from the State of Maryland for Girl, Stolen. I think it's supposed to be a serving tray, since there's no hanger on the back. Maybe next time we have people over I'll put crackers on it and act surprised when they notice what it is. "Oh, was that for an award?"
Audio books voiced by Award-winning Kate Rudd
Kate Rudd voiced the audio books of Girl, Stolen, and The Night She Disappeared, which went on sale March 5. Rudd also voiced the audio for The Fault in Our Stars, which won the Odyssey Award this year.
The Night She Disappeared named to YALSA Top 10 Quick Pick List
Publishers Weekly Review for A Matter of TrustThis is the first in a new series I'm writing with Lis Wiehl about a King County prosecutor in Seattle. Publishers Weekly says:
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"This suspenseful first in a new series from Wiehl and Henry (Eyes of Justice and three other Triple Threat novels) opens with a bang. While Mia Quinn, a prosecutor in the King County (Wash.) district attorney's office, is on the phone with a fellow prosecutor, Colleen Miller, someone shoots Colleen dead. Mia's boss, DA Frank D'Amato, asks her to lead the investigation into Colleen's death, which could have a link to the murder of another prosecutor four years earlier. Meanwhile Mia is also working the case of a bullied teenager who committed suicide, and trying to raise her teenage son and preschool daughter, as well as coping with her husband's death. Trust becomes the centerpiece--who deserves it and the betrayal that trust sometimes leads to--in a story full of twists and turns that also offers a hint of future romance for Mia."
New series!
My deal for a new series inspired by Multnomah County's teen-led Search and Rescue team was featured in Publishers Weekly. Look for the first book in 2014.