Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Adulting 101
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.lisahenryonline.com/
CITY:
STATE: QL
COUNTRY: Australia
NATIONALITY: Australian
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: no2009143051
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2009143051
HEADING: Henry, Lisa
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100 1_ |a Henry, Lisa
670 __ |a Young Americans, 2008: |b t.p. (Lisa Henry)
PERSONAL
Born in Australia.
EDUCATION:Studied history and English at university.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Novelist, works in government.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Sweetwater
Lisa Henry is a novelist who lives in North Queensland, Australia. She studied history and English at university. A cat lover, she works in a government position but also writes historical romance, erotica, and gay fiction with hot guys in them. A prolific writer, she has written the “Playing the Fool,” “Prescott College,” and “The Boy” series.
In 2014 Henry wrote Sweetwater, which takes place in Wyoming Territory in 1870. In South Pass City, young Elijah Carter is considered the town simpleton, but he’s really just deaf, having lost his hearing to scarlet fever. He is more concerned that his romantic preference for men is a bigger problem. The rich and prominent Empire Saloon owner Harlan Crane knows of Elijah’s “unnatural desires” and succumbs to them, treating Elijah with brutal domination. Another man, cattle rustler Grady Mullins, also desires Elijah and will treat him with tenderness if given the chance. When Elijah’s adopted father, the morally upright town doctor, is murdered, Elijah sets off on a path of revenge and despair.
"PLAYING THE FOOL" Series
The 2014 The Two Gentlemen of Altona begins Henry and cowriter J.A. Rock’s “Playing the Fool” series of gay romance loosely based on Shakespeare’s plays. Based in Altona, Indiana, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness is tasked with keeping witness Henry Page safe so he can testify against the mob. The Shakespeare-quoting, ethically challenged Henry is more than irritating. When a mole in the FBI puts both Mac’s career and even his life in danger, Mac and Henry hide out in a fishing cabin until the heat is off. Despite Henry’s intentions not to stick around long enough to testify, the two men realize their feelings for each other cannot be denied. But can Mac fall for a criminal with a sketchy past?
A writer in Publishers Weekly commented on the melancholy story noting that Henry “skillfully portrays her hero as a young man learning to embrace his desires.” The writer added that the story is well-written and character-driven, yet the narrative is muted and often cheerless. For an erotic romance, it is “oddly downbeat.” Pat Henshaw wrote in Booklist: “Though Henry’s plot has gaps that explicit sex scenes don’t adequately fill, this is a smart, unsparing” story of a gay man in the brutal Wild West.
Henry and Rock wrote the next book in the “Playing the Fool” series, The Merchant of Death, in 2015. Con man Henry Page leads a life of crime so he can afford to keep his twin sister Viola in a care facility after an accident, for which Henry blames himself, left her brain damaged. When an elderly resident at the facility suffers a suspicious death, Henry brings Viola to safety and dresses in drag to take her place so he can investigate the home. Henry’s old friend FBI Agent McGuinness, his nemesis and possible lover, is on the case.
When Mac and Henry last met, they were about to consummate their relationship. Now when Mac discovers Henry on his next caper, dressed in a baby doll dress and wig, Mac’s feelings are rekindled. Both men feel that if they succumb to their feelings, they are jeopardizing their professional conduct. According to a Kirkus Reviews contributor, the “witty, gritty, occasionally graphic” story that reenacts Shakespeare with a homosexual twist “forces a buttoned-down G-man to face fifty shades of ambiguity, not only of his endearing cohero, but also of the odd couple’s future together.”
In the next installment of “Playing the Fool,” Tempest finds Mac, Henry, and Viola on the run and headed back to where it all began, Altona, Indiana. When false intelligence was given to Mac’s boss, his career was ended. Now he hides out at his family farm while he tries to clear his name. Meanwhile, as Henry protects Viola, he struggles to determine which side of the law he is on. A Publishers Weekly writer said that what could have been “a wry romantic suspense thriller comes across as a disjointed novel-by-committee.”
Adulting 101
In 2016 Henry published Adulting 101. Eighteen-year-old recent high school graduate Nick Stahlnecker is not ready for college and wants to backpack around the world. However, he is stuck in a lousy summer job and living in his parents’ basement. And now he has even lost his job when he is caught in a compromising position with handsome twenty-five-year-old Jai Hazanbrook. A long-term romance is not in either man’s plans; they each just want to get through the summer, with Netflix, pizza, and awkward sex on tap.
According to a Publishers Weekly contributor, the teen-appropriate romance with some explicit scenes “falls more into wishful grown-up quasi-nostalgia than young adult writing.” The contributor added that as Nick and Jai struggle with restrictions and embarrassment, Henry doesn’t make them grow up too quickly and gives them their happy-for-now ending.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2014, Pat Henshaw, review of Sweetwater, p. 44.
Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2014, review of The Merchant of Death.
Publishers Weekly, July 7, 2014, review of Sweetwater, p. 54; January 5, 2015, review of Tempest, p. 58; July 4, 2016, review of Adulting 101, p. 49.
ONLINE
Lisa Henry—Author, http://www.lisahenryonline.com (April 24, 2017), author home page.
I like to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters. But they've gotta work for it! No free lunches on my watch.
I live in tropical North Queensland, Australia. I don't know why, because I hate the heat, but I suspect I'm too lazy to move. I spend half my time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting my escape.
I attended university at sixteen, not because I was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. I studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.
I share my house with too many cats, a dog, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how I imagined life as a grown-up.
Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.
Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.
She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.
She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.
Adulting 101
Publishers Weekly.
263.27 (July 4, 2016): p49.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Adulting 101
Lisa Henry. Riptide, $17.99 trade paper (231p) ISBN 978-1-62649-450-3
Henry (Stealing Innocents) brings pure fun and a feel for pop culture-fueled young adult insecurities to a coming-of-age comedy of errors full of
Netflix, pizza, family warmth, and awkward sex. Recent high school graduate Nick Stahlnecker is fired from his summer job after getting caught
in flagrante with hot coworker Jai Hazenbrook. Nick leans heavily on his straight best friend as he navigates his not-a-relationship with 25-yearold
Jai; living in his mother's basement in Franklin, Ohio, which he'd previously escaped with bouts of backpacking around the world; and his
terror at the prospect of going to college. Though this romance is appropriate for teen readers who are ready for explicit scenes, it falls more into
wishful grown-up quasi-nostalgia than young adult writing. The older adults around Jai and Nick aren't happy with their impulsive and
uncommunicative behavior, but their responses mostly take the form of gentle teasing, with lots of love and no homophobia. The protagonists
struggle a bit with restrictions and embarrassment, but Henry doesn't make Nick and Jai grow up too much to get their happy-for-now ending.
(Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Adulting 101." Publishers Weekly, 4 July 2016, p. 49. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA457302900&it=r&asid=ba84ce90e9987d27863905df5b24b78f. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A457302900
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Henry, Lisa: THE MERCHANT OF DEATH
Kirkus Reviews.
(Dec. 1, 2014):
COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Henry, Lisa THE MERCHANT OF DEATH Riptide (Adult Fiction) $16.99 2, 2 ISBN: 978-1-62649-222-6
A federal agent and a man on the lam re-enact Shakespeare when they try to expose a major con job.When Henry Page flees Indianapolis FBI
agent Ryan "Mac" McGuinness, it's not the first time he's run out on the agent--or on anyone else in his life. But he's more regretful than usual,
and not just because Mac was shot while protecting Henry at their hideout in Mac's family's cabin. Although they were on the verge of
consummating an undeniable passion, Henry convinces himself it would have been one of the biggest mistakes of a life already full of wrong
turns, bad decisions and hard luck. He's a thief and Mac's the law, and though Henry was a key witness in an upcoming trial, it's back to his life of
crime, mostly because his twin sister, Viola, needs him. It's also time for him to return to being Sebastian Hanes, as his late, boozy, failed actress
of a mother named him. Henry feels responsible for Viola and the accident that left her with the mind of a child. She even fears the people at the
expensive care center that demands exorbitant monthly fees--and constant scams by Henry. The suspicious death of an elderly resident of the
center goads Henry into stashing Viola in a more-or-less safe place and dressing up to take her place and expose what he's sure is a big fraud.
Then Mac, who's in the doghouse for letting his witness get away, gets pulled into the sting. Although he's never considered himself remotely
straight, he finds that Henry/Sebastian's role as Viola adds a whole new tantalizing layer of complexity--and bids him put his career and his life on
the line to help the man he loves and save sweet, vulnerable Viola. Henry and Rock's witty, gritty, occasionally graphic sequel to Two Gentlemen
From Altona (2014) forces a buttoned-down G-man to face 50 shades of ambiguity, not only of his endearing co-hero, but also of the odd couple's
future together.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Henry, Lisa: THE MERCHANT OF DEATH." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2014. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA391851720&it=r&asid=c8cb1af80cd6fc7f80278613353d43bf. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A391851720
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Sweetwater
Pat Henshaw
Booklist.
111.2 (Sept. 15, 2014): p44.
COPYRIGHT 2014 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Sweetwater. By Lisa Henry. Sept. 2014. Riptide, paper, $16.99 (9781626491519); e-book (9781626491502).
Henry (Bliss, 2014) vividly and erotically explores the coming-of-age of a young gay man in 1870 Wyoming in this dark historical romance of
loss, shame, grieving, and rebirth. After losing his family to scarlet fever and his own partial hearing loss, Elijah has lived with the morally
upright town doctor. But Elijah works for the town butcher and has a secret night life. Not only does he help his employer slaughter stolen cattle,
he is also being sexually exploited by Harlan Crane, the wealthy, domineering owner of the Empire Saloon. Conflicted about his sexuality, Elijah
is attracted to cattle rustler Grady Mullins, who promises sex with kindness and maybe even love. When the doctor is slain, Elijah's world is
ripped apart, and as he swears vengeance, he has no one to turn to until he discovers who his true friends are. Though Henry's plot has gaps that
explicit sex scenes don't adequately fill, this is a smart, unsparing, and candid tale of a struggling gay man in the brutal Wild West.--Pat Henshaw
Henshaw, Pat
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Henshaw, Pat. "Sweetwater." Booklist, 15 Sept. 2014, p. 44. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA385404347&it=r&asid=ef317698d4858bf74270ea75018244e8. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A385404347
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http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1489581473716 4/5
Sweetwater
Publishers Weekly.
261.27 (July 7, 2014): p54.
COPYRIGHT 2014 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Sweetwater
Lisa Henry. Riptide (www.riptidepublishing.com), $6.99 e-book (240p) ISBN 978-1-62649150-2
A melancholy vibe permeates this historical romance, in which a conflicted gay man in 1870 Wyoming Territory comes to terms with his
"unnatural" desires--and other men's desire for him. Elijah Carter's deafness has always set him apart in South Pass City, but he'd be outright
detested if they knew "he was gay as well. He surrenders himself to the rich, cruel Harlan Crane, whose brutal domination further fuels his selfloathing
and confusion. Meanwhile, Elijah is pursued by Grady Mullins, a wandering cowboy who wants to treat him with tenderness and care,
which Elijah's not sure he deserves. When Elijah's adopted father is murdered, the young man sets forth on a risky path of vengeance and anger.
Henry (When All the World Sleeps) skillfully portrays her hero as a young man learning to embrace his desires, but internal angst runs heavy
throughout. The sex, while frequent and varied, is occasionally passionless, while the narrative is muted and often cheerless. For an erotic
romance, albeit a well-written and character-driven one, this is oddly downbeat. (Sept.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Sweetwater." Publishers Weekly, 7 July 2014, p. 54. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA374694570&it=r&asid=91cffe77bc79e686d9ca7081c225b1d9. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A374694570
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http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1489581473716 5/5
Tempest
Publishers Weekly.
262.1 (Jan. 5, 2015): p58.
COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Tempest
Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock. Riptide (riptidepublishing.com), $16.99 trade paper (205p) ISBN 978-1-62649-224-0
It takes a little effort to get involved in Henry and Rock's third Playing the Fool romantic mystery (after The Merchant of Death). If con man
Henry Page can be honest with FBI Special Agent Ryan "Mac" McGuinness about, well, anything, maybe Mac can break FBI rule #1 and let
himself fall in love with a witness. In fact, he has already pretty much fallen for this criminal with a messy past. When someone leaks false intel
to Mac's boss, ending Mac's career, he goes on the run with Henry and Henry's twin sister, Viola, until they can sort out the mess. Sadly, what
might have been a wry romantic suspense thriller comes across as a disjointed novel-by-committee. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Tempest." Publishers Weekly, 5 Jan. 2015, p. 58. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA397133461&it=r&asid=82fde87686986e121551fff4e5b25a4f. Accessed 15 Mar.
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A397133461