Hines, T.L. 1967(?)- (Tony L. Hines)

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Hines, T.L. 1967(?)- (Tony L. Hines)

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1967; married; wife's name Nancy; children: one daughter. Education: University of Montana at Missoula, B.A., 1990. Religion: Christian.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Billings, MT.

CAREER:

Locations (magazine), managing editor, 1995-2002; H2O Advertising (merged with Wendt Advertising, 2003), Billings, MT, founder and co-owner, 1995—. Has also worked as a Christmas tree trimmer, strawberry salesperson, potato sorter, and cleaning person for cadaver storage rooms.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Has won regional Addys, Silver Microphone awards, Telly awards for national radio advertising, Golden Spike awards for public relations writing, and a Print magazine award; named one of the "40 under 40" influential business leaders in Montana by Western Business News; Maryland Writers Association contest winner, 2005, for best "spec" fiction novel.

WRITINGS:

Billings: A Shining Star in Big Sky Country (nonfiction), CCI Publishing, 2001.

Waking Lazarus (novel), Bethany House (Minneapolis, MN), 2006.

The Dead Whisper On (novel), Bethany House (Minneapolis, MN), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Log Homes, Food & Wine, and Travel & Leisure; and of short fiction to Web Del Sol and Infuze. Maintained a blog, The Dark Horse Dialogues, on presidential candidates in 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

T.L. Hines's first novel, Waking Lazarus, is an eerie story of resurrection and identity. When eight-year-old Jude Alleman drowns, his father pulls him out of the water and rushes him to the hospital. Although Jude was undeniably dead at the scene of his accident, at the hospital he is miraculously alive. Jude experiences two more of these deaths, and eventually the media circus that ensues and his own frustrations lead him to run away from his life. Jude changes his name to Ron Gress and attempts to escape his past. Although he lives primarily as a recluse, he lets one woman and her son into his new existence: Kristina, who is looking for information about the afterlife, since she is convinced she is dying, and her six-year-old son, Nathan. Andrea Sisco, in a review for Armchair Interviews, com- mented: "T.L. Hines' debut novel is stunning. His writing is crisp and fast paced. The characters are fully developed and the plot is spiritually complex and fascinating. It is original suspense at its finest." A contributor to Publishers Weekly called the book a "promising if sometimes grisly debut of inspirational suspense."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2006, John Mort, review of Waking Lazarus, p. 41.

Library Journal, June 1, 2006, Tamara Butler, "Christian Fiction," review of Waking Lazarus, p. 98; January 1, 2007, Tamara Butler, review of Waking Lazarus, p. 51.

Publishers Weekly, April 3, 2006, review of Waking Lazarus, p. 35.