I am Brent Hartinger, and I live to write.

For the last twenty years, I have made my living writing just about everything that involves words.

I’ve been writing books since college, but I didn’t sell any of them until the summer of 2001. Since then, I’ve sold a whole bunch of them — with many more in the works.

You can see (almost) my entire book output in the columns on the right. Click on the book jackets to find out more information about each one or (hopefully) to buy a book.

One of my latest books is Shadow Walkers, a thriller about an isolated gay teenager whose experiments with astral projection lead him to danger, mystery, and romance.

I like to write for all ages, but I particularly like writing for and about teenagers. I think it’s because I identify so strongly with them. Whenever I hear an adult complain about a teenager, I almost always take the side of the kid, even without hearing his or her version of the story!

For the record, I try hard to write books that people like to read. The most frequent comment I get from readers is that my books are “page-turners,” which makes me very happy, because that is exactly what I want them to be. My biggest complaint with books I hate is that they don’t get to the point (or, worse, they don’t have a point!).

My second great love is the theatre. My plays have been performed at dozens of theaters across the country. And I was recently asked to adapt Geography Club into a stage play, which was first presented (very successfully!) in Seattle in April 2004. I’ve also written a play version of my thriller Grand & Humble. (If you’re involved with a theater and want a copy of either script, contact me.)

I also have several screenplays under option, and there is a feature film version of Geography Club in the works. (Interested in reading some of my screenplay work? Check it out here.)

And if that’s not enough, I’ve written over five hundred published articles, essays, short stories, newspaper columns, cartoons, and even a few greeting cards!

I also sometimes teach writing, in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College and elsewhere.

I live in Seattle, Washington, with my partner since 1992, Michael Jensen. Michael is also a writer, the author of two terrific gay westerns, Frontiers, and its sequel, Firelands. Together, we also helped found a very successful entertainment website called AfterElton.com (but we don’t work there anymore).

I answer all emails (eventually), so if you have a question or a comment, or if you’re interested in having me speak to your school or group, contact me here. (There’s information about my fees, etc., here.)

Or if you want to send me something by mail, or if you’d like to request a signed bookplate, you can reach me here:

Brent Hartinger
PO Box 30542
Seattle WA 98113-0542

My “Official” Biography

BRENT HARTINGER is the author of a number of novels for children and teenagers, including three books in the Russel Middlebrook series: (1) Geography Club (HarperCollins, 2003), (2) The Order of the Poison Oak (HarperCollins, 2005), and (3) Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (HarperCollins, 2007).

His other books include The Last Chance Texaco (HarperCollins, 2004); Grand & Humble (HarperCollins, 2006); Project Sweet Life (HarperCollins, 2009); and Shadow Walkers (Flux, 2011).

Mr. Hartinger’s upcoming books include Three Truths and a Lie (Flux, 2013) and The Elephant of Surprise (2012), the latest in the Russel Middlebrook series.

Mr. Hartinger’s many writing honors include being named the winner of the Lambda Book Award, the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award, a GLAAD Media Award, the National Best Book Award, and a Book Sense Pick (four times).

Also a playwright and screenwriter, Mr. Hartinger’s many plays have been produced in dozens of theaters nationwide (twice in New York); his screenplays have won many awards, including a 2009 Writers Network Fellowship, the 2011 LA Comedy Festival Screenplay Award, and the $5000 Fort Lauderdale Film Festival Screenwriting in the Sun Award. He currently has several scripts under option and in the process of studio or network development, including a film version of his novel, Geography Club.

Mr. Hartinger lives in Seattle with another novelist, Michael Jensen, his partner since 1992. He has counseled dozens of teenagers, both as co-facilitator of Oasis, a 200-member gay teen support organization he helped found, and as a counselor at a group home for young people.

Mr. Hartinger is a co-founder of Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom (or AS IF!), an anti-censorship group, and speaks frequently at schools, bookstores, conferences, churches, and civic groups on the subjects of censorship, writing, and social tolerance. He sometimes teaches creative writing, most recently at Vermont College in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.