Alice Henderson
Author Interview - Alice Henderson
Author of A Blizzard of Polar Bears
Wildlife biologist Alex Carter lands a job studying a threatened population of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic, following them over vast, snowy terrain and spending days leaning precariously out of a helicopter with a tranquilizer gun. But as her study progresses, and she gathers data on the health of individual bears, things start to go awry. Her helicopter pilot quits unexpectedly, equipment goes missing, and a late-night intruder breaks into her lab and steals the samples she’s collected. She realizes that someone doesn’t want her to complete her study, but Alex is not easily deterred. Managing to find a replacement pilot, she returns to the icy expanses of Hudson Bay, but the helicopter catches fire in midflight, forcing the team to land on a vast sheet of white far from civilization. Surviving on the frozen landscape is difficult enough, but as armed assailants close in on snowmobiles, Alex must rely on her skills and tenacity to survive this onslaught and carry out her mission.
Author Interview - Alice Henderson
Author I draw inspiration from: I think Robert McCammon is an incredible author. He has a true gift for bringing characters and settings alive. When I finish one of his books, I feel like I've experienced the adventure firsthand. His novel Boy's Life is a masterpiece.
Author Interview - Alice Henderson | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: By a whitewater river in the heart of a wilderness
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Bertie Wooster from the Jeeves and Wooster stories by P. G. Wodehouse. I think Bertie would be dashed entertaining during our time trapped in an elevator. Though on second thought, he might start to panic, so perhaps Jeeves is the smarter choice, as we'd be out of that broken elevator in a jiffy.
Author Interview - Alice Henderson | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: When I was six, my father gave me his old manual Underwood typewriter. It was a gorgeous machine, and I immediately decided that all sorts of stories should be crafted on it. Over the next few years, I cranked out mysteries, sci-fi, and horror stories on it, dreaming of doing such a thing for a profession.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: I love all of them. I collect antique hardbacks and have some gorgeous editions. Paperbacks are lightweight and portable. And I enjoy listening to audiobooks when I travel. Most often, though, I read ebooks on my ereader, and it's fabulous to be able to carry around a thousand books on one small device.
The last book I read: Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse by Dave Goulson
Author Interview - Alice Henderson | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Alphasmart NEO2. I write on a portable word processor and then upload my work to a computer where I put on the finishing touches. Because I'm often writing out in the field while doing wildlife research, the two-pound device, which runs for 700 hours on three AA batteries and can store hundreds of pages of text, is an amazing tool to have.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Ellie Sattler of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. She's smart, tough, resourceful, and brave, and we could geek out together about paleontology, one of my favorite subjects.
Author Interview - Alice Henderson | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: A stop motion animator! I love the aesthetics of stop mo, and I make my own animated shorts.
Favorite decade in fashion history: It's a tie between men's fashions of the 1770s and women's fashions of the 1920s.
Place I’d most like to travel: Antarctica. I'd absolutely love to spend a season there embedded with a science team.
My signature drink: PG Tips black tea mixed with vanilla oatmilk and light brown sugar
Favorite artist: Gunnar Widforss. He was an incredible artist who worked mainly in watercolors. He painted national parks of the American West in the 1920s and '30s. His works are stunning, and at a glance, it's difficult to tell that they're not photographs.
Number one on my bucket list: To see anthropogenic climate change and human-caused species extinction to end before things get even worse
Anything else you'd like to add: I'm thrilled to say that the first novel in my Alex Carter thriller series, A Solitude of Wolverines, was just the Barnes & Noble Mystery & Thriller October Pick of the Month as well as an Amazon Editor's Pick. The second book in the series, A Blizzard of Polar Bears, will be available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook on November 9, 2021.
For my latest publishing updates, as well as wildlife news, green tips, and volunteer opportunities to help wildlife, please visit http://www.alicehenderson.com.
Find more from the author:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/AliceHendersonAuthor
Twitter: @Writer_Alice
Instagram: @author_alice_henderson
Website: http://www.alicehenderson.com
Author Bio: In addition to being a writer, Alice is a dedicated wildlife researcher. Using a variety of methods including bioacoustic studies, she undertakes wildlife surveys to determine what species are present on lands that have been set aside for conservation. There she ensures there are no signs of poaching and devises of ways to improve habitat. Using geographic information systems (GIS), she also designs wildlife corridors and builds habitat suitability models and species distribution models. She has surveyed for the presence of grizzlies, wolves, spotted owls, wolverines, jaguars, endangered bats, and more.
