Cheryl A. Head Explained

Cheryl A. Head
Birth Place:Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genre:Fiction, historical fiction, mystery, crime fiction
Movement:Social justice, crime fiction, queer fiction
Alma Mater:Wayne State University
Ohio University
Awards:Golden Crown Literary Society’s Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award, Alice B Readers Award Medal, Independent Publisher Book Awards

Cheryl A. Head is an American author, and former television producer, organizer, and broadcast executive. She is the author of the award-winning Charlie Mack Motown mysteries, whose female PI protagonist is queer and Black. She is also author of Time's Undoing published in 2023. Head is a two-time Anthony Award nominee, a two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, an Agatha Award Finalist, a three-time Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist, and winner of the Golden Crown Literary Society's Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award, and an IPPY Silver medal. Her books are included in the Detroit Public Library's African American Booklist and in the Special Collections of the Library of Michigan.[1] In 2019, Head was named to the Hall of Fame of the New Orleans Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, and she was awarded the Alice B Reader Award in 2022.[2]

Personal life

Head was born in Detroit, Michigan. She attended Wayne State University, intending to focus on pre-law, but was "bitten by the media bug" and shifted to Media and Communications. Head worked at television stations: WDIV and Detroit Public Television (WTVS), and public radio station WDET. She received a master's degree in telecommunications management at Ohio University. She moved to Washington, D.C., in the 1990s to work in public broadcasting. After working as a TV and radio field reporter, anchor, production executive, media grantmaker at several organizations in Detroit and Washington, D.C., Head retired early to focus on a writing career. Head is a member of the Bouchercon (World Mystery Conference) and is the 2024-2025 Board Chair.[3]

Head's work includes: The six-part Charlie Mack Motown Series, a World War II historical novel, and an historical-fiction novel based upon the tragic loss of Head's grandfather who died in 1929, in Jim Crow Alabama, at the hands of the police.[4] That book, Time’s Undoing, was a 2023 Indie Next pick, an Amazon Best Book of March, and Amazon Editors Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense.[5]

Works

Charlie Mack Motown Mystery series

Historical novels

Awards and recognition

Select interviews/podcasts

Scrawl Space – Interview with Cheryl A. Head: Author of riveting mysteries, champion of diversity (in fiction and beyond)[6]

Literary Hill – Q & A With “Warn Me When It’s Time” Author Cheryl A. Head[7]

Books Are Magic – Time's Undoing with Cheryl A. Head[8]

Authors on the Air – Time's Undoing[9]

Thoughts from a Page – Time's Undoing[10]

BCPL – Interview conducted at the Creatures, Crimes, & Creativity Con with Cheryl Head[11]

Write-minded Podcast – Cheryl A. Head: How We Can Reclaim Our Stories Through Fiction[12]

Wicked Authors – A Wicked Welcome to Cheryl Head[13]

Crime Writers of Color – Cheryl Head and Time's Undoing with Robert Justice[14]

Select reviews

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cheryl A. Head: About the Author. Penguin Random House. 13 September 2023.
  2. Web site: Cheryl A. Head: Sisters in Crime Podcast #60. Sisters in Crime. 13 September 2023.
  3. Web site: Flashpoints with Cheryl Head=. 13 March 2023 . Uncorking a Story. 13 September 2023.
  4. Web site: Cheryl Head on using crime fiction to tell the story of her grandfather's murder. Crimereads.com. 30 June 2022 . 13 September 2023.
  5. Web site: Programs & Events: Cheryl A. Head & Brenda Buchanan. 19 July 2023 . Friend Memorial Public Library. 13 September 2023.
  6. Web site: Cheryl A. Head and Greg Levin. Interview with Cheryl A. Head. Scrawl Space Blog. 13 September 2023.
  7. Web site: Karen Lyon. Q & A With "Warn Me When It's Time" Author Cheryl A. Head. Hillrag.com. 13 September 2023.
  8. Web site: Janet Jakobsen. Time's Undoing with Cheryl A. Head at Books Are Magic . 4 March 2023 . Books Are Magic. 13 September 2023.
  9. Web site: Time's Undoing. 12 March 2023 . Authors on the Air. 13 September 2023.
  10. Web site: Cindy Burnett. Time's Undoing. Thoughts from a Page. 13 September 2023.
  11. Web site: BCPL Interview with Cheryl Head: The Motown Mystery Writer. 4 January 2023. BCPL. 13 September 2023.
  12. Web site: Hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner at Literary Hub. Cheryl A. Head: How We Can Reclaim Our Stories Through Fiction . 6 March 2023 . 13 September 2023.
  13. Web site: Julie Hennrikus. A Wicked Welcome to Cheryl Head. 28 February 2023 . Wicked Authors.com. 13 September 2023.
  14. Web site: Robert Justice. Cheryl Head and Time's Undoing with Robert Justice . 17 May 2023. CWOC. 13 September 2023.
  15. Web site: Carol Seaman. Time's Undoing. Booklist. 13 September 2023.
  16. Web site: Oline H. Cogdill. A 1929 racial murder looms in 'Time's Undoing'. 23 February 2023 . South Florida Sun Sentine. 13 September 2023.
  17. Web site: Julie Hinds. Detroit author's novel on racism's toll inspired by tragedy in her family. Detroit Free Press. 13 September 2023.
  18. News: Sarah Weinman. Dark Night of the Soul. New York Times. 25 June 2021 . 13 September 2023.
  19. Web site: April. Find Me When I'm Lost. 21 August 2020 . The Lesbian Review. 13 September 2023.
  20. Web site: April. Judge Me When I'm Wrong. 22 October 2019 . The Lesbian Review. 13 September 2023.
  21. Web site: Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews by Jerry L. Wheeler. Catch Me When I'm Falling. 8 July 2019 . JL Wheeler. 13 September 2023.
  22. Web site: April. Catch Me When I'm Falling. 3 May 2019 . The Lesbian Review. 13 September 2023.
  23. Web site: April. Wake Me When It's Over. 4 December 2018 . The Lesbian Review. 13 September 2023.
  24. Web site: April. Bury Me When I'm Dead. 28 November 2018 . The Lesbian Review. 13 September 2023.
  25. Book: Brookline Mike. Long Way Home Review-Thank You!. 25 July 2014 . AMZ. 978-1500523947 .

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