Author April Genevieve Tucholke once received a vintage bottle of poison as a gift. No kidding. But a bottle of poison seems a most appropriate gift for the author of the YA Gothic Horror novels Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and the recently released sequel Between the Spark and the Burn. Tucholke reads at Second Sunday (on the first Sunday), Deschutes Public Library’s monthly celebration of the written word, at the Downtown Bend Library on Sunday, October 5. The reading begins at 3:00 p.m. and books will be available for sale.

Gothic horror combines fiction, horror and Romanticism and writers such as the Brontës, Daphne du Maurier, Poe and Hawthorne drew Tucholke to the genre. “Gothic horror is the genre that held the most allure for me as a teenager,” she says. Tucholke is shifting literary gears for her third novel, stretching beyond the Gothic asthetic. “I'm in the middle of switching genres. My third book will be a dark, twisting YA mystery,” she shared.

Described by Voice of Youth Advocates, the leading library journal dedicated to the needs of young adult librarians, as a “stunning debut with complex characters, an atmospheric setting, and a distinct voice,” Tucholke’s first novel, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, debuted in 2013. The story of Violet White is a gothic thriller romance, with shades of Stephen King and F. Scott Fitzgerald, set against a creepy summertime backdrop that includes cemetaries, a mysterious stranger and family secrets. The recently released sequel, Between the Spark and the Burn, has received positive reviews including one from the School Library Journal that clearly establishes Tucholke as a writer to watch. “The lush and polished prose, eerie locales and pervading sense of dark unease are as engrossing as they were in the first installment.”

Tucholke loves classic horror movies and coffee. She has lived in many places, including Scotland, and currently resides in Oregon with her husband Nate Pedersen.
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