Tonya Hurley

Tonya Hurley is an American writer and director in film, television, live performance, interactive media and the New York Times bestselling author of the book series ghostgirl (Little, Brown and Company, 2008).[1] Precious Blood, the first book in "The Blessed" trilogy (Simon & Schuster) was published in 2012, and "Passionaries" the second book was released January 7, 2013.[2] The Blessed audiobook is read by Moonrise Kingdom star Kara Hayward. Her books are published in nearly 30 countries and in more than 20 languages.[1]

Tonya Hurley
Born
Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Occupationwriter, director
Spouse(s)Michael Pagnotta
Children1
Websitewww.tonyahurley.com

Early career

Hurley began her career as a music publicist for such artists as Prince, George Michael, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Bush, Erasure, Morrissey, The B-52’s, Paul Westerberg, John Cale, The Three Tenors and Johnny Rotten among many others.

Written works

Her work includes Kiss My Brain (1997); The Biblical Real World (1998); Solo-Me-O (1999), first broadcast on PBS in their documentary series Reel New York; Baptism Of Solitude: A Tribute To Paul Bowles (2000), Tribeca Film Festival selection which aired on the Independent Film Channel, nominated for a Rockefeller Foundation Award[3] in film and is being distributed on a DVD through The United Nations; and Best Friend (2001), which premiered at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival and Edinburgh Film Festival and was broadcast on Trio, and a feature-length script, "Good Mourning" which made the semi-finals of the Sundance Institute's Writer's Lab. She has written and directed book trailers for her own books and co-wrote and co-directed two stop-motion music videos for Erasure - Gaudete and Make It Wonderful.

Television and other media

Hurley was co-creator and co-producer of the sitcom So Little Time (ABC Family) and the animated Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! (ABC) both starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. She was the primary provider of original content for the mary-kateandashley website and creator and co-executive producer of mary-kateandashley brand video games for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy. She wrote, produced and directed commercials for Warner Home video, PlayStation and Game Boy and developed mary-kateandashley dolls and boardgames for Mattel.

ghostgirl

Hurley's series ghostgirl was launched in 2002 on ghostgirl.com and published as a Young Adult series from Little, Brown in 2008. [4] The first novel of the series received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly,[5] Kirkus Reviews,[6] Voice of Youth Advocates and School Library Journal.[7] It hit the New York Times best-seller list[8] the week of September 14, 2008. The books have been optioned for film by director Matthew Vaughan. Hurley is set to be the executive producer.

Memberships and honors

Hurley is a member of Writers Guild of America, East and the Horror Writers Association.[1] She is a contributor to The Huffington Post, sponsors and judges the Teen Writing Essay Contest for Gilda's Club NYC and is the editor of the ebook Living With Cancer: A Teen Perspective with a foreword by actress Emma Stone. Hurley is a founding board member of the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn, New York.

Personal life

She is married to the publicist and artist manager Michael Pagnotta. Her twin sister, Tracy Hurley Martin, is CEO of Morbid Anatomy Museum and the wife of Vince Clarke, the musician of Erasure and the founding member of Yazoo and Depeche Mode.

Tracy Hurley Martin and Tonya Hurley own and operate the TV and film production company Kill Your Darlings, Inc.

References
  1. "Tonya Hurley". Goodreads. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  2. "Need help thawing out this weekend? Try a new romance". USA Today. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  3. "Tonya Hurley Biography". July 14, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  4. Mills, Michelle J. (August 2, 2008). "'Cherise the Niece': will surely appeal to those who like dark humor (includes a review of Ghostgirl)". Pasadena Star-News. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  5. "Children's Books Reviews: Week of 7/14/2008". Publishers Weekly. July 14, 2008. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  6. "Kirkus Reviews - Hurley, Tonya". Kirkus Reviews. July 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  7. "Hurley, Tonya. Ghostgirl. Little, Brown. August 2008". School Library Journal. July 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  8. "Best Sellers - Children's Books - Chapter Books". The New York Times. September 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
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