Cavanagh, Thomas B.

PERSONAL:

Married; children: a son. Education: University of Miami, B.S.; University of Phoenix, M.B.A.; University of Central Florida, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Orlando, FL. Agent—Daniel Lazar, Writers House, 21 W. 26th St, New York, NY 10010. E-mail—tbcavana@bellsouth.net.

CAREER:

Writer, screenwriter, and educator. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL, director of Online Course Design and Production; has also taught at Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL, and the Full Sail media school, Winter Park, FL. Also worked in film and television entertainment writing children's television programs for producers such as Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, and Anheuser Busch Entertainment; has also written and managed numerous multimedia programs for Fortune 500 companies, the federal government, and military.

MEMBER:

Mystery Writers of America, Writers Guild of America.

WRITINGS:

Murderland (novel), Hilliard & Harris Publishers (Boonsboro, MD), 2005.

Head Games (novel), Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor of short story to Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine.

SIDELIGHTS:

A former writer for children's television, Thomas B. Cavanagh went on to work in the training and education industry and to write mystery thrillers. In his second book, Head Games, Cavanagh features Orlando ex-cop Mike Garrity, who has gone through two marriages, is losing the respect of his fifteen-year-old daughter, and discovers he may be dying from a brain tumor he calls "Bob." Garrity has resigned himself to a lonely death when he receives a call hiring him to find T.J. Sommerset, the missing member of a popular boy band just as the band is scheduled to go on tour. When Garrity begins looking for the singer, he soon discovers that a group of gangsters are also interested in T.J. "Cavanagh avoids clichés as he infuses Head Games with a sense of humor and twists in both plot and character," wrote Oline H. Cogdill in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Allison Block, writing in Booklist, commented that the author's "debut … crackles with cranky commentary on one man's cranial state of affairs." Several reviewers especially noted the main character of Mike Garrity. For example, a Publishers Weekly contributor wrote: "Fans of the classic PI novel will hope to see more of this wonderfully crotchety protagonist—with or without Bob." Writing in the School Library Journal, Jamie Watson also noted: "The young characters … are well drawn, and … give teens someone to root for."

Cavanagh told CA: "One of the things that surprised me most about the Head Games's reception was the reaction from the cancer community. I heard from a number of cancer patients and family members from across the country who were touched by the main character's struggle with cancer and his sense of humor in the face of a terminal illness."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 2006, Allison Block, review of Head Games, p. 25.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2006, review of Head Games, p. 1102.

Publishers Weekly, November 6, 2006, review of Head Games, p. 39.

School Library Journal, April, 2007, Jamie Watson, review of Head Games, p. 168.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, January 10, 2007, Oline H. Cogdill, review of Head Games.

ONLINE

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Web site,http://www.erau.edu/ec/ (June 13, 2007), faculty profile of author.

Orlando Sentinel Web site,http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ (January 5, 2007), Rebecca Swain Vadnie, "30 Seconds with Thomas B. Cavanagh."

Spinetingler Magazine,http://www.spinetinglermag.com (June 13, 2007), C.J. Lyons, "Debut Author Profile: Tom Cavanagh: Playing Head Games."

Thomas B. Cavanagh Home Page,http://www.thomasbcavanagh.com (June 13, 2007).