Tory Henwood Hoen Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Tory Henwood Hoen
Tory Henwood Hoen is an American-Canadian author whose work has appeared in Fortune, New York Magazine, Bon Appetit, Conde Nast Traveler, as well as others. She is a graduate of Brown University.

Tory spent five years as the Creative Director of Brand at workwear company M.M. LaFleur, where she founded, The M Dash, the brand’s digital magazine.

Tory had always dreamed about writing a novel, yet it took her about two decades to muster enough courage to finally go for it. Since her college graduation, she had held various writing related jobs (at a communications agency, then different magazines, then being the brand director of a fashion startup), but she’d never gave fiction a go, and she definitely hadn’t ever written anything novel-length. She didn’t know if she could pull it off, yet it was also the thing she most wanted to succeed at, so she was paralyzed for a between her fear and her aspiration.

During her mid-thirties, she hit a tipping point. Her frustration with herself for not trying started outweighing her fear of failing. Tory was very burned out and ready for a change of pace, on a professional level. So she left the job she had been at for five years, and leapt into the abyss. She had no book idea at that time, so her first few months of freelance life were pretty nerve-wracking, and it made her wonder if she’d made a major mistake. However after about six months, the idea for “The Arc” started crystallizing.

When she became single at the age of 35, Tory decided to try dating apps for the first time. They started out fun and fascinating to her. Before too long, she began asking herself: how this could be the cutting edge of modern dating? She was very underwhelmed by the whole experience, and wished that there was a much more sophisticated solution which could transcend the superficial to take matchmaking to the next level. Turns out it does not exist (not yet, at least), however she began imagining a world in which it did.

That is when she dreamed up “The Arc”, this highly secretive “relationship architecture” service which uses complex physiological, emotional, and psychological assessments to help clients find their ideal mates without any needed swiping necessary.

As for Rafael and Ursula, she wanted to write about two people that were “on track” (or even thriving) in the professional aspects of their lives, yet could not quite crack the romantic code, and not for a lack of effort on their part. She wanted them to feel as though they were real people with these blind spots yet also a genuine desire to love and to be loved.

While developing Rafael and Ursula, she mixed in parts of herself with parts of people she knows and/or have dated. They are all amalgams, as are all the characters in her novel.

When Tory began writing the novel, she didn’t have any idea of how the novel would end. That said, she did have a pretty extensive outline, however she added some additional twists along the way.

The final scene was not something that she had conceived of until she was about halfway through the writing process, so she surprised herself. She wanted to pass this feeling of surprise along to the eventual readers and her characters.

This was her first effort at fiction, so she set two simple goals for herself: finish a first draft. Didn’t need to be good, just needed to be completed. And have fun, figuring that if she just had fun writing it, then readers would have some fun reading it. But while writing, she stumbled upon a third ambition, too. She wanted to create this love story with actual emotional heft. She wrote the novel not because she had the answers when it comes to love, but instead because she has so many questions.

To get inspired to write, Tory does three “morning pages” of free writing by hand before sitting down to write. It’s a ritual that helps her get the lethargy/jitters/ “I can’t do this” type feelings out of her system. She also has this little wooden wolf called Wolfy. She holds the wolf in her hand and does this little “howl”. She made a deal with herself that once Wolfy howls, then Tory must begin writing. It’s not negotiable.

“The Arc” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2022. Can you create your soulmate? Ursula Byrne, a thirty-five year old Vice President of Strategic Audacity at a branding agency in Manhattan, is whip-smart, successful, and single. She has tried all of the dating apps, and well, let’s just say: it’d be an understatement to say she is underwhelmed by her options.

You would think by now somebody would have come up with something much more bespoke. Some way for users to be more tailored about what and who they want in their life partner. Exactly how hard could that be?

That’s where The Arc comes in. A highly sophisticated, super secretive matchmaking service which uses a complex series of psychological and emotional and physiological assessments to architect partnerships which will go all the way. The cost is a high one, with an ambitious promise: a level of lifelong compatibility which would otherwise be unattainable. The Arc, in other words, will find your ideal mate.

Ursula gets paired with Rafael Banks, a forty-two year old lawyer. From the first instant, it feels like the lasting and electric love that they have each been looking for their entire adult lives. However while their relationship unfolds in rather unanticipated ways, the couple start realizing that true love will never be a sure thing. And the arc of a relationship will never be predictable, even when it is fully optimized.

This is a thoroughly modern love story with an old fashioned heart. Tory Henwood Hoen skewers those mediocre start-up bros or the absurdities of twenty-first century ‘self care’ as well as human frailty and relationships, and there is nothing about the way we live now that escapes her gaze. You would never expect a razor-sharp satire to satisfy so deeply on an emotional level, yet “The Arc” does that and much more.