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Childhood and early works (1949-1968)
Henry Blake was born on February 1, 1949 in Brooklyn, NY. From primary school, Blake had taken up an interest in reading both fiction and nonfiction, especially with historical themes. Blake was fascinated by history, especially ancient civilizations as well as Medieval Europe, interests which would become major influences for his novels. In addition to reading, Blake enjoyed movies and television shows, and has cited Walt Disney's films as an influence as well.

Blake's first incursions into writing began as early as 1960, when he began writing sports fiction, though later switched to literary fiction. In high school, Blake published short stories in his school's newspaper. In 1967, during his freshman year at Hartwick College, Blake published a few of his poems and short stories in a portfolio under the name of "H.B. Henderson", the first known use of his pen name.

The Adventuress Series (1968-1974)
Blake had been working on a fantasy epic as early as 1963, but left it largely abandoned when he made the shift to literary fiction. He would sporadically revisit fantasy throughout high school, but he kept his main focus on his short stories. In college, however, after submitting his portfolio, H.B. Henderson began serious work on his action fantas Adventuress stories. Set in the land of Cervidae, the stories revolved around the adventures of huntress Lucinda Mossbow as she embarked on a quest to avenge the death of her father, who had been killed by the dark prince Samwell. Henderson began publishing the first set of Adventuress stories in 1968, which soon became a favorite among Hartwick students.

By 1970, Henderson had completed the story for Adventuress and was ready to pitch his story to a publishing company. After both Scholastic and Doubleday had passed on the story, Henderson finally had Simon & Schuster agree to publish Adventuress. Because of the length of the original story, Simon & Schuster insist that Henderson divide it into three separate novels, starting with the Valley Huntress, which was published in 1971. The novel covered the events from the start of Lucinda's journeys to the death of Samwell. Upon its release, the Valley Huntress was a literary success, and quickly became a favorite among fantasy fans. The New Yorker crowned Henderson as "The successor to Tolkien". J.R.R. Tolkien, who was still alive at the time the Valley Huntress was published, died in 1973, the same year that the second installment in Henderson's saga, the Great War of Tylos, was published. The book covered Lucinda's involvement in the war in which the kingdoms of Tylos and Clydatia clashed. One year later, the High Prince of Sin was published, marking the end of the Adventuress epic, where Lucinda defeats the beast known as the Goat, effectively abolishing chaos from the Land of Cervidae. Unlike the past two installments of the Adventuress saga, the High Prince of Sin was not as successful as its predecessors.

Shift to portal and dark fantasy (1974-1982)
With the release of the High Prince of Sin and the conclusion of the Adventuress series, Henderson initially had no intentions to return to Lucinda or the Land of Cervidae. By 1974 he had already began work on his next novel, A Storm Between Worlds, a portal fantasy story in which the main protagonist, Bradley O'Neill, is whisked from his home in New York City to the mystical land of Ovaria. Despite its dark title, A Storm Between Worlds was largely a wholesome novel, lacking the action and violence of the Adventuress series. Upon its release in 1977, A Storm Between Worlds flopped as Henderson's popularity in the world of fantasy literature had waned.

Despite the failure of A Storm Between Worlds, Henderson decided to use the Land of Ovaria as the primary setting for all his future books. The second book to be set in Ovaria was the dark fantasy themed Wizard of the Black Mountain, which involved the travels of three orphaned children and their dog as they avoided the terror of the evil wizard Dreja. With a much darker tone, Wizard of the Black Mountain was the most serious of Henderson's books. But when it was first published in 1980, it was critically panned, and flopped, putting Henderson's career into danger.

Television and return to Adventuress (1982-1991)
In 1979, NBC approached Henderson with an offer to produce a television series based off of the Adventuress books, as they were looking to produce a speculative fiction television series. Henderson approved, hoping that the TV series would resuscitate his career. He was given the position of consultant producer for the show, and suggested that NBC produce the show with a high budget for special effects. Shooting for Lucinda Mossbow: Adventuress took place in 1981 and premiered on NBC on October 1, 1982. The show was highly successful during its first season and, Henderson admired the show's loyalty to the books, and was satisfied by Samantha Bell's performance as Lucinda Mossbow.

Though Henderson's attitude toward the TV adaptation was initially positive, he had disapproved of many of the decisions made by the show's producers, most notably the decision to use Jim Henson's Creature Shop to make the many of the show's monsters, and led the studios to go over budget. In addition, Lucinda Mossbow: Adventuress was toned down in violence compared to the books it was based off of in order to appeal to a family audience, much to Henderson's dismay. The show ended in February 1986 with the conclusion of the events of the High Prince of Sin, despite high viewership. With the end of the television series, Henderson's career regained attention, and he decided to continue the Adventuress saga in two more books, Forest of Bones (1988) and the Crystals of Judgement (1991), both of which were moderately successful.