Want to Crack the Case? These Are The 101 Best Mystery Books of All Time

'One Tree Hill' Star Bethany Joy Lenz Confirms Title Of Upcoming Memoir About Her Decade In A Cult

UPDATE: An Instagram announcement by Bethany Joy Lenz today revealed that her upcoming memoir will be titled Dinner for Vampires. The book details her decade in a cult while working on the hit TV show One Tree Hill.

"Being a writer has been a great, private joy in my life since I was about 12," she wrote on Instagram. "This isn't the first book I thought I'd write, publicly, but as difficult as this subject matter could be to untangle, I'm grateful I get to share my story, my way. It's a story of forgiveness and a roadmap to how manipulation works, with a heartache and humor along the way. We all make mistakes and I hope Dinner for Vampires reminds you that, no matter what weird roads you've gone down, you're not alone."

The book is planned for an Oct. 22 release via Simon & Schuster.

EARLIER: Bethany Joy Lenz is working on what promises to be a bombshell memoir, expected to arrive early next year.

Lenz is sparing on the details, but says the book will cover her 10 years spent in an unnamed cult, a period which overlapped with her years on the television show "One Tree Hill." She claims the cult involved "spiritual abuse," actions that led to "lots of therapy" to overcome the induced issues.

"Recovery looks different for everyone, depending on your experience of trauma," she said in an interview with People. "I had to start from a baseline of my personal understanding of God and the experiences I had had. And then there was a lot of going back to who I was before and remembering that, and then acknowledging that there was so much I just didn't know."

The writing process has been "painful" at times, she confessed. But "I'm a writer at heart, so turning a phrase is easy for me. Exploring the memories, and really facing them, can be challenging — but I'm doing it."

The "One Tree Hill" actress played Haley James Scott for nine seasons on the popular CW coming-of-age drama. She often relives those times with former costars Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton on the "Drama Queens" podcast, which revisits the behind-the-scenes moments, as well as bullying and sexual harassment they allegedly experienced on set.

"It's been really valuable," she says. "I've arrived at the conclusion that the hard things are meant to be shared, not hidden. They can be helpful and healing."

Bethany Joy Lenz Announces Memoir About Her Experience In 'Abusive' Cult

Bethany Joy Lenz. Emily Assiran/Getty Images for That's 4 Entertainment

Bethany Joy Lenz is ready to tell her story.

The One Tree Hill alum, 42, announced her upcoming memoir, Dinner for Vampires, via Instagram on Thursday, February 29, noting that the tell-all is "about the decade [she] spent in an abusive, high-demand group (aka, cult)."

She continued: "Being a writer has been a great, private joy in my life since I was about 12. This isn't the first book I thought I'd write, publicly, but as difficult as this subject matter could be to untangle, I'm grateful I get to share my story, my way. It's a story of forgiveness and a roadmap to how manipulation works, with a heartache and humor along the way. We all make mistakes and I hope Dinner for Vampires reminds you that, no matter what weird roads you've gone down, you're not alone

❤️‍��

."

Lenz also shared a photo of the book's cover, which features the subtitle, "Life on a Cult TV Show While Also in an Actual Cult!" In the photo, pills bearing words including "victimhood," "self-loathing" and "submission" can be seen behind the book's cover.

The Biggest Celeb Memoir Bombshells of 2023: Prince Harry's Todger and More

A description of the memoir on Simon & Schuster's website details Lenz's double life in the early 2000s as both a cast member on One Tree Hill and a member of a Bible study group that "morphed into something more sinister" called The Big House Family. The website also states that the book is due out on October 22.

Lenz first opened up about her experience with the group during a July 2023 episode of her "Drama Queens" podcast.

"I was in a cult for 10 years," she said while discussing potential memoirs with cohosts Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton Morgan. "That would be a really valuable experience to write about, and the recovery — 10 years of recovery after that. So, there's a lot to tell."

Grab a Pen! Hayley Kiyoko and More Stars Who've Written Books

One month later, she got candid about the "breaking point" that made her leave the cult during an interview with E! News.

"There's a lot of highs and lots of lows and at some point, you just are like, 'Can I get off this ride, please? What's wrong with me? Why am I so up and down all the time?'" she recalled, noting that she had "wild, vivid dreams" one month before her exit. "Sometimes it just takes a few people at the right moment saying, 'It might not be anything wrong with you.' And that can be a relief."

Lenz shed more light on the type of treatment she faced within the group during an August 2023 interview with the Daily Mail. She recalled "weeping" after the leaders pushed her to turn down one of her "dream" roles.

"I was actually offered [the part of] Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, the role I had been auditioning for on and off since I was about 16," she said. "They said that I should turn it down because, 'You can't out-give God.' That was the idea."

'One Tree Hill' Cast: Where Are They Now?

Despite her heartbreak over turning down the role, Lenz acknowledged that doing the musical would've changed the trajectory of her life.

"The truth is, my daughter wouldn't exist if I did take that [part]," she said, referring to 13-year-old Maria Rose, whom she shares with ex-husband Michael Galeotti. The former couple divorced in 2012 after six years of marriage.

Opinion: The Banning Of Black Joy

Renée Watson

Watson is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author of books for young readers. Raised in Portland, she splits her time between Portland and Harlem. Her website is www.Reneewatson.Net.

"Defiant." "Rebellious." "Pessimism." "Victimhood." "Racism."

These are the words that were used to describe my middle-grade novel "Ways to Make Sunshine" by a small group of parents of the Sumner County school district in Tennessee in 2022. "Ways to Make Sunshine" is the first book of the Ryan Hart series, a collection of stories I wrote about a fourth-grade girl growing up in Portland who tries to see the best in people, always finding the bright side of hard, challenging situations.

Some of my favorite scenes are the moments where Ryan is playing with her friends and being carefree at Alberta Park across the street from Vernon Elementary School, the school I attended as a child. She races a boy on the playground only to lose because her shoelace is untied. She wins a water balloon fight because of her clever strategy, and she is known to pull pranks on her older brother, Ray. The Ryan Hart series features a Black family who relies on their love and faith to get them through hard times.

This is a series about joy. Black joy.

Throughout the series, Ryan learns that joy is not necessarily happiness. Her grandmother tells her in the third book, "Joy is deep, deep down. Joy isn't always based on how you feel, but what you know." The joy that the grandmother speaks of was exemplified in enslaved Black Americans who created songs amid cruelty and abuse. It is the legacy of making a way out of no way, of finding something to be grateful for even when struggle and pain abound. It is not denial of sadness, but an intentional choice to hold sadness while also holding gratitude and grace. This sentiment rings true for Ryan as she navigates common childhood worries and obstacles. She wonders how to keep her self-esteem even when she is being teased because of the texture of her hair. She wonders how to remain grateful even when her family struggles financially.

And still, with the range of emotions the character, Ryan, feels — competitive, nervous, silly, worried, confident, sad — those parents could only see her as an angry Black girl.

Somehow, they interpreted Ryan's nostalgia about moving out of her old home as "selfish," and referred to her sadness as "self-pity." They read the scene where Ryan's grandmother washes and presses her hair, telling her how beautiful she is both inside and out, and in their complaint, insinuated that the character was shallow and obsessed with her looks. The parents who wanted to remove "Ways to Make Sunshine" from public school libraries could not see past their own stereotypes, assumptions and biases. For every emotion Ryan expressed, they saw her as a negative Black girl with a bad attitude.

Though the school board voted to keep "Ways to Make Sunshine" in the library, what is disheartening about the sentiments of those few Sumner County parents is that their unchecked, biased attitude towards Black girls is far too common among teachers and school administrators in classrooms across the nation. In 2020, a 12-year-old Black child was sent to the nurse's office to be searched for contraband because the principal was suspicious of her "hyper and giddy" behavior. Reports conducted by the Education Trust – New York and the American Civil Liberties Union indicate that Black girls are disproportionately disciplined in school, not because they misbehave more than non-Black children, but because their age-appropriate behavior is seen and experienced differently than their peers. As I write this, Black students are being suspended because of the way they wear their natural hair. And Black history, which is American history, is being diluted and erased from the curriculum.

Every time one of my books is challenged, well-meaning folks try to encourage me, telling me this is "proof that you are doing something right." They tell me I am in good company. After all, books by Judy Blume and Toni Morrison have been banned. "This is a badge of honor," they say. I appreciate the sentiment but wearing this badge of honor is heavy. It comes with the weight of knowing librarians are getting fired for sharing my books in their book clubs. I carry with me every personal account shared with me at author visits from teachers, parents and young readers who tell me how they fought to get one of my novels on their reading list or one of my picture books in their school library. I often leave school visits and events feeling empowered and inspired by the educators, care givers and young people I've met. There is solidarity, yes. And a shared pride in our commitment to ensuring all voices are heard. But there is also sadness and anger, too. Not only because of the attempts to silence me and my stories, but at the blatant message it sends to young people about whose story is important, who deserves to be heard.

The censorship, quiet removal of books from libraries and outright book banning are erasure and deny young people the opportunity to grow and expand. The act of reading is bearing witness to someone's story, it is a way to listen, to consider. In young readers, especially, it can help build the muscle of empathy. These book challenges encourage children who do not identify as the protagonists in these stories to turn away from those people over there and disregard their experiences and existence. For children whose identities are being reflected to them in these stories, the book bans foster feelings of isolation.

If books that center the humanity and nuances of Black girlhood are being banned and classrooms are suspending Black girls for asking too many questions and history books are erasing the legacy of Black resistance and resilience, where do Black girls look for acceptance and affirmation?

I am encouraged by off-campus book clubs, independent bookstores with banned book displays and reading lists, and public libraries that are safe spaces. I truly believe that the people who want to take away students' rights to read are not the majority ­– they are just the loudest, the ones who've been given the mic. The dissent is just as palpable as the banning. Recently, students at Brandywine school district in southwest Michigan distributed flyers in protest of 193 titles being restricted by the school board. The titles under question included my young adult novel, "This Side of Home," and books by Vashti Harrison, Kelly Starling Lyons, Nikki Grimes and Dhonielle Clayton. The students wrote, "we want to protect our rights as 21st century learners."

There are many librarians, teachers, parents and students who are fighting book bans by leading read-ins and writing letters to school board leaders and city officials. We Need Diverse Books and PEN America have initiatives and are finding ways to make sure diverse books get into the hands of the young readers.

No matter the attack against Black girls and our stories, one thing that keeps me hopeful is the legacy of persistence and the miracle of joy we have inherited. I say to every Black girl to laugh louder, be bold, be brave. Know our stories matter. They can't ban our joy. Our stories have survived, and they will endure.

Share your opinion

Submit your essay of 600-700 words on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.Com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

---