Janice Hisle established herself as a bulldog news reporter—with a heart—during more than two decades as a professional journalist. She would fight, scratch and claw for public records yet wrote tragic stories with a soft touch. 

​After more than two decades as a full-time writer for daily newspapers, Janice became a freelance writer. She spent eighteen months writing and researching her first book, Submerged: Ryan Widmer, his drowned bride and the justice system.

The book has generated standing-room-only crowds at several venues; Janice and the book have been featured on CNN, Cincinnati TV news programs, and a variety of podcasts and radio programs.

As a writer for The Cincinnati Enquirer, Janice covered every aspect of the Widmer bathtub-drowning case through three spellbinding trials. Unanswered questions compelled her to write Submerged in time for the tenth anniversary of the case in August 2018. 

During her 15 years at the Enquirer, Janice earned awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and from The Press Club of Cleveland. Her award-winning work included articles on teen-driving safety, political campaign contributions, personality profiles, breaking news, investigative database projects and the Widmer case. 

Janice participated in a panel discussion about the Widmer case at Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University, in 2010, and also gave a presentation about the case at the University of Cincinnati’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in 2011. More recently, she was re-invited to give presentations about SUBMERGED at both of those institutions in 2018-19.

Janice formerly worked for The Dayton Daily News, The Vindicator (Youngstown, Ohio), and The Record-Courier (Kent-Ravenna, Ohio), and is a current member of The Authors Guild.

Janice graduated summa cum laude from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/news-editorial.

Her work has focused mainly on public safety and criminal justice, including coverage of dozens of murder cases, with occasional articles on business, health and fitness. When she's not writing, she is a sought-after nationally certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor.