Sister Souljah
Sister Souljah (born Lisa Williamson) was born in 1964 in New York City. She attended Cornell University's advanced placement summer program and Spain's University of Salamanca study-abroad program. She later majored in American history and African studies at Rutgers University. Her travels and lectures have taken her all over America, Europe, and Africa. In the mid-1980s, she founded, in cooperation with the United Church of Christ, the African Youth Survival Camp, located in Enfield, North Carolina, for children of homeless families. In 1992, her rap album, 360 Degrees of Power, and video, "Slavery's Back in Effect," catapulted her to national attention. She lives in New York with her husband and son.
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Mary K. Baxter
Mary K. Baxter was a Christian evangelist and author best known for her vivid spiritual visions and revelatory writings. In 1976, she began experiencing a series of supernatural visions of hell and heaven, which she believed were given to her by God to warn the world and lead people to salvation. These experiences became the foundation for her bestselling book A Divine Revelation of Hell, which has sold nearly 1.4 million copies. Based in Florida, Mary traveled globally to share her message, and her ministry was marked by accounts of healing and miracles. Through Whitaker House, she authored a series of books that expanded on her spiritual insights, including A Divine Revelation of Heaven, A Divine Revelation of the Spirit Realm, A Divine R
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Dave Pelzer
An author best known for his 1995 memoir of childhood abuse, A Child Called It.
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At the age of 12, Dave was removed from an abusive home and placed in a series of foster homes. In 1979, he joined the Air Force and later became an author of memoirs and self-improvement books.
A CHILD CALLED "IT" IS COMING TO THE BIG SCREEN.
August 2017 - We are very excited to announce that writer/producer David Goldblum of Conscious Contact Productions has acquired the film rights to Dave Pelzer's, #1 New York Times bestselling book, A Child Called “IT” which was on the New York Times Best Sellers List for a record breaking six years. Tamlin Hall, whose film Holden On has won multiple awards around the country is attached to direct. Dave Pelzer is adapting -
Iceberg Slim
Iceberg Slim, also known as Robert Beck, was born as Robert Lee Maupin. Novelist and poet whose most famous novel, Pimp, is semi-autobiographical.
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Terry McMillan
Terry McMillan is an African-American author. Her interest in books comes from working at a library when she was fourteen. She received her BA in journalism in 1986 from the University of California at Berkeley and the MFA Film Program at Columbia University. Her work is characterized by strong female protagonists.
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Her first book, Mama, was self-promoted. She achieved national attention in 1992 with her third novel, Waiting to Exhale, which remained on The New York Times bestseller list for many months. Forest Whitaker turned it into a film in 1995. In 1998, another of McMillan's novels, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, was made into a movie. McMillan's novel Disappearing Acts was subsequently produced as a direct-to-cable feature.
Her last no -
E. Lynn Harris
E. Lynn Harris was born in Flint, Michigan and raised, along with three sisters, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville where he was the school's first black yearbook editor, the first black male Razorbacks cheerleader, and the president of his fraternity. He graduated with honors with a degree in journalism.
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Harris sold computers for IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T for thirteen years while living in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. He finally quit his sales job to write his first novel, Invisible Life, and, failing to find a publisher, he published it himself in 1991 and sold it mostly at black-owned bookstores, beauty salons, and book clubs before he was "discovered" by Anchor Books. Anchor pu -
Donald Goines
Donald Goines was born in Detroit to a relatively comfortable family - his parents owned a local dry cleaner, and he did not have problems with the law or drugs. Goines attended Catholic elementary school and was expected to go into his family's laundry business. Instead Goines enlisted in the US Air Force, and to get in he had to lie about his age. From 1952 to 1955 he served in the armed forces. During this period he got hooked on heroin. When he returned to Detroit from Japan, he was a heroin addict.
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The next 15 years from 1955 Goines spent pimping, robbing, stealing, bootlegging, and running numbers, or doing time. His seven prison sentences totaled 6.5 years. While in jail in the 1960s he first attempted to write Westerns without much -
Karen E. Quinones Miller
Karen E. Quinones Miller is the author of the Essence best selling novels Satin Doll, I’m Telling, Using What You Got, Ida B., (nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction), Satin Nights, and Passin’.
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Miller was born and raised in Harlem and dropped out of school in the 8th grade, but later finished her education and became a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
In 1999 she self-published her first novel, Satin Doll, and sold 3,000 copies in just six weeks --and ultimately sold 28,000 copies in six months. The publishing rights to Satin Doll and a second book were ultimately sold at auction for a six-figure deal. She has subsequently been published by Simon & Schuster, Warner Books, and Grand Central Books. -
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She came to fame in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison films and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film Jackie Brown. She is one of a few African American actresses to have received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for a SAG as well as a Satellite Award for her performance in the iconic film Jackie Brown. She received an Emmy Award nomination for her work in an Animated Program Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Ever Child. Rotten Tomatoes has ranked her as the second Greatest Female Action Heroine in film hist
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L. Divine
L. Divine is a young female author of the young adult fiction series Drama High. L. Divine is also a priestess who is originally from California, has lived in Jamaica and currently resides with her children in Atlanta. She also holds advanced degrees in African American studies from UCLA.
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Francis Davis
Francis Davis was an American author and journalist. He was best known as the jazz critic for The Village Voice, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly. He had also worked in radio and film, and taught courses on Jazz and Blues at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a 1994 recipient of the Pew Fellowships in the Arts.
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Carl Weber
Carl Weber is a New York Times and #1 Essence® bestselling novelist.
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In addition to his writing, Weber is the founder and publisher of Urban Books and in 2005, he was named Blackboard's Publisher of the Year. He is the owner of the Urban Knowledge chain of book stores and a past recipient of Blackboard's Bookseller of the Year award.
Weber graduated from Virginia State University and holds an MBA in marketing from the University of Virginia. -
Lynn Toler
Lynn C. Toler is the judge of the television series Divorce Court, replacing Mablean Ephriam in 2006. She previously hosted the court show Power of Attorney. Toler brought tenacity and compassion to the courtroom enforcing nontraditional judgments, such as hand written essays.
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Judge Toler is the author of My Mother's Rules: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Emotional Genius, in which she describes how she dealt as a child with her father's erratic behavior due to his bipolar disorder.
She earned an undergraduate degree in English and American Literature from Harvard in 1981 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1984. Toler currently resides in Ohio with her husband of 17 years and two teenage sons. -
Kimberla Lawson Roby
New York Times Bestselling Author, Speaker, Encourager of Women & Podcast Host, Kimberla Lawson Roby, has published 30 books which include her faith-based, nonfiction titles, THE WOMAN GOD CREATED YOU TO BE: Finding Success Through Faith—Spiritually, Personally, and Professionally and THE WOMAN GOD CREATED YOU TO BE: Companion Workbook & Discussion Guide, as well as some of her novels, such as CASTING THE FIRST STONE, SIN OF A WOMAN, A SINFUL CALLING, SISTER FRIENDS FOREVER, A CHRISTMAS PRAYER, THE PRODIGAL SON, THE PERFECT MARRIAGE, THE REVEREND’S WIFE, IT'S AS THIN LINE, and her debut title, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, which was originally self-published through her own company, Lenox Press. She has sold more than 3 million copies of her books,
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Mary Monroe
I am the third child of Alabama sharecroppers and the first and only member of my family to finish high school. I never attended college or any writing classes. I taught myself how to write and started writing short stories around age four. I spent the first part of my life in Alabama and Ohio and moved to Richmond, California in 1973. I have lived in Oakland since 1984.
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My first novel THE UPPER ROOM was published by St. Martin's Press in 1985 and was widely reviewed throughout the U.S. and in Great Britain. An excerpt is included in Terry McMillan's anthology BREAKING ICE. I endured fifteen years and hundreds of more rejection letters before I landed a contract for my second novel, GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY. It was published in October 2000 by Ke -
Teri Woods
True to the Game by author and publisher Teri Woods has been undisputedly titled a classic. While working as a legal secretary for a law firm and juggling motherhood in Philadelphia, PA, Teri Woods completed her first novel, True to the Game. Teri Woods submitted her story over a period of six years to more than 20 different publishers, all of whom rejected her. When major publishing houses refused to embrace True to the Game she wasn’t discouraged. In 1998 instead of giving up, Teri Woods printed, bound, self-published and began selling hand to hand her first book True to the Game. . . . Her grassroots tactic paid off; Teri Woods became a self-made millionaire in just three years selling her novel, True to the Game. She landed a major moti
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Eric Jerome Dickey
Eric Jerome Dickey was born in Memphis, Tennessee and attended the University of Memphis (the former Memphis State), where he earned his degree in Computer System Technology. In 1983, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in engineering.
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After landing a job in the aerospace industry as a software developer, Eric Jerome Dickey's artistic talents surfaced, inspiring him to become an actor and a stand-up comedian. Yet Eric quickly found out that writing was something he could do and do well. From creative writing classes to avidly consuming the works of his favorite authors, Eric Jerome Dickey began to shape a writing career of his own. Having written several scripts for his personal comedy act, he started writing poetry and short stories. -
Shannon Holmes
Shannon Holmes was born and raised in New York City’s most northern borough; the Bronx. Holmes’ entrance into the literary world was anything but ordinary. Armed only with a G.E.D. and the desire to change his life, Mr. Holmes crafted his first novel and signed his first literary contract from prison, while serving a five year sentence for various drug convictions. This was truly an amazing feat when you consider Mr. Holmes had never even written a short story in his life. He truly made the best of a bad situation.
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He first achieved success with his first novel B-more Careful, which has gone on to sell a half a million copies to date. This may not sound like a lot of to the general public, but in the literary world Mr. Holmes is platinum. B -
Noire
Noire is an author from the streets of New York whose hip-hop erotic stories pulsate with urban flavor. She is the #1 Essence bestselling author of G-Spot, Candy Licker, Baby Brother, and Thug-A-Licious, and the editor-in-chief of NOIREMagazine.com. Visit her website at www.asknoire.com or e-mail her at noire@asknoire.com.
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(Taken from SimonSays.com-author's publisher) -
Zane
Zane is the New York Times bestselling author of Afterburn, The Heat Seekers, Dear G-Spot, Gettin’ Buck Wild, The Hot Box, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Nervous, Skyscraper, Love is Never Painless, Shame on It All, and The Sisters of APF; the ebook short stories “I’ll be Home for Christmas” and “Everything Fades Away”; and editor for the Flava anthology series, including Z-Rated and Busy Bodies. Her TV series, Zane’s Sex Chronicles, and The Jump Off are featured on Cinemax, and her bestselling novel Addicted is a major motion picture with Lionsgate Films. She is the publisher of Strebor Books, an imprint of Atria Books/Simon & Schuster. Visit her online at EroticaNoir.com. - See more at: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Z...
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Omar Tyree
Omar Tyree, a New York Times best-selling author, a 2001 NAACP Image Award recipient for Outstanding Literature in Fiction, and a 2006 Phillis Wheatley Literary Award winner for Body of Work in Urban Fiction, has published 16 books and has sold nearly 2 million copies worldwide that has generated more than $30 million.
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With a degree in Print Journalism from Howard University in 1991, Tyree has been recognized as one of the most renowned contemporary writers in the literary community. He is also an informed and passionate speaker on various community-related and intellectual topics. Now entering the world of feature films, business lectures, and children’s books, Tyree is a tireless creator and visionary of few limitations.
Tyree is a popular -
Teri Woods
True to the Game by author and publisher Teri Woods has been undisputedly titled a classic. While working as a legal secretary for a law firm and juggling motherhood in Philadelphia, PA, Teri Woods completed her first novel, True to the Game. Teri Woods submitted her story over a period of six years to more than 20 different publishers, all of whom rejected her. When major publishing houses refused to embrace True to the Game she wasn’t discouraged. In 1998 instead of giving up, Teri Woods printed, bound, self-published and began selling hand to hand her first book True to the Game. . . . Her grassroots tactic paid off; Teri Woods became a self-made millionaire in just three years selling her novel, True to the Game. She landed a major moti
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Mary Monroe
I am the third child of Alabama sharecroppers and the first and only member of my family to finish high school. I never attended college or any writing classes. I taught myself how to write and started writing short stories around age four. I spent the first part of my life in Alabama and Ohio and moved to Richmond, California in 1973. I have lived in Oakland since 1984.
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My first novel THE UPPER ROOM was published by St. Martin's Press in 1985 and was widely reviewed throughout the U.S. and in Great Britain. An excerpt is included in Terry McMillan's anthology BREAKING ICE. I endured fifteen years and hundreds of more rejection letters before I landed a contract for my second novel, GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY. It was published in October 2000 by Ke -
Ashley Antoinette
ASHLEY ANTOINETTE COLEMAN is one of the most successful female writers of her time. The feminine half of the popular married duo, Ashley and JaQuavis, she has co-written over 40 novels, including the bestselling Cartel series. Several of her titles have hit The New York Times bestsellers list, but she is most widely regarded for her continuing racy saga, The Prada Plan. Born in Flint, MI, she was bred with an innate street sense that she uses as motivation in her crime filled writings.
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Picking up a deal with publishing powerhouse St. Martin's Press while simultaneously inking deals at Warner Brothers Studios and NBC/Universal, Ashley shows no signs of slowing down. She is currently hard at work on a new book series and two television pilots. -
Tracy Brown
I am a storyteller, a painter of words, a writer who genuinely loves my craft.
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Zane
Zane is the New York Times bestselling author of Afterburn, The Heat Seekers, Dear G-Spot, Gettin’ Buck Wild, The Hot Box, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Nervous, Skyscraper, Love is Never Painless, Shame on It All, and The Sisters of APF; the ebook short stories “I’ll be Home for Christmas” and “Everything Fades Away”; and editor for the Flava anthology series, including Z-Rated and Busy Bodies. Her TV series, Zane’s Sex Chronicles, and The Jump Off are featured on Cinemax, and her bestselling novel Addicted is a major motion picture with Lionsgate Films. She is the publisher of Strebor Books, an imprint of Atria Books/Simon & Schuster. Visit her online at EroticaNoir.com. - See more at: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Z...
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Ashley Antoinette
ASHLEY ANTOINETTE COLEMAN is one of the most successful female writers of her time. The feminine half of the popular married duo, Ashley and JaQuavis, she has co-written over 40 novels, including the bestselling Cartel series. Several of her titles have hit The New York Times bestsellers list, but she is most widely regarded for her continuing racy saga, The Prada Plan. Born in Flint, MI, she was bred with an innate street sense that she uses as motivation in her crime filled writings.
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Picking up a deal with publishing powerhouse St. Martin's Press while simultaneously inking deals at Warner Brothers Studios and NBC/Universal, Ashley shows no signs of slowing down. She is currently hard at work on a new book series and two television pilots. -
K'wan
In 2002 K'wan hit the scene with his debut novel Gangsta, under Triple Crown Publications. It was the first novel released by the budding house and would eventually become the building block for what is now a multimillion dollar company. What started as a therapeutic release went on to become a part of urban-lit history and an Essence bestseller, as well as drawing rave reviews overseas.
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After penning his second novel, Road Dawgz (2003), K'wan drew the attention of St. Martins press. The literary powerhouse quickly signed K'wan to a multi-book deal, the first of which being Street Dreams (2004). In 2008 he received the Black Author of the year award from Black Press Radio for the novella Blow.
Since his insertion into the publishing world K -
Tracy Brown
I am a storyteller, a painter of words, a writer who genuinely loves my craft.
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Shannon Holmes
Shannon Holmes was born and raised in New York City’s most northern borough; the Bronx. Holmes’ entrance into the literary world was anything but ordinary. Armed only with a G.E.D. and the desire to change his life, Mr. Holmes crafted his first novel and signed his first literary contract from prison, while serving a five year sentence for various drug convictions. This was truly an amazing feat when you consider Mr. Holmes had never even written a short story in his life. He truly made the best of a bad situation.
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He first achieved success with his first novel B-more Careful, which has gone on to sell a half a million copies to date. This may not sound like a lot of to the general public, but in the literary world Mr. Holmes is platinum. B -
Phyllis A. Balch
Phyllis Balch, a certified nutritional consultant, was a leading nutritional counselor for more than two decades, and came to the field from after experiencing in her own life the health benefits of diet and nutrition.
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Convinced that nutrition was, in many cases, the answer to regaining and maintaining health, Ms. Balch opened a health food store called Good Things Naturally, testified before Congress on the efficacy of natural healing, and in 1983 she published what is now known as Prescription for Nutritional Healing. Through four editions, this book has had millions of readers in many different countries, and has been translated into six foreign languages.
Ms. Balch died in December 2004. -
Terrance Dean
Full of startling anecdotes and incredible true stories, Hiding in Hip Hop is not a traditional tell-all. "
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Gloria Naylor
Gloria Naylor was an African-American novelist whose most popular work, The Women of Brewster Place, was made into a 1984 film starring Oprah Winfrey.
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Naylor won the National Book Award for first fiction in 1983 for The Women of Brewster Place. Her subsequent novels included Linden Hills, Mama Day and Bailey's Cafe. In addition to her novels, Naylor wrote essays and screenplays, as well as the stage adaptation of Bailey's Cafe. Naylor also founded One Way Productions, an independent film company, and was involved in a literacy program in the Bronx.
A native New Yorker, Gloria Naylor was a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale University. She was distinguished with numerous honors, including Scholar-in-Residence, the University of Pennsylvania -
J.J. Smith
JJ Smith is a nutritionist and certified weight-management specialist, passionate relationship/life coach, and inspirational speaker. She has been featured on The Montel Williams Show, The Jamie Foxx Show, and The Michael Baisden Show. JJ has made appearances on the NBC, FOX, CBS and CW Network television stations, as well as in the pages of Glamour, Essence, Heart and Soul, and Ladies Home Journal. Since reclaiming her health, losing weight, and discovering a “second youth” in her forties, bestselling author JJ Smith has become the voice of inspiration to women who want to lose weight, be healthy, and get their sexy back! JJ Smith provides lifestyle solutions for losing weight, getting healthy, looking younger and improving your love life!
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DeVon Franklin
DeVon Franklin is a bestselling author, spiritual success coach, former Sony Pictures executive, and the CEO of Franklin Entertainment, a production company in conjunction with 20th Century Fox. Variety named him one of the “10 Producers to Watch” and Beliefnet called him one of the “Most Influential Christians Under 40.” Franklin is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Wait (co-written with his wife, award-winning actress Meagan Good) and Produced by Faith. He lives with Meagan in Los Angeles, California.
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Lolita Files
Lolita Files is an African-American author, screenwriter, and producer. Among her six bestselling novels are book club favorites Scenes from a Sistah and Child of God. Her sixth novel, sex.lies.murder.fame was optioned for film by Carolyn Folks for Entertainment Studios with Files adapting the screenplay.
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The book Once Upon A Time In Compton, by former Compton Gang Unit Detectives Timothy M. Brennan and Robert Ladd, along with Files, about Brennan and Ladd's years in the gang unit, the rise of Gangsta rap, gang wars, the L.A. riots, the investigations of the murders of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., and the fall of the Compton Police Department was published on April 25, 2017.
Files has a degree in Broadcast Journalism from th -
Gerri Hirshey
Gerri Hirshey is a journalist and author with 25 years of experience in newspapers, magazines and book publishing. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, and many more.
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T.N. Baker
Librarian Note:
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There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. -
Virginia DeBerry
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We are best friends who’ve been co-writing women’s fiction since 1990. For more information about who we are, what we do and...what we did, please visit deberryandgrant.com. We can also be found online at: Facebook.com/deberryandgrant
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Dave Hunt
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Dave Hunt was an American Christian apologist, speaker, radio commentator and author. He was in full-time ministry from 1973 until his death. A prolific best-selling author, international lecturer, and Bible teacher, his writings have been translated into at least 50 languages. More than four million copies of Dave’s books have been sold. For nearly a decade, Dave also co-hosted a weekly radio program, Search the Scriptures Daily, broadcast on over 400 stations in the U.S. and worldwide. -
Pamela Samuels Young
Award-winning author and attorney Pamela Samuels Young writes mysteries that matter. Dubbed “John Grisham with a sister’s twist” by one reviewer, Pamela’s fast-paced novels tackle important social issues.
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Her most recent legal thriller, Failure to Protect, takes on the bullying epidemic and its devastating aftermath. Pamela won the prestigious NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction for her thriller Anybody’s Daughter, which provides a realistic look inside the world of child sex trafficking. Her courtroom drama Abuse of Discretion centers around a troubling teen sexting case. #Anybody’s Daughter and #Abuse of Discretion are young adult editions of the two books. A young adult version of Failure to Protect is forthcoming.
Pamela also write -
Noire
Noire is an author from the streets of New York whose hip-hop erotic stories pulsate with urban flavor. She is the #1 Essence bestselling author of G-Spot, Candy Licker, Baby Brother, and Thug-A-Licious, and the editor-in-chief of NOIREMagazine.com. Visit her website at www.asknoire.com or e-mail her at noire@asknoire.com.
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(Taken from SimonSays.com-author's publisher) -
Omar Tyree
Omar Tyree, a New York Times best-selling author, a 2001 NAACP Image Award recipient for Outstanding Literature in Fiction, and a 2006 Phillis Wheatley Literary Award winner for Body of Work in Urban Fiction, has published 16 books and has sold nearly 2 million copies worldwide that has generated more than $30 million.
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With a degree in Print Journalism from Howard University in 1991, Tyree has been recognized as one of the most renowned contemporary writers in the literary community. He is also an informed and passionate speaker on various community-related and intellectual topics. Now entering the world of feature films, business lectures, and children’s books, Tyree is a tireless creator and visionary of few limitations.
Tyree is a popular -
Wahida Clark
Wahida Clark was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. She decided to start writing fiction while incarcerated at a women's federal camp in Lexington, KY. Her style is street, raw, and she has an imagination that's in overdrive. When you read her novels they are so real you are convinced of one of three things: that you are inside the book, you know the characters, or you just have to meet them.
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Her first novel, Thugs And The Women Who Love Them and the sequel, Every Thug Needs A Lady appeared on the Essence Best Sellers List. -
Eric Jerome Dickey
Eric Jerome Dickey was born in Memphis, Tennessee and attended the University of Memphis (the former Memphis State), where he earned his degree in Computer System Technology. In 1983, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in engineering.
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After landing a job in the aerospace industry as a software developer, Eric Jerome Dickey's artistic talents surfaced, inspiring him to become an actor and a stand-up comedian. Yet Eric quickly found out that writing was something he could do and do well. From creative writing classes to avidly consuming the works of his favorite authors, Eric Jerome Dickey began to shape a writing career of his own. Having written several scripts for his personal comedy act, he started writing poetry and short stories. -
Nikki Turner
After Nikki Turner read The Coldest Winter Ever by Sistah Souljah she was dismayed that there weren't other books like it. "I wanted to write the kinds of books I wanted to read," said the bestselling author, whose 2002 debut novel, A Hustler's Wife, would go on to sell more than a few 100,000 copies.
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While Nikki Turner's first two novels were published by a small publishing house in the Midwest, in 2004 she signed a 2-book deal with One World, an imprint of Ballantine Books, which is part of The Random House Publishing Group. After publishing the first book under that deal, The Glamorous Life in 2005 as well as a short story collection edited by Nikki, Street Chronicles: Tales from da Hood, One World quickly signed Nikki up for three more N -
E. Franklin Frazier
Edward Franklin Frazier was a pioneering African-American sociologist. Frazier received his B.A. from Howard University, his M.A. from Clark University, and his doctorate from the University of Chicago, with which he is most famously affiliated. He was a member of the first Chicago School of sociology, focusing on urban sociology, as well as the intersection of social structures and physical environments in shaping the lives of individuals.
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Frazier is best known for his study of African-American family structure in the United States. He argued that the Black family was severely fractured by slavery, a condition which persisted to the present. Frazier also criticized the ways in which middle class African-Americans, as well as the instituti -
Miasha
A life changing event for me occurred at my college graduation in May of 2003.
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National bestselling author, Karen E. Quinones Miller, was the keynote speaker. She delivered a speech about how she had written a book, self-published it and sold so many copies on her own that major publishing houses fought to offer her a deal. I sat amongst my graduating class fully alert and attentive. It was as if Karen was talking directly to me, telling me to bypass trying to get a job in advertising copywriting and follow my true passion of becoming an author.
I was unquestionably inspired and two months after graduation I began writing my first novel, Secret Society. Three months later I had a complete manuscript and was ready to move on to the next step -
Kiki Swinson
Kiki Swinson was born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia. She discovered her flair for writing after completing her first novel, Mad Shambles, while serving a five-year sentence at a federal prison.
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After being released in December 1996, Kiki later went on to self-publish Mad Shambles. Her passion for writing didn't stop there. Writing feverishly into the wee hours of the night, she completed her second novel, Wifey, which was published by Melodrama Publishing. After the success of Wifey, Kiki penned the sequels I'm Still Wifey and Life After Wifey, as well as The Candy Shop and A Sticky Situation. -
Cupcake Brown
Cupcake Brown was not born into a life of privilege, intellectual stimulation, or professional dynamics. Her younger years were not a model for achieving success; her youth interrupted by violence and emotional turbulence. At 11, she regularly engaged in prostitution, drugs, and alcohol. By age 13, she had graduated to gang activities and street crime. Unfortunately, life would get much worse before it got better as Cupcake spiraled into a life that hovered somewhere above state prison, at best, and death on the mean streets, at worst.
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Cupcake's story is about system failure, societal ignorance, and a little girl who, as a result, resigned to degradation, depression, deprivation, and defeat. Her story is also about choices -- good ones and -
Jill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog (as Big Mama Thornton) and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That same year her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on September 25, 2007. She has won three Grammy Awards. She currently appears in the lead role of the BBC/HBO series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
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Paul Langan
Born in Philadelphia, Paul Langan spent his early childhood in the city before moving with his single mother to southern New Jersey. There he attended public school and worked a variety of jobs—including salesperson at a shoe store, attendant at a horse ranch, landscaper at a mental hospital, and a night-shift stockperson in a warehouse store near Atlantic City. “Each job,” he says today, “could be the topic of several juicy novels.”
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In 1991, he enrolled at Camden County College and a year later transferred to La Salle University, where he studied creative writing and literature, earning a B.A. in English. While at La Salle, he lived with international students, traveled to his roommate’s home in Kenya, became a prison tutor, and found “the -
Anne E. Schraff
Anne Elaine Schraff grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She received both her bachelor's and master's degrees from California State University at Northridge and taught high school for ten years.
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Anne paid her way through college by writing short stories for magazines. Since college she has written hundreds of stories and over eighty books including historical fiction, biographies, science books, and her favorite, fictional books for young people. She is published as both Anne Schraff and Anne E. Schraff.
Her background, which she describes as "multicultural, lower middle-class neighborhood, including African Americans, Mexican Americans, Arab Americans, and Filipino Americans," is her greatest inspiration when writing. -
Mirtha Michelle Castro Mármol
Mirtha Michelle Castro Mármol is a Dominican born actress and poet. At the age of five her family migrated to Miami, Florida. She wrote her first poem at the age of six and since then cultivated a passion for poetry. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California. “Letters, To The Men I Have Loved” is her debut as an author. It consists of profound letters and poems directed to various men during different milestones in her life. Her work expresses loss, love, pain, growth and hope.
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T.D. Jakes
Bishop T.D. Jakes is the author of the bestsellers God's Leading Lady; The Lady, Her Lover and Her Lord; Maximize the Moment; The Great Investment; His Lady; Woman, Thou art Loosed (the film of which won the Best Film Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival) and He-Motions. His daily morning show The Potter's Touch and weekly broadcast The Potter's House air on Trinity Broadcasting Network and Black Entertainment Television, as well as in Europe and South America. Bishop Jakes is the founder and pastor of The Potter's House, one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation, where he leads an interracial congregation of more than 28,000 members. He lives in Dallas with his wife and five children.
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Laurence Carter
In 2018-19 Laurence Carter walked 4,314 miles around the coasts of England and Wales in honour of his late wife Melitta, to raise awareness that cervical cancer can be eliminated in a generation. His memoir From Grief to Love tells the story of this epic walk and the people he meets along the way, and also his journey through grief.
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Laurence lives in Bethesda, Maryland, where he enjoys walking his dog, running, an occasional beer, seeing his three adult children, and strolling along the canal with his fiancée, whom he met as a result of the walk. Laurence, who is English, was delighted when NHS England pledged in November 2023 to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. -
Dempsey J. Travis
Dempsey J. Travis was an entrepreneur, historian and self-made multi-millionaire. He was the president of Travis Realty Company®, which has been listed among the Largest 100 Black Business in America by Black Enterprise Magazine. Mr. Travis was also listed for seven years in Ebony Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans and as Black Businessman of the Year by Dollar and Sense Magazine.
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Mr. Travis authored 25 best selling books including An Autobiography of Black Chicago, An Autobiography of Black Politics, Real Estate is the Gold in Your Future, and, Harold: The People’s Mayor, to name a few titles. His last book before his death was "Obama's Race to the White House." An autobiography was in process at the time of his de -
Kwei Quartey
KWEI QUARTEY
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Biography
Kwei Quartey is a crime fiction writer and physician based in Pasadena, California. In 2018, having practiced medicine for more than 15 years while simultaneously working as a writer, Quartey finally retired from medical practice to become a full-time novelist. Prior to that, though, he had balanced the two professions by dedicating the early morning hours to writing before beginning each day in his clinic.
Quartey was born in Ghana, West Africa, to a Ghanaian father and Black American mother, both of whom were lecturers at the University of Ghana. Quartey describes how his family’s home was full of hundreds of books, both fiction and nonfiction, which inspired him to write novellas as early as the age of eight or nin -
Tina McElroy Ansa
Tina McElroy Ansa was an American novelist, filmmaker, teacher, businesswoman and journalist. Her work appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Newsday,The Atlanta Constitution, Florida Times-Union, Essence Magazine, The Crisis, Ms. Magazine, America Magazine, and Atlanta Magazine.
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Bebe Moore Campbell
Bebe Moore Campbell (February 18, 1950 – November 27, 2006), was the author of three New York Times bestsellers, Brothers and Sisters, Singing in the Comeback Choir, and What You Owe Me, which was also a Los Angeles Times "Best Book of 2001". Her other works include the novel Your Blues Ain't Like Mine, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and the winner of the NAACP Image Award for Literature; her memoir, Sweet Summer, Growing Up With and Without My Dad; and her first nonfiction book, Successful Women, Angry Men: Backlash in the Two-Career Marriage. Her essays, articles, and excerpts appear in many anthologies.
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Campbell's interest in mental health was the catalyst for her first children's book, Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry, -
Timuel D. Black Jr.
Timuel Dixon Black Jr. was an American educator, civil rights activist, historian and author. A native of Alabama, Black was raised in Chicago, Illinois and studied the city's African American history.
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Michael Baisden
When it comes to entertaining, enlightening and educating, no one in talk radio compares to Michael Baisden. His high-octane energy and love for interacting with his listeners is just one reason for the popularity and success of The Michael Baisden Show. The Bad Boy ignites heated discussions with explosive episodic themes like: Living Your Dream, Your Body Is Your Temple, and Pimps In The Pulpit.
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His radio career began in 2003 when 98.7 KISS FM in New York City offered him a position as the afternoon drive-time host. Because of budget constraints the station was unable to offer him a salary. Michael's response was, "Just give me the damned mic!" And sure enough, within six months, their afternoon drive ratings went from number 9 to number -
Jasmine Guy
Jasmine Guy is an American actress, director, singer and dancer. She is best known for her starring role as Whitley Gilbert in the television sitcom 'A Different World,' and as part of the ensemble cast of 'Dead Like Me.'
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Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert Scott Heron was born in 1949. His mother was a librarian and his father a soccer player from Jamaica. In his youth Heron displayed both sporting prowess and academic ability (he won a place at Pennsylvania Lincoln University, like his role model Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance man). But he quit college after the first year to write his first novel, The Vulture (1970). While Heron was writing this the ferment of black politics and student radicalism was coming to a head, and his second novel The Nigger Factory (1972) reflects these developments.
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Heron has been more adventurous in his work as a musician and rapper. -
William Cooper
William Cooper is the author of The Trial of Donald H. Rumsfeld: A Novel. An attorney and national columnist, his writings have appeared in hundreds of publications globally including The New York Times, CNN, and Newsweek. He hosts the “Books and More” podcast. Publishers Weekly calls his commentary about American politics “a compelling rallying cry for democratic institutions under threat in America.” Visit him online at will-cooper.com.
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Amanda Seales
Amanda Ingrid Seales, formerly known by the stage name Amanda Diva, is an American comedian, actress, disc jockey (DJ), recording artist, television personality, VJ, author and poet.
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Along with performing stand up comedy across the globe, and touring colleges doing comedic lectures, this former MTV VJ with a master’s in African American studies from Columbia University plays Tiffany on, HBO’s “Insecure”, is co-host of syndicated daytime talk show, The Real, the host of NBC’s, Bring the Funny, and shines in her debut stand up special, I Be Knowin on HBO. She speaks truth to change via her wildly popular Instagram, weekly podcast, “Small Doses”, and its accompanying book/audiobook Small Doses: Potent Truths for Everyday Use is a best seller. -
J.J. Murray
Prolific novelist J. J. Murray writes BWWM romance novels in all genres. He lives with his amazing, talented, and creative wife Kimberlee and their precocious son Steven in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
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