Book Event: Beverly Jenkins “Chasing Down a Dream” Book Tour
Hello All! Just this past weekend I had the opportunity to go to The Book Beat, one of my favorite local indie bookstores and see bestselling author Beverly Jenkins in the flesh! I was so excited to see her since I missed her the last time she was there for a book signing .Beverly is a Detroit native (like me) and an author of African American historical romance and contemporary novels. She is the recipient of the 2017 Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for historical romance. She has been nominated for the NAACP Image Award in Literature and since the publication of Night Song in 1994, she has been leading the charge for multicultural romance.
I hadn’t been to a book talk since Borders was in business and the last time I’ve actually gotten to meet authors face to face was when I attended the RT Booklovers Convention in 2015. I’ve read some of her books and enjoyed her writing style and narratives. I admire her work as a pioneer of diverse romance and how she paved the way for so many multicultural authors in romance today.
The book signing and discussion was intimate and engrossing as Beverly talked about her work, what she likes to read, where she gets her inspiration from, what writing project she’s currently working on, and her newest book in the Blessings Series, Chasing Down a Dream: A Blessings Novel
Latest News/Upcoming Books
– NBC picked up the GoFundMe for Deadly Sexy the movie which is based off of the novel of the same title. The goal is to reach $100,000 in 30 days and the campaign is currently at $16,000. Please donate if you can!
– Her next installment in the Blessings series, book 9, will be released sometime early next year.
Fun Facts
– Born and bred in Detroit, but has lived in various cities throughout Michigan
– She is the oldest of seven siblings.
– Her mom is a reader and a big supporter of her work. Early in her career, her mom rearranged her books to be on the top shelf at Barnes & Noble because they were in the wrong spot. Even though she assured her mom they were right because the shelving was alphabetically ordered, she still protested against it.
– Grew up always wanting to work in a library, but didn’t plan to be a writer.
– She loves her Kindle because she doesn’t have any more room for physical books in her house.
– Even though she primarily writes romance, she is actually a big reader of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Genre
– She worked in various libraries including the library at Michigan State University where she got her degree in Journalism and English Literature.
Writing Process & Inspiration
– She worked previously in pharmaceuticals and wrote on the side. It was while working at this job that she met another writer who encouraged her to publish her book.
– Night Song
– 19th century African-American romance did not fit into a demographic or target market when she first started writing for publishers. Her books weren’t about slavery and publishers didn’t know how to market them because they were so different.
– African-American history inspires her she loved to read the documents, see photographs, and read journal entries that talked about her ancestors’ struggles and wanted to tell their stories.
– She doesn’t have a favorite book of hers, but Night Song is special to her because it was her first book. She says each book is special in their own particular way.
– Writing process: works mostly at night. She says “the closer I get to the deadline, the more serious I get. I enjoy the research process and it’s easy for me since I’ve worked in the world of libraries for a long time. The joy of research is unearthing history and it brings these people (historical figures) to life on the pages.”
Book Reccomendations
Own Voices authors she recommends & enjoys include:
– Romance: Alisha Rai, Tracey Livesay, Alyssa Cole, Keith Walker, Wayne Jordan
– LGBTQ: Rebekah Weatherspoon
– Sci-F-/Fantasy: Zoraida Cordova, N.K. Jeminson, Daniel José Older
Mini Haul
I bought a copy of Topaz and Deadly Sexy which were both signed by Beverly! 😀
It was such a pleasure to meet and listen to Beverly talk about her writing career and books! I hope I get the opportunity to see her again the next time she does a book signing. 🙂
*For more information about Beverly visit: http://www.beverlyjenkins.net/web/
Have you read any of Beverly Jenkins’ books? If so, which is your favorite?
