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Why I Write.

My great-grandfather wrote poetry, I’m told. Me, I sort of stumbled into writing. In college, I changed majors every day, it seemed. Somehow, I settled on English writing as a major. Taking a class here and there, I discovered I was pretty, darn good at it. And I loved it, besides.

I was born in the inner city, which is where most of my novels are set. I loved growing up on my small block, where I knew everyone and they knew me. The half hasn’t been told about the people who inhabit such spaces. That’s another reason I write, to breathe life into stories and characters that people think they know based on their zip code, skin color, habits or jobs.

As a kid, I learned early that our neck of the woods was something pretty darn special. That much was expected of us. School superintents came from our neighborhood; doctors; world travelers; teachers; plumbers; truck drivers; women who scrubbed floors like my Mom; police officers; entrepreneurs; number runners; nurses and more. It was, is, a rich, wide world, no matter what others see or think. It shaped me and my novels. And because I grew up there, both my neighborhood and I have touched the world, touched millions of young people as well.

We carry our stories with us, no matter where we go. It’s up to us to tell our story in our own way, in our own time, be they written or spoken.

 
 

 
 

ME BY THE NUMBERS

 

17

Before I Became an Author.

When I left home for college at seventeen, I had no idea I would become an author. Good thing. I would have been much too afraid to take this journey. I changed my major many, many times as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh. Somewhere along the way, however, I discovered that I loved writing,, and I was good at it! I chose English Writing as my major. Recently, a university asked me to give them my papers, including letters from editors and fan;, drafts of my work; my novels and short stories in print; newspaper articles written about me; magazine articles I’ve written and more. It’s a lot of work collecting 22 years of your papers. But I’m doing it, taking one step at a time, which is exactly what you do when you write a novel.

Working My Way Through Life.

If you think I left college and went to work at a glamour job, you would be wrong. I took the first job I was offered. During weekends, public transportation did not run to the area my job was located in. The bus also didn’t run during certain hours. Here’s what that job taught me though. I am hardworking, determined and dependable. If I give my word, I try to stick with it. And I gave my word to my employer, so I drove back and forth to work with colleagues, when needed. What was my job? I was a houseparent. I worked with teenage girls, helping them get ready in the morning for school, making sure they made it to school on time, helping them homework, etc. . A year later, I was off to another job where I stayed for eight years acting as a child advocate for young people in foster care.

A Dream Come True, Wow!

I was forty-two years old when I wrote The Skin I’m In. The first editor who read it, purchased it. There are over 1.5 million copies of my books on the planet. How do I know? Educators have told me that they teach my books year after year with each new, incoming class. That adds up to a lot of eyes on the very same book in the very same classroom. I am ever grateful to educators and the students who read my work and write to me about it. I’m also grateful that I get to tell stories that people enjoy reading and teaching. Stories that change lives.

Inspiring The Skin I’m In.

My daughter inspired me to write The Skin I’m In, and to write consistently. She came into the world dark-skinned and beautiful and I instantly fail in love. Now, I have twelve novels in print, with more on the way. Most recently my work has earned the Whippoorwill Book Award and I was one of six finalists for a $50,000 literary prize sponsored by Kikus Reviews.

 
 
 
 
 
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 Awards & Recognition

  • Kirkus Prize Finalist

  • Whippoorwill Book Award

  • Book of the Year, National Association of Black Librarians.

  • Amazon’s Editor’s Pick

  • Coretta Scott King John-Steptoe New Talent Award Winner

  • Coretta Scott Kinn Honor award (Multiple times)

  • NAACP Image Award Nominee

  • YWCA Racial Justice Award

  • IRA Notable Book For A Global Society

  • Detroit Public Library Outstanding Book of the Year Award

  • Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books

  • American Library Association Best Books for Young Young Adult Readers (Multiple)

  • New York Public Library Top Ten Books for the Teen Age (Multiple)

  • Top Twenty Recommended Books to Read by the Texas Library Association

  • Junior Library Guide Selection (Multiple times)

  • 100 Books Every Teenage Girl Should Read