Beverly Jenkins

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Beverly Jenkins
Beverly Jenkins.jpg
Born1951 (age 72–73)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Michigan State University
Period1994–present
Genre Historical romance, Contemporary romance
Website
www.beverlyjenkins.net

Beverly Jenkins (born 1951, Detroit) is an American author of historical and contemporary romance novels with a particular focus on 19th-century African American life. [1] Jenkins was a 2013 NAACP Image Award nominee and, in 1999, was voted one of the Top 50 Favorite African American writers of the 20th century by the African American Literature Book Club. [2] Jenkins's historical romances are set during a period of African American history that she believes is often overlooked. This made it difficult to break into publishing because publishers weren't sure what to do with stories that involved African Americans but not slavery. [3]

Contents

Jenkins studied at Michigan State University as a Journalism and English Literature major. She lives in Southeastern Michigan. [4]

Early life

Jenkins was born in Detroit in 1951 to her parents, a high school teacher and an administrative aide. [5] Jenkins grew up surrounded by words. Her mother read to Jenkins while she was in the womb and bought her cloth books when she was a baby. Jenkins would chew on the cloth books while her mother encouraged her to "Eat those words, baby. Eat those words." [6] Jenkins read widely at her local library, everything from Alice in Wonderland to Dune to Zane Gray to early romance writers like Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart & Phyllis Whitney. [6] [5] Her early writing began when she became the editor of her elementary school newspaper. [5] Jenkins attended Michigan State University in the spring of 1969. [7]

Career

Jenkins worked full-time in the Michigan State University library's circulation department. Each lunch hour, she would read articles from The Journal of Negro History (now called The Journal of African American History ). Eventually, Jenkins and her husband moved to Ypsilanti, where she worked at the Parke Davis Pharmaceuticals' reference desk and began writing romance novels for fun. At the suggestion of a colleague, Jenkins looked for an agent and publisher. Avon published her first novel, Night Song, in 1994. [7]

Though Jenkins has published books in many romance sub-genres, the majority of her books are historical romances. Jenkins calls herself a "kitchen table historian." [3] She likens American history to a quilt with some pieces ripped out—the pieces belonging to minority history. Jenkins uses her books to weave the quilt back together by revealing patches of black history that are rarely taught in school. [6] Slavery and the Civil Rights Movement are important pieces of African American history, but they aren't the only pieces. For example, her first three novels, Night Song, Vivid and Indigo, feature characters such as a schoolteacher, a cavalry officer, a female doctor and Underground Railroad heroes. They were all inspired by true history. [6]

Jenkins found inspiration for Forbidden from two interesting bits of history. First, she read a news article about a high-end African American-run hotel that was uncovered during an archaeological dig in Virginia City. [6] She also heard a story about a man seeing a black woman walking through the desert with a cook stove balanced on her head. [8] Jenkins includes bibliographies with her historical romances so readers can read further, if they choose. [1]

Bibliography

TitleSeriesPublication YearISBN
Night Song1994 9780380776580
VividGrayson Family No. 11995 9780595162024
Indigo1996 9780595002023
Topaz1997 9780380786602
Through the StormLeVeq Family No. 11998 9780380798643
Taming of Jessi Rose, The1999 9780380798650
Always and Forever2000 9780380813742
Before the Dawn2001 9780380813759
Chance at Love, A2002 9780060502294
Belle and the Beau2002 9780064473422
"Homecoming"
short story in Gettin' Merry anthology		2002 9780312982195
The Edge of Midnight2004 9780060540661
Winds of the StormLeVeq Family No. 22004 9780060575311
The Edge of Dawn2004 9780060540678
Something like Love2005 9780060575328
Black Lace2005 9780060815936
Sexy/Dangerous2006 9780060818999
Prisoner of Love2007 9781625172761
Deadly Sexy2007 9780061246395
"Prisoner"
short story in Cuffed by Candlelight anthology		2007 9781600430077
Wild Sweet Love2007 9780061161308
JewelGrayson Family No. 22008 9780061161353
Josephine and the Soldier2009 9780060012205
Bring on the BlessingsBlessings No. 12009 9780061688409
CapturedLeVeq Family No. 32009 9780061547799
Second Helping, ABlessings No. 22009 9780061547812
"You Sang To Me"
short story in Rhythms of Love anthology		2010 9780373861606
"Holiday Heat"
short story in Once Upon a Holiday anthology		2010 9780373831913
Midnight2010 9780061547805
"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
short story in Baby, Let It Snow anthology		2011 9780373862337
Something Old, Something NewBlessings No. 32011 9780061990793
Night Hawk2011 9780062032645
"Hawaii Magic"
short story in Island for Two anthology		2012 9780373862610
"Overtime Love"
short story in Merry Sexy Christmas anthology		2012 9780373534876
Wish and a Prayer, ABlessings No. 42012 9780061990809
Destiny's EmbraceDestiny No. 12013 9780062032652
Destiny's SurrenderDestiny No. 22013 9780062231116
Heart of GoldBlessings No. 52014 9780062207975
Destiny's CaptiveDestiny No. 32014 9780062231130
For Your LoveBlessings No. 62015 9780062207999
ForbiddenOld West No. 12016 9780062389008
Stepping to a New DayBlessings No. 72016 9780062412638
BreathlessOld West No. 22017 9780062389039
Chasing Down a DreamBlessings No. 82017 9780062412652
TempestOld West No. 32018 9780062389053
Second Time SweeterBlessings No. 92018 9780062846174
RebelWomen Who Dare No. 12019 9780062861689
On the Corner of Hope and MainBlessings No. 102020 9780062699282
Wild RainWomen Who Dare No. 220219780062861719
To Catch a RavenWomen Who Dare No. 320229780062861740

Awards

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References

  1. 1 2 "Author Beverly Jenkins' Romance With the Past". Huffington Post. May 8, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Beverly Jenkins, Author". aalbc.com.
  3. 1 2 "Beverly Jenkins Wraps Bitter History in Sweet Romance". npr.org.
  4. ↑ "Author Beverly Jenkins biography and book list". freshfiction.com.
  5. 1 2 3 "Beverly Jenkins". Contemporary Black Biography. 14. Gale. 1997. ISSN   1058-1316.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Talking Black History and Love Stories with Romance Writing Pioneer Beverly Jenkins". Jezebel. January 26, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Beverly Jenkins: A Romance With Writing". Lansing State Journal. October 20, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  8. ↑ "An Interview with Beverly Jenkins". Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. April 24, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 RT Book Reviews
  10. ↑ "NAACP Image Awards: Winners Announced". Hollywood Reporter. February 1, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Romance Writers of America". Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
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