Eric Jerome Dickey

Eric Jerome Dickey, originally from Memphis, Tennessee, is the national best-selling author of Naughty or Nice, Thieves' Paradise, Between Lovers, Liar's Game, Cheaters, Milk in My Coffee, Friends and Lovers, Cappuccino (Movie) and Sister Sister, as well as a contributor to Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writing (2002), Black Silk (2002), Got to Be Real, Griots Beneath the Baobab: Tales from Los Angeles (2002)and NAL's Mothers & Sons. He worked as a computer programmer, a middle school teacher, actor, and stand up comic before becoming a full-time novelist.

Nina Foxx

Nina is originally from Jamaica, New York. Having lived all over the country, she considers herself a citizen of America. She graduated from Hunter College and Baruch College and earned a graduate literary fiction certificate from the University of Washington. She has authored four novels, the second of which, Get Some Love, will be published by HarperCollins/Avon books this summer. She also co-authored one non-fiction book entitled Do The Write Thing: 7 Steps to Publishing Success. She has also written columns for BlackWords Online and an occasionally review for Black Issues Book Review.

Nina helps support the Austin Writer’s League and the Girls Scouts, and is a member of Jack & Jill of America and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She lives in Austin, Texas with her family. Her hobbies include downhill skiing, travel, exercising, dance, and reading.

Francis Ray

Francis Ray is a native Texan and lives in Dallas. A graduate of Texas Woman's University, she is a School Nurse Practitioner with the Dallas Independent School District. In 1999 and 2000 she was nominated for Texas Woman's University Distinguished Alumni Award.

Ms. Ray's titles consistently make bestseller's lists such as Blackboard and Essence Magazine. INCOGNITO, her sixth title, was the first made-for-TV movie for BET. She has written fourteen single titles and eight anthologies. Two additional books are scheduled by the end of 2003. Seven books will be released in 2004. Awards include Romantic Times Career Achievement, EMMA, The Golden Pen, and The Atlantic Choice.

Victoria Christopher Murray

Victoria attended Hampton Institute in Virginia where she majored in Communication Disorders. After graduating in 1977, Victoria attended New York University where she received her Master of Business Administration in 1979.

Victoria originally self published Temptation in 1997. In 2000, Walk Worthy Press/Warner Books published Temptation. Temptation made numerous best sellers list including Emerge and The Dallas/Fort Worth Morning News. It remained on the Essence bestsellers list for nine consecutive months and was nominated in 2001 for an NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Literature. JOY has also been an Essence bestseller and won the 2002 Gold Pen Award for Best Inspirational Fiction.

In 2003, Victoria joined with five authors for the first Christian fiction anthology. Blessed Assurance is a collection of short stories where each author chose a character from the Bible and brought their story into 2003.

Victoria’s third novel, Truth Be Told, will be released in 2004. Victoria is an Associate Editor with Black Issues Book Review and a contributor to Quarterly Black Review.

Brandon Massey

Brandon Massey was born June 9, 1973 and grew up in Zion, Illinois. He originally self-published THUNDERLAND, his first novel, which won the 2000 Gold Pen Award for Best Thriller from the Black Writers Alliance. This title was re-released by Kensington in January 2003. His next novel, DARK CORNER, an epic vampire thriller, will be published in January 2004 by Kensington Publishing Corp.

Parry "Ebony Satin" Brown

The queen of special projects is the national best-selling author of The Shirt Off His Back (Villard Books), Sittin' in the Front Pew (Villard Books) and self-help book Sexy Doesn't Have a Dress Size...Lessons in Love (ShanKrys). As a motivational speaker, this woman of size and color encourages all people to look inside themselves for their worth. She delivers her Sexy Doesn't Have a Dress Size seminar series to standing room only crowds around the world.

With captivating appearances on ABC World News Now, INSIGHTS (Fox-Dallas, TX), Connection (PBS, Columbia, SC), and DjembeTV (Cable, Baltimore, MD) Ms. Brown is a favorite among talk show host. Parry has mesmerized audiences on nationally syndicated radio shows: The Tom Joyner Morning Show, Lee Bailey's Radio Scope, ABC Network Radio's The Touch, John Arnold Show, Tom Pope Show, and eyada.com just to name a few. She is a frequent guest on many highly-rated local radio shows from coast to coast and in Canada.

TJ. Butler

TAJUANA “TJ” BUTLER is a writer, poet, and public speaker who conducts sisterhood workshops at colleges around the country. In addition to the bestsellers “Hand-Me-Down Heartache” and “Sorority Sisters”, she is the author of a collection of poetry, “Desires of a Woman.” “The Night Before Thirty” is her latest book. She lives in Los Angeles.

Victor McGlothin

Victor McGlothin almost lost an athletic scholarship due to poor reading skills. Ultimately, he overcame that obstacle and later completed a Masters degree in Human Relations & Business. After he developed a love for the written word, Victor left a vice president position with a local bank to pursue a career in literature. He now lives in the Dallas area with his wife and two sons.

Jetola Anderson-Blair

Jetola Anderson-Blair was born in London, England and grew up in Jamaica and New York. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and Villanova University. She spent sixteen years in corporate America in a variety of Human Resources positions.

Today she is a full time writer who assists her husband in the operation of a Jamaican restaurant and catering service in Houston, Texas, when writer’s block strikes. In My Sister’s Shoes is her first solo publication. Other published works include contributions to Sister to Sister Devotions (Judson Press) and the Women of Color Bible (Nia Publishing). She was featured in the New York City edition of Success Guide as one of “Ten to Watch”. She is currently working on her second book which is a work of fiction.

Vincent Alexandria

Vincent Alexandria has been touring for the last two years with his first novel, If Walls Could Talk, and has been to sixty cities and Mexico. He has just finished his second novel, Postal Blues. Vincent has his Masters degree in literature at Baker University and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rockhurst College. He’s received numerous awards for outstanding service as a volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club of America.

He is the owner of We Must X-L, Inc., a promotional and theatrical company. He creates events that build self-esteem, reinforces teamwork and encourages open speech. He’s an actor, writer, producer, director, composer, lyricist, vocalist, and plays the bass guitar. He has written, produced and directed three musical stage plays, His Eyes Are on the Sparrow, The Changing of an Uncle Tom, and If She Only Knew.

Vanessa Miller

Vanessa Miller of Dayton, Ohio is an accomplished playwright. Her stage productions include: Get You Some Business, Don’t Turn Your Back on God and Can’t You Hear Them Crying. Vanessa’s debut novel is Former Rain is the first in the Rain Trilogy series. The other two novels, Abundant Rain and Latter Rain, are scheduled for release in 2004.

Stormy Steele

Behind The Screen is the first of Stormy Steele's internet and relationship novels. Based on online dating experience with various internet single's sites, Stormy has created a fictional novel in hopes of giving the readers insight on what dating online is all about. She also gives examples of what goes on behind the computer screen once members log off of cyber world and enter the real world. Currently working on two other novels, she lives in Atlanta , Ga. with her husband and two kids.

Jihad Shaheed Uhuru

Nationally renowned entrepreneur, Jihad, whose work deftly straddles the lines between pain and triumph, has catapulted the velocity of dangerously high-impact with his newest and most enthralling yarn yet, STREETLIFE. From the streets to the prison yard, to a respected business owner, STREETLIFE provides an in-depth graphic journey into the struggle of life as a black male raised by America's inner city streets.

Robin R. Pendleton

Robin R. (Porter) Pendleton is a North Carolina native who was reared in Winston-Salem, N.C. After attaining her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, she moved to Tampa, Florida where she earned her Master's degree in Criminal Justice from the University of South Florida.

Ms. Pendleton served within the State of Florida's criminal justice system for 23 years. She retired from the Florida Department of Corrections in July 2003 and relocated from Miami to Boca Raton, Florida.

Robin R. Pendleton's first book, More Than You'll Ever Know was published in June 2003 by Athena Press Publishing Company. It takes an intimate look into the daily dramas of one African-American woman's life; Rene. The book isn't some dreary account of a Black woman looking for love in all the wrong places, nor is it one of those male bashing tomes so popular these days. Rather, "More Than You'll Ever Know is about a successful Black woman's journey to the top of her chosen profession, as well as the romantic, suspenseful and tragic detours she encounters along the way.-- Miami Times.

Dr. Christine Blonun

A native born New Yorker, Deborah Nunnally-Blowe, Ph.D., (Pen Name–Christine Blonun) is a psychologist, and the author of “Breaking the Cycle: Visions of Hope,” Volume I. She is a 1986 doctoral graduate of the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts. She completed her clinical internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.. Dr. Nunnally-Blowe, served for seven years on active duty in the United States Army, as a military psychologist. Prior to her pursuit of a degree in psychology, she was a Registered Nurse. She graduated from the Associate’s Degree Program at Bronx Community College, Bronx, New York (1973). Dr. Nunnally-Blowe attended divinity school at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

As a nurse, therapist, and educator, she has devoted more than thirty years addressing the physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of others. Dr. Nunnally-Blowe’s greatest passion is to facilitate the healing of individuals through assisting them to break generational cycles of dysfunctions.

Lecturer, consultant, and workshop facilitator in the United States and abroad, she has presented to audiences of students, educators, and health care professionals. As an inspirational and motivational speaker, she has addressed secular and faith-based communities, both military and civilian.

Naleighna Kai, (pronounced Na-Lay-nah Ki) is author of She Touched My Soul, Trio, Right Place, Right Time, Mercury Sunrise, Looking For and My Time in the Sun. She has worked in the legal community for a number of years, infusing her characters with backgrounds that ring with authenticity, humor and sensuality. Her books revolve around complex relationship issues such as intimacy, sexual and child abuse, celibacy, and some contain complete counseling sessions weaved into the fabric of her fiction novels which enlighten her readers, prompting them to question their own motives and beings.

Naleighna resides in Chicago and is a 37 year-old mother of one son, J. L. Woodson, who is a budding author himself (The Things I Could Tell You! and Superwoman's Child: Son of a Single Mother). She began writing in December of 1999 and pens fiction, romance, erotica, new age, and science fiction. She is also the co-author of More Than Enough, Speak it into Existence and How to Win the Publishing Game.

Naleighna prides herself on being a woman with an excellent sense of humor, a vivid imagination, the flexibility to learn and grow, and the determination to use all of the above to obtain what the Creator intended for all who desire. The greatest of these: Inner peace, unconditional love, an abundance of prosperity and a purpose that positively impacts everyone in her path. With this foremost in mind, she lives...and writes...and writes...and writes...

Jeanetta Britt

Dallas-based author, Jeanetta Britt, is an Alabama native who was one of the first African-American students in her hometown to attend George C. Wallace High School. She is also a graduate of Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee, and holds a masters degree from The University of Michigan. This early period, fraught with racial strife and cultural upheaval, formed the basis of her social awakening.

Her first novel--Pickin’ Ground--is a murder mystery with an inspirational twist. “However, the poetry overflowed me after an unplanned fast,” she says, “and I finished it first.” The poetry was published in The Trilogy--Book One: Poems From the Fast ; Book Two: Reunion; and Book Three: Third Ear .

Pickin’ Ground was recently released, and the sequel, In Due Season , followed. Miss Britt coined the phrase, true love story, to describe her newest release. “True love is made in your soul,” she says, “before your body gets involved.” Her next true love story is currently in progress--Empty Envelope.

Ursula Inga Kindred and Mirranda Guerin-Williams

Ursula Inga Kindred has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance, from Texas Christian University. She is employed as a senior cost analyst for a large aeronautics company, and has future aspirations of becoming a full-time author. She lives outside of Fort Worth, Texas in the country with her husband, Wade, and their two sons.

Mirranda Guerin-Williams spent six years in the U.S. Air Force; worked as a licensed cosmetologist; and is now employed by the Federal Government. She is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Sociology, after which she plans to become a full-time author, speaker and counselor for teens and engaged couples. She resides in a small town just outside of Fort Worth, Texas with her husband, Jerome, and their daughter and son.

Kendra Norman-Bellamy

Kendra M. Norman-Bellamy was born in Palm Beach, Florida. She is the third of five children born to Bishop H.H. Norman and Mrs. B. Francine Norman of Macon, Georgia. She was educated in the school systems of Brooks County (Quitman, GA) and graduated with honors from Valdosta Technical College (Valdosta, GA).

In addition to writing novels, Kendra is also founder and president of KNB Publications, LLC, a contributing staff writer for online Christian magazine, Divine Eloquence Ezine and serves as an Editorial Consultant for Booking Matters Magazine, an Atlanta-based literary magazine that promotes African American authors and connects authors with readers. She is also an active member of Prolific Writers and the American Christian Romance Writers (ACRW).

Recently signing multi-book deals with both Moody Publishers and BET Books, Kendra describes herself in a single word: "Blessed".

Aside from her literary endeavors Kendra is also an AFAA Certified Aerobics Instructor, trained in teaching Step Aerobics, Kickboxing, Body Works and Total Body Conditioning.

Today, Kendra resides in Stone Mountain, Georgia with her husband, Jonathan and daughters, Brittney and Crystal.