- 6 weeks ago
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00So without further introduction, let me introduce you to the panel.
00:05Up first, we have moderator Tori Reed, also known as Black Romance Connoisseur, on Instagram and TikTok.
00:16Now our panel.
00:19Author of over 140 books and no fellas, and 15 million books in print,
00:24New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author, writer career began nearly 30 years ago.
00:30Everyone give it up for Brenda Jackson.
00:39Up next, we have USA Today, American author of historical and contemporary romance novels,
00:45with a particular focus on 19th century African-American life.
00:50Everybody give it up for Beverly Jenkins.
00:54And last but not least, author of romance, mystery, and women's fiction, written over several years.
01:05Everyone give it up for Donna Hill.
01:13Thank you so much, Ciara.
01:15If I could just have another round of applause for these iconic literary legends.
01:24All right, I'm going to kick this off by asking,
01:27each of your careers spans over decades, and you've all had your own unique journeys.
01:34What inspired you to begin writing?
01:38And we can go from...
01:42Oh, well, my journey began with my aunt, who was a teacher.
01:50And when I was small, all she wanted to do was make sure I had books in the house.
01:56I started reading before I started going to school.
01:59And back in the day-day, kids could go to the library without parents.
02:06And that's where I spent my Saturday afternoons, reading and reading and reading.
02:10But I grew up during a time when people like me, I didn't see them on the covers.
02:16So I never believed that I could be a writer.
02:19And it wasn't until 1987 when an editor first published one of my short stories.
02:28And then I believed that I could write.
02:29And I've been writing ever since.
02:31I didn't want to be a writer.
02:37All everyone needed to do was work in a library.
02:40I think those of us who write have a thing for libraries.
02:43I just sort of stumbled into this.
02:46But I'm glad I did.
02:48I'm glad I get to highlight the 19th century African-American women
02:53and the men who love them madly.
02:55And we learn a lot, not just about lovemaking.
03:01So, yeah, I'm here and I thank you.
03:07My journey began when I was in eighth grade
03:10and I wrote short, sweet love stories to entertain my classmates.
03:17My desire was to go into corporate America.
03:20It's only when I would go to my class reunions
03:23and those same classmates who read my stories in the eighth grade
03:29encouraged me to write bigger, more modern, more sexier books
03:36than what I did in the eighth grade.
03:39So I got tired of them asking me, have you written a book yet?
03:44And I would say, no, I'm in corporate America.
03:46No excuse, write that book.
03:48So I did it as a dare.
03:51They dared me to write it.
03:53I took them up on it.
03:55And a hundredth and fiftieth book later,
03:59I am still here writing.
04:02I know, I speak for myself and probably everyone here,
04:07we are so grateful that you were inspired to write
04:11and share your stories.
04:13If you could, if there was a pivotal moment
04:16that shaped your writing career, what was it?
04:20Or the direction of your writing?
04:22Is there a pivotal moment that shaped the direction of your writing?
04:27Well, I would say when I went to my very first writers' conference
04:34conference, and I met with an editor at one of the biggest romance publishing houses in the world.
04:42And she told me, this is a good story, but do your characters have to be black?
04:48That was the pivotal moment for me, because I knew that I wanted to write the stories about people that look like me,
04:57men that love like the kind of men I like to love.
05:01And I wanted to see those stories, and so that kept me pushing forward
05:07until I found a publisher that was willing to publish me.
05:09And my first novel came out in 1990, and I've been writing ever since.
05:14I don't know, y'all.
05:19I think my pivotal moment came when they kept sending me contracts.
05:26I mean, they sent me the first one right, I finished it.
05:29They sent me the second one.
05:31They kept sending me contracts, I kept writing books.
05:33So, that's my pivotal moment, and I'm sticking to it.
05:39My pivotal moment came when I was attending different writers' conferences,
05:47Romance Writers of America, and I sat in on a workshop with an editor,
05:53and Dawn, I believe you were there that day,
05:55who looked us in our face.
05:57It was like maybe six black women in a room full of Caucasian women,
06:04and someone asked, why did they not buy black books or books from black women?
06:10And even though we were sitting in the room,
06:13she said, because black women can't write books.
06:18So, we decided that day to prove her wrong.
06:24And you've been proving her wrong every day since.
06:29I love that so much.
06:31So, several of your works have been adapted
06:35or are in the process of being adapted into film.
06:39Can you share about those projects?
06:44The BET did three of my novels for television.
06:52That was an experience, and I'll kind of leave it at that.
06:55My more recent book, Confessions in B-Flat,
07:02has been optioned by Amblin Entertainment.
07:07So, I'm looking forward to that coming to the screen.
07:10And an earlier novel, Getting Hers, has been optioned as well.
07:15So, those are the two that are in the works right now
07:18and three that have already hit the screen.
07:20You know, being optioned and being made are two different things.
07:26You know, so, right now, my Blessing series, 12 Books In,
07:33has been optioned by NBC Universal Studios,
07:38production by John Legend's Get Lifted Film Group.
07:43So, you know, yay, I'm happy and excited and all that,
07:48but, you know, and they're very excited, too, so I have to say that.
07:53So, we'll just wait and see what turns out, okay?
07:57I've been blessed in that over 30 of my books have been optioned for movies
08:04by various networks.
08:08I just finished filming two this year in April and May.
08:15Passion Flick offered me a three-book contract based on my Granger series.
08:21One came out in 2019, then the pandemic happened,
08:26and then the writer's strike and the actor's strike.
08:29So, we finally were able to film the last two books in that series
08:34in April and May of this year in Miami.
08:39Now, I have go on to the next option,
08:42which is an eight-book option deal with Hallmark for Catalina Cole series.
08:49And so, I have them agreeing not to overlap
08:54so I could be more than one place at one time.
08:58So, I'm hoping that once they make an option,
09:02that's not a guarantee that the movie will be made.
09:05But I was lucky enough to get stations and network
09:10who so far they optioned and they are doing what they said they would do.
09:15Oh, my goodness.
09:16That is incredible.
09:17I know our fingers are crossed that all of those
09:22that have been optioned will come to film
09:24and they will stick as close to your story that you penned.
09:30That's what we want.
09:32Looking back over your careers,
09:34what would you say is your greatest achievement?
09:37Still being here after 30-something years.
09:45That has to be, you know,
09:47we have, all of us have been around for a long time
09:50and we have seen writers come and go.
09:55There's been one and two book wonders,
09:59writers that have just sort of given up
10:02because the industry is so difficult.
10:04So, to be able to sustain a career for 30-odd years,
10:11I think, is a major achievement.
10:13Ditto what Donna said because we know how difficult it is.
10:22But I think for me and probably for all of us
10:25is our connection to you.
10:28We wouldn't be here without you.
10:31You paid our mortgage.
10:33You bought my car last year.
10:34You bought my cigarettes.
10:38And we are so very, very grateful
10:41to have that support
10:43because books are expensive now.
10:47And for you to choose that,
10:49to take that hard-earned cash
10:51and buy books with it,
10:53it means a lot.
10:56So, thank you for being a blessing in my life.
11:01I appreciate it.
11:04I ditto what Beverly said
11:08from the very first book.
11:10I always said that my readers were important to me.
11:15But I think because of you,
11:18my greatest achievement
11:20during my career as an author
11:24is first being the first black woman
11:27in the romance genre
11:29to make the USA bestsellers list
11:33and also being the first black woman
11:37in the romance genre
11:39to make the New York Times bestseller list.
11:44Not once or twice,
11:46but currently 15 times.
11:49And that's an accomplishment.
11:53My goodness, quite an accomplishment.
11:56And I appreciate y'all for sharing those.
11:58So, let's talk about the books now, okay?
12:03Now, if you could pick,
12:05and I hate to have to make y'all pick
12:07between y'all babies,
12:08but if you could pick
12:09a favorite book of yours
12:11or a favorite character of yours,
12:15who would it be and why?
12:17Why are they special to you?
12:19I'm going lastest.
12:25I'll go first, then.
12:27My favorite book
12:29would probably be something like Love.
12:32I know a lot of y'all would choose Indigo.
12:36But I choose it because I think
12:38it's the best written book
12:39in terms of balance and detail
12:42and, you know, humor
12:46and, oh, my God, I'm crying
12:48kind of stuff.
12:50So, that would be my choice.
12:52Something like Love.
12:54Wow.
12:56Okay, remember, I got 150 books.
12:59So, I will always say
13:01my favorite book
13:04is my first book,
13:06Tonight and Forever,
13:08where I introduce
13:09the Madaris family.
13:10Woo!
13:12My book that I think
13:15is a book
13:18that took a lot out of me
13:20to write
13:21and I think
13:22it's my best book
13:23that I've ever written
13:25and I don't think
13:26I could ever write
13:27another one like it
13:28is Ties That Bind.
13:31And my favorite character,
13:36you know, I got
13:37the Westmorelands,
13:38the Steele,
13:39the Bennett.
13:41I'm going to say
13:42my favorite character
13:44is Briss Bain,
13:46Bain Westmoreland.
13:49Okay.
13:49Woo!
13:49Woo!
13:50Woo!
13:50Woo!
13:51Woo!
13:51Woo!
13:51Woo!
13:51Woo!
13:52Wow.
13:53Wow.
13:53Okay.
13:54I think that
13:56my favorite book
13:58is Rhythms.
14:01And I say Rhythms
14:03because it was
14:04my first opportunity
14:06to expand beyond
14:10just romance.
14:12It led me to write
14:15an intergenerational story.
14:17It let me talk about
14:20love relationships
14:22through these generations.
14:24and it also let me
14:26talk about passing
14:29and what that was like
14:31for so many of us
14:32and why we chose
14:33to do that.
14:35It took a lot of work.
14:36There was a lot of research.
14:37I had like tons
14:38of research
14:39because the book
14:40began in 1929
14:41and clearly
14:42I was not born then.
14:44So it was my first step
14:45into writing
14:47historical type work.
14:49My favorite character
14:50though is
14:51Quentin Parker
14:52from A Private Affair.
14:56I love him.
14:57He is a sort of
14:59a melding
15:01of several
15:03beautiful black men
15:04that I know.
15:06And I just
15:07I love him.
15:09I always loved him.
15:10So him
15:11and Rafe Lawson.
15:13Those are my two
15:13favorite heroes.
15:16Yeah.
15:17From the Lawsons
15:18of Louisiana.
15:20Thank you so much.
15:22And as we talk
15:23about the things
15:25that writing
15:26those books
15:27where those places
15:28that they took you
15:29if we could
15:31how do you think
15:32like how has
15:33the black romance
15:34genre involved
15:36since you've been
15:37writing?
15:41Well when I started
15:42my first novel
15:45came out in 1990
15:46and I was
15:50my book
15:51there was
15:5210,000 copies
15:53of the book
15:53published.
15:54It was in the
15:55distributor.
15:56The publisher
15:57had nowhere
15:58to put it
15:59because bookstores
16:01were not looking
16:02for our books.
16:03They were not
16:04shelving our books
16:05and didn't believe
16:06that we were going
16:07to buy those books.
16:08So I literally
16:10went from
16:11different black
16:12bookstores
16:13in Brooklyn
16:14where I live
16:15Brooklyn, New York
16:15and asked them
16:17if they could
16:17put the book
16:18on their shelves
16:19and their response
16:20was but what is this?
16:22They didn't know
16:23what black romance
16:24was in 1990.
16:26There was no shelves
16:28for our books
16:29in 1990.
16:31And so to see today
16:33that you can go
16:34into a bookstore
16:34and find
16:36everything imaginable
16:38by black authors
16:39is major.
16:42And this is new.
16:43You know,
16:44everybody,
16:45you know,
16:45a lot of,
16:46you go into the store
16:46now and you think
16:47it's always been this way
16:48and it has not.
16:49We fought
16:50to be on the shelves.
16:52We fought
16:53to be face out.
16:55We fought
16:56not to have to be
16:57segregated
16:57into a particular
16:59part of the bookstore.
17:00So we've come
17:02a long way.
17:03We still have
17:03a ways to go
17:04but it's nothing
17:05like what it was
17:06when I was
17:07coming up.
17:08I think for me,
17:11you know,
17:11what Donna said,
17:13but also who was
17:15in romance.
17:17You know,
17:18back then you had
17:19to be white,
17:20you had to be thin,
17:21you had to have
17:22blonde hair,
17:22blue eyes,
17:23you were size three.
17:26Over the years,
17:28look,
17:29our romance books
17:30reflect everybody
17:31in this room.
17:32You know,
17:33you can be
17:34all identities.
17:36but what really
17:41for me
17:42is the tribute
17:43to black men
17:43that I write.
17:45You know,
17:45back then,
17:46any black guy
17:48that was in a book
17:49was a drug dealer
17:50or, you know,
17:52or dysfunctional
17:54or abusive
17:54and I chose
17:57to do Buffalo Soldiers.
18:00I chose to do
18:01black outlaws
18:02and lawmen.
18:05I chose to show
18:06black men
18:06in a way that,
18:08and give them flowers
18:09in a way that
18:10outside of black romance
18:12you very rarely see.
18:14Exactly.
18:15You know,
18:15so,
18:16you know,
18:17you're going to find
18:17positive images
18:18of black men
18:19in black romance
18:21no matter what.
18:23So,
18:24for me,
18:24that's the biggest change.
18:25for me,
18:28when I began writing,
18:30I was a black woman
18:32so I wrote
18:33for other black women
18:34because I understood
18:36what romance
18:37was about.
18:38But then my husband
18:40wasn't reading my books
18:41and I'm like,
18:42why?
18:43He said,
18:43well,
18:43you don't have no action
18:44in it.
18:46He said,
18:47you put some blood,
18:49guts,
18:49a good fight scene,
18:50then I'll read it.
18:52So then I knew,
18:53oh no,
18:54you can't just
18:54write them
18:55for the women
18:56because then you're
18:57isolating their husbands.
19:00So then I started
19:01writing action romance.
19:04Some of my books
19:04became action romance.
19:07Fire and Desire,
19:08Surrender.
19:09And then I had
19:10more men writing me
19:12saying,
19:13boy,
19:13I love your action
19:15in your book.
19:17So then when I came up
19:18with a series called
19:20The Men of Action,
19:22I still had romance
19:23in there,
19:24but I put men
19:25and it was more
19:27about the men
19:28in the leading role,
19:30the women they love
19:31and protect it.
19:33And then I wrote
19:34the Playboy handbook
19:36that was for me,
19:38the player's handbook.
19:40And so now
19:41when I go to a book signing,
19:43depending on
19:44what book I'm signing,
19:46I have just as many
19:47men showing up
19:49to get their
19:50Brenda Jackson book
19:51autographed as women.
19:53So men,
19:54if you haven't seen
19:55or read my Men of Action,
19:58read it.
19:58It's a lot.
20:00In my first book,
20:01there's a gun
20:02on the cover.
20:04So it's not,
20:05so it's romance in there,
20:08but it's the kind
20:09you would like.
20:10I think just some
20:16of what you touched on,
20:17especially you, Donna,
20:18about how difficult
20:19it is for black authors
20:22compared to their counterparts,
20:25right?
20:25So success for black authors
20:28can look different.
20:29And I think about all
20:31of the earlier career authors
20:33coming up
20:34and how much
20:35they kind of probably
20:36need to hear
20:37what success,
20:39how you define success.
20:42What is success for you
20:44as a black author?
20:48Well, you know,
20:49for me,
20:50success is,
20:53is the people
20:54who continue
20:55to keep reading my work.
20:56You know,
20:59a lot of times,
21:00you know,
21:00people think that
21:02you have to have
21:03a lot of,
21:04you know,
21:05accolades behind
21:07whatever it is
21:08that you do.
21:09But success is different
21:10for different people.
21:13You know,
21:13success for some writer
21:15may be
21:16to self-publish
21:17their own book,
21:18and that's successful
21:19for them.
21:21So for me,
21:22it's being,
21:23it's being able
21:24to do what I love doing.
21:25And I do it
21:27when I feel like it.
21:29I do it as often
21:30as I want.
21:32And that,
21:33for me,
21:33is success
21:34and still being able
21:35to do it
21:35after all of this time.
21:38Yeah,
21:39it's,
21:40you know,
21:40you can define success
21:43in many different ways.
21:47I'm successful
21:48when I have a reader
21:51who said,
21:52well,
21:53I read your books
21:54to my mom
21:55in hospice
21:56or
21:58we read your books
22:00when we were
22:01doing dialysis
22:02or
22:04I'm at a signing
22:06and
22:06y'all come up to me
22:08and say,
22:08can you talk to my mom
22:09on the phone?
22:12And I,
22:13of course,
22:13say yes.
22:15So,
22:15yeah,
22:15you can measure
22:16success by,
22:17you know,
22:18how many Cadillacs
22:19you got,
22:19which I don't have,
22:20you know,
22:21any.
22:21but to get
22:23that feedback
22:24and to feel
22:26yourself
22:27touched
22:28by readers
22:29and what their books
22:30mean in your life,
22:31in their lives,
22:32that's a different
22:34kind of success
22:34and I'll take that
22:35anytime.
22:36success for me
22:39is my readers
22:40that they keep
22:41coming back
22:42after next year,
22:43be 30 years
22:45as an author
22:45that even with
22:4710 books,
22:4810 series of books
22:50and one series,
22:52the Westmoreland,
22:53I'm up to 40-something
22:55book in the series
22:56and readers still
22:57want to know
22:58about the family.
22:59I'm like,
23:00really?
23:00And then you got
23:02the Medeiruses
23:03that they are,
23:05they mean just as much
23:06to my readers
23:08as they mean to me.
23:10They're family
23:11because you recognize
23:12some of the same people
23:14that I write about
23:15in your family.
23:17So,
23:17it's connecting,
23:18always connecting
23:19with my readers,
23:21being true
23:22to who I am,
23:24to giving back,
23:25to recognize
23:25that I'm a product
23:27of a community
23:28and I have to give back.
23:31That's why
23:31I established scholarships
23:34to help send kids
23:35to college
23:36because their parents
23:38helped put me
23:39where I am today.
23:40My book would just be
23:42a book on the shelf
23:43if you didn't buy it.
23:45So,
23:45I feel like
23:46I need to give back
23:48to my community.
23:51That's beautiful.
23:52Thank you so much.
23:54And I,
23:54you know what,
23:55I love that you talked
23:56about Tonight and Forever
23:57getting ready
23:58to celebrate
23:5830 years next year.
24:00Before I ask y'all
24:01what's next,
24:02I do want to acknowledge
24:03that with Tonight and Forever
24:06celebrating 30 next year,
24:08Night Song,
24:09your first novel,
24:11celebrating 30 years
24:12this month.
24:14And Donna,
24:16your book,
24:17Room in the Heart,
24:18is celebrating 35 years
24:20next year.
24:21That is,
24:22that is amazing
24:27to see black love stories
24:30being told
24:32and now they can be told
24:34across generations, right?
24:36You have multiple generations
24:38of readers
24:39and that's a beautiful thing.
24:41Can you tell us
24:42what,
24:42what do you have coming next?
24:45What projects do you have
24:46coming for us?
24:49So,
24:50over the past
24:51four years or so,
24:53I've been sort of
24:54combining
24:55historical events
24:58with my romances.
25:00So,
25:00the last two novels,
25:02Confessions in B-Flat,
25:03the one that was optioned,
25:05was all about
25:06the civil rights movement
25:07in the 60s.
25:08The next one was
25:10I Am Aya,
25:11which is historical
25:12in that
25:14it takes us
25:15all the way back
25:16to 1839
25:18and the life
25:19of this girl
25:20and her family.
25:21So,
25:22I got interested
25:23in
25:24the rise
25:26of the black middle class
25:27and how
25:28that was important
25:29and one of the,
25:30one of the pillars
25:31of that
25:32were the Pullman Porters
25:34and what they contributed
25:36to society.
25:37So,
25:37that's the book
25:38that I'm working on now.
25:40It's called
25:40Nola and Baldwin
25:41and it's about
25:44the Pullman Porter
25:45and the woman
25:47who helps to change
25:48his life
25:48and the struggles
25:50that they go through
25:51in a racial
25:54time period
25:56in Mississippi.
25:57So,
25:58that's what I'm working
25:58on now.
26:01I'm trying to finish
26:03book 12,
26:04the last book
26:04in the Blessing Series
26:06so that you guys
26:08will get it
26:08next summer.
26:10After that,
26:11probably a self,
26:12self-published
26:15book that I've been
26:16promising and lying
26:17to my readers
26:18for the last 15 years.
26:21Sweetness from
26:22Deadly Sexy
26:25or just Sexy Dangerous.
26:27Sexy Dangerous.
26:29And then I want
26:29to do Dragons
26:30because I'm a big
26:30fantasy reader.
26:32So,
26:32I want to see
26:33black women
26:34riding a dragon.
26:36So,
26:36I'll keep y'all
26:38posted on that.
26:39Okay?
26:40Oh, wow.
26:43With the release
26:44of my 150th book,
26:47what I'm going
26:48to do is
26:48introduce
26:49my first
26:50young adult book
26:51next summer.
26:53And it's a special book
26:55in that
26:56for the first time
26:57ever,
26:57I'm using
26:58a pen name
26:59because
27:00as young kids,
27:03I don't want them
27:03to go to a store
27:05and say,
27:05I want to read
27:06that Brenda Jackson book.
27:08So,
27:10what I'm doing,
27:11I'm coming out
27:12as Lauren Madaris,
27:15the heroine
27:16of my very first book
27:18who wrote
27:18children books.
27:20And the hero
27:22and heroine
27:23is a couple
27:25or a young adult
27:27that all of my readers
27:28have come to know
27:29because you know
27:30they're parents.
27:31Christy
27:32and Alex Maxwell,
27:34their daughter
27:35is a chip
27:36off the old block.
27:37She's like
27:38a young Nancy Drew.
27:40And so,
27:41her protector,
27:43the guy
27:43that's going
27:44to protect her
27:45when she go
27:45on all these
27:46crazy escapades,
27:48y'all know her,
27:50his daddy,
27:52Ashton Sinclair.
27:54He is
27:54Wolf Sinclair,
27:56the one
27:56that inherits
27:57his daddy,
27:58tapalepical powers.
28:00They protect
28:01A.C. Maxwell,
28:03Alexandra
28:04Steve Maxwell.
28:06So,
28:06I am bringing
28:07that out.
28:08And I'm like,
28:09Donna,
28:09I'm also working
28:10on a book
28:11that takes place
28:12in the 1920s,
28:15part romance,
28:16but it's about
28:17Bessie Coleman,
28:19one of the first women
28:21who flew the plane
28:22because she died
28:24in my hometown.
28:25She was killed
28:26in Jacksonville,
28:27Florida.
28:28So,
28:29I always wanted
28:30to tell her story,
28:32put a little romance
28:33in it,
28:34but it will be
28:35a nonfiction story.
28:37Thank you so,
28:38so much.
28:40Oh, man.
28:41If y'all could just
28:43give these three legends
28:46the biggest applause.
28:50And be sure
28:51to buy their books.
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