A Lesson In Finishing Your Damn Book with Beverly Jenkins

Voice Lessons Podcast

Beverly Jenkins never planned to be an Author. Growing up during the Civil Rights Movement, her mother passed along a love of books and history and she decided to become a librarian. In this episode, she talks about the journey from first-time author to becoming the primer writer of historical Black fiction in the United States with 49 books in an industry that rejected her. Beverly also shares intimate moments of her past, her process, and why she’s rooting for women writers to get off the sidelines and just "publish your damn book”. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Beverly didn’t plan on being an author.
• Beverly’s mother passed along her love of history and reading to her at a very young age.
• Black history was very important to Beverly’s great grandfather on her Mother’s side which can now be seen in her books.
• During Beverly’s childhood, libraries were still segregated. African American authors were never shelved in with the rest of the collection.
• When Beverly first started writing, Black characters were not prevalent in romance or history stories. There was also no place to get published as a Black author in these genres until the 1990s.
• Plotters vs. Pantsers
• Beverly’s writing process
• The point that Beverly knew she could write.
• How and why she started her first book.
• Beverly has written 49 books in her lifetime, typically in the Historical Romance genre.
• What is a sweet romance?
• How Beverly handled the rejections she faced in the publishing industry.
• How Beverly found her editor.
• How the portrayal of strong and determined Black women has changed in the model in the romance genre.
• Black women’s three gifts and how Beverly highlights these in her heroines.
• Beverly’s newest book Wild Rain and why her character came to be.
• Beverly’s new Women Who Dare series.
• How Beverly views feminine leadership.
• If you have the writing bug, it’s not going anywhere. It’s up to you to decide that you’re strong enough and brave enough to pursue your dream.