Skip to main content

MEETING BEVERLY JENKINS

Renowned author Beverly Jenkins opened her Facebook page today to authors with a new book out, affording them the opportunity to promote their work to her audience.  It was a very loving and generous opportunity for all authors hoping to gain some attention, myself included.  While I was posting a link to my latest romance, Truly Yours, I couldn’t help but reflect back on the moment I first met Ms. Bev. 
It was Romance Slam Jam 2012 in Little Rock, Arkansas.  That first night they had a wonderful Mix and Mingle with a delightful game that had everyone running around the room asking people questions about themselves.  If I remember correctly, I was seated at a table with a bookseller from Books-A-Million, and authors Laura Park Castoro and KD King, when Ms. Bev suddenly appeared at my side and asked me what month I was born in.  I could barely get the word February out my mouth when she looked at my paper, answered one of my questions and then said, “My name’s Beverly Jenkins.”
In that moment I was tongue-tied and awestruck and I have no doubts I made a complete and total fool of myself.  I don’t even recall if I even responded with something that made an ounce of sense but I do know that I never introduced myself back before she was off to the next table of adoring fans.  I still shake my head at the memory but now I can laugh about how I sat there like a large lump on a log, completely star-struck.  That weekend, what I discovered most about Ms. Bev, was just how generous of spirit she was, and continues to be.  The woman is a sheer delight and I hope that the next time I’m in her presence I’m better able to put one word in front of the other and have it make some sense.
Meeting an author whose work I admire is always a thrill for me.  Usually I do a better job of not looking foolish when I do.  I was actually able to string together a coherent sentence when I met Walter Mosley.  I do, however, admit to coming off like a crazed stalker when I met Bernice McFadden. 
In all my years there has only been one author I admired who turned out to be a disappointment.  She had no interest in being at the event she was participating in and she could have cared less about the fans who’d come to see her.  She was distant and cold and clearly annoyed with signing books.  At the time I wondered if there was something devastating going on in her life to explain her bad behavior.  Weeks after that event I reached out to say how much I loved her work and how excited I’d been to meet her.  I wished her success on her current work and hoped that all was well with her.  The reply I got back was curt, rude, and pointed me to her website since I’d apparently defiled her personal email in some way.  Giving her the benefit of the doubt I attended one other event with her but her behavior wasn’t much better.  I haven’t bought one of her books since.
If there ever comes a day when I can’t at least be courteous to the many fans and book readers who make what I do possible I hope someone gives me a quick, swift kick in my hind parts.  I know that the success I've been blessed with could not have been possible if it were not for the support and love that has been shown to me from other people.  I am grateful for every person that has purchased or read my books.  I hope that every time I meet a fan that everything about my presence and demeanor lets them know that.
And more than that I hope that I can follow her example and be as generous of spirit as Ms. Bev.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DAMMIT, DO BETTER!

I love reading. I get excited when I discover a new author or find an outstanding story. I’m eager to leave reviews and share with others my new finds. When a book or story is lackluster, leaving me less than thrilled, I usually remain silent. I know the effort that an author has put into a story. I know how hurtful a bad review can be. It is not for me to dash anyone else’s dream because what I might not have liked, someone else may have loved. Recently I read books that left me disappointed, and angry. One was an award-winning title, the author gleefully claiming a coveted statue for her efforts. Clearly what I hated, others found award-worthy. And that actually scares me. The story was as well-written as any other in the genre. Its formulaic plot hit all the buttons that her publisher required. But as a woman of color, I found it as insulting and as distasteful as any story I have ever read. The story featured a Native American heroine. She had self-esteem issues, co...
40 comments
Read more

TREYVON MARTIN

Seventeen-year old Treyvon Martin was walking back from a convenience store to his father's home, when he was allegedly accosted and shot dead by a community watch captain.   Heading home put him in a “gated” community where he clearly wasn’t welcomed.   Treyvon was black and his presence in that “gated” community was a source of consternation for the man who shot him dead as evidenced by the 911 telephone call that was made just minutes prior to the deadly shooting. The media reports that George Zimmerman, a white man, called for police assistance, reporting that Treyvon was “a suspicious person".   Despite being advised by the 911 dispatcher to not follow the young man and to wait for police, Zimmerman felt that he had the authority to approach and confront Treyvon instead.   That confrontation has now left a family to bury a child who once had a bright and promising future. The central Florida police have yet to levy any charges against Z...
16 comments
Read more

NAUGHTY OR NICE TOUR - DAY 6 - DEBORAH FLETCHER MELLO

I'm so excited to be a part of the NAUGHTY OR NICE BOOK BLOG TOUR. And it gives me great pleasure to give you the first peek at my next release, PLAYING WITH FIRE . Available from Dafina books on February 24, 2015, wherever books are sold, PLAYING WITH FIRE is the first in my two-book Sultry Southern Nights series. ENJOY this excerpt and please, PRE-ORDER your copy today! Romeo Marshall is over six feet of cool, smooth, hot, southern seductiveness--just like the music at his popular Raleigh club, The Playground Jazz and Blues Bar. With his beloved mother gone and no father he's ever known, the business is Romeo's everything. It's a place where anything can happen--and the evening one gorgeous young woman and one intriguing old musician walk into the bar--and into Romeo's life--it does. There's something about high-powered, down-to-the earth Taryn Williams that captures Romeo's attention like no other woman has. Yet unanswered questions from his past s...
30 comments
Read more