Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 6/18/2009 3:30 PM UTC

  Meet Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant and Christian fiction author Patti Lacy
  

  With five novels to their credit, Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant, best friends for 25 years, have turned a friendship into the most successful and enduring writing collaboration in African American fiction. Donna and Virginia first met as plus size models vying for the same assignments. They were both featured in catalogs, ads, magazines and made national television appearances. Their modeling careers led to the opportunity to launch Maxima, a fashion and lifestyle magazine for plus-size women, where Virginia was editor-in-chief and Donna the managing editor. When publication of Maxima ceased, Virginia and Donna decided to try writing a book together. The result, Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, was a critical success, an Essence Bestseller, as are all three of their books, and won the Merit Award for Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, as well as the 1998 Book of the Year Award from the Blackboard Bestseller List/African American Booksellers Conference-Book Expo America. More than that, it hit an emotional nerve with tens of thousands of readers from all over the world who continue to write to Virginia and Donna nine years after the book's publication. Far From the Tree became a New York Times Bestseller, and Better Than I Know Myself received two Open Book Awards, and been included on the Best African American Fiction of 2004 lists of both Borders and WaldenBooks.

  Donna attended Barnard College and is a graduate of New York University. A Brooklyn native, she currently lives in the borough with her husband. Before becoming a novelist, she spent more than a decade as a plus size model, represented by the 12 + division of Ford Models. During that career, Donna was featured in catalogs and national ads, on the pages of such magazines as Essence, McCalls, Family Circle and Woman's Day, and has made appearances on "Today," "Good Morning America," and "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee." Virginia is a former high school English teacher from Buffalo, New York attended Fisk University and is a graduate of SUNY at Buffalo. After almost 10 years in the classroom, she moved to New York and started a successful career as a plus size model. She was frequently featured in catalogs, advertising, magazines and appeared on several television programs including "The Today Show." She retired from modeling after two years and became Vice President of BB/LW, an agency for plus size and petite models as well as a spokeswoman for Hanes hosiery. Virginia now lives in New Jersey.

  
  

  About Patti Lacy

  My family moved frequently when I was a youngster, so I was blessed to call Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana home. In 1977, I graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, with a B.S. in Education, science and English teaching fields. That summer, I married Alan Lacy, a junior high teacher and basketball coach.

  A year later, Alan and I packed up a U-Haul and moved to Arizona, where Alan attended Arizona State and I worked as a junior high school teacher and coached a boys' tennis team. Then we switched roles, and I attended and graduated from court reporting school while Alan taught and coached. For five years, we made a home, along with a Dalmatian and a Sheltie, in the Southwestern desert.

  In 1981, we returned to our Texas roots. As a certified court reporter, I tore about the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with the help of my shorthand machine, taking depositions of high-powered executives, expert witnesses, and divorce-minded couples. Then our lives changed in a wonderful way! By 1988, we had two children, a girl and a boy.

  After fourteen priceless years surrounded by our Texas relatives, we moved again, this time to Terre Haute, Indiana, where I worked on my master's in literature at Indiana State University. Now we live in Normal, Illinois, a strange place for wacky Southerners! Last year, I resigned from my community college teaching job to embark on a full-time writing career. To satisfy our need for children since our two are grown, Alan and I recently "rescued" a dog from the Humane Society. Laura, an interesting mix of at least ten breeds, accompanies me on daily jogs and then lies peacefully at my feet (or in my favorite chair) while I write.

  In my spare time, I enjoy volunteer work at Ministries & More, a food distribution ministry. I've also enjoyed hiking and sightseeing in most of the fifty states, Canada, Ireland, and Switzerland.

  My Faith

  God gifted me with Christian parents who proclaimed the gospel of Christ Jesus, tucked me in with Bible stories, and woke me with a prayer on their lips. I accepted Christ at the age of twelve and was baptized in a Southern Baptist church in Monroe, Louisiana.

  During my teenage years, I veered away from my Savior and chose to live to please myself. For years, I became mired in a cycle of repentance and regression. I had to experience both physical and mental struggles to come to a place where I could declare God as sovereign and allow His Holy Spirit to begin the miraculous process of sanctification on my life. Through God's Word, the Holy Bible, and God's gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ, I can live assured of God's promises and have the hope of heaven.

   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

   I'm Patti Lacy, author of the Christian novel, An Irishwoman's Tale. My passion? Exploring the secrets women keep and why they keep them. Now my second baby, What the Bayou Saw, is hitting stores and websites. What the Bayou Saw grapples with racism's ruinous stain, rape's emotional and physical aftermath, and the high cost of lies and repressed memories. Pick up a copy today!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Tags:
  • Chrisitan Fiction
  • African American Fic
  • contemporary fiction
  • writing
  • publishing
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