transcription obtained by Shannan Harper from the Naleighna Kai Literary Cafe Chocolate Chats
Beverly Jenkins : The Black and Latin history of Cali . Characters were secondary .
Jennifer Copeland : When did you know you wanted to write historicals ?
Beverly Jenkins : Only after I sold Night Song - my first . :)
J . D . Mason : My new favorite word as it relates to nipples is “ berried ” thanks to you
Beverly Jenkins : LOL
Anita Roseboro-Wade : What do you feel your biggest accomplishment is as an author ?
Beverly Jenkins : Still standing after 22 years in the business and making the path wider for those romance writers coming up in my wake .
Sheryl Lister : Beverly , if an author wanted to write a historical romance , what advice would you give her / him as far as how to incorporate the history without making it sound like a narrative ?
Beverly Jenkins : Only keep the pertinent parts . Skip the parts the readers are going to skip . You ’ re writing a story - not a history book .
Venise Jacobs : Would you be open to turning one of your novels into a movie ?
Beverly Jenkins : I would . Just waiting on the stars to align properly .
J . D . Mason : How hard was it to keep Mariah a virgin for so long with Logan being so damned hot and all , because if I were her , he ’ d have found me spread-eagle on his bed pretty quickly .
Sheryl Lister : You are killing me , J . D . Mason ! LOL
Beverly Jenkins : LOL . Wasn ’ t hard . Morals were different back then . Your virginity was a prize to be offered to the right man .
J . D . Mason : Beverly Jenkins Touché .
Cordenia Paige : Hahaa at J . D . Mason spread eagle !! Gone gurl , and get your eagle on !
Karen Bradley : What advice would you give to your younger self about becoming an author ?
Beverly Jenkins : Keep reading everything I could get my hands on — in all genres . I ’ m a big Sci-fi fantasy reader .
J . D . Mason : I ’ m such a FAN GIRL . Seriously . Beverly Jenkins : You ’ re a great sister to me , too .
LaCeasha Banks Turner : The sponge , was that something you found out about during your research as a common practiced method of birth control during that time ?
Beverly Jenkins : Yes . I ’ ve used sponges in many books . It was a very common form of birth control .
J . D . Mason : Beverly Jenkins They bought them back for awhile . I used to use them back in my fertile days , and then they took them off the market for some dumb reason :(
I ’ m trying to find that name of the other man in the book who was pursuing Mariah . Can anybody remember ? Anyway , I kind of think he gave in too easily . Or am I being too hard on the brotha ? Then again , as nice as he was , he didn ’ t have the fire that Logan had .
Beverly Jenkins : The Rev . He knew he couldn ’ t compete with Logan .
Antionette Gates : Do you have a favorite character ( s ) from any of your romances ? How do you pick the settings / cities for your stories ?
Beverly Jenkins : I love all my characters - faves are Max and JT , Loreli , Grace , Sarita .... I could go on all day . :)
J . D . Mason : I absolutely loved Alanza , her strength and elegance . She stepped up where Mariah ’ s mother left off and that was everything .
Beverly Jenkins : Alanza was all that . Billie in book 2 changed her life , though .
Anita Roseboro-Wade : How do you approach your research and how extensive is it ?
Beverly Jenkins : If it ’ s a subject I ’ m unfamiliar with I ’ ll do the research up front and add to is as the story unfolds . I use about 10 % of what I find . Save the rest for other projects .
Karen Bradley : How has writing changed your life ?
Beverly Jenkins : LOL I get to spend all day in my PJs . And travel all over the country ( not in my PJs , though ).
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