Romance author not pretty on deadline, but cleans up well for library-sponsored event

At first glance, romance author Beverly Jenkins is everything one envisions an author with 30 books under her belt would be:well-dressed, well-spoken, well-groomed and gracious.

Jenkins was the keynote speaker in a panel discussion during the Fourth Annual Catch a Bunch of Authors Fair sponsored by Aurora Public Library on Sept. 7 at Prisco Community Center.

Once she began to speak, that well-polished exterior took on a more relaxed quality. The audience of about 100 readers also began to make themselves at home as they settled in for an amusing and intelligent discussion on what it takes to be a romance writer, and why one would choose to be one.

Jenkins began speaking to the audience by pondering out loud “what it’s like to be a romance writer on deadline.”

A romance writer on deadline has been wearing the same clothes (or pajamas) for several days, has not had a shower or eaten. She is “mainlining coffee and cigarettes,” she said.

“I write, catch a few hours of sleep and get back to work,” she explained. “Being a writer on deadline also means having an office you can’t get into or out of. It means my neighbors feed me like the stray cat. They know I’m working, so they knock on my door and feed me breakfast and dinner.

“Even everyone on my Facebook says, ‘Have you eaten, Ms. B?’ Some of you in this room have said that.”

Being a romance writer also means having to put up with the dreaded words “bodice ripper” in interviews, she said.

“But,” she added, “It also means getting to speak at Princeton and being interviewed by Publishers Weekly and being nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

“And it means being there for unpublished authors who are trying to get published. No, I will not read your manuscript,” she said firmly, not once, but twice. “But I will answer your questions on Facebook.”

Jenkins said one of the best things about being a romance writer is “being in places like this.”

Although she wasn’t actually in a library building, she was well aware that Aurora Public Library was sponsoring the event, and that there were dozens of authors in the room next door who were busy talking up their latest novels, poems, mysteries, thrillers and works with various and sundry themes.

“I absolutely love libraries,” Jenkins said. “If not for libraries, I would not be here.”

Jenkins said if there had not been a library close to her home on the east end of Detroit, she doesn’t know where she would be.

“I read every book in that library and I’m not lying,” she said. “From the Kids’ Section to Young Adult to Adult, I had read every damn book in that library by the time I was 14.”

Jenkins said she was a “regular kid,” but one that loved to read.

“When people died, I got their books,” she laughed. “I didn’t know that at 12 I wasn’t supposed to be ready to read Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare.”

Jenkins told the audience that “libraries are important” and that “you have to support them.

“It’s OK to spend your tax dollars on shiny things. But libraries are essential,” she said.

Jenkins pledged her love for romance fans, and thanked the standing-room-only crowd for their support.

“The other best thing about being a romance writer is you all,” she said. “Without the fans, we wouldn’t be here,” she said, motioning to her left and right where other members of the romance writers’ panel sat. “Romance writers love our fans. And – if you buy my books, I am supposed to sign them. You work hard for your money and books cost money. Like I say, ‘Sister got to pay her light bill.’

“You all have helped put my kids through college. You have kept me in clothes and handbags, coffee and cigarettes. I couldn’t be who I am without you.”

Following Jenkins’ keynote speech, audience members had a chance to ask questions of all the writers on the panel: Hanna Martine, author of contemporary and paranormal romance; Tracey Devlyn, who writes historical romantic thrillers; Beth Kery, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has penned more than 30 books and novellas; Jade Lee (Kathy Lyons), who writes historical romantic, exotic tales as Jade Lee for Berkley Sensation Publishers and “light, funny sexy” contemporary romance for Harlequin Blaze as Kathy Lyons; and romance, religion and spirituality writer Allie Pleiter, who has produced two parenting books, twelve novels and is a national speaker on faith, women's issues, and writing. Each of the authors also manned a booth in the author fair next door.