Niobia Bryant
Encyclopedia
Niobia Bryant is an African-American novelist of both romance
and mainstream fiction
. She also writes Urban fiction
as Meesha Mink and Young Adult fiction as Simone Bryant.
Niobia Bryant was born and raised in the Central Ward of Newark, New Jersey
to Letha and Ernest. She has one brother, Caleb. Bryant reveals her mother's struggles to raise them alone while her father fought a drug addiction. She credits her mother for introducing her to books at an early age.
Bryant was educated in the Newark Public Schools
system and graduated from University High School
, eventually earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts in Social and Behavioral Science with an accompanying Psychology minor from Seton Hall University
in South Orange, New Jersey
Bryant reportedly finished her first book, an African-American romance she entitled Down Home Girl in 1999 and submitted it to several publishers. After offers from two publishing houses, she accepted the deal with BET
Book/Arabesque. The title was changed to Admission of Love and her debut was released August 2000 to rave reviews. Her second book from BET
Books, Three Times a Lady (2001), became her first national bestseller
. In 2003 Three Times a Lady was selected by the Books for the Blind
(Talking Books) program to be transcribed into an audio recording supplied free of charge to people who are blind or visually impaired.
Since her 2000 debut, Bryant's romance books have consistently received top reviews, hit bestseller lists, been released as audiobooks and/or book club feature selections, and garnered award nominations/wins.
In 2007, her first mainstream Live and Learn was published by Kensington Publishing. In her mainstream books the subject matter steered away from the happily ever after of romance and took on more complex and darker themes like adultery, drug addiction, and domestic violence.
In 2008, Bryant teamed up with a fellow romance author to write the urban fiction Hoodwives series for Simon & Schuster
/Touchstone. Writing as Meesha Mink and De'Nesha Diamond, their first collaboration, Desperate Hoodwives, was released in January 2008, followed by Shameless Hoodwives in August 2008, and the highly anticipated The Hood Life in January 2009. The books have been featured in many national publications and has received critical praise for the writers' skill at storytelling and character development. The New York Post
listed Desperate Hoodwives as Required Reading and Essence
magazine listed Shameless Hoodwives as one of their "Top Ten Summer Sizzlers" in 2008. In 2011 she will release her first solo project as Meesha Mink for Simon & Schuster
/Touchstone, Real Wifeys: On The Grind, the first in a new trilogy about three wifeys from three different hoods who each fight their own demons. Book 2 of the Real Wifeys trilogy, Real Wifeys: Get Money, will be published January 10, 2012. The Hoodwives websites credits Bryant with saying:
On her website Bryant calls herself "A chameleon of the written word". With the addition of her upcoming YA series for Harlequin Enterprises/Kimani Press
Tru line, written for the pre-teen through teen readers, Bryant now has the distinct honor of writing simultaneously in four different genres for three powerhouse publishers: Simon & Schuster
(urban fiction), Kensington Publishing (romance and commercial mainstream fiction), and Harlequin Enterprises (Young Adult fiction).
Bryant felt the addition of Young Adult fiction was necessary because her under-aged family members were anxious to read one of her books. Feeling her romance, mainstream, and urban fiction were too mature for them, she created the Pace Academy series centered around the Pacesetters clique and a fictional private school for celebkids. The first book in the series, FABULOUS, was released February 2010, and book two FAMOUS was released January 2011. The third book in the series, GLAMOROUS, will be released in late 2012.
Currently Bryant writes full time, splitting her time between New Jersey and South Carolina.
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
and mainstream fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
. She also writes Urban fiction
Urban fiction
Urban fiction, also known as Street lit, is a literary genre set, as the name implies, in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the race and culture of its characters as the urban setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside...
as Meesha Mink and Young Adult fiction as Simone Bryant.
Biography
Niobia Bryant was born and raised in the Central Ward of Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
to Letha and Ernest. She has one brother, Caleb. Bryant reveals her mother's struggles to raise them alone while her father fought a drug addiction. She credits her mother for introducing her to books at an early age.
Bryant was educated in the Newark Public Schools
Newark Public Schools
Newark Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves the entire city of Newark, New Jersey. The district is one of 31 Abbott Districts statewide....
system and graduated from University High School
University High School (New Jersey)
University High School of Humanities is a six-year public high school serving students in grades 7 to 12 in Newark, New Jersey, as part of the Newark Public Schools....
, eventually earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts in Social and Behavioral Science with an accompanying Psychology minor from Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. Seton Hall is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the...
in South Orange, New Jersey
South Orange, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 16,964 people, 5,522 households, and 3,766 families residing in the township. The population density was 5,945.3 people per square mile . There were 5,671 housing units at an average density of 1,987.5 per square mile...
Bryant reportedly finished her first book, an African-American romance she entitled Down Home Girl in 1999 and submitted it to several publishers. After offers from two publishing houses, she accepted the deal with BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
Book/Arabesque. The title was changed to Admission of Love and her debut was released August 2000 to rave reviews. Her second book from BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
Books, Three Times a Lady (2001), became her first national bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
. In 2003 Three Times a Lady was selected by the Books for the Blind
Books for the Blind
Books for the Blind also referred to as Talking Books is a program in the United States which provides audio recordings of books in a proprietary cassette tape format, along with a cassette player supporting that format, free of charge to people who are blind or visually impaired...
(Talking Books) program to be transcribed into an audio recording supplied free of charge to people who are blind or visually impaired.
Since her 2000 debut, Bryant's romance books have consistently received top reviews, hit bestseller lists, been released as audiobooks and/or book club feature selections, and garnered award nominations/wins.
In 2007, her first mainstream Live and Learn was published by Kensington Publishing. In her mainstream books the subject matter steered away from the happily ever after of romance and took on more complex and darker themes like adultery, drug addiction, and domestic violence.
In 2008, Bryant teamed up with a fellow romance author to write the urban fiction Hoodwives series for Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
/Touchstone. Writing as Meesha Mink and De'Nesha Diamond, their first collaboration, Desperate Hoodwives, was released in January 2008, followed by Shameless Hoodwives in August 2008, and the highly anticipated The Hood Life in January 2009. The books have been featured in many national publications and has received critical praise for the writers' skill at storytelling and character development. The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
listed Desperate Hoodwives as Required Reading and Essence
Essence (magazine)
Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone.-History:...
magazine listed Shameless Hoodwives as one of their "Top Ten Summer Sizzlers" in 2008. In 2011 she will release her first solo project as Meesha Mink for Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
/Touchstone, Real Wifeys: On The Grind, the first in a new trilogy about three wifeys from three different hoods who each fight their own demons. Book 2 of the Real Wifeys trilogy, Real Wifeys: Get Money, will be published January 10, 2012. The Hoodwives websites credits Bryant with saying:
"The stories about inner cities needs to be as diverse as the people who live in these environments. Growing up on 16th Ave in Newark all my life, I know in a one block radius you could either have a single mother or a married couple raising their family, dope dealers or people working forty hours a week, a homeowner or someone renting a low income apartment. For me, urban fiction isn’t about glorifying the negatives in the ‘hood, but simply telling the real stories that do exist. As a writer and a reader I can always respect the gift of storytelling of ALL stories.”
On her website Bryant calls herself "A chameleon of the written word". With the addition of her upcoming YA series for Harlequin Enterprises/Kimani Press
Kimani Press
Kimani Press was formed by Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd. in December 2005, with the purchase of the Arabesque, Sepia and New Spirit Imprints from BET Books. Arabesque is the first line of original African-American romance novels from a major publishing house, and will publish two single-titles each...
Tru line, written for the pre-teen through teen readers, Bryant now has the distinct honor of writing simultaneously in four different genres for three powerhouse publishers: Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
(urban fiction), Kensington Publishing (romance and commercial mainstream fiction), and Harlequin Enterprises (Young Adult fiction).
Bryant felt the addition of Young Adult fiction was necessary because her under-aged family members were anxious to read one of her books. Feeling her romance, mainstream, and urban fiction were too mature for them, she created the Pace Academy series centered around the Pacesetters clique and a fictional private school for celebkids. The first book in the series, FABULOUS, was released February 2010, and book two FAMOUS was released January 2011. The third book in the series, GLAMOROUS, will be released in late 2012.
Currently Bryant writes full time, splitting her time between New Jersey and South Carolina.
Awards
- Winner- Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award/ Best African-American Romance (2009)
- Winner- eHarlequin's Reader's Choice Award/ Favorite Steamy Novel (2006)
- Winner- Romance in Color's Reviewers' Choice Award/ Anthology of the Year (2006)
- Winner- Romance in Color’s Reader’s Favorite Award/ Best Multi-Cultural Romance
- Winner- Romance in Color's Reader's Favorite Award/ Favorite New Author (2000)
- Two-time Winner—Shades of Romance Award/Best African-American Romance
- Nominee - Romance Slam Jam Emma Award / Best Steamy Romance (2010)
- Nominee - African-American Literary Awards/ Best Romance (2006)
- Nominee- Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award/ Best African-American Romance (2005)
- Multiple Nominee—Romance Slam Jam’s Emma Award (Various categories)
- Awarded Romantic Times Top Pick (4 OUT 5 RELEASES)