I write romance books (Sci-fi and historical), both self-published and traditionally published under the pen name, P. J. DEAN. The medium-sized press (eXtasy Books/Devine Destinies) I write for is headquartered in Canada. I am an only child raised by a single mom when it was not the norm. I saw my father's family, but I was raised mainly in the embrace of my mother's rather large, colorful family. The crew included: a jazz drummer uncle; a female trucker aunt, three WWII vets; other active-duty family members; a grandfather who worked at a funeral home but supplemented the household income as a part-time numbers' runner; a flamboyant former flapper grandmother; a mom who'd had hopes of becoming an opera singer; and a few uncles and aunts who one would call gender-fluid today. Mix that all in with staunchly independent friends and neighbors whom people nowadays would deem as possessing "questionable ethics." Me? I called it being resourceful. I loved every minute of it. My eyes and ears soaked it up. They all forged me in the fire of their many-faceted hearts. I thank everyone of them. They gave me valuable life lessons. And scads of material for character development. Want to know how I was raised? Check out the HBO film Lackawanna Blues. The life the little boy leads in that film is the closest you will come to what mine was like. I would not change a second of it. I miss all of those who shaped me and I hope I am doing them proud. From them I learned to expect the best but be prepared for the worst. Most times, I did. A few times, I didn't. Ouch! I did parochial school from elementary school through high school with a two-year break at a secular college before finally graduating from a Catholic college. The college years were the most eye-opening of all as it was in the midst of the Affirmative Action days. I was attending classes at places I could have only dreamed of if not for that program. And, no, I was not "let in" because the standards were lowered. I earned my spot. I knew I was being scrutinized. I worked harder than any of the "legacy" chicks who coasted on their moms' connections. I attended and graduated from a small, private women's college. I met people from all over the world. The institution was known for graduating confident, outspoken women. I studied with rich girls from here and abroad, merchants' daughters and poor kids like me. The experience was a bonus outside of the academics and a departure from my background. Between all my language and history courses, I graduated with a customized degree in French Civilization. I landed a position at a scientific publishing company which processed reference materials for professionals in the sciences. I lucked out because it had a fledging arts division. I scored a position in that division and loved it. The job consisted of everything my major had entailed. I was in heaven. I could sit and read and research and get paid. With all that knowledge swirling around me every day, I put it to good use by writing. First by writing science fiction romance, then historical romance. But with a goal. All my heroines were to be Black. With that mission in place, I set out to pen a historical romance series centered on Black women. I wanted to write sweeping, grand romances like the ones I had read in the 70s and 80s. With one exception. I wanted them with Black heroines only. So, I dug into the reference and history books to see where the Black world and the European world collided. After reading I found out they had ALWAYS collided on all levels. Hence, I could create heroines from any era. And the women I'd create would not be slaves, or concubines or prostitutes as Black people were many-layered, from many lands, and filled many levels of society in all time periods. That said, my "Love Vanquishes All' series was born. Two books have been released so far - "Kindred, An American Love Story" and "Dissent."
