Brenda Streater Jackson (born February 2, 1953) is an American novelist who writes contemporary multicultural romance novels. She was the first African-American author to have a book published in the Silhouette Desire line. Many of her novels have appeared on The New York Times and USAToday bestseller lists. In October 2013, Jackson achieved a milestone in her career by publishing her 100th novel. This made her the first African American to reach this milestone.
Biography
Brenda Jackson was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She married Gerald, her high school sweetheart, in 1972 after finishing high school. She later earned a degree in business administration from Jacksonville University and had two sons, Gerald Jr., a filmmaker in Jacksonville, and Brandon, a Political Officer in the U.S. Foreign Service.
In the early 1990s, Jackson began reading romance novels to help with stress from work. While she liked the books, she noticed that the characters did not show different cultures or backgrounds. After telling her husband she could write better stories, he signed her up for a romance writers conference and encouraged her to try writing. At the conference, Jackson met authors Francis Ray and Rochelle Alers, who were not yet published, and became inspired to write.
Jackson wanted to write romance stories that included African-American characters and showed that "love is everywhere." Her first novel, Tonight and Forever, was published in 1995. This book and the next few followed the fictional Madaris brothers, allowing Jackson to portray African-American men who were "appreciative and respectful of women." Her heroes were inspired by her husband, who she describes as "a very strong African-American male [who] is supportive and centers his life around his family."
In 2001, Jackson released her first mainstream women's fiction novel, A Family Reunion. Like her earlier romance novels, this book includes a "sexy spark" and Jackson's "polished and confident" writing style, which brings characters to life vividly. In 2002, she became the first African-American author to have a novel published in the Silhouette Desire line.
Although she published 11 books in the first ten years of her writing career, by 2005, Jackson considered writing a hobby and continued working full-time as a manager at State Farm Insurance.
Throughout her career, Jackson has written for several publishers, including St. Martins Press, BET, Kensington, NAL, Harlequin/Silhouette, and Harlequin Kimani Romance.
Recognition
Jackson has received awards and made accomplishments by being the first African-American author to have a book published under the Harlequin/Silhouette Desire line of books and the first African-American romance author to appear on USA Today's Bestsellers List and The New York Times Bestsellers List.
Jackson received the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, which is the highest honor given by RWA for significant contributions to the romance genre. She also received the Sara Blocker Award in 2012 from Florida Memorial University, the highest award given to a woman for outstanding service to the university and the community. In 2012, she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Fiction for her novel A Silken Thread. She has won the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, and four of her books have been nominated for Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice. One of her novels, One Special Moment, won the Reviewers' Choice Award in 1998 for Best Multicultural Romance. In 2001, she received twelve nominations at the Romance Slam Jam's first Emma Awards, which honor excellence in African-American literature. Jackson won six awards, including Favorite Hero, Favorite Author, Favorite Book of the Year, Favorite Sequel Continuing Book Series, Favorite Anthologies, and Favorite All-Nighter. That same year, she also won the Romance In Color Award of Excellence for her novel Secret Love.
Jackson is a member of the First Coast Chapter of Romance Writers of America. She retired after working for 37 years in management for a major insurance company.
Jackson added "filmmaker" to her list of achievements in 2011 when she released a movie based on her novella Truly Everlasting. This movie is based on her popular Madaris Series novel. She worked with her son, Gerald Jackson, Jr.'s film company—Five Alive Films—to release the movie on DVD in November 2011. The movie included a soundtrack with 10 original songs by BreMaDa Productions and a new edition of the novel Truly Everlasting. The movie was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida.