Connie Briscoe Presents–
Author Denene Millner

Denene Millner is a columnist for Parenting magazine. She has worked as a senior editor at Honey and as an entertainment and political journalist for the New York Daily News. She is also the author of several books including the movie tie-in for the blockbuster film “Dreamgirls.” She lives in Atlanta with her husband and their two daughters.

Connie Briscoe: How did you end up writing Hotlanta with your co-author, Mitzi Miller?

Denene Millner: Mitzi and I got into the teen market by invitation. Alloy Media, the company behind the uber popular teen lit series The Gossip Girls, the A-List, The Clique, and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, among others, was looking for a writer to pen a teen series featuring African American characters, and their reps called our agent to see if Mitzi was interested. She was, but Alloy wanted the series to be set in Atlanta, and so they were anxious to have an Atlanta-based writer on the project as well. It just so happened that a month prior to the start of those conversations, my family and I had moved to a town just outside of Atlanta.

So it kind of worked out for everyone involved; Mitzi and I, who had collaborated on the humorous non-fiction book The Angry Black Woman’s Guide to Life, and the novel, The Vow (with Angela Burt-Murray), got another opportunity to team up again, and Alloy got their Atlanta-based author.

We eventually sold the proposal to Scholastic and ended up with a three-book series, entitled Hotlanta. It’s about the lives of Sydney and Lauren Duke, the popular and privileged daughters of a wealthy Buckhead, Atlanta, couple that has a dark, mysterious, dangerous history that the girls discover. And let the drama begin . . . .

CB: You’ve published in a variety of genres–fiction, nonfiction, the movie-tie in for “Dreamgirls” and now teen fiction. Why the teen market?

Denene Millner: Why the teen market? Why not? I’ve always been passionate about books; they were my best friends when I was coming of age and a welcome respite when I got grown. And when I started writing them, they became a viable way for me to help feed my family and save up for that Yale tuition.

I’m also the mother of two beautiful little brown girls, and before our first was even born, my husband, Nick Chiles, and I filled her room with as many African American children’s books as we could find because we thought it was important for her to see characters who look like her, to hear stories that reflect her experience.

And believe it or not, just about nine years ago, those stories were few and far between. While we’re doing a lot better with picture books featuring black characters, there has been a dearth of black teen fare. So I thought writing Hotlanta provided me with the perfect opportunity to put out stories that are universally appealing, but that reach an audience that has been grossly underserved.

CB: Doesn’t that require a big shift in gears mentally?

Denene Millner: It didn’t take that vast of a mental stretch to write Hotlanta. When we wrote the proposal and the first book, my then-16-year-old niece was living with Nick and I, and my 15-year-old stepson lives with us now, so I get to see the ways of teenagers up close and personal—sometimes a little too close!—and get their input as I’m writing so that the words, the voices, and the way they deal with the situations you find in the book ring true.

But really, writing for teens isn’t about lowering your level or standards or talking in any kind of different way. We write for them the same way we do adults—in a straightforward, clear way that’s smart and exciting and interesting.

The only real challenge we had was keeping up with was the pop culture obsession of it all; by the time we’d finish referencing something teens are into and move on to the next page, we’d find out that they’re just not into that one thing anymore. But I think we did a good job of keeping current without sacrificing a good, solid story.

CB: If you had to come up with a general theme for all or most of your novels (and books) what would it be?

Denene Millner: I’m extremely passionate about shining a light on the African American experience in a way that stretches beyond stereotypes, in a way that recognizes our layers and the nuanced lives we live. For too long, all anyone interested in the black experience had to go on were the stereotypes parading across the 11 o’clock news, and I think a lot of us 90s authors—you, Terry McMillan, Benilde Little, Bebe Moore Campbell-helped show the publishing world that there’s so much more to us.

This is the philosophy I carried as a journalist for The Associated Press and the New York Daily News; I carved a niche as one of the only black journalists writing about African Americans in the film, music, TV and book industries, as well as our lifestyles. It’s important to me because it reflects my world the way I was raised, the way I’m raising my children, my friends and family, our existence here on this earth.

Seldom are we heard, but we are here—these black folks who are solidly middle class, getting good educations, succeeding at work, living a good, thoughtful, authentically black life. My books always speak to this or validate it, really.

They also serve as a testament that black love, in all of its manifestations, is possible. I see it everyday in my marriage and the marriages of my friends, family, parents, and in-laws. And I show it to my children every single day, so that they’re clear of the possibilities, too. I really hope that is the takeaway for the work I’ve done.

CB: Do you do things outside of what the publisher does to promote your books? If so, what?

Denene Millner: I don’t think you can be a successful author without trying to get to your audience beyond the publisher’s efforts. The publisher is going to do what they do, but it’s your book, and ultimately, you have to invest money, time, and energy into making your work successful.

We’ve personally paid for and sent bookmarks and T-shirts to bookstores and book clubs as a “thank you” for their support and made ourselves available for author chats, appearances, festivals, and lectures. For Love Don’t Live Here Anymore, we even made a slow jam CD with an original title song penned by Nick’s father, Walter Chiles, and gave it away with books purchased during our tour. We send out email blasts to readers who’ve visited our website (www.celebrateblacklove.com) and Mitzi’s done the same on her blog (www.mitzimoments.blogspot.com).

And with Hotlanta, we’ve even created Myspace pages for the characters Lauren (www.myspace.com/laurendukehotlanta) and Sydney (www.myspace.com/sydneydukehotlanta), on which they and their cast of “friends” from the book will “chat” about their lives, so that fans will be able to keep up with what’s going on with their favorites between books.

I have to say, though, that it’s a challenge trying to reach the audience. It’s a full-time job that can slow down the actual creative process. But do it, you must.

CB: Tell us something about yourself that most of your readers don’t already know.

Denene Millner: I wanted to be an architect when I was in junior high and high school, but my physics grades sucked. So my father convinced me to switch my focus to communications. My intention was to become the next Sue Simmons, the anchor on NBC’s New York affiliate, because at the time, she got to interview celebrities on her show, and I figured having her job would be the most direct way to meet New Edition’s Ralph Tresvant, whom you couldn’t tell me wasn’t going to be my husband.

I did go on to study communications. I attended Hofstra University on a full tuition scholarship I got from Long Island Newsday, and interned for that newspaper in the summers, which is where I honed my love for writing. So you can say that it’s because of bad physics grades and an extremely attentive dad that I’m a writer. But I’m still quite passionate about architecture and especially interior design. I watch HGTV like most guys do ESPN. Recently, I even took a curtain sewing class, where I learned how to make drapes. My dining room was nice before, but my drapes just set it off. I’m quite proud of them.

Oh, and I’m also a nut for African American art. My latest acquisitions/current obsessions: Francks Deceus, Ann Tanksley, and April Harrison—fine artists whose work transcend space and time. They’re baaad. Now if I could only figure out how to get my hands on a Romare Bearden.