Vanessa Davis Griggs. has long offered readers spiritual titles.  She shares more about her life as a writer. Thanks, Ma'am!

Lisa Cross, Dallas Coordinator

Tell us your latest news.

I signed a two book deal with BET Books. They will be re-releasing Promises Beyond Jordan in February 2004, a book I originally published, under their New Spirit imprint. My print edition is now being classified as the collector’s edition. It will cease publication August 1, 2003 or when supply is gone (whichever comes first).

When and why did you begin writing?

My first recollection of writing is when I was in the sixth grade. I wrote plays. We had just integrated to an all-white school and my English teacher, Mrs. Campbell, came to me and said, “I want you to put on one of your plays for the school.” I still can’t recall how she knew I wrote plays, but I ended up writing, producing and directing a play for my class at the age of 12. When I look back, I can see how much that impacted my life. I continued playwriting and began writing short stories then novels. In 1996 I left a great paying job with great benefits at BellSouth to pursue my goal of writing full-time.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Even though I’ve been writing various things forever, I don’t think I saw myself as a real writer until one Thanksgiving weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. I was visiting my brother and their dentist friend stopped by. I was editing a book I was working on and she insisted I read some of it. The more I read, the more she urged me not to stop there. It hit me then how much my writing could make a difference.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I love to see and hear my characters. My goal is to allow them to tell their stories no matter what I believe should happen. Having my own publishing company allowed me to write more freely. I was able to say, “What the heck! If no one wants to publish it, I can publish it myself.” That left me free to be as spiritual as I desired to be. Free at last! It appears that’s the best thing I could have done. Write while being free.

Who or what has influenced your writing and in what way?

Being an African American, Christian, woman has a tremendous influence on my writing. I grew up in church, read my Bible because I thought it was interesting and inspiring, had loving parents who set an example of what I came to know a Black family to be. My experience—Black folks wanting better for their own children than even they had themselves—influenced me. I grew up being encouraged to give things a try. To give it my best. To think for myself. To not allow others to treat me as though they are better than me nor for me to treat others as though I am better than them. All of this, I believe, shows up in my writing.