Latin ballroom dancing (watching--not doing--so far!), cooking, jazz (not the smooth kind), (DONNA-football, tennis, cello, acoustic guitar), eating wonderful food with great friends, travel, cocktails, (DONNA camping), modern dance, flea marketing, shopping for bargains, shoes, travel, great books, movies–esp. old ones and (VIRGINIA musicals), (VIRGINIA cooking), good conversation, solid debate, clothes/fashion, cars, wine (not to be confused with cocktails)
Music
Movies
This is only a partial list--and it's in no particular order. Some are favorites of one of us, some are both--but it's a place to start!
Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made (we’re workin’ on it!), Network, East of Eden, Key Largo, Desk Set, Adam and Eve, The Women, The Godfather, The Hustler, Twelve Angry Men, From the Terrace, The Graduate, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Birdcage, A Few Good Men, As Good as it Gets, Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom, Groundhog Day, The Days of Wine and Roses, Shaft, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Odd Couple, The Philadelphia Story, For Love of Ivy, Gigi, Claudine, Sunset Boulevard, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Shopgirl, Chinatown, Calamity Jane, Eve’s Bayou, The Magnificent Seven, Carmen Jones, Dirty Harry, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (and all the rest of the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western canon), The Bridges of Madison County, The Usual Suspects, La Dolce Vita, One True Thing, Daughters of the Dust, American Beauty, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Foreign Correspondent, Citizen Kane, The Killing Fields, The Apartment, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Towering Inferno, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Lilies of the Field, Ferris Beuler’s Day Off, In the Heat of the Night, To Sir With Love, Harry Potter (all), Cooley High, Jaws, The Sting, Excalibur, Strangers on a Train, Some Like it Hot, ET, Star Wars (the original trilogy), Three Days of the Condor, Casablanca, Singin’ in the Rain, The Maltese Falcon, High Noon, The Thomas Crown Affair (I), The Thomas Crown Affair (II), Four Weddings and a Funeral, Ben Hur, The Great Escape, His Gal Friday, Fargo, Bonnie and Clyde, M*A*S*H, Love Actually, When Harry Met Sally, The Green Mile, Annie Hall, Rain Man, La Dolce Vita, The Conversation, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, From the Terrace, Forrest Gump, The Right Stuff, Young Frankenstein, Dog Day Afternoon, The French Connection, Blazing Saddles, Apollo Thirteen, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Incredibles, Being There, The Shawshank Redemption, North by Northwest, Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Rebecca, Inherit the Wind, Brief Encounter, Rear Window, It Happened One Night, Notorious, L.A. Confidential, Spartacus, The Best Years of Our Lives, To Have and Have Not, Laura, All About Eve, Bread and Chocolate, Terms of Endearment, Steel Magnolias
Television
Books
Like the movies--some are fav's of both of us, others are individual and these are in no particular order!
All of Ours , The Brothers Grimm,Beverly Cleary, Beatrix Potter, Alice in Wonderland ---Lewis Caroll, Heidi-, Tom Sawyer , Huck Finn, The Iliad, The Odyssey and all of Greek mythology, The Hardy Boys-Franklin Dixon, Nancy Drew-- Carolyn Keene, The entire Beany Malone series —Lenora Mattingly Webber, Peyton Place, Marjorie Morningstar, The Thorn Birds, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Native Son, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Go Tell it on the Mountain, The Sun Also Rises, The Great Gatsby, The Pearl, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice & Men, The Call of the Wild, Cannery Row, The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, The Brothers Karamazov, Dr. Zhiavago, Anna Karenenia, Vanity Fair, Great Expectations, Moby Dick, Light in August, The Three Musketeers, Invisible Man, Agatha Christie, Native Son, Black Boy, Sherlock Holmes, Robert Ludlum, Danielle Steele, A Woman of Substance-Barbara Taylor Bradford, Judith Krantz, Kane and Abel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Thirteenth Tale, Gloria Naylor, The Sound and the Fury, The House of the Seven Gables, A Tale of Two Cities, Roots, Baby of the Family, The Hand I Fan With, Shogun, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, Kurt Vonnegut- Happy Birthday Wanda June, Cats Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, John Irving– The World According to Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany, A Widow for One Year, Pat Conroy- Prince of Tides, Anne Tyler–A Slipping Down Life, Dinner a the Homesick Restaurant, Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, Breathing Lessons, Ladder of Years, Amy Tan- Joy Luck Club, Kitchen God’s Wife, 100 Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, J. California Cooper–In Search of Satisfaction, Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime, A Piece of Mine, Homemade Love, Bernice McFadden–The Warmest December, Sugar, This Bitter Earth, Clover, The Color Purple, Sula, The Song of Solomon, Beloved, Jubilee, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Mama, Waiting to Exhale, The DaVinci Code, The Harry Potter Series, Jean Auel–The Earth’s Children series: Clan of the Cave Bear, The Mammoth Hunters, Valley of the Horses, Shelters of Stone, Cane, To Kill a Mockingbird
Heroes
Save The World - One Click At A Time!
On each of these websites, you can click a button to support the cause -- each click creates funding, and costs you nothing! Bookmark these sites, and click once a day!
We are the author of Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, Far From the Tree, Better Than I Know Myself, Exposures and Gotta Keep on Tryin' (January 2008) the long awaited sequel to 1997's Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made. Note: we said "author" not "authors" We have been best friends for more than 25 years and writing/working together for 21 of those years.
.. What They're Saying About What Doesn't Kill You..
“This is the anti-pity party: snappy, fun and inspiring.” Publisher's Weekly (Jan.)
“WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU definitely made me stronger. I love this book!"
Sybil Wilkes of the Tom Joyner Morning Show
“This is my first DeBerry and Grant read and it most definitely will not be my last. I found the characters in this advance reading copy to be engaging, funny and inspirational. I absolutely love the writing style. This is a very good pick-me-up type of read for those who are going through bad economic times right now.”
-The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers
#1 Essence and New York Times Bestselling Authors Virginia and Donna's novels are:
"Powerful." --Kirkus Reviews
"Refreshingly honest." --Publishers Weekly
"Engaging." --Essence
"Vividly realistic." --Midwest Book Review
"Hard to put down." --American Woman
More Praise for Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant:
“Gotta Keep on Tryin' is an absolute treat. It is one of the most gripping stories I've read this year. The characters are so well developed, and the plot and dialogue are so real I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading fiction!
This flawless story is intriguing, easy to read, and will hold your attention from the first page to the last. If you read only a few books a year, make this one of them.”
-Mary Monroe, New York Times bestselling author, God Don’t Like Ugly
“Gayle and Patricia are back, trying to leave the skeletons in their closets behind while jump-starting brighter futures. Watching these glorious women navigating all the forks in the road of life makes for a breathtaking read. DeBerry and Grant expertly tackle devastating and timely themes like gambling, adult-onset bulimia, and paternity battles, with their usual grace, clever wit, and captivating voices. A great read for women, young and mature alike.”
-Connie Briscoe, author, Can’t Get Enough
“The authors, themselves longtime friends, take on with gusto the pitfalls of modern life, friendships and entrepreneurship. Women especially will enjoy spending time with Pat and Gayle.”
-Publisher’s Weekly
“This tale about girlfriends going through tough times will likely appeal most to women…”
-Library Journal
“…sharp dialogue and solid, fast-paced storytelling make for a gratifying read.”
-Kirkus Reviews
"I laughed, I cried, I identified!!!"
- Sybil Wilkes, The Tom Joyner Morning Show, on Better Than I Know Myself
"They're back! Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant, authors of one of my favorite books, Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, have returned with Better Than I Know Myself. It has a prologue that grabs you, a story that holds you, and characters that you will care about."
- Clara Villarosa, Bookseller, Publishing Executive, Hue-man Resources, Harlem, NY on Better Than I Know Myself
"Strong, colorful characters distinguish DeBerry and Grant's warm and moving African-American family drama...moves gracefully between the 1950s and the present day, and an unusually varied cast of minor characters add spice to the full-bodied tale."
- Publishers Weekly on Far From the Tree
"Keenly drawn characters...a seamless work...a winning book about real, flawed people."
- QBRL The Black Book Review on Far From the Tree
"With sassy dialogue and a suspenseful narrative, this novel whips through its prologue and 23 well-written chapters."
- Dallas Morning News on Far From the Tree
"Captivating and compelling...brave, realistic, and touching."
- Booklist on Far From the Tree
The Official Story
With five novels to their credit, Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant, best friends for 25 years, have turned a friendship into the most successful and enduring writing collaboration in African American fiction.
Donna and Virginia first met as plus size models vying for the same assignments. They were both featured in catalogs, ads, magazines and made national television appearances. Their modeling careers led to the opportunity to launch Maxima, a fashion and lifestyle magazine for plus-size women, where Virginia was editor-in-chief and Donna the managing editor. When publication of Maxima ceased, Virginia and Donna decided to try writing a book together. The result, Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, was a critical success, an Essence Bestseller, as are all three of their books, and won the Merit Award for Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, as well as the 1998 Book of the Year Award from the Blackboard Bestseller List/African American Booksellers Conference-Book Expo America. More than that, it hit an emotional nerve with tens of thousands of readers from all over the world who continue to write to Virginia and Donna nine years after the book's publication. Far From the Tree became a New York Times Bestseller, and Better Than I Know Myself received two Open Book Awards, and was included on the Best African American Fiction lists of both Borders and WaldenBooks.
In addition to speaking at book fairs and literary festivals around the country for the past eight years, Virginia and Donna have been keynote, motivational/inspirational speakers and served on panels for a wide variety of meetings, organizations, companies, churches, cultural and educational institutions, including: Dell North America, Women Work!, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., FAMU, Speaking of Women's Health & the Texas Conference for Women. Their honest and powerful messages have received praise from literary, business and academic audiences. They have also appeared on CNN, Good Day New York and been featured on the pages of Essence, Glamour, American Woman, and Black Issues Book Review.
Donna, a graduate of New York University, is a Brooklyn, New York native and currently lives in the borough with her husband. Before becoming a novelist, she spent more than a decade as a plus size model, represented by the 12+ division of Ford Models. During that career, Donna was featured in catalogs and national ads, on the pages of such magazines as Essence, McCalls, Family Circle and Woman's Day, and has made appearances on "Today," "Good Morning America," and "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee."
Virginia is a former high school English teacher from Buffalo, New York attended Fisk University and is a graduate of SUNY at Buffalo. After almost 10 years in the classroom, she moved to New York and started a successful career as a plus size model. She was frequently featured in catalogs, advertising, magazines and appeared on several television programs including "The Today Show." She retired from modeling after two years and became Vice President of BB/LW, an agency for plus size and petite models as well as a spokeswoman for Hanes hosiery. Virginia now lives in New Jersey.
THE UNOFFICIAL STORY
(It’s shorter than the official one!)
We don’t know the exact date or the exact way our friendship started – but it feels like we’ve known each other our entire lives—even though we didn’t meet until we were grown. And after more than a quarter of a century, now that we are “way grown,” we have NEVER run out of things to say to each other, we STILL love spending time together—which makes this working together thing we’ve managed to keep going, extra special.
We don’t fight—never have. We don’t always agree—and often agree to disagree, but that’s what makes us interesting as people—we have maintained our friendship and our individuality without compromising either.
Our friendship is real. It is our glue. We are sisters with different parents. Our writing partnership is not a gimmick, it never was something we “thought up” for publicity. We don’t know whose idea it was to attempt the first book – at this point it doesn’t even matter because whatever we do collectively is “our” idea. No ego. No ownership. We are equal creative and business partners and we really ENJOY what we do!
We want to give our readers a good, well crafted story—plot, characters, and of course language are all important. Our goal is to create a story and characters that will hang around a while --- even after the book is closed—and nothing pleases us more than the great emails and letters we have received over the years telling us just that! Thank you for being our readers and supporters long before there was a MySpace!!!
I am looking forward to friend and fellowship with you.
I truly hope that you visit
my page often and feel the
presence of the HOLY SPIRIT
at work here.
Place us in your top friends for easy
access for your friends
and for yourself.
......Check your bulletins daily for my inspirational post....
......Ask me about my latest book!
......My writings can be reposted, with proper credit.
......Tell your friends!
ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS
ARE WELCOME HERE!!!
Prayer For A Friend
----------------------
I sent a prayer to God today
Because you are my friend.
I asked that He bring your problems
Abruptly to an end.
I prayed for resolution,
And for all your trials to cease.
But most of all, oh friend of mine,
I asked for God to bring you peace.
I hope everyone is beginning their week productively and in good spirits. This past weekend I decided to completely challenge myself and anyone else who would like to accept.
I am going to attept to post 300 BLOGS IN 20 DAYS. I know it seems crazy but this is something that I need to do for myself. I want all of you to stop by http://trinalynnethewriter.blogspot.com and show love by supporting my efforts to achieve this goal.
If you are a blogger, give your readers a real treat by accepting the challenge to do 300 BLOGS IN 20 DAYS. There is no prize for the challenge, but just a chance to push yourself to your full potential. Allow your creativity to explode with ideas.
I will number each blog within the 300 blog challenge to allow everyone to calculate the days that it takes once I begin. If anyone decides to take the challenge I ask that you number yours too.
Stayed Tuned This Week For The Date I Will Be Starting.
Until then,
TrinaLynne
Email me: trinalynnethewriter@hotmail.com to let me know if you are accepting the challenge. Please include the url for your blog so that I may support you as well.
Something is Killing Tate, the 12 time award winning feature film that wowed audiences from Los Angeles to Atlanta to New York to London, is available on DVD. If you enjoy thought provoking, dramatic, and creative films featuring people of color, this may be the film for you. If you are already a fan of the film, be sure to help spread the word by telling a friend. Order your purchase or add to your online rental que today! See below for details.
Sincerely,
Leon Lozano Director / Writer / Executive Producer – Something is Killing Tate
Online Now!
