Curtis Lamar Alcutt – Some may find Curtis a heartfelt, kind-spirited adventurer, while Lamar lingers in the dark, awaiting any opportunity to take you to the underworld. Trailing not far behind will be Alcutt, joining both worlds in the middle.

Suffering from low self-esteem, as an overweight child, Curtis lived a very solitary social life. Severely introverted, reading and writing provided him a safe haven from the world. Seeking to avoid painful teasing by classmates, he would spend nearly every minute of recess time in the library, nose buried in a book. At the age of ten he won a creative writing contest, hosted by his elementary school. His teacher saw he was a gifted writer and assisted in the development of his writing skills.

His love of writing followed him. Growing up, he wrote music lyrics, short stories and comic strips on a regular basis. Over a decade ago, he challenged himself, and penned his first novel in a mere 90 days. A short time later, he landed his first publishing deal. Coached by a few great mentors, his writing flourished, culminating in a book deal with Simon & Schuster. Seeking a new challenge, he turned his attention to script writing and implemented a plan to convert his novels into movie scripts. Screenplay writing is now a burning passion of his.

Deatri King-Bey – When Deatri was six years old, her mother was told that because of Deatri’s dyslexia, she’d probably never learn how to read. My have times changed. Deatri started her publishing career as an editor at Third World Press, Inc., one of the oldest independent, African-American owned publishing houses in the world. Fiction is her true love, so a few years later she began focusing her editing skills on fiction. She’s edited novels by such notables as Gloria Naylor, L.A. Banks, Beverly Jenkins, A.C. Arthur and many more. Along with editing, Deatri also began writing.

Thirty some published titles later, she still hasn’t figured out she wasn’t supposed to learn how to read and has gone on to win six *Emma Awards over the years. Currently, she is enjoying life with her family, reading, writing her next novels and screenplays, and deciding what she’ll get into next.

* Named after Emma Rodgers, a co-founder of the Romance Slam Jam annual book lovers’ event, the Emma Awards is the premier awards for Black romance.

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