Virginia DeBerry is the co-author of bestselling novels: Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, Far From the Tree, Better Than I Know Myself and the re-released Exposures, (written as Marie Joyce) originally published in 1990 by Warner Books. In January 2008, Gotta Keep on Tryin’, the sequel to Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made was published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster.

Biography

Virginia, born in Wadesboro, NC, is a former high school English teacher from Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

. She attended Fisk University

Fisk University

Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...

 and is a graduate of State University of New York 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 Today.

During this time she met co-author, Donna Grant

Donna Grant

Donna Grant is the co-author of three bestselling novels such as Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, Far From the Tree, Better Than I Know Myself and the re-released Exposures, originally published in 1990 by Warner Books...

, who was also a plus size model vying for the same assignments. 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. Virginia and Donna, best friends for more than 25 years, have turned a friendship into the most successful collaboration to date in African-American fiction.

Their first effort, Exposures was published under the pseudonym Marie Joyce (for Donna Marie and Virginia Joyce). It was also published in Spain as Instantaneas. Their next book, written as DeBerry and Grant, was Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, which was a critical success, an Essence Magazine Bestseller, as are all three of their books, and won the Merit Award for Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

, 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 ten 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 of 2004 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

Dell

Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...

 North America, Women Work!, Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha

Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle...

 sorority, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Speaking of Women's Health (Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....

) & the Texas Conference for Women

Texas Conference for Women

The Texas Conference for Women is a nonprofit, nonpartisan leadership conference for women of all ages and backgrounds. The first annual conference was held in 2000 in Austin, Texas. Governor Rick Perry and First Lady Anita Perry are the official hosts of the event, which has featured keynote...

. Their honest and powerful messages have received praise from literary, business and academic audiences. They have also appeared on CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, Good Day New York and been featured on the pages of Essence Magazine, Glamour (magazine)

Glamour (magazine)

Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....

, American Woman, and Black Issues Book Review

Black Issues Book Review

Black Issues Book Review was a bimonthly magazine published in the U.S. in which books of interest to African-American readers were reviewed. It was published from 1999 through 2007....

.

Last year, Donna and Virginia joined with partners Tyrha Lindsey and Tracey Kemble to form 4 Colored Girls Productions. The movie Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made, based on their 1997 novel, is their first independent feature. Their next novel, What Doesn’t Kill You, will be published in January 2009.

Virginia is the daughter of Juanita DeBerry and the late John L. DeBerry II. She also has a sister, Valerie DeBerry and a brother, Dr. John L. DeBerry III. Virginia lives in New Jersey.

Awards

Black Caucus of the American Library Association, showing Virginia Deberry & Donna Grant as 1998 recipients of a BCALA Honor Award in fiction for Tryin'.
http://www.bcala.org/awards/past_litwinners2.htm

BlackBoard 1998 Book of the Year Winners—Award presented at BookExpo, the Book and Author Breakfast, Sunday May 31, 1998, McCormack Place Convention Center, Chicago, IL(Tryin' was the largest selling hardcover work of African American fiction for 1997)

Go on Girl Book Club, 1997 New Author of the Year Award, (click on Award Winners Hall of Fame)

http://www.goongirl.org/events/author_awards/

African American Literary Awards Show—Open Book Award, September 29, 2004,

http://www.literaryawardshow.com/