Francis Ray
Francis Ray (July 20, 1944 – July 3, 2013) was a "New York Times" and "USA Today" bestselling African-American writer of romance novels. Her literary fiction series – Taggart and Falcon, the Invincible Women, Grayson Family of New Mexico, and Grayson Friends – consistently made bestsellers' lists. She lived in Dallas, Texas. Biography. She was born in Richland, Texas, and studied nursing, receiving a bachelor's degree from Texas Woman's University in 1967. She began writing in 1987, while continuing to work as a nurse, and had her first book published in 1992. Ray was inspired to write after  reading one of Kathleen Woodiwiss's books. She was also inspired by J. California Cooper's writings. In 1995, she co-founded the Romance Slam Jam, which was an author-reader conference and first launched in Texas. Work. Ray's stories are character-driven and Ray spent time fleshing out full stories for the characters in her books, including their childhoods. She feels that writing romance is often more emotionally difficult than for other genres because while the characters must have conflict, the resolution needs to be solved in a way that readers know "that the couple will stay together  no matter what". It was also important to her to include "accurate realistic portrayals of African Americans" rather than stereotypes. In 1999, Ray's novel, "Incognito", was adapted by Black Entertainment Television (BET) for broadcast. She helped make the Arabesque imprint, which was owned by BET and dedicated to African-American romance, a success. In 2004, she and other authors were celebrated for their contributions to Arabesque which is now owned by Kimani.