Happy Mara Prose Monday!

I am so very excited to bring you an interview that I have been looking forward to for several months.

I have been a fan of Kimberla Lawson Roby since she released her first book, Behind Closed Doors, in 1997. From there, I continued to follow and support all her writing, speaking engagements, and now her podcast: The Woman God Created You to Be. She has been very influential to my writing and now her podcast brings me so much wisdom, peace and is a therapeutic tool I use to reaffirm my faith.

Here is Kimberla’s bio and I hope you enjoy the show!

www.kimroby.com

New York Times Bestselling Author, Podcast Host, and Speaker, Kimberla Lawson Roby, has published 28 books which include her faith-based, nonfiction title, THE WOMAN GOD CREATED YOU TO BE: Finding Success Through Faith—Spiritually, Personally, and Professionally, as well as her novels, such as BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, SIN OF A WOMAN, A SINFUL CALLING, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL, A CHRISTMAS PRAYER, THE PRODIGAL SON, THE PERFECT MARRIAGE, THE REVEREND’S WIFE, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR, SIN NO MORE, CASTING THE FIRST STONE, and her debut title, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, which was originally self-published through her own company, Lenox Press. She has sold nearly 3 million copies of her books, and they have frequented numerous bestseller lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Essence, Upscale, Black Christian News, AALBC.com, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, The Dallas Morning News, The Austin Chronicle and many others.

Over the years, Kimberla has spoken to thousands of women at conferences, churches, expos, workshops, luncheons, libraries, colleges, universities and bookstores. She shares her own personal journey straight from her heart and has a strong passion toward helping women become all whom God created them to be.

Kimberla is the 2013 NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction, the recipient of the 2017 SOAR Radio Trailblazer of Honor award, the 2017 Southwest Florida Reading Festival Distinguished Author award, the 2017 AAMBC Christian Fiction Author of the Year award and the 2014 AAMBC Female Author of the Year award, the 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 African-American Literary Awards Show (New York, NY) Female Author of the Year award, the Blackboard Fiction Book of the Year Award in 2001 for CASTING THE FIRST STONE, and in 2001, Kimberla was inducted into the Rock Valley College Alumni Hall of Fame (Rockford, IL). Additionally, in 2020, she was named by USA Today as one of the 100 black novelists you should read.

Kimberla’s books deal with very real issues, including women empowerment, sexual harassment, racial and gender discrimination in the workplace, problems within the church (and the consequences),  Christian/family/moral values, drug and gambling addiction, marriage, infidelity, single motherhood, breast cancer, infertility, sibling rivalry, domestic violence, childhood sexual abuse, mental illness, and the care-giving of a parent to name a few. In addition, Kimberla’s books offer a message of redemption, forgiveness, and the realities of everyday life.

Kimberla resides in Illinois with her husband, Will.