About Janay
Janay's passion for words began when she spent hours reading books from the library. Her love for words was homegrown, and she served as the editor of her high school newspaper. For years she tended to her craft until she and it were ready for each other.
Janay attended Rutgers University where she received a Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Social Work. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, School Social Worker, and Mental Health Therapist. To date, she's held many titles but her favorites are mentor, mental health advocate, and melanin story teller.
Janay is native to South Jersey where she resides with her husband and daughter. Janay's interests include African spirituality, Astrology, tarot, spa days, and crabs. She is the Author of Hey, Brown Girl and Forty-two Minutes!
Forty-two Minutes
It wasn’t until she held his remains that she knew she was in big trouble.
Indigo Lewis is counting down the days until high school graduation. As editor of the high school newspaper, she's put in her time and hopes it's enough to get her away from her troubled family life. Her father is constantly struggling to pay the bills and her mother is locked away in a mental hospital. Even with an after school job it doesn't seem like she will ever get enough money together to go to college.
Jaxon Green is a kid of wealth and privilege — but with a secret. Used to gliding his way through life, he offers Indigo a simple deal: write a newspaper blog to help him get into college and he will use his family's wealth and connections to get her into college too. He promises it will be a no-strings attached deal to get them both what they want after high school.
Always used to pushing the envelope, Jaxon uses his position of power to get Indigo caught up in increasingly uncomfortable requests and eventually black mails her.
As her deal with Jaxon spirals out of control, Indigo also learns shocking secrets about her family and begins to lose her grip with reality, and with it — her mental health.
With voices inside her head growing louder by the day, can she escape the fate of her family and allure of murder?
If you enjoy young adult stories about melanated characters navigating love, friendships, and family, please consider sticking around while I make sense of the world through my collection of words. Watch me make a SCENE! #BlackWriters!
"HEY, BROWN GIRL"- a coming of age novel
17-year-old Raven Jamison, and her three best friends, Nia, Jasmine, and Trinity, make up “The Brown Girls Club.” The girls spend long and carefree days in their bayou town of Lake Lacroix, nestled behind the big city of New Orleans.
A dinner time knock at the door abruptly changes everything.
When child protective services descend on their doorstep dropping off her younger cousin Carter, Raven is suddenly thrust into a brand new reality. Generational ties that affected the entire family for decades soon resurface. Carter’s presence rips at the Jamison household, and his aggressive and shocking behaviors may prove too much to handle for this seemingly picture perfect family.
Raven, her family and friends must work together to overcome their shared pain and help Carter find his voice before it’s too late.
Hey, Brown Girl is a compelling and thought-provoking young adult novel about struggle, forgiveness and hope. When this melanin rich family finds strength in their shared bonds, it’s undeniable proof . . . love conquers all.