About the Author

Bio

Valerie Wilson Wesley writes mysteries, novels and children’s books. Her latest mystery is A Shimmer of Red (2023). Other mysteries in her Odessa Jones series include A Fatal Glow (2022) and A Glimmer or Death (2021). She is the author of nine Tamara Hayle Mysteries, which include When Death Comes Stealing, named one of Time’s magazine’s 100 Best mystery and thrillers. She has also written paranormal romances under the pen name Savanna Welles, which include When the Night Whispers and The Moon Tells Secrets. Her stand-alone novels are Playing My Mother’s Blues, Always True to You in My Fashion and Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do for which she received the 2000 award for excellence in adult fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA).

Most of her mysteries and several of her novels have been published in Germany, France and Great Britain. Wesley’s books for children and young adults include seven titles in her Willimena Rules! series, Freedom’s Gifts: A Juneteenth Story, Where Do I Go From Here, and The Afro-bets Book of Black Heroes, which she co-wrote with Wade Hudson. Her short essay, “Never Be Afraid to Soar,” is included in The Talk Conversations about Race, Love and Truth (2020) edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson. Her short stories and essays are also included in the anthologies The Bluelight Corner, Black Women Writing on Passion, Sex and Romantic Love, edited by Rosemarie Robotham, Gumbo, A Literary Rent Party, edited by Marita Golden and E.Lynn Harris and Room to Grow, edited by Christina Baker Kline.

Wesley is a former executive editor of Essence Magazine. She served as artist-in-residence at Columbia College in Chicago in spring 2005. She is a former adjunct professor at Ramapo College in Mahwah New Jersey, and a former artist-in-residence at the Tyson School of the Arts in East Orange, New Jersey.

Her fiction and nonfiction for both adults and children have appeared in magazines including Essence, Family Circle, TV Guide, Ms, Creative Classroom, Scholastic News and Weltwoche, a Swiss weekly newspaper. She is a 1993 recipient of the Griot Award from the New York Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. She has received awards from many book groups and community organizations, including 2004 Author of the Year from the Amigirls Book Club and 1996 Author of the Year, 2012 Mystery Writer of the Year and 2012 Literary Beacon Award from the national Go On Girls Book Club. She is a member Crime Writers of Color (CWoC), Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

Wesley is a graduate of Howard University and holds master’s degrees from the Bank Street College of Education and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She is married to noted screenwriter and playwright Richard Wesley.

Short Bio

Valerie Wilson Wesley writes mysteries, novels and children’s books. She is the author of the Odessa Jones Mysteries including A Glimmer of Death (2021), A Fatal Glow (2022) and A Shimmer of Red (2023).
She has also written nine mysteries in the popular Tamara Hayle Mystery series, including When Death Comes Stealing, which was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 best mysteries and thrillers. She has also written three stand alone novels and two paranormal romances under the pen name Savanna Welles. Her books for children include five books in the Willimena Rules! series, Freedom’s Gifts—A Juneteenth Story, and the Afro-bets Book of Black Heroes co-written with Wade Hudson. Her novels and mysteries are published in Germany, France and the UK and her nonfiction has been published in magazines such as Essence and Family Circle. In 2000, she received best book for her novel Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do, from the American Library Black Caucus Association, and has received many awards from community organizations. She is a former executive editor of Essence magazine.
ValerieWilsonWesley.com