To each, his or her own genre: five hot African American writers who are creating novels for every kind of popular taste.

In the early '90s, to some people at least, African American fiction referred only to novels about sisters looking for brothers. Fortunately, the boom in black fiction has propelled authors, publishers and readers beyond the popular relationship novel and further diversified the world of genre fiction. Genre fiction refers to the popular novels that, while not always critically acclaimed, inspire fierce loyalty among fans. The realm of genre includes mysteries, romance, science fiction/fantasy, and stories that focus on a particular way of life, such as street life of hip-hop novels. So, in honor of BIBR's fifth anniversary, we're taking a look at five authors who have found their niche and become fan favorites in recent years.

ZANE

Erotica 

One of the biggest genre authors, Zane, has come to dominate erotic fiction after bringing it out of the literary closet with her first, self-published titles. The Washington, D.C.-area writer's novels, including Addicted (Atria Books, October 2001), Nervous (Atria Books, September 2003) and Shame on It All (Atria Books, May 2003) have been best-sellers.

Zane, who is 37, isn't surprised by the popularity of her novels, but says others were. "Everyone said that I would ruin my career if I wrote erotica," she told BIBR. "Let's just say people are not saying I was misguided anymore."

Though success wasn't a shock, the juxtaposition of her hypersexual fiction with tamer fare was. "When Nervous came out in September, my local Borders had Nervous on display at the front door along with the new Harry Potter book," she says. "I certainly did get a kick out of that!"

CARL WEBER

Urban "Heavy Drama"

While the debate rages on about street-life and urban novels, the genre continues to grow. At the forefront is Carl Weber. Weber is a New York-area bookstore owner, novelist and, now, a publisher. His new company, Urban Books, will publish a type of urban fiction that he calls "heavy drama." Weber, 37, says his job as an author is to take the reader out of his or her problems and engage them in the character's drama. His new company has a distribution deal with Kensington Books (See BIBR's BETWEEN THE LINES, page 8).

He has done that with four novels and one novella, including Baby Momma Drama (Kensington Pub. Corp, January 2003), Lookin' for Luv (Kensington, November 2001) and Married Men (Kensington Pub. Corp, September 2001). His next novel, Player Haters (Kensington), is due in February 2004 and will feature a man who has a business card for every situation.

LESLIE ESDAILE BANKS 

Vampire/Horror

Leslie Esdaile Banks, a prominent romance author, is taking on a very different genre. The Philadelphia resident has launched a new series that begins with Minion: A Vampire Huntress Legend (St. Martin's Press, June 2003) and will continue with The Awakening (Strange Fruit, Dupe), due out in January 2004.

Banks, 43, who is also published as L.A. Banks and Leslie Esdaile, was one of BIBR's Best of 2002 picks in romance. "I wanted to tackle the issues of good versus evil and to have the romance genre constraints removed so that I could build my story," Banks says of her foray into vampire fiction.

In addition to the vampire series for St. Martin's Press, Banks is working on a crime series for Dafina/Kensington, two horror anthologies and a couple of romances. Banks, who has a master of fine arts degree in film and media arts, is also writing the novels based on the Soul Food television series.

SHANNON HOLMES

Street Life

Self-publishing or starting with small publishers is a recurrent theme in niche success stories. Because of a lack of interest from larger publishers, Shannon Holmes, author of B-More Careful (December 2001), approached Meow Meow Productions, a company run by Teri Woods, author of True to the Game (June 1999), an early street life or hip-hop novel.

Holmes, 30, is claiming the niche once owned by Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim. The Bronx-based author has partnered with Vickie Stringer (Let That Be the Reason, UpStream Publications, June 2002) owner of Triple Crown Publications. His second novel, Bad Girlz (Atria Books) came out in October 2003.

Always an avid reader, Holmes particularly remembers his sister's Donald Goines novels. "It's nothing like reading something you can relate to," he says. In turn you have to write about what you know, says Holmes, who served five years in prison. It was during his incarceration that he was inspired to write.

"I can't write about corporate America, because I haven't been in corporate America," Thus he gives us tales from harsh, urban streets, complete with language that will, as he says, make you "cover your mouth."

One lesson he learned, though, is that the world of books isn't all about showing love. "When I first came out, I thought everybody was supposed to love me," he says. Instead, Holmes and other street-life authors have alternately been praised for telling previously invisible stories and criticized for the harsh and scurrilous language, as well as for allegedly promoting stereotypical and degrading images.

PAULA L. WOODS

Mystery/Crime Noir

Paula L. Woods's 1999 novel Inner City Blues (Bt Bound, October 2001) brought mystery lovers an African American woman who is a modern-day L.A.P.D. detective. Woods, a Los Angeles resident, has proven to be a master at exploring the race and gender challenges of contemporary American society. Her first novel is set during the L.A. riots of 1992, and she has dealt with skin color, sexual harassment, closeted homosexuality and workplace discrimination through Charlotte Justice and other characters. "I like the ability, through the mystery, to talk about issues of race, culture and family."

The other Charlotte Justice novels are Stormy Weather (One World/Strivers Row, July 2002), which deals with black Hollywood and the suspicious death of a director, and Dirty Laundry (One World/Strivers Row, July 2003) in which Justice investigates the death of a mayoral campaign worker. Woods is working on the fourth Justice novel.

Bernadette Adams Davis is a freelance writer and playwright living in Orlando, Florida.

Bernadette Adams Davis has written for Black Enterprise, The Christian Science Monitor, the Orlando Business Journal, as well as BookReporter.com and PopMatters.com. Davis is a contributor to Bare Your Soul: Tke Thinking Girl's Guide to Enlightenment (Seal Press, November 2002). She is also coauthor of The Whirlwind No Passeth, a play about the 1920 race massacre in Ocoee, Florida. In "To Each, His or Her Own Genre" on page 40, Davis takes a look at the various emerging genres in African American novels.