I'm just a country girl caught up in a big city world. I love life and embrace it daily with thanks and enthusiasm. Prior to my literary calling I was an accountant and programmer. I'm a happily divorced mother of two and grandmother of five--all girls

I've been surfing the Internet for almost ten years and I actually started writing under that "screen name". It means the Ebony Lady with the Satin Touch. When I published the book I knew that thousands of people knew EbonySatin, but may not know Parry Brown, so I incorporated it into my name and now it is just a part of who I am.

The short story "Single Dad" turned into the novel "The Shirt off His Back" in 1997.

When my daughter returned from her father-in-laws funeral with such horrendous stories, she simply said, "Mama, you need to write a book". We came up with the title that day and I started interviewing friends, recalling family funerals and the rest, as they say, is history.

I knew a family that something very similar had happen to, so I embellished, combined my own experiences and spun a very believable tale.

The most common e-mail I receive says "Were you at my mother's, grandmother's, uncle's funeral? One actually said, "Thank you for changing my family's names.

We all have an Aunt Ida Mae. I chose the name from one of my favorite books by the same name by Delores Thornton.

Uncle Thomas is my Uncle Fred.

Glynda is my best friend's name and in actuality I think Glynda is me. It was easy to have "me" tell the story.

Naylor was my mother's married name.

Jamaica Carter is a dear friend of mine and has been one of my strongest supporters since day one. I used his name and persona (with his permission, of course). He's an actor and you may remember him from Baby Boy (JaToi, the hairdresser who bought the ugly pink dress) and he's a regular guest on BET's Oh Drama!

Roberta is my sister's friend and much of what Roberta did ACTUALLY happened.

I think I'm a combination of Glynda and Dawn.

I honestly don't know....it just kinda flowed off my finger tips. After I'd typed it I said out loud, oh no they did NOT!

From start to finish was about six months. If the time had been contiguousit would have probably been six weeks.

I'm very excited about my new project Fanning the Flames another family drama with strong good black men that happen to be firefighters. The story will enlighten and entertain. Black firefighters in America have had a really hard road and I want to tell their story.

Good jazz, an ugly bathrobe and a pot of decaf is all I need.

There are a few messages in Sittin'. I think the primary one is, when it all comes down to it, nothing else matter besides love and family. The other one is that we all have secrets, many that are tearing us up inside, but they are probably only a big deal to us and won't much matter to anyone else. And thirdly, maybe the next time it's our turn to sit in the front pew we'll be a little more cognizant of our actions.