HOTLANTA
Designer clothes. Gorgeous boys.
Family secrets. Major drama.
By DENENE MILLNER and MITZI MILLER
"Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller's sure-footed debut into the teen-queen world mixes the right amount of gloss...and grit... And while there's a lot of attitude in the book, there's also a good deal of heart, which will make readers eager for a second helping of what the Duke girls have to serve up"
-Essence Magazine April 2008
“OMG! Sweet Valley High was so not this crunk. Still, Hotlanta’s snark is worse than its bite. Even those who are Beyonce-fly have drama. Lessons are learned, and redemption seems possible for the twins…”
-Atlanta Magazine August 2008
From the moment she cracked open Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess in the fourth grade, Denene Millner has been hooked on books. She often passed up cartwheels in the backyard, summer bike rides with friends, and trips to the local and very cool pool to stay in her room and curl up next to books written by authors like Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary. But she never once imagined that she would grow up to write books of her own.
But as fate would have it, Denene was destined for this journey. By the end of October 2008, she will have authored or co-authored 15 books, including her smokin’ hot new teen series, Hotlanta. Released in April 2008 to rave reviews, the book was prominently featured in Publisher’s Weekly, and recently nominated for an African American Literary Award. The second in the series, If Only You Knew, will be released in October 2008. In addition, March On!, a picture book about the historic March on Washington, which Millner wrote with Christine King Farris, will be published in August 2008.
Denene Millner is the Reality Check columnist and a contributing editor for Parenting magazine, for which she provides witty, engaging, mom-to-mom advice on ethics and etiquette in everything from childrearing and marriage to work and friendship. Millner also is a contributing editor for Essence; an associate editor for the travel magazine, Odyssey Couleur; and contributes articles to Health, Entertainment Weekly, Money, Heart & Soul, and Ebony, among others. Her extensive television experience includes regular appearances on the The Today Show, CBS Early Show, CNN, MSNBC, VH1, WABC Eyewitness News and Good Day New York.
Prior to writing the column, Millner was Parenting's Articles Editor from 2003 to 2005; before that, Millner worked for Honey magazine for three years, serving as Features Editor and, most recently, Executive Editor. Prior to Honey, she covered politics and entertainment at the New York Daily News for nearly eight years, carving a niche as one of the few journalists to write knowledgeably about African-American culture. Queen Latifah, Halle Berry, Lena Horne, Terry McMillan, Don Cheadle, Spike Lee, Vivica A. Fox, Ice Cube, Brian McKnight, Mary J. Blige, and Jada Pinkett Smith are just a few of the artists that she has profiled. Before her stint at the Daily News, she worked for three years as a general assignment and political reporter for The Associated Press.
In addition, she is author of The Sistahs' Rules: Secrets to Meeting, Getting, and Keeping a Good Black Man, and co-author with her husband, Nick Chiles, of the best-selling advice book series, What Brothers Think, What Sistahs Know, and the novels Love Don't Live Here Anymore, In Love & War, and, A Love Story. She is also co-author of The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life, and the novel, The Vow, which received a coveted starred review in Publishers Weekly, and was named one of Borders Best of 2005. Her book, Dreamgirls, the novelization of the Tony Award-winning Broadway play-turned-big screen film starring Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and Beyonce, was released in December 2006.
Denene is a graduate of Hofstra University and lives in Georgia with her husband, their two daughters and son, and a very sweet and furry dog named Teddy.
