Veronica Talks to Boys (Paperback or Softback)

When Veronica tells her boyfriend she's black, he laughs, pinches her cheek and says, "But, you're so white." Is she too sensitive, like he says?

Another boy starts paying attention to her. He's mixed, too. Should she drop the boy who might have a problem with her for the other guy, who may know what it's like to live in two worlds?

Catherine Marie Atkins Greenspan is currently publishing a series of young adult novels. She has an M.A. in Writing from the University of San Francisco, she has taught university-level English, Creative Writing and English as a Second Language. Catherine earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Michigan. She and Elizabeth had a lot of upper-level English classes, together, including "Living Writers," with Professor Nicholas Delbanco. The highlight wasn't just interacting with Jamaica Kinkaid or Tim O'Brien. The fun was that often Elizabeth was so consumed by her job as an editor at The Michigan Daily that she didn't read the books. Catherine, having read the books, would brief Elizabeth on the plot, theme, and characters. Elizabeth took this information, and then asked some of the most direct, probing questions of the whole class! Catherine earned some writing grants when she lived in Nevada: from the Sierra Arts Foundation and the Nevada Arts Council. She's done extensive freelance writing and editing, including a recurring column in the Reno News & Review called Committed to Community, where she highlighted the work of local nonprofits. Her favorite, though, was doing restaurant reviews. She wrote regular book reviews, features articles and cover stories, including an interview with Nigerian playwright and poet, Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature. The highlight of that interview was when he said in response to a probing question something to the effect of, "Nobody's ever asked me that before!" Catherine spent ten years working in the brokerage industry as a registered representative at both Fortune 100 companies as well as small, independent, family-owned businesses. Catherine serves as the state secretary and newsletter editor for AAUW-New Mexico, which advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. She also serves on the board of AAUW Tech Trek New Mexico, a nonprofit affiliate of AAUW-NM that holds annual camps at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, New Mexico, for rising eighth grade girls from all over New Mexico that promotes STEM learning. Catherine is a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and former meeting room leader where she inspired others to reach and maintain their target weight range through her firm belief in healthy living through moderation. Catherine has been writing books since she was five. A Michigan native, she has lived in California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Tennessee. She lives in New Mexico.

Elizabeth Ann Atkins is a best-selling author, actress, TV host and award-winning journalist who uses a multimedia platform to inspire people to unlock their infinite potential and live with passion, prosperity, health and happiness. Elizabeth's desire to empower others springs from a trailblazing matrix of colorblind love and courage from her mother, an African American and Italian judge, and her father, a former Roman Catholic priest who was English, French Canadian and Cherokee. They taught her to challenge the status quo by writing innovative ideas to edu-tain people. With a master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Michigan, Elizabeth has written nearly 20 books, including novels White Chocolate, Dark Secret and Twilight (with Billy Dee Williams). She also composed My American Success Story: Always the First, Never the Last, a memoir for Roy S. Roberts, once the world's highest-ranking black automotive executive. Current clients include executives, prominent government and civic leaders, physicians, a surgeon, an intuitive medium, a family that triumphed on NBC's The Biggest Loser, an insurance agent and a quadriplegic man who lived his dream to become a record company CEO. Her novellas about empowering women to overcome abuse and identity crises were published in My Blue Suede Shoes: An Anthology and Other People's Skin: An Anthology. A health and fitness enthusiast whose 100-pound weight loss was featured on Oprah, Elizabeth co-hosts a weekly television show, MI Healthy Mind, which promotes wellness by shattering stigmas around taboo topics such as mental illness, addiction and abuse. She is a popular writing coach whose PowerJournalTM program teaches people to enrich their lives with journal-writing. She has taught writing at Wayne State University, Oakland University, Wayne County Community College District, and at national conferences. A speaker who promotes human harmony, Elizabeth is represented by The American Program Bureau. She rouses ovations by reciting her autobiographical poem, White Chocolate, and has spoken at Columbia University, the University of Michigan, GM's World Diversity Day, Gannett, 100 Black Men, the NAACP, and many other venues. As an actress, Elizabeth plays a major role in the feature-length film Anything Is Possible, nominated for "Best Foreign Film" by the Nollywood and African Film Critics Association. She composed an original screenplay, Redemption, a gritty drama about a Detroit gangster and a writer. And Elizabeth plays a 1950s journalist in the international shipwreck drama, Are The Passengers Saved? Elizabeth has been a guest on Oprah, Montel, NPR, Good Morning America Sunday, The CBS Evening News, and many national TV shows. After writing her master's thesis about mixed-race Americans, her work appeared in The New York Times, The San Diego Tribune, Essence, Ebony and many publications. Her Detroit News articles on race were nominated for The Pulitzer Prize, and she wrote a biography for the Presidential Medal of Freedom tribute for Rosa Parks. Elizabeth runs, cycles, lifts weights, does yoga, journals and meditates to cultivate a joyous and peaceful mind, body and spirit.