Latrivia Shante Nelson (born 1980) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

who writes contemporary interracial romance novels. She is credited with writing the first interracial romance novel (bw/wm) to exceed 600 pages (Ivy's Twisted Vine, 2008). She is also the first African-American author to write about organized crime, specifically Russian Mafia figures, as anti-heroes to African-American heroines. Her shift into writing about organized crime as a part of interracial romance created a new subgenre for the interracial (bw/wm) romance community – Interracial Romantic Suspense. Listed over 10 times as an Amazon #1 bestselling author in her genre, she has authored over twenty novels since her first book. In July 2015, she was listed as a ''

USA TODAY ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' bestselling author with Seeking Santa, part of a compilation with 11 additional authors called 12 Alphas 12 Months. This box set was the first multicultural box set to ever be listed as on a ''USA TODAY'' bestseller list.

Biography

Latrivia Nelson (Artis) was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

and raised in

Horn Lake, Mississippi Horn Lake is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is located south of Memphis, Tennessee. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Horn Lake was 26,066, up from 14,099 in 2000. Geography Horn Lake is bordered to the nort ...

. After graduating high school, she earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from LeMoyne-Owen College (1998–2003). During her time in college, she was the president of her sorority (

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

) and Ms. LeMoyne-Owen College (2001–2002). She was also featured in '' Ebony''. As an avid reader, she embraced the work of

Brenda Jackson Brenda Jackson (February 2, 1953) is an American novelist who writes contemporary multicultural romance novels. She was the first African-American author to have a novel published as part of the Silhouette Desire line, and has seen many of her n ...

, Maya Angelou, Leona Blair and Gwynne Forster. Seeing that there were few interracial romance authors who wrote exclusively in the subgenre, Nelson wrote Ivy's Twisted Vine (2008). The book was designed to highlight the complexities of "Generation X" relationships and sexual habits and the socioeconomic and cultural differences between the main characters. In 2010, she founded RiverHouse Publishing, a small press to publish independent work by unsigned authors. In 2010, Nelson released the first book under her new publishing company. The book entitled, Dmitry's Closet, is the first book in The Medlov Crime Family Series. This book was Nelson's response to the lack of African-American women who were heroines in romantic-suspense novels. It placed the heroine (Royal Stone) opposite Russian organized crime boss from the Vory v Zakone, Dmitry Medlov. Nelson, who at the time was in college to receive her Ph.D. in criminal justice with a focus on organized crime and sexual deviancy, used her studies to help write her Medlov Crime Family Series. Despite seeing many successes in writing, Nelson has always maintained duel careers as an author/publisher and public relations professional. She has worked for international and national non-profits like Church of God in Christ, ALSAC/St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, the National Civil Rights Museum, the National NAACP and Planned Parenthood. She has fought for social justice, education reform, women's reproductive rights and championed local political campaigns for office. She currently is the Director of Communications for Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region, a board member of the Boys and Girls Club (Samelson Club), the President of the Memphis Women's Political Caucus and a board member for the Tennessee Women's Political Caucus. She has published 20 novels under her name and published 6 additional authors under RiverHouse Publishing, LLC. Nelson is currently represented by Tracy Christian & TCA Jed Root.

Bibliography

* Ivy's Twisted Vine (2008) * The World in Reverse (The Agosto Family Series) 2013 * Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux (The Agosto Family Series) 2012 * Dmitry's Closet (The Medlov Crime Family Series) 2010 * Dmitry's Royal Flush: Rise of the Queen (The Medlov Crime Family Series) 2010 * Anatoly Medlov: Complete Reign (The Medlov Crime Family Series) 2011 * Saving Anya (The Medlov Crime Family Series) 2012 * The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov: Volume 1 (The Medlov Crime Family Short Stories Series) * The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov: Volume 2 (The Medlov Crime Family Short Stories Series) * The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov: Volume 3 (The Medlov Crime Family Short Stories Series) * The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov: Volume 4 (The Medlov Crime Family Short Stories Series) * The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov: Volume 5 (The Medlov Crime Family Short Stories Series) 2013 * The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov: Volume 6 (The Medlov Crime Family Short Stories Series) 2014 * The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov: Volume 7 (The Medlov Crime Family Short Stories Series) 2014 * The Chronicles of Young Dmitry Medlov: Book One (The Medlov Crime Family Short Stories Series) 2014 * Vasily's Revenge (The Medlov Men Series) 2014 * The Ugly Girlfriend (The Lonely Heart Series) 2010 * Finding Opa! (The Lonely Heart Series) 2011 * The Grunt (The Lonely Heart Series) 2011 * The Contingency Plan (The Lonely Heart Series) 2012 * Highness (The Lonely Heart Series) 2015 * Seeking Santa (2015) * The Grunt 2 (The Lonely Heart Series) 2016

Personal life

Latrivia Nelson was born Latrivia Artis. She has been married three times. Grandville Harris (2002–2005) Adam Nelson (2005–2012) Bruce Welch (2015–Present) She has two children (Jordan Harris and Tierra Nelson).

References

External links

*Official Website: http://www.latriviawelch.com *Official Blog: http://www.latriviawelchblog.com *Official Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Latrivia-S.-Nelson/e/B00377K5BC/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1456260449&sr=8-2-ent *WREG TV Interview
http://wreg.com/2013/08/19/world-in-reverse/C
*Commercial Appeal Interview (http://www.commercialappeal.com/entertainment/interracial-romance-writer-gains-fans-ep-390179405-324075211.html) *USA TODAY Article (http://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2014/07/07/recommended-reads-brown-scandalous-heroes-boxed-set/) *100 Top Romance Novels on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/487-top-100-romance-novels-on-goodreads)
*Nelson Signs with TCA JED ROOT
http://cmgpr.com/interracial-romance-author-latrivia-nelson-signs-contract-with-tca-jedroo/)
*Book Riot Article on Top African-American Authors (http://bookriot.com/2016/04/06/22-black-romance-novelists-not-beverly-jenkins/) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Latrivia 1980 births Living people American women novelists 21st-century American novelists American romantic fiction novelists American women romantic fiction writers 21st-century American women writers