LOS ANGELES – Nine years ago, Monice Mitchell Simms – a screenwriting veteran and award-winning filmmaker – took a leap of faith. She quit her job as an executive assistant to focus on her film career and pen "Address: House of Corrections."The first novel in a trilogy inspired by her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. she coined her book the "Roots" of her family. And like roots, not only is Mitchell Simms still going strong, but fans worldwide continue to discover “her little book that could.”
On January 19th, Mitchell Simms will appear as the guest author for Cover to Cover and BBC book clubs. The joint event will take place at 2 pm. in South Pasadena, California.
“I’m humbled readers are still choosing my book after all this time. Every now and then, you’re blessed with a story that resonates with folks. Mine just happens to take place during 1940/50s Detroit and follows a young female ex-convict. Who knew?” laughed Mitchell Simms, who first tried publishing her novel through the traditional route.
“For nearly two years, my former agent did the best she could, but we always knew my book was going to be a hard sell. Not only is it a period piece about a wounded heroine, but I also had the nerve to examine the complicated connections between mothers and daughters. That’s the stuff of literature – which is exactly what publishers were afraid to gamble on from an unknown African American female author.”
Motivated by rejection and the declining publishing industry, Mitchell Simms published "Address: House of Corrections" through her imprint, flower girl publishing, and produced it as a dramatic audio mini serial in 2010. Print, electronic and audio versions can be purchased online at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and Learnoutloud.com.
Currently, Mitchell Simms is preparing to publish "Nana’s Fridge," her first children’s book, and is adapting "Address: House of Corrections" into a screenplay. She plans to independently produce and direct the film in the near future.
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About Monice Mitchell Simms:
An eclectic wordsmith, Mitchell Simms holds a BA in journalism from Wayne State University, a MFA from Columbia College Chicago and has reported for numerous magazines and newspapers.
She’s also an award-winning filmmaker of the Showtime films, "Carmin’s Choice" and "Rain," and teaches creative writing to girls in prison for Write Girl – a 2013 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards winner.
Currently preparing to publish her first children’s book, "Nana’s Fridge," and writing "The Mailman’s Daughter," the second novel in the series, Mitchell Simms is happily married and lives in South Pasadena, California.