When B. Jane Turnquest’s 20-year corporate career came to an abrupt halt during the pandemic, she unleashed her inner author and began self-publishing books so that her son could see Black characters such as mermaids, knights, and pirates in fairytales. After adding protagonists dealing with autism, understanding self-worth and adding clean romance to her line-up of books, Turnquest quietly launched Quill Ink Parchment Publications and her versatile talents have caught the attention of the government of The Bahamas, which recruited her to be a part of several publishing projects.“It really is a dream come true to be able to write and then wake up and see over 1,000 reviews on Amazon alone for my work,” said B. Jane . “Growing up in The Bahamas, I never imagined that I would have been an internationally known author, co-publish a youth magazine with my son and have people from around the world reach out to say they enjoy my work. I think people used to doubt self-published authors but now it’s become more acceptable and when you have strangers supporting you and leaving positive responses, you see it is absolutely worth the investment. I would encourage anyone who has a passion to pursue it to go for it because it can take you global.”

B. Jane says it is a joy to know that she has nearly 30 books with Black protagonists, each selling a respectable amount of copies. She was also shocked when she went viral in social media groups after sewing Regency-era costumes for her son and niece to play dress-up in that were compared to Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series gained popularity on Netflix when Shonda Rhimes added a diverse cast. She then went on to write her own novel set in that era with diverse characters. Continue Reading