WILLIAMS, Tia 1975-

PERSONAL:

Born 1975.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Teen People, Time & Life Building, Thirty-fifth Floor, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY 10020-1393.

CAREER:

Beauty writer and editor and novelist. Teen-People, New York, NY, beauty director. Has worked as a beauty writer and editor at Elle, YM, Glamour, and Lucky. Regular guest appearances as an expert on beauty trends for Music Television (MTV), Central News Network (CNN), and Fox News.

WRITINGS:

The Accidental Diva (novel), Putnam (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Beauty expert Tia Williams approaches the genre of "chick-lit" from the African-American perspective in her debut novel, The Accidental Diva. Protagonist Billie Burke is a young African-American woman who works as a beauty editor for Du Jour magazine. She hasn't had sex in years, but her drive and energy carry her through her high-toned days and rich uptown nights. Billie and her friends Renee, a book editor, and Vida, a publicist, live the lives of glamorous media professionals. The book has a "Sex and the City vibe while invoking cultural clashes with caustic glee," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

On the cusp of a well-deserved promotion at work, Billie finds her personal life cast into turmoil when she meets performance artist Jay Lane, an exceptional performer whose talent brought him out of the poverty of the projects and onto the Broadway stage. Both are immediately attracted to each other, and Billie finds herself falling in love with the gorgeous new man in her world. Lane has a past he'd rather leave undisclosed, but Billie eventually learns of his history as a street hustler who still hasn't completely given up on an old girlfriend. Billie and Jay try to work out their budding relationship as their disparate worlds and backgrounds collide.

As a beauty expert, Williams "knows this world and has it down cold," observed a Kirkus Reviews critic, although the same reviewer criticized Williams's handling of "people and love." Other reviewers were more positive about the romantic aspects of the book. Booklist reviewer Lillian Lewis called The Accidental Diva "a well-written first novel about the joys and pains of the beauty industry." A Publishers Weekly contributor called the book an "energetic romance" and a "sparkling debut" that "signals the arrival of a sharp new talent."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2004, Lillian Lewis, review of The Accidental Diva, p. 1269.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2004, review of The Accidental Diva, p. 201.

New York Times, Lola Ogunnaike, "Black Writers Seize Glamorous Ground around 'Chick Lit,'" profile of Tia Williams, section A, p. 1.

Publishers Weekly, April 19, 2004, review of The Accidental Diva, p. 39.*