Shiraz, Yasmin

views updated

Shiraz, Yasmin

Personal

Female. Education: Graduated from Hampton University and Morehead State University.

Addresses

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Writer, speaker, and entrepreneur. Mad Rhythms (college-circulated hip-hop magazine), founder; Signals Agency (entertainment marketing and management firm), founder; and Rolling Hills Press (publishing company), Chantilly, VA, founder.

Writings

Exclusive (novel), Rolling Hills Press (Chantilly, VA), 2004.

Privacy (novel; sequel to Exclusive), Rolling Hills Press (Chantilly, VA), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Black Enterprise, Upscale, Impact, and Electronic Urban Report.

"BLUEPRINT SERIES"; FOR YOUNG ADULTS

The Blueprint for My Girls: Life Lessons for Today's Young Women, Rolling Hills Press (Chantilly, VA), 2002.

The Blueprint for My Girls: How to Build a Life Full of Courage, Determination, and Self-Love, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

The Blueprint for My Girls in Love: 99 Rules for Dating, Relationships, and Intimacy, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

Sidelights

Yasmin Shiraz has combined her love of hip-hop culture and her entrepreneurial skills by founding Mad Rhythms, a nationally circulating, campus-oriented magazine focusing on urban entertainment, as well as an entertainment marketing firm called the Signals Agency and the Rolling Hills Press. As a journalist, Shiraz has had her work published in several magazines, in the process interviewing celebrities such as Jada Pinkett-Smith, Queen Latifah, and Jay-Z. Shiraz has also established herself in the young-adult realm, beginning with her first book, The Blueprint for My Girls: Life Lessons for Today's Young Women. Her ongoing "Blueprint" series—which includes The Blueprint for My Girls: How to Build a Life Full of Courage, Determination, and Self-Love and The Blueprint for My Girls in Love: 99 Rules for Dating, Relationships, and Intimacy—focuses on empowering young women by advising them on issues that often arise during the transition to womanhood, including those involving sex and dating. Shiraz also includes lifelong lessons and challenges that help readers build self-esteem. Deborah Taylor, writing in Teacher Librarian, noted that Shiraz's "Blueprint for My Girls" series gives readers "positive encouragement without preachiness."

In The Blueprint for My Girls Shiraz includes excerpts from her own teenage journals in a guidebook that aids young women in their efforts to build confidence. In The Blueprint for My Girls in Love she offers advice on dating as well as on building relationships with friends and family. As with her previous titles, Shiraz excerpts experiences from her personal life, augmenting them with the experiences of her family and friends as well as other young women of high-school and college age. In reviewing The Blueprint for My Girls in Love, Yvonne Fleetwood noted in Black Issues Book Review that "Shiraz gives us a refreshing reminder that although the characters and biographies of our live are different, we share the same experiences and it is OK to talk about them, write about them, and, most importantly, do something about them."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Black Issues Book Review, November-December, 2005, Yvonne Fleetwood, review of The Blueprint for My Girls in Love: 99 Rules for Dating, Relationships, and Intimacy, p. 48.

Teacher Librarian, February, 2005, Deborah Taylor, review of The Blueprint for My Girls: How to Build a Life Full of Courage, Determination, and Self-Love, p. 15.

Skanner, February 18, 2004, review of The Blueprint for My Girls, p. 11.