Ashley & JaQuavis
BornAshley Antoinette Snell
JaQuavis Coleman
Flint, Michigan
GenreStreet lit
Years active2006-present
Notable awardsNew York Times Best Seller
Website
www.ashleyjaquavis.com

Ashley & JaQuavis is the pseudonym of American writing street lit duo and New York Times best selling authors Ashley Antoinette and JaQuavis Coleman.[1][2] They are considered the youngest African-American co-authors to place on the New York Times Best Seller list twice.[3][4][5] Their best-known work is the Cartel series, which appeared on the list in 2009 and 2010.[6]

Biography

Ashley Antoinette Snell (b. 1985) and JaQuavis Coleman (c. 1984) were both born in Flint, Michigan.[2][7][8] Coleman was raised in foster homes after being removed from his mother's home at age eight and eventually graduated from Flint Central High School; Antoinette graduated from Hamady High School.[7][2][9] Coleman began selling cocaine at age 12.[2][9] The couple met following an attempted drug bust, during which Coleman, then 16, realized he was selling to an undercover cop.[2][9] He fled, eventually throwing the drugs into a bush off an alleyway.[2] When the cops caught up with him, they were unable to locate the drugs in the bushes or on his person and were forced to let him go.[2] Within days, Antoinette got in contact with Coleman to tell him she had seen him running from her window and dug the drugs out of the bushes to hide in her basement before the cops caught up.[2][10] They were both avid readers and became close very quickly.[9] Antoinette was pregnant within a year and the two moved in together while still attending high school.[10] In the second month of pregnancy, Antoinette was forced to end what had become an ectopic pregnancy, which sent Antoinette into a deep depression.[10] One day, Coleman told her: "I bet I could write a better book than you."[10] Antoinette, who was very competitive, agreed; within days, they combined their works into Dirty Money, their first novel.[9][11] The pair attended Ferris State University for two semesters, during which Coleman continued to sell cocaine in Flint.[2][7]

Career

At 18, they landed their first publishing deal by selling the Dirty Money manuscript to Carl Weber's Kensington Publishing imprint, which focused on street lit.[9][7][12] In her excitement, Antoinette flushed the rest of Coleman's cocaine stash, which he claims was worth $40,000, despite their advance being for only $4,000.[7][2][9] They dropped out of Ferris State and moved to New York to pursue writing.[7] Antoinette and Coleman's books are based primarily by their lives in impoverished Flint, Michigan.[2][11] They initially sold free advance copies they received from their publisher from the trunk of their car but quickly became prolific authors in the street lit genre, publishing four or five books annually.[13][9] By 2009, their book Tale of the Murda Mamas, the second installment of their Cartel series, appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list.[6]

In 2012, Diamonds Are Forever, Cartel book four, was also featured on the New York Times Best Seller list, and Coleman and Antonette were recognized as #27 of Ebony's Power 100, a list that also featured the Obamas, Oprah, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and Trayvon Martin.[1][14] They were nominated separately for Street Lit Writer of the Year by the African Americans on the Move Book Club (AAMBC); JaQuavis was also nominated for Male Author of the Year.[15] In 2013, they started their own company, the Official Writers League, which publishes authors such as Keishar Tyree, C.N. Phillips, and Ameleka McCall.[16] Antoinette signed a contract with Viacom to write several novelas about the main characters from the show Single Ladies on VH1.[16] She was also nominated as the Female Author of the Year by the AAMBC.[17] Antoinette received two more nominations by the AAMBC in 2014 (Reader's Choice Awards) and 2016 (Street Lit Writer of the Year).[18][19]

The pair was awarded with the Urban Classic Honor at the 2018 AAMBC Awards; the following year, Antoinette's Ethic series was named the Best Black Book Series and she was named Author Queen of the Year by Black Girls Who Write (BGWW), while Coleman was named Author King of the Year.[20][21] In 2020, Antoinette won her first AAMBC awards: Urban Book of the Year for the sixth installment of her Ethics series and Street Lit Writer of the Year.[22] She and Coleman were awarded the Best Black Collaborative Series by BGWW.[23] Antoinette and the couple's 10-year old son Quaye co-wrote The Girl Behind the Wall, published in 2020 by Ashley Antoinette Inc.[24]

Many of their books, including Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Diamonds Are Forever, and The Demise, are banned in American prisons for being sexually explicit or for having criminal activity.[25][9]

Film

In addition to writing, JaQuavis is also a film producer and director.[26][5] In 2012, he directed Hard 6ix, based on their novel Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, and starring Tone Trump, Ashley Antoinette, and Tiffany Marshall.[11][6] In 2013, he directed 1000's "Life of a DopeBoy" music video and worked production on a film with Sean Lott.[16][27] He was also working with HBO on the pilot of a television show.[27] In 2015, he wrote and directed White House: The Movie based on his novel The White House.[28] In 2021, Coleman worked as executive producer, writer, and director of the film Everything is Both, co-produced by Ekpe Udoh and starring Barton Fitzpatrick, Stakiah Washington, and Jason Mitchell.[29] The film is based on a short story by Coleman.[30]

Antoinette and Coleman signed Cartel film rights over to Cash Money Content in 2012.[7][11] Coleman also signed deals with Warner Bros and NBC Universal for television development.[26][4]

Personal life

Their son Quaye was born in 2010.[7] In 2011, they were living in Manhattan, New York City; by 2015, the family lived in a four-bedroom home north of Detroit.[9][7]

Bibliography

Ashley and JaQuavis

YearTitleSeriesPublisherAwardsRefs
2006Dirty MoneyDirty Money book 1Urban Books[9]
Diary of a Street DivaDirty Money book 2[31]
2007Supreme ClienteleDirty Money book 3Urban Books[32]
2008The Trophy WifeUrban Books[33]
Girls from Da Hood 4 (with Ayana Ellis)Girls from Da Hood book 4[34]
2009The CartelCartel book 1Urban Books[35]
Tale of the Murda MamasCartel book 22009 New York Times Best Seller
2010 Street Literature Book (adult fiction)
[36][7][6]
2010Flexin & Sexin Volume 2Flexin & Sexin anthology book 2Life Changing Books/Power Play Media[37]
The Last ChapterCartel book 3Urban Books2010 New York Times Best Seller[6][5]
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang[38]
2011MurdervilleMurderville book 1Cash Money Content2012 Street Literature Book honoree (adult fiction)[36][6]
CrownUrban Books[39]
Soft: Cocaine Love Stories[40]
2012The EpidemicMurderville book 2Cash Money Content[6]
Black Friday: ExposedUrban Books[41]
Diamonds are ForeverCartel book 42012 New York Times Best Seller
2013 African Americans on the Move Book Club Street Urban Book of the Year nominee
[17][1]
Carter DiamondCartel prequel, book 1Urban Audiobooks[42]
2013Carter Diamond 2Cartel prequel, book 2Urban Audiobooks[43]
Moving Weight[44]
The Black DahliaMurderville book 3Cash Money Content2014 Street Literature Book Award Medal honoree (adult fiction)[36]
Murder MamasUrban Books[45]
The BeginningCircle book 1Blackstone Audio[46]
2014Empire: A Street NovelBlackstone Audio[47]
La Bella MafiaCartel book 5Urban Books[48]
2015Carter Diamond 3Cartel prequel, book 3[49]
2016The DemiseCartel book 6St. Martin's Griffin[50]
2017Illuminati: Roundtable of the BossesCartel book 7St. Martin's Griffin[51]
2020The Confessional (audio short)Brilliance Audio[52]
Money Devils 1Cartel book 8St. Martin's Griffin[53]
Long Live the CartelCartel book 10Independently published
2023Money Devils 2Cartel book 9St. Martin's Griffin[54]

JaQuavis Coleman

YearTitleSeriesPublisherAwardsRefs
2009The Dopeman's WifeThe Dopeman book 1Urban Books
2010The DopefiendThe Dopeman book 2Urban Books
The Dopeman: Memoirs of a SnitchThe Dopeman book 3
2012The Day the Streets Stood StillUrban Books[55]
2014The White HouseAkashic Books[56]
2017The Streets Have No KingThe Streets Have No King book 1St. Martin's Griffin2018 African Americans on the Move Book Club Street Lit Writer of the Year nominee[57][58]
2019The Streets Have No QueenThe Streets Have No King book 2Urban Books[59]
Cubana[59]
2022The Stiletto AgreementSt. Martin's Griffin[60]

Ashley Antoinette

YearTitleSeriesPublisherAwardsRefs
2009The Prada PlanPrada Plan book 1Urban Books[61]
2010Moth to a FlameUrban Books[61]
The Prada Plan 2: Leah's StoryPrada Plan book 2[62]
2011The Prada Plan 3: Green-Eyed MonsterPrada Plan book 3Urban Books2014 Street Literature Book honoree (adult fiction)[36][61]
Girls from Da Hood 6 (with Amaleka McCall)Girls from Da Hood book 6[63]
2012Guilty GucciUrban Books2013 African Americans on the Move Book Club Female Author of the Year nominee[17][64]
2013April: No Sex in the CitySingle Ladies book 1VH1 Books[65]
Raquel: TroisSingle Ladies book 2[65]
Keisha: A Couple of FavorsSingle Ladies book 3[65]
2014The Prada Plan 4: Love and WarPrada Plan book 4Urban Books[61]
Love BurnLove Burn book 1Ashley Antoinette Inc.[66]
2015Love Burn 2Love Burn book 2Ashley Antoinette Inc.[67]
Love Burn 3Love Burn book 3Official Writers League[68]
LuxeLuxe book 1St. Martin's Griffin[61]
2016Love Burn 4Love Burn book 4Independently published[69]
Luxe Two: A LaLa Land AddictionLuxe book 2St. Martin's Griffin[70]
2017The Prada Plan 5Prada Plan book 5St. Martin's Griffin[61]
2018EthicEthic book 1Ashley Antoinette Inc.2019 African Americans on the Move Book Club eBook of the Year nominee[71][72]
Ethic 2Ethic book 2[73]
Ethic 3Ethic book 3[74]
2019Christmas with the OkaforsEthic tie-inAshley Antoinette Inc.[75]
Ethic 4Ethic book 4[76]
Ethic 5Ethic book 5[77]
Ethic 6Ethic book 62020 African Americans on the Move Book Club Urban Book of the Year winner[22][78]
2020ButterflyButterfly book 1St. Martin's Griffin2021 African Americans on the Move Book Club Urban Book of the Year nominee; USA Today bestseller[79][53][80]
Butterfly 2Butterfly book 2[61]
Butterfly 3Butterfly book 32020 Black Girls Who Write Best Black Urban Romance[61][23]
The Invitation: An Ethic Holiday EditionEthic tie-inAshley Antoinette Inc.[81]
The Girl Behind the Wall (with Quaye Coleman)[24]
2022Butterfly 4Butterfly book 4St. Martin's Griffin[82]

References

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