Victoria Christopher Murray is an American editor and author of over 30 books, with "more than one million books in print."

Personal life and education

Murray was born in

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. She received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in Communication Disorders from

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

New York University Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts ...

. She is a member of

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emp ...

. Murray now spends her time in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Career

After working in business for ten years, Murray launched a financial services agency for Aegon, USA, where she worked for nine years. Murray published her first book, ''Temptation'', in 1997. As she continued writing, she became known for her Christian fiction geared toward African American readers, though the genre didn't exist when she published ''Temptation''. Murray stated, "I knew that I wanted to write a book that was entertaining, compelling and put God in the middle and still have the book be a page-turner." Later, Murray explained that she hated the "Christian fiction label," saying, "I think it limits our readership ... I’m not writing for people who are already in church. If I had to say who I was trying to gain, it’s people who never entered a church.” Since her ''Temptation'', Murray has published over 30 novels. In 2014, Murray launched Brown Girls Publishing alongside ReShonda Tate Billingsley.

Awards

Publications

Adult novels

* ''Joy'' (2001) * ''Truth Be Told'' (2004) * ''Grown Folks Business'' (2005) * ''The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil'' (2011) * ''Destiny's Divas'' (2012) * ''Never Say Never'' (2013) * ''Touched by an Angel'', co-authored with Princess FL Gooden (2014) * ''Stand Your Ground'' (2015) * ''It Should've Been Me'', co-authored with ReShonda Tate Billingsley (2016) * ''If Only For One Night'', co-authored with ReShonda Tate Billingsley (2018) * ''

The Personal Librarian ''The Personal Librarian'' tells of the lifework of Belle da Costa Greene, the personal librarian to J. P. Morgan, as well as the first director of the Morgan Library & Museum. The book, co-written by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Mu ...

'', co-authored with Marie Benedict (2021)

The Ex Files

* ''The Ex Files'' (2007) * ''Merry Ex-Mas'' (2013) * ''Forever an Ex'' (2014)

Jasmine series (1997-2017)

* ''Temptation'' (1997) * ''A Sin and a Shame'' (2006) * ''Too Little, Too Late'' (2008) * ''Lady Jasmine'' (2009) * ''Sins of the Mother'' (2010) * ''Scandalous'' (2012) * ''Sinners & Saints'', co-authored with ReShonda Tate Billingsley (2012) * ''Friends & Foes'', co-authored with ReShonda Tate Billingsley (2013) * ''Fortune & Fame'', co-authored with ReShonda Tate Billingsley (2014) * ''A Blessing & A Curse'', co-authored with ReShonda Tate Billingsley (2017) * ''Temptation: The Aftermath'' (2017)

Seven Deadly Sins series (2017-2021)

* ''Lust'' (2017) * ''Envy'' (2018) * ''Greed'' (2019) * ''Wrath'' (2021)

Teen novels

Divas series

* ''Diamond'' (2008) * ''India'' (2008) * ''Veronique'' (2009) * ''Aaliyah'' (2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Victoria Hampton University alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni New York University alumni Writers from Queens, New York 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people