Leflore, Lyah Beth 1970-

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Leflore, Lyah Beth 1970-

PERSONAL: Born 1970, in St. Louis, MO. Education: Stephens College, B.A.

ADDRESSES: Home— Los Angeles, CA.

CAREER: Nickelodeon, assistant to the vice president of programming, 1991-93; Uptown Entertainment, 1993-96, began as director of development, became associate producer of series New York Undercover; Haymon Development, vice president of television production and development, 1996-2004; writer, 2004—.

MEMBER: Alpha Kappa Alpha.

AWARDS, HONORS: Named as one of the “25 to watch under 25” by Essence magazine, 1995.

WRITINGS

(With Charlotte Burley) Cosmopolitan Girls (novel), Harlem Moon/Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: A Novel, Harlem Moon/Broadway Books, 2006.

SIDELIGHTS: Lyah Beth LeFlore began a successful television career in her early twenties and has been involved in the development of many popular shows and series. She left television after the publication of her first novel, Cosmopolitan Girls, to concentrate on her writing.

LeFlore’s debut, written with Charlotte Burley, was one of the early black chick-lit successes, about young women who may not have it all, but do have most of it, similar to their white counterparts in the hit Home Box Office series Sex and the City. Also set in New York, the story begins with the new friendship of copywriter Charlie Thornton and television producer Lindsey Bradley, forged over cosmopolitans in the Shark Bar. Both women are in unsatisfactory relationships from which they must free themselves. They provide support to each other as they face the business and relationship hurdles of modern life. Booklist contributor Lillian Lewis wrote that the authors “have many touching things to say about the nature of true friendship.”

LeFlore’s second book, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: A Novel, features protagonist Destiny Day, a party planner who leads a chaotic life. Denise M. Doig reviewed the book in the Black Issues Book Review, noting that LeFlore reveals the dark side of wealth in addition to the glamour, and felt that the novel ranged “from downright funny to sad.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Black Issues Book Review, September-October, 2006, Denise M. Doig, review of Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: A Novel, p. 45.

Booklist, January 1, 2004, Lillian Lewis, review of Cosmopolitan Girls, p. 818.

Essence, July, 2006, Imani Powell, “Leaving the Glamorous Life: In Her Follow-up to the Popular Cosmopolitan Girls, Lyah Beth LeFlore Finds Pleasure in the Simple Things,” p. 80.

New York Times, May 31, 2004, Lola Ogunnaike, review of Cosmopolitan Girls.