Piper Huguley

Biography

Piper Huguley is a professor at Spelman College, teaching Composition and various American Literature courses. Her research interests are in Twentieth Century American Literature and popular fiction—especially in the biggest-selling genre of romance. Her Home to Milford College series (published by Liliaceae) focuses on African-American teachers and preachers in the early 20th century and her Migrations of the Heart series (published by Samhain) are "Great Migration" stories. She has written that she chose these characters and settings because

“There are rich portions of our history that weren’t being explored [from that era], so that was purposeful on my part,” Huguley said recently by phone. The 47-year-old Literary and Composition lecturer is a fan of [Beverly] Jenkins and respects her legacy as a pioneer in the genre of African-American historical romance, which is why she uses different locales and time frames—-as well as a less steamy Christian-based perspective—-to reach history buffs and younger adults. “I grew up hearing tales from my five great-aunts about the World War II era, a time in which blacks moved from the South to the North to rebuild their post-slavery lives with education and factory work [circa 1915].” Huguley says. “It was the largest intra-migration movement in U.S. history and that’s where the stories come from.” [1]

On The Web

• Piper Huguley
• Piper G Huguley-Riggins's academic page on the Spelman College website

Books

• The Preacher's Promise, Liliaceae Publishers (July 27, 2014)
• The Mayor's Mission, Liliaceae Publishers (December 25, 2014)
• A Virtuous Ruby, Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (July 14, 2015)
• A Most Precious Pearl, Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (September 8, 2015)

Novellas

• The Lawyer's Luck, Liliaceae Publishers (June 25, 2014)
• A Sweet Way to Freedom, in The Brightest Day: A Juneteenth Historical Romance Anthology, Seditious Sisters (June 1, 2015)

Awards

• Debut Author of the Year, Emma Award winner 2015 from Romance Slam Jam [2]