Author Rondolyn Hickman probably never imagined becoming the recipient of Winston-Salem State’s 2010 Alumni Achiever Award, or seeing the debut of her third fiction novel.
Oct. 22 at the Founder’s Day convocation, Hickman became the third mass communications alumni to receive the award.
Each year, faculty from each department nominates graduates for the award.
During her book signing after the convocation, Hickman spoke with readers, and autographed copies of her latest novel, “Playing the Hand You’re Dealt.”
A native of North Carolina and 1991 graduate, Hickman spent her younger years writing stories and often dreamed of writing novels, and being at the top of The NY Times Best Sellers List.
“The third release, ‘Playing the Hand You’re Dealt’ is a stand-alone book, and a little different from the first three, but there are a few characters that make a cameo appearance,” Hickman said.
“This book is very different in the sense that this is the first book that I’ve written in first-person.
This time, the characters speak to the reader.”
After graduating from WSSU, Hickman accepted a 9 to 5 job. Although she spent the next several years as a community developer to the assistant president of an executive fund, she could never ignore her desire to write.
“The publishing industry, which is much like the music industry, was extremely hard to break into,” Hickman said.
Writing under the pseudonym, “Trice,” Hickman marketed her manuscript to several publishers and agencies, only to be turned down. She then decided to take an active approach to fulfilling her lifelong dream.
She made the decision to resign from her job, and formed the independent publishing company, Platinum Books.
Her first novel, “Unexpected Interruptions” was self-published and released in November 2007.
Following the success of her first novel, she released the sequel, “Keeping Secrets and Telling Lies” in June 2009.
“The first release was about falling in love, and the second focused more on what happens when you make certain decisions in life,” Hickman said.
Fans followed the characters from her first book, and received the answers and endings to the story and couple sthat they had grown to love.
“I looked forward to reading her second book, “Keeping Secrets…” because I wanted to know what would happen with the old characters, or if they would all be included,” said Corteshia Bailey, a junior political science major from Charlotte.
Collectively, Hickman has won several awards for her literary works including an African American Literary Award.
She served as the guest author earlier this year in Atlanta at the National Book Club conference.
Hickman has recently been signed under a three-book deal with Kensington Publishing Co., with the re-release and worldwide distribution of her first novel scheduled for April 2011.
“In addition to the redistribution of my books, I am also looking forward to starting a few publishing and literary workshops for aspiring writers,” Hickman said.
With storylines already composed for her fourth and fifth novels, Hickman said she will still continue her writing and has plans to feature other authors. under Platinum Books.