The Real-Talk Mom, Denene Millner

Denene Millner, a mom and writer, provides witty, engaging, mom-to-mom advice on ethics and etiquette in everything from childrearing and marriage to work and friendship.

She is author of The Sistahs' Rules: Secrets to Meeting, Getting, and Keeping a Good Black Man. Along with her husband, Nick Chiles, she co-authored the best-selling advice book series, What Brothers Think, What Sistahs Know, as well as the novels Love Don't Live Here Anymore, In Love & War, and A Love Story.

She also is co-author of The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life, and the novel, The Vow, which received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly, and was named one of Borders Best of 2005. Her book, Dreamgirls, the novelization of the Tony Award-winning Broadway-play-turned-big-screen-film starring Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Beyonce, was released in December 2006. Her latest books--the first in a teen book series called Hotlanta, and a children's picture book on the historic March on Washington, written on behalf of Christine King Farris--were published in April and August 2008, respectively.

She also has her own blog, My Brown Baby, dedicated to lifting the voices of African-American moms looking for the 411, advice and high-fives on everything from pregnancy and childrearing to sex, work and relationships.

Millner is a contributing editor for Parenting magazine, a contributing writer for Essence, an associate editor for the travel magazine, Odyssey Couleur, and contributes articles to a plethora of magazines, including Health, Entertainment Weekly, Heart & Soul, Money, and Ebony, among others. Her extensive television experience includes regular appearances on the Today show, CBS Early Show, CNN, MSNBC, VH1, WABC Eyewitness News and Good Day New York.

Prior to Parenting, Millner worked for Honey magazine for three years, serving as features editor and, most recently, executive editor. Before her stint at Honey, she covered politics and entertainment at the New York Daily News for nearly eight years, carving a niche as one of the few journalists to write knowledgeably about African-American culture. Tyler Perry, Halle Berry, Lena Horne, Terry McMillan, Don Cheadle, Spike Lee, Jennifer Hudson, Juanita Bynum, Mary J. Blige, and Jada Pinkett Smith are just a few of the artists that she has profiled. She got her start in journalism at The Associated Press, where she worked as a general assignment reporter before quickly being promoted to the coveted position as a political reporter covering the New York statehouse. She was 23--the youngest reporter (and one of the only African-American ones) in New York's political press corp.

Millner is a graduate of Hofstra University and lives in the Atlanta area with her husband Nick, nine-year-old daughter Mari, six-year-old daughter Lila and son, Mazi, 16.