Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Renée Aikens is an attorney and former legal publishing executive with an innate love for the written word.

“As a child, when my mother looked for me to do some chore around the house I’d neglected she usually found me secreted away somewhere with a book. Language and the written word have always been the great love of my life, and writing a natural progression. (As a young child I wrote short stories, and as a teenager I wrote rather morbid poetry.) Today my tastes in literature run the gamut.”

“The writing and publication of this novel was a forgotten prayer. About two years ago, I came across a letter I wrote to the Lord. (I often commit my prayers to writing, so I can recount and record the blessing when the Father brings it to pass.) This prayer was about my innermost desires, the things I most desired to accomplish for His glory in this life. One of those things was to write a novel. It wasn’t until I came across that letter that I realized “The Bequest” was an answer to that prayer. Inspired totally from a dream and recalled with the clarity of a vision, “The Bequest,” originally entitled “The Doll,” is the Father’s gift to me — a gift too good not to share. ”

Renée Aikens resides in the Pacific Northwest. She is currently at work on her next novel, “The Lamentation,” and a children’s book series.

Author Interview:
Professional Women of Color Network (October 2006), http://pwocn.org/articles_view.asp?articleid=27318&columnid=2157