Browne, Jill Conner 1953(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1953; children: Bailey.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Jackson, MS.

CAREER:

Writer. YMCA, Jackson, MS, former weightlifting trainer.

MEMBER:

Sweet Potato Queens.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION; EXCEPT AS NOTED

The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love, Three Rivers Press (New York, NY), 1999.

God Save the Sweet Potato Queens, Three Rivers Press (New York, NY), 2001.

The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner), Three Rivers Press (New York, NY), 2003.

The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men: Every Man I Love Is Either Married, Gay, or Dead, Three Rivers Press (New York, NY), 2004.

The Sweet Potato Queens' Wedding Planner/Divorce Guide, Three Rivers Press (New York, NY), 2005.

(With Karin Gillespie) The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn't Actually Do, but Could Have, and May Yet, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to Mississippi Business Journal. Columnist for the Jackson, Mississippi, Clarion-Ledger.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jill Conner Browne went from a fitness instructor at her Jackson, Mississippi, YMCA to bestselling author with the 1999 publication of The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love. It is a book that blends a "message of empowerment with earthy dating tips and paeans to the world's best Margarita mix," as Newsweek writer Peg Tyer described the work. A best seller, the book has been followed by several more guides to good living à la the Sweet Potato Queens, as well as a novel. The books all owe their titles, if not content, to an idea Browne had in 1982. It was then that she formed a group of irreverent women who decked themselves out in feather boas, tiaras, red wigs, and bust-enhancing sequined gowns, climbed aboard a truck from a sweet potato farm, and waved and tossed yams to the onlookers in Jackson's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. The hearty fun became a tradition that quickly spread to other states, with numerous chapters forming for local pageants and parades. The irreverent wit of the Queens was served up by Browne in her debut work and other books, providing a kind of "screen-door Zen," as Allison Adato related in People. Adato went on to explain Browne's philosophy in brief: "There's nothing that enough chocolate and Aqua Net can't get you through." Similarly, Tyer noted that "Browne's brassy call to arms isn't for the prim and prissy. Equal parts Erin Brockovich, Erma Bombeck and Dr. Ruth, her books make readers laugh, even when laughing doesn't come easy." Robert L. Hall, writing on the Southern Scribe Web site, attempted to explain the wild popularity of Browne's books: "Her readers are struck by her frank, unvarnished advice about life, love, families and the men-folk that she presents as practical (although it is really tongue-in-cheek.) Even though some might find of her suggested tips on eating of fatty and sweet food, as well as references to considerable alcohol consumption rather formidable, it does give the initiated food for thought—which is what she really is trying to do."

The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love launched the enterprise, dispensing homegrown advice from how to pick a man to making the perfect mixed drink. Reviewing that work in People, Francine Prose called it "good-humored" and "spunky advice on beauty, life and love." Similar praise came from a Publishers Weekly contributor who thought this "buoyantly funny guide to life and love is a hoot from the get-go." With God Save the Sweet Potato Queens, Browne returned with a "sassy and hilarious sequel," according to a Publishers Weekly critic. Here she dispenses more homegrown wisdom and some interesting recipes, such as one for Twinkie pie. The Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded that "Browne succeeds …, writing a jaundiced but life-affirming book with sweetness and heart." Booklist contributor Mike Tribby was equally positive about the book, advising readers to "grab this little guide and launch a more dynamic and hilarious lifestyle." James L. Dickerson, writing in BookPage, felt that God Save the Sweet Potato Queens is "every bit as bawdy and irreverent as the first book."

Browne continues her ribald advice with The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner), which covers topics about which she admittedly has little knowledge. Betty Crocker becomes her source of knowledge for food in this "riotously funny and human" book, according to a Publishers Weekly contributor. Browne's fourth installment, The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men: Every Man I LoveIs Either Married, Gay, or Dead, is ostensibly a guide to finding and understanding men, but has equal doses of tips on the perfect revenge and how to keep a man around. A Publishers Weekly writer found this work a "a Southern-fried delight," while Booklist contributor Aleksandra Kostovski praised the "hilarious and often unbelievable real-life snapshots" which support Browne's generalizations about males. The Sweet Potato Queens' Wedding Planner/Divorce Guide continues in the same vein, a "raucous outing" that delivers liberal servings of "sage advice, dire warnings and sidesplitting anecdotes," according to a Publishers Weekly critic.

Teaming up with Karen Gillespie, Browne wrote the fictional installment for her series, The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn't Actually Do, but Could Have, and May Yet, which is "a GEN-U-WINE page-turner," according to a Publishers Weekly writer. Narrated by Jill Conner, the novel takes readers into the lives of five of the core members of the Sweet Potato Queens, following them from high school on through twenty years of marriages, deaths, and failed relationships. The same critic concluded: "Browne's hilarious and heart-warming debut sets sturdy groundwork for future fictional follies." Speaking online with Lynette Hanson for the Jackson Free Press, Browne described the inspiration for her writing: "I've always been a big blabbermouth. My thinking has always been that if you put it out there, put yourself out there, people can't talk about you…. You can't talk behind my back if I've told it. What fun is that?"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 2000, Mike Tribby, review of God Save the Sweet Potato Queens, p. 490; September 15, 2004, Aleksandra Kostovski, review of The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men: Every Man I Love Is Either Married, Gay, or Dead, p. 193.

Forbes, July 9, 2001, Victoria Murphy, "Queen for a Day," p. 128.

Library Journal, February 1, 1999, Kathy Ingels Helmond, review of The Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love, p. 86.

Newsweek, January 27, 2003, Peg Tyer, "I Yam What I Yam," review of The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love, p. 60.

People, July 12, 1999, Francine Prose, review of The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love, p. 45; March 24, 2003, Allison Adato, "Yam-Yam Sisterhood," p. 79.

Publishers Weekly, January 4, 1999, review of The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love, p. 78; October 23, 2000, review of God Save the Potato Queens, p. 63; October 28, 2002, review of The Sweet Potato Queen's Big-Ass Cookbook, p. 59; July 12, 2004, review of The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men, p. 52; November 28, 2005, review of The Sweet Potato Queens' Wedding Planner/Divorce Guide, p. 41; October 2, 2006, review of Sweet Potato Queen's First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn't Actually Do, but Could Have, and May Yet, p. 39.

ONLINE

BookPage,http://www.bookpage.com/ (December 11, 2006), James L. Dickerson, "One Potato, Two Potato …."

Jackson Free Press Online,http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/ (October 7, 2004), Lynette Hanson, "Jill Conner Browne Tells All."

Southern Scribe Web site,http://207.36.65.254/zine/authors/Browne_JC.htm (December 11, 2006), Robert L. Hall, "Is Hollywood Ready … for the Sweet Potato Queens?"

SweetPotatoQueens.com,http://www.sweetpotatoqueens.com (December 11, 2006).