Chauncey Citchens is a digital marketer from Jackson, MS with a lifelong passion for reading and writing. She received her bachelor’s degree in marketing from Jackson State University and her MBA from Clark Atlanta University. As a child Chauncey loved to read, write, and create things, writing her first book when she was eleven.

 

In 2015 when her niece, McKenzie, asked for books for Christmas she was overjoyed that she shared the same interest in reading that she did as a child. Chauncey began her search for the perfect series for the growing eight-year-old. Unfortunately, she was unable to find a variety of books that featured black girls as leading characters. This was a challenge she also remembered facing as a child.

 

Inspired and determined to give her niece a story with a lead character she could identify with, Chauncey picked up her childhood hobby and wrote a story with her niece as the main character. What originally started as a story for just her niece, quickly turned into a full-on project when family and friends encouraged her to publish her first book. Chauncey hopes the McKenzie Mason series will play a part in diversifying children’s book. She believes there is extreme value in children seeing characters as well as authors who look like them.