Stacey Abrams is known for a few different walks of life, including author. And while there are Stacey Abrams books with her name on them, there’s also a whole group of Stacey Abrams books that don’t have her name on them. She’s also a prolific author, and not in the genres you might expect.
To those who follow American politics, Stacey Abrams is most associated with her work in Georgia. Initially a state legislator in Georgia’s House of Representatives, she challenged Brian Kemp in the state’s 2018 gubernatorial race, losing narrowly and contending voter suppression was at work. The race gave her a greater national profile, and she’s seen as instrumental in voter turnout efforts that swung the 2020 Presidential race (and subsequent key Senate races in her home state) to Democrats.
Abrams has written two nonfiction books and co-authored two others that draw from her work on elections and related leadership topics—the kind of book you might expect a politician to write in between elected offices.
But she’s also written two works of fiction under the “legal thriller” category popularized by the likes of John Grisham and Michael Connelly, two children’s books, and perhaps even more surprisingly, has written eight different romance novels under a pen name, dating back to her time as a Yale University student.
What Stacey Abrams books has she written as Stacey Abrams?
First, there are the titles you might expect. In 2018, she published Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change, later published as Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change. In 2020, she wrote a follow-up of sorts, chronicling her experiences running for office with Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America. Both of those books were released by Henry Holt and Co.
She also collaborated with other authors on an additional 2020 nonfiction offering from the University of Georgia Press, Voter Suppression in U.S. Elections, and teamed with co-author Lara Hodgson on a 2022 business advice book, Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back.
In 2021, Abrams changed authorial course with a fictional novel billed as a legal thriller, While Justice Sleeps, which is centered around a Supreme Court clerk named Avery Keene—as is Rogue Justice, its 2023 successor. Both novels were released by Doubleday, and Abrams appeared at last year’s prestigious Texas Book Festival (started by former First Lady Laura Bush) behind Rogue Justice.
Abrams also has a pair of children’s books, 2021’s Stacey’s Extraordinary Words and 2022’s Stacey’s Remarkable Books, both NAACP Image Award winners.
What books has Stacey Abrams written as Selena Montgomery?
Between 2001 and 2009, Abrams—using the pen name Selena Montgomery—wrote eight different romance novels, some of which were re-released around the time her legal thrillers began circulating. Those titles are, in order of publication (according to the Book Series in Order site): Rules of Engagement, The Art of Desire, Power of Persuasion, Never Tell, Secrets and Lies, Hidden Sins, Reckless, and Deception.
In a 2018 Washington Post article about her, she addressed her diverse and prolific writing by saying, “I have been privileged to write across multiple facets of my life: to write romance novels, to write memoir, to write about leadership, and to write tax and social policy articles. The act of writing is integral to who I am. I’m a writer, a politician, a tax attorney, a civic leader and an entrepreneur. I am proud of what I’ve accomplished.”
Responding specifically to those who might look down on romance novel writing, she remarked, “Telling a well-crafted story is hard. Full stop. Regardless of genre, good writing is good writing. Romance is one of the oldest forms of storytelling, and I’m honored to be in the company of extraordinary writers.”