Writing has always been a part of Ebonié P. Fields' life. From a young age, Fields was writing down her thoughts and creating short stories. She has quite literally written the path for her own life.
Fields was born in Delaware and moved to Houston, Texas with her family as a child. She attended Baylor University and received a degree in journalism before going on to earn a masters in business administration from Texas Women’s University. She worked for a news station out of college and then decided to move to the marketing side of the business.
“I just couldn't get excited over bad news any longer,” she says.
Fields and her husband have two children. It was a fortuitous visit to Barnes & Noble with her family that inspired her to write children's books.
“I was looking in the children's section and I noticed there was a lack of diversity and no books with people of color,” she says. “That night I talked to my husband about that and he suggested that I write my own.”
That trip to the bookstore ignited Fields—and her award-winning Hummingbird series was born. In 2013, Zenie and the Magical Hummingbirds was published, and in December 2020 she released Zoey and the Magical Hummingbirds.
Fields explains that the name of her first title character, Zenie, is combination of her husband's middle name—Zenel—and her first name. The name Zoey just came to her as she was writing. As for the hummingbirds, Fields says there is a special significance there, too.
Fields has Jamaican roots and the national bird of Jamaica is the hummingbird. But it goes even further than that.
“When I was young, about 10 years old, I found a sick hummingbird and nursed it back to life,” she shares. “I don't know ... ever since then I have felt a connection with hummingbirds.”
In December of 2021, both books received an Honorable Mention from the Royal Dragon Fly Book Awards.
Zoey and the Magical Hummingbirds also received a Five-Star Review from Readers’ Favorite, and has been recognized as a Silver Award Recipient by the Mom’s Choice Awards.
In September of 2020, Fields founded Ebby’s Book House, a for-profit organization providing coaching and consulting to aspiring writers of all ages.
“I want to help people understand the importance of voice and sentence fluency and become great writers,” she says. “When you read someone's voice it hits harder and I want to help with that.”
Fields says nobody else in the family writes, but it has been a part of her as long as she can remember.
“I have always had a creative spirit and enjoyed putting my thoughts and creativity on paper,” she says.
Field's books can be purchased in book stores nationwide and on Amazon. For more information about Ebby's Book House, visit EboniePFields.com.
