Pact Provides Impetus for Bolingbrook Resident to Pen Novel

Kathy Thigpen harbored the dream of writing a book for as long as she can remember.

She often referenced the dialog emitting from the “voices in her head” and the fact that she had enough material to fill a book.  

Although possible, purely taking into consideration the standpoint of time juggling family and career, the prospect of becoming a published author seemed improbable.

“I had always talked about writing a book,” Thigpen says. “When my nephew was getting ready to graduate from high school he called me on it. We are very close. When he was growing up I always told him that he would be able to do anything he wanted to get done. In 2004, he used that reverse logic on me.”

As Thigpen’s nephew, Dandre Flint, readied himself to embark on a collegiate journey at Albany State in Georgia, she gifted him with the blockbuster book The Pact. The book tells the true story of three African American doctors who grew up in the rough streets of Newark, New Jersey. Upon graduation from high school they made a pact, promising support through the long, difficult journey to attain their dream. They achieved their shared goal and remain friends to this day.

After reading the book. Flint called his aunt and encouraged her to form a pact with him: he promised to work steadily toward the goal of graduation if she, in turn, would promise to put pen to paper and start writing the book he’d heard her say she was going to write for years.

In 2005, Thigpen joined the Windy City Romance Writers Club which effectively set her dream in motion.

“The catalyst was really Dandre," she said. "I finally had someone to hold me accountable. And month by month, year by year, I got it done."

When Thigpen attended Flint’s graduation in 2009, she came prepared with a copy of her manuscript. Both lavished each other with praise, relishing
the advent of achieving their goals.  

"My aunt is like a second mom to me,” Flint said. “She provided the motivation that helped me get through college. I’m extremely proud of her accomplishment. When she finished the book I knew everything had come full circle.”

Thigpen’s dream of becoming a published author was realized last year when Genesis Press picked up her book entitled Except on Sunday, written under the pen name of Regena Bryant.

The modern boy meets girl African American romance novel is available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The book features the Reverend Dr. Finus Gideo Gates, a charismatic, intelligent, wealthy and decidedly single favorite son of his denomination, the Baptist Methodist Assembly, where it is a truth universally acknowledged by the senior choir that he needs a wife.

Gates thinks his reasons for not dating are a closely held secret. But every single woman in the Assembly know why he's not dating and they are working overtime to get him to change his mind.

When Dr. Cassandra Brownley, a shy, sensible high school principal, accepts a consulting project with the BMA, she is caught between two opinions regarding the project's leader. Away from church he’s witty, warm and wonderful.  The question is can she love him every day—except on Sunday?