Francis Ray

[5] In 1995, she co-founded the Romance Slam Jam, which was an author-reader conference and first launched in Texas.

[4] She feels that writing romance is often more emotionally difficult than for other genres because while the characters must have conflict, the resolution needs to be solved in a way that readers know "that the couple will stay together no matter what".

[7] It was also important to her to include "accurate realistic portrayals of African Americans" rather than stereotypes.

[4] In 1999, Ray's novel, Incognito, was adapted by Black Entertainment Television (BET) for broadcast.

[4] She helped make the Arabesque imprint, which was owned by BET and dedicated to African-American romance, a success.