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Profile: Dr. Monica Anderson

By Michael Barnes | Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 05:33 PM

Even a seasoned social columnist yawps at the mental picture of Dr. Monica Anderson ’s

schedule.

Dentist by day. Romance novelist by night. And so much more in between, including mother of

two grown sons, motivational speaker, serial volunteer and founder of Austin’s Black

Newcomers Association.

“It is difficult,” says Anderson, who goes by “Dr. Moe” and whose first name is pronounced Mo-

NEE-ka. “I have learned to greatly limit my aspirations and match my ambition to my age and

aches. I’ve learned that I need peace and time and quiet.”

Super-achieving Anderson, 48, wrote lifestyle columns for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and has

published five books, three of them classified as romance novels. After years of private practice

in the Arlington area, Anderson now delivers dental healthcare to disadvantaged schoolchildren

through the St. David’s Foundation in Austin.

“Public health fits in with my core passions,” she says.

Born in Houston, Anderson grew up in the Fort Worth area, daughter of a retired principal,

Arcolia Jenkins , and a retired educator and coach, Jimmy Jenkins .

As might be expected in such a household, she proved a diligent student, but also, showing early

pluck, she was voted “Most Witty” by her senior class. She dutifully attended Baylor University,

followed by dental school at the University of Minnesota.

“My best friend and I decided in the 10th grade that we’d be dentists,” she smiles indulgently.

“Well, he decided for us. He’s now a salesman at Neiman Marcus and I’m the dentist. Actually,

we weren’t exposed to many professions on career day and dentistry combined my two great

interests of art and science.”

Marriage — she is divorced — produced two sons Alfred Anderson Jr ., 24, and Adrian

Anderson , 22, who appear on the cover of her romantic suspense novel, “I Stand Accused.”

Her first book, however, explored Black English Venacular phonetics, right before the 1996

uproar in Oakland over adding Ebonics to school curricula.

“Quite frankly I don’t care to talk about Ebonics ever again,” she says. “Leave it to the

professors.”

Six years later came a collection of her family-humor newspaper columns in the tradition of

Erma Bombeck and Bill Cosby . The anthology gathered together reader favorites from 500

columns written over the course of eight years.

Next came fiction. “I had always had it in my mind to write a novel and had been working on

one for 10 years,” she says. “When writing a book, the work is stop and start, stop and start.

People’s eye colors kept changing — and their heights. So I took time off to write, speak and

travel.”

The result was “When a Sistah’s Fed Up.” The protagonist is African American mayor of a

Dallas/Fort Worth suburb. A male assistant has always been in love with her. She’s been a

devoted wife and mother, but discontented with life, she’s torn between values and emotions.

Does it end happily like most romance novels?

“That’s the formula,” she says. “Mine ends realistically. Bittersweet. We don’t always get what

we want, or what we think we want.”

“I Stand Accused” jumps back and forth in time, telling of an opthamologist whose father was

murdered in East Texas. Trying to restart a relationship from his youth, the doctor seeks to solve

the mystery of his father’s death.

“Sinphony” is set in Austin, where a third-grade school teacher whose school is underperforming

wants to become vice-principal. She’s a single mom competing with her romantic interest for

that job.

Anderson’s novels, which combine vernacular with standardized diction, have appeared on

several best-seller lists, driven in part by e-book purchases, which make up from 40 to 50 percent

of her sales.

Were dentistry and writing not enough, Anderson, a third generation member of Zeta Phi Beta

sorority, volunteers, socializes or serves in leadership positions for groups such as the National

Council of Negro Women, GivingCity Austin, LifeWorks, Baylor University Alumni

Association, American Dental Association and Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

One of her proudest creations, however, is the Austin’s Black Newcomers Association. When

she moved here three years ago, Anderson spent a lot of time Googling historically black social

groups.

“After living here several months and getting settled, I felt very isolated and lonely,” says the

South Austin empty-nester. “I’m a pretty good networker. I can imagine what other newcomers

feel.’”

She thought: What if all the information were found in one place?

“I saw the creation of this organization as a sort of missing link or niche I could fill and help

other new residents quickly learn about African American media, professional associations,

annual events and organizations,” she says.

When she is not touring — or, these days, using Skype — to promote her books, she speaks

publically on the medical benefits of humor, communication skills, start-up businesses,

publishing and self-employment.

During her spare moments, you might find Anderson hang-gliding, jumping off bridges or sky

diving.

“I really indulge both sides of my brain,” she says. “When I play, I play hard. I take calculated

risks. When I’m doing dentistry, because it’s so detailed and analytic, I take it seriously.”

Lately, she’s learned to set aside personal time in a disciplined way.

“If it’s important, I schedule it,” she says. “Everything else is in my smart phone: I should be

too.”

Photo Credit: D. Brown

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By Damita Shanklin

July 20, 2011 3:24 PM | Link to this

As I work to promote positive images in our Austin Black community, reading about Dr. Monica

Anderson and what she is doing in the Austin community is great news!. I've had the opportunity

to listen to Dr. Moe speak about her books as well as how to make others a better writer and both

times she was inspirational.

Another positive aspect that shows Dr. Moe is a go-getter is she started the Austin Newcomer's

Association to ensure that when people move to Austin they will have the resources available to

them, which she had to search for when she arrived to our wonderful city.

I hope more positive people will be profiled in the Austin American Statesman that represent our

black community and all the wonderful things we do to help make up this beautiful city we call

Austin.

My hats off to you Dr. Moe!

Damita

By Johnson, M. D.

July 15, 2011 4:12 PM | Link to this

Thank you Austin 360 for more coverage on Austin's very on Dr. Anderson!

I have enjoyed reading Dr mOe's wonderful work about strong, make that "VERY STRONG"

women, who have to survive circumstances regardless of the overwhelming odds. She

exemplifies success and knows how to define it for her fictional family of friends. Her ability to

pull the reader "into the moment" is amazing.

As I travel the world --- I love sharing my time with her characters....what will she think of next?

Keep writing Dr mOe!

MJ

By Monica Anderson

July 13, 2011 2:36 PM | Link to this

Michael, thank you so very much for featuring me and, more importantly, the wonderful

organizations I work with, volunteer with, and support in your popular, well-written column! It

was delightful to finally meet you in person. Here's wishing you continued success and all the

love you can stand. My very best...mOe

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