(Photo: Courtesy essence.com)

Author and blogger Erica Kennedy has passed away, reports say. The 42-year-old Miami resident was best known for her novels Feminista and Bling. Her body was found in her apartment on June 13, but the cause is not yet known.
Kennedy, a former fashion publicist, began her writing career as a special correspondent for the New York Daily News and wrote about fashion and entertainment for various magazines such as Vibe, InStyle, Paper and Elle UK. Her novel Bling, which centers around an Ohio girl who enters the mainstream hip hop world, became a New York Times best-seller after its release in 2004. Kennedy then switched gears for her second book, Feminista, which focused on a strong female lead character.
"My first book, Bling, was this raunchy hip hop satire where every other sentence contained a 'n---a' or a 'muthf--ka' or a 'suck my ...' and everyone wanted to buy it, make a movie about it, and write a cover story on it. I was the toast of the town. Then I write a chick lit [book] with a strong female character and every editor was like, 'Oh, I don't know about this!' I would LOL, but that s--t isn't funny. It says a lot about the world we live in," Kennedy told The Root in 2009.
Kennedy was not only a gifted writer, but one with a strong online presence. Once news of her death became public, Twitter followers poured in with grief and words of condolence for her family and loved ones.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests that donations be made to Groundwork Opportunities or Brooklyn Children's Museum at 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213.
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