Brenda Sutton Turner

Brenda Sutton Turner grew up in Texarkana, Arkansas, in the 1950s and ’60s. Her father was employed by the railroad and her mother was a domestic worker. Brenda was the eighth of eleven children. As “The Turner Sisters,” she and four of her sisters sang gospel in venues all over Texarkana. At seventeen, she moved to California to live with two of her older sisters. She married musician Michael Sutton, and the couple became writer/producers for the Motown label. Some of their songs were recorded by Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and many other recording stars. They performed as a duo, Mike and Brenda Sutton, and also wrote for artists at Capitol and Columbia, among others. Brenda has four children and a granddaughter. She lives in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles and works as a vocal coach for up-and-coming singers.  The Snake in the Garden is her first novel.