Linda Jones is an award-winning journalist and owner of ManeLock Communications, a professional writing and media consulting service. Linda has written for a number of print and online publications, including People Magazine, the Dallas Morning News, Detroit News, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, USA Today/USA Weekend, Newsday, Heart & Soul Magazine, Africa News, Essence and Black Enterprise. She is a writing coach, conducts writing workshops and has taught writing at public schools, colleges and in summer learning programs. Linda has also served as a writing consultant at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University.

D Magazine, a Dallas monthly, listed Linda as one of the 50 most influential and dedicated African Americans in Dallas. Linda's career highlights include traveling to Israel to write a series on the Black Hebrew Israelites; covering Nelson Mandela's first visit to the U.S. after his release from prison in South Africa and covering his presidential victory during that country's first non-racial elections in 1994. In 2007, Linda was the writer on the documentary team of the Random Acts Foundation gift-giving project in South Africa, Swaziland and Senegal. She received a first-place award from the Florida Medical Association for co-writing a story about the survival of a baby who was shot in the head while still in his mother's womb and received a first place in feature writing from the Association of Women Journalists for her memoir article about her stillborn son. At the Detroit News, Linda chaired the Minority Issues Committee which was committed to increasing diversity in news content and in the newsroom. Her writing about communities of color earned her a fellowship at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and invitations to speak as part of the American Society of Newspaper Editors' visiting journalist program. Linda is founder of A Nappy Hair Affair, Inc., which promotes African American culture and identity and is author of Nappyisms: Affirmations for Nappy-Headed People and Wannabes!  An essay from her book appears in Chicken Soup for the African American Woman's Soul. Linda, a native of Akron, Ohio, resides in Dallas, Texas.