Nettie Jones is the author of Fish Tales, which was acquired by Toni Morrison and published by Random House in 1984. Her second novel, Mischief Makers, was published in 1989. Her essays and short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Jones was named a New York Times Promising New Novelist in 1985. She is the recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts Individual Artist Award, a Yaddo Foundation Award, a Michigan Council of the Arts Award, a New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study Student's Choice Award, a Carnegie Fund for Authors Award, and a PEN America Freedom to Write Award.