I used to write a lot of rap music early on in my bid, but every now and then I would write a poem. Some I wrote for other individuals, and some were for myself. Eventually, I wrote a poem entitled "Letter to God" where I asked myself "If I were to write a letter to God, what would I say?". Long story short, the response that I got from that poem was so immense that I was asked to write a poem every week for the religious service that I attend at the facility that I'm currently located at. This turned into my first literary project, "The Dark Side of Light: Chronicles of a Broken Shell" (which I published on www.prisonsfoundation.org). As I continued to write, I then published my first full length book, "(Un)spoken Word: The Truth About Me, You, and Today's Society..

A lot of my poems, especially the love poems, are derived from real life events that I have gone through... but some of them, such as the POV poems, are written from me placing myself mentally in a certain situation and expressing how I imagine it would feel or in the shoes of a certain type of person and think about how they would express themselves about whatever the topic of that particular poem may be.

 A better insight into who I am as a person at this stage in my life instead of just seeing me as my crime, how long my sentence is, or an inmate number. I also hope to inspire any other first time authors out there who may have always had the thought to write a book but just never took the time to sit down and actually do it, for whatever their reasons may be. 

 As of right now, my books are largely based off of fact. Everything in "Letters I Never Sent..." and "Prison Messed My Feet Up...The Mixtape" is true (except for when it comes to some of the poems and older lyrics in the back of the latter book) I do have many poems that are works of fiction, but even most of those are based off of situations I have either seen myself or heard about through someone else who has either witnessed or gone through it. As far as the lyrics are concerned, I put many of the ones I wrote a while ago in "Prison Messed My Feet Up... The Mixtape" because although I don't rap about a lot of the types of things that are in those lyrics anymore, I didn't want them to just go to waste.

 I try to put all of the life lessons that I've learned in my books, so if someone finds something in one of my poems or one of my other books that makes them think about something in a different way or shifts their perspective to be able to move past an obstacle that has been hindering them from making progress in a certain area of their lives then I feel I am doing what I am supposed to do as an author.

Sistah Souljah, first and foremost. I consider her one of the queens of urban novel writing. Although I haven't started writing my first novel yet, I have always marvelled at her style of storytelling. Jen Sincero is another author I like, due to her method of getting her message across. Steve Harvey, James Allen, Tyrese and Common all inspire me as well.

Be true to you, have faith in yourself, and JUST WRITE IT, ALREADY! A lot of times we get so stuck in worrying about what others will think or feeling that we will not be good enough that we either end up imitating someone else, quitting at the first challenge/sign of trouble, or not even taking the first step towards creating something new in the first place. Courage is not the lack of fear, but being brave enough to move forward in spite of it... so if God gave you a gift, USE IT! You'll never know how it could touch or inspire the next person.

 Believing that the message I am trying to convey will be well received. I am a perfectionist to some degree, so it is common for me to mull over certain aspects of my poems or certain topics that I write about longer than what is probably necessary just out of fear of criticism.

 I would have to say the parts in "Letter to God" where I say: "As I'm passing your tests in rapid succession, can I NOW ask for a blessing?" and also "As I reach in the depths? I believe, with your help, I will rise because I'm BEING myself... no disguise or mask... Except the pain, which I hide with masks; and... It's quite a task, but... I made it my mission to aim at my vision with amazing precision, even as I strain through resistance" I chose the first part because often times in my life I feel as if I am taking so many more losses than wins, so it gets to a point sometimes where I really just hope for a little sunshine in the midst of the rain; something to bring ease in the midst of the steady struggle. I chose the second part because often times we like to hide our real selves and the trauma of what we have been through in our lives with facades of what we want people to see instead of what is real. Hence, the popularity of social media, using filters on pictures, etc. Even in prison, people like to hide their pain behind tough exteriors or by always being silly and cracking jokes... but at the end of the day, you still have to look in the mirror and come to terms with whatever is inside the person staring back at you. Especially if you choose to commit to breaking the chains keeping you mentally bound to who you were and work towards becoming the person that God ordained you to be.