Urban-Reviews.com - Inside Out with Karen Williams

Karen Williams

Karen Williams is 29-years-old and is from Long Beach, California. Her daughter, Adara is her life. She is ten and is as busy as she is!! In her life, Karen has been through the ringer and back, having endured some of the same things she writes about. The rest comes from her imagination, which is really a voice in her head that talks to her. She just sits back and lets her fingers be the recorder. Because one must always be persistent and always strive in the mist of adversity, after years of struggling as a single parent, Karen is happy to say that she has a Bachelors of Art Degree from California State University Dominguez Hills in Literature and Communications.

Karen Williams currently works as a Corrections Officer with young girls, which gives her the opportunity to share the challenges she faced in life and use the wisdom and faith she acquired from those challenges to help as well as inspire them. She notes that life is about lighting the torch, not just for yourself but for someone else.

Read A Full Excerpt of Harlem On Lock: Click Here

Author's Official Site: http://authorkarenwilliams.com
Author's Myspace Page: http://www.myspace.com/alluru
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Urban Reviews: Can you tell us about your debut novel Harlem on Lock?
Karen Williams: Harlem On Lock is about the journey of a young girl named Harlem who is struggling to escape a world of drugs and violence. The book deals with Harlem’s struggle to live a normal life in the gritty environment she was literally pushed into. The story deals with a lot of different themes: Sexual abuse, physical abuse, drug abuse, revenge, self-image, redemption, forgiveness, and love.

Urban Reviews: Where did you come up with the idea for this storyline?
Karen Williams: The crazy part is that I have had the three characters (Harlem, Savior, and Earl) in the back of my head since I was seventeen. Originally, my initial idea for Harlem On Lock was a screenplay set in Harlem, NY. I did research on Harlem and everything. But I never had the discipline to finish the script because I’m not a very technical writer. But those characters...there was always something powerful about them that I just didn’t know what I was going to do with them. So they resided there, in the back of my head, since then. When I decided to write Harlem On Lock, my whole mission was to do a story that matched the magnitude of the characters.

Urban Reviews: How difficult was it for you to pen this novel?
Karen Williams: It wasn’t very difficult. The intensity of the novel would sometimes grab me. I cried on some parts. Being that I’m a survivor of physical abuse, I felt like I was relieving some of the things I have experienced in my life by telling Harlem’s story. But still, no matter how intense it got for me, I felt this was a story that needed to be told.

Urban Reviews: Describe the day you found out that your book was going to be published.
Karen Williams: I was at work and I was having problems with my cell phone. I couldn’t hear it ring and since it was tossed in my pants pocket, all of a sudden I felt it vibrate against my thigh. I fumbled with it and checked my voicemail. Sure enough, it was Mark Anthony from Q-Boro Books! I screamed, jumped up and down, and then regained my composure to call him back. Once he offered me the deal, I screamed and ran up and down the halls of my job. I hugged everyone I came in contact with, then I thanked God! It was a joyous day!

Urban Reviews: Is this the start to a long career in writing for you? What are your goals as an author?
Karen Williams: I certainly hope so. My plan is to put out as many books as I possibly can and pursue this full-time.

Urban Reviews: Who or what inspired you to jump into writing?
Karen Williams: Writing has always been a passion of mine. I tried to write my first book when I was nine and have been going ever since. Everyone has a story to tell and there is just something so dynamic about those stories, about people. Books can be so cathartic, they can positively shock you, and they can make you feel like you’re not so abnormal, they can give you hope. Storytelling has always inspired me. When I was younger my favorite author was V. C. Andrews. The reason she was my favorite author was because she has this amazing gift for storytelling. She literally pulled you in with her writing.

Urban Reviews: Do you have any favorite authors or books?
Karen Williams: Eric Jerome Dickey, Linda Lael Miller, Diane-McKinney Whetstone, Scotney St. James, V. C. Andrews, James Baldwin, Pablo Neruda, Mary B. Morrison, and Sister Souljah.

Urban Reviews: What's next for Karen Williams? Any projects you are working on for the future?
Karen Williams: My next project is a fiction novel called Cashmere. It is set in Compton, California and it explores the Pierce family. Here is a synopsis: Meet the Pierce family. Desmond Pierce a hard working man from the south determined to give his and wife and daughters a good life in Compton, California. Pearla Pierce, a sexy and seductive mother who only plays wifey and devoted mother only when her husband is home. Then there’s Carmen, a promiscuous, seventeen year old on a self destructive path and jealous of her younger sister. And Cashmere, a 13 year old who struggles to hold her family together out of love for her father. When tragedy hits home Carmen and Cashmere find themselves orphans’ living with their hateful aunt and having to resort to stripping and selling drugs to survive. Carmen drags Cashmere into a world of drugs, violence and sex, when Carmen allows a ruthless pimp named Black to turn her out, and against her will, Cashmere is forced to also work for Black by prostituting herself for high class ballers. Carmen’s jealousy and self destructiveness towards her younger sister continues when she sees Black is falling in love with Cashmere. Carmen’s need to destroy her sister sets off a chain of events that land Cashmere in jail and someone dead, leaving Cashmere alone and broken with the hope that some way, some how she can be unbroken.

Urban Reviews: What do you think about the state of the African-American Fiction market?
Karen Williams: I think the market is expanding and it is so exciting because young African-Americans are reading more and more African-Americans writers are given the opportunity to get published.

Urban Reviews: Was there anything else you'd like to say to readers about yourself or your books?
Karen Williams: Thanks for all your support I greatly appreciate it. When I get fan mail, I read it over and over again! The kind words just inspire me to write more.