About Robert Nelson
Robert Nelson was born and raised in Garner, North Carolina where he earned the connections and street credibility needed to bring a sense of authenticity to his work. Consequentially, this lead to his stay in the luxurious NC-DOC where through a lot of retrospection he developed a strategy to defeat what he had become. Through the guidance of the Aryan Brotherhood and the variety of other hardened criminals he played cards with he focused his energy into developing his skills as a writer to keep the youth from making the same mistakes he did. If he can open just one pair of eyes through his writing, everything he’s put into these pages would have paid off.
The Interview
What is your favorite quality about yourself?
My ferocious yet over-active imagination and my willingness to broach boundaries in my work that readers hadn’t even considered broachable.
What is your least favorite quality about yourself?
I’m restless and impatient most of the time. Always day dreaming on the future and wishing it would hurry up and get here.
What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?
“Don’t ask why, ask why not?” ~ Eminem. I value you this quote because a successful life can’t be lived when bound by indecision and social expectations.
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?
Thus far my crowning achievement has been maintaining through the twenty five month prison sentence that spawned the Real Eyez Realize Real Liez series, and then committing myself to bringing the story to the civilized world to share with my readers.
How has your upbringing influenced your writing?
My upbringing played a large factor in the realism I utilized when developing my characters and story lines. Many of the ordeals they had to endure and the dialogue came from personal experiences I gained in and out of the penitentiary.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I’ve always had twice the imagination I felt I needed growing up. Least to say I was never bored but often spacey and unsatisfied with the events around me. Then during my incarceration I dove into writing poetry, music and stories as a way to vent the angst and stress of prison life. It also played a large part in keeping me out of trouble with fellow inmates.
When and why did you begin writing?
I started writing in late 2008 as a way to occupy myself and to show my family back home that I was actually utilizing my time wisely and keeping my nose clean as it were.
How long have you been writing?
I wrote some in 2008, but didn’t really take off until I came to study under a senior member of the Aryan Brotherhood in early 2010. Through the lessons I gained from him and a few others I developed the plot of Real Eyez, and found my own motive to teach the world what I had learned.
When did you first know you could be a writer?
My first piece of really impressive work could be called either a short story or a long poem. I spun a tale entitled the “Death of Seattle,” and wrote the entire story in a 4 by 4 poem format. Needless to say my friends and loved ones back home were very impressed.
What inspires you to write and why?
The originality of my work and the need for the World to absorb the lessons I scribed throughout it keep me going. I feel that aside from entertainment my book could do some real good to the young men and women out there who are in the process of throwing their lives away for hood dreams and the illusion of a gangsta’s paradise.
What genre are you most comfortable writing?
At this point I am most content writing Urban Fiction, Sci-Fi or Fantasy because they leave the most room for creativity and the space to stretch the imagination. Especially in the Urban genre, I can pull off of lifetime experiences and my time in the streets.
About Real-Eyez Realize Real-Liez
The War for the heart of Urban America won’t televise from some foreign shore. It’ll be fought in your living room with dope, cash, blood and bullets. The American way of life has strayed into the shadows and one by one we’re losing our children to the illusion of Hood Dreams and a Gangsta’s Paradise.
Only one man stands strong enough to hold back the tide. A renegade Aryan Prodigy and his crew, and an unfathomable amount of guns are all that protects the last shreds of civilization in the streets. The name Riley Bennett will echo through the ages as he who so loved his people that he’d rather see the World in flames than see them suffer. The War is coming… Whether we’re ready for it or not…
After several years of chronic anger, depression and frustration, Robyn Wheeler was diagnosed with a low-grade chronic depression known as Dysthymia. Dysthymia is categorized as a mood disorder and often goes undiagnosed by those suffering from it as well as mental health professionals. Now on medication to help her deal with a mental disorder, Robyn has written a book about her journey, thoughts of suicide and her courage and determination to become “normal”.
David Brown was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and first conceived the idea of the Elencheran Chronicles at college in 1999. He spent ten years compiling the history of Elenchera, resulting in 47,000+ years of events, 500+ maps, 2000+ pages, several short stories and many much-needed acquaintances with Jack Daniels.
Gregory G. Allen moved from Texas to New York in the late 80s and has been in the entertainment business for over twenty years as an actor, director, producer, songwriter, playwright and author. He’s had over ten shows that he has written produced on stage, been the recipient of musical grants from BMI, ASCAP and the Watershed Foundation, and has had short stories and poetry published in Off The Rocks, Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal, The Oddville Press, Perpetual Magazine, Loch Raven Review, Word Catalyst Magazine, and Rancor’d Type.
