Photography by Jason Huynh.
Q1: Okay, Corey, can you tell our readers how you became an author?
I always liked to read and write. Then I got incarcerated. And that’s all I did–write and write. Then it turned into a book. Then it turned into a good book. First it started with five pages; five pages turned into ten; then 50, then a whole book. So this is my first book.
Q2: So what is All I Know about?
The book is about a man named Mario, who gets out of prison. And he wants to do right, but his love for the streets overpowers that; and he’s selling drugs. He hooks up with his old friend who gives him a bunch of drugs. And lots happens: he gets shot, he gets robbed. He gets with this girl named Keisha. I call it a “street book.” It’s urban, you know.
Q3: How does your experience inform what your story is about or how you decided to tell it?
It’s not actually my story, but it’s a combination of stories I’ve heard and seen. I’ve been in the streets 20 years, so I’ve seen everything. I also [wrote myself] into the book. My character is a drug seller in the book and I meet Mario. We end up being friends and becoming close. So my character is part of the story.
Q4: Can you tell me how Rome, GA plays into the story?
[I included] South Rome into the book, because it’s where I grew up. I used a couple of people and places that I knew from back in the day, but I changed the names. But the book does take place out of town as well. We’re all over and in South Rome.
Q5: So now I have to ask: what is next for you?
I got a sequel that should be coming out in March. It’s a thriller. And I have a third book, about murder and revenge that I’m working on too. I know that the urban genre attracts a certain crowd, but this next one is for everyone.
