Reporter’s Notebook: You don’t have to go to prison to write street lit

Last week’s feature story, “Story of My Life,” crack-dealer-turned-author Quentin Carter admits that his past as a criminal — plus writing all of his books behind bars — probably helped make him a street lit superstar on the Essence bestseller list. For those of you discouraged that you’ll never had the street cred necessary to be a writer like Carter, don’t worry. You just have to look at the east side of the state, and Triple Crown novelist Keisha Ervin.

Our sister publication in St. Louis, the Riverfront Times, wrote an amazing profile of Ervin a couple months ago.

Here’s just a taste of reporter Kristen Hinman’s story to get you interested: