Cristana Interview with Author Alonzo Garrett

Bio by Alonzo Garrett... When I was 7 years of age, my father was sentenced to 12 ½ to twenty five years in prison for armed robbery. I always knew who he was to me, I just thought it was natural for fathers to not be around. I rarely saw him when he was out of prison but he did make sure I knew who he was. My mother was brutally murdered when I was 8 years old by her friend who was going through a psychotic episode; she was stabbed through her heart with a butcher knife while my infant baby brother lay 2 feet from her. I lived in foster care for the next 2 years until my maternal grandmother took custody of me. From the ages of 10 - 15 years, I lived and worshiped as a Jehovah Witness; my grandmother was a devout follower until she died in the year 1999. At 15 years of age, I ran away and rarely visited her. I stayed in school and managed to graduate from high school and also went to college for a few months all on my own. I’ve sold drugs off and on for the past 20 years or so on the mean streets of New York City; currently, I have turned my back on drug dealing and all other negativity associated with it. Throughout my time selling drugs, I acquired multiple felony convictions and I was incarcerated for 6 years of my life. Today, I live my life in a more positive manner, I plan to use my books to influence and perhaps turn people away from that life style. I have a multitude of stories to tell and all my stories have the ring of truth from what I am told. My work is fiction and no story that I write is in any way a true event.