A Boy's Life

About the Book

A BOY’S LIFE IS A GRIPPING TALE OF A YOUNG MAN, CARLTON ‘DIAMOND’ JONES, WHO MUST GROW UP BEFORE HIS TIME.  CARLTON TRANSCENDS FROM BEINg PROMISING HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL STAR TO A HATED DRUG LORD; WHERE SEX, DRUGS, MONEY AND MURDER ALL TELL A STORY OF ITS OWN.  JOURNEY WITH HIM AS HE GOES THROUGH LIFE ON THE MEAN, GHETTO STREETS OF ST. LOUIS TRYING TO FIND A MEANING AND PURPOSE TO HIS EXISTENCE - BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.  EXPERIENCE HIS STORY AS HE BECOMES THE MAN THAT HE ALWAYS DESPISED IN HIS FATHER.  THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL ‘GOOD GUY GONE BAD’ SOTRY.  THIS IS A STORY THAT DEALS WITH RAW EMOTIONS.  A STORY THAT HAS NOT BEEN TOLD LIKE ANY OTHER.  A STORY THAT CRIES OUT TO BE HEARD.  THIS IS AN ACTION-PACKED DRAMA FILLED STORY TOLD BY A MAN WHO REALIZED THAT HE WAS LIVING ‘A BOY’S LIFE.’

About the Author

ONE OF THE MOST VESTED TAUTOLOGISTS ASKED ABOUT MY BOOK’S TITLE, ‘A BOY’S LIFE.’  MANY FELT I SHOULD HAVE TITLED IT SOMETHING ELSE.  AS AN AUTHOR, I FEEL THAT ONE WRITES WITH A PASSION, NOT JUST TO TELL A STORY, BUT TO ILLUSTRATE THE PASSION’S GRANDEUR.

‘A BOY’S LIFE’ BEGAN TO TAKE FORM IN DECEMBER OF 1999.  THIS BOOK BEGAN AS EXPRESSIONS AND E VOLVED INTO A STORY AROUND 2001 WHEN I MET AN INTERESTED PUBLISHER.  SINCE I HAD NEVER READ A BOOK A DAY IN MY LIFE, THE CRITICISM WAS BRUTAL; AND NO MATTER HOW FRUSTRATED OR UPSET I BECAME, GIVING UP WAS NOT AN OPTION.  I BECAME MORE DEDICATED.

BY 2004, ‘A BOY’S LIFE WAS COMPLETED AND I WAS ON THE HUNT TO SEEK BACKING FOR THE BIRTH OF MY FIRST BOOK.  IN 2009, AFTER MANY ATTEMPTS, HERE WE ARE.

WHAT I WANTED TO DISPLAY WITH THE STORY IS HOW MANY YOUNG MEN LIVE TOO FAST AND DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT ‘BEING A MAN’ ENTAILS.  MANY, THOUGH PHYSICALLY FIT, ARE ACTUALLY BOYS, MENTALLY.  THIS BOOK IS ABOUT HOW ONE BAD DECISION CAN ALTER NOT ONLY YOUR LIFE, BUT LIVES AROUND YOU AS WELL.SURELY MY VOCABULARY HAS GROWN SINCE 1999.  I COULD HAVE ADDED MORE COLORFUL WORDS TO THE STORY, BUT I FELT THAT WOULD BE TAMPERING WITH ITS AUTHENTICITY.   I WANT YOU TO FEEL THE ‘REAL-NESS’ OF THIS TALE.  LIKE BOYS GROW UP TO BE MEN, THIS BOOK SYMBOLIZES MY BEGINNING.  HOPE YOU ENJOY, ‘A BOY’S LIFE.’