"Smith’s voice is both sturdy and elegant, delivering blunt, edgy prose that’s never lurid...an uncompromising but profound urban tale from an incisive author"---Kirkus

Dr. A.L. Smith read her first full-length novel (The Boxcar Children, by Gertrude Chandler Warner) in the third grade and it spawned her passion for reading. Authors who have influenced her the most include Sister Souljah, Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck), Donald Goines, Nathan McCall, Zora Neal Hurston, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, Claud Brown, K'wan Foye, Cynthia Middlebrooks Harris, and Treasure Blue to name a few. According to Dr. Smith, the hallmark of a great story is the resounding presence of a character that transcends the final pages of the book.