Wahida Clark Writes Best Sellers From Her Prison Cell

 

W Clark authors best selling books from prison and is about to make movies

Wahida Clark authors best selling books from prison and signed  deal to make movies

Wahida Clark Writes Best Sellers         From Her Prison Cell

 

Who knew that  being a prisoner  would be profitable?

Wahida Clark grew  up in  Trenton, New Jersey on the streets.  She was   involved with the New World, a crew of Black separatist bank robbers known for beheading their rivals, and served time as a result. While serving  a ten and a half year sentence  in federal prison for money laundering and wire fraud, she began writing fiction.  Cark wrote her first book, Thugs and the Women Who Love Them, by hand in her cell. She was released from prison in 2007 and since then  has published 14 books, including Thuggz Valentine  June 2015.  
Her most recent release  is Thuggz Valentine is the story of a modern day Bonnie & Clyde, natural born killers who go out in a blaze of glory after taking on the city s police force. Step by step, readers relive Ebony and Bless s last day together . . . Valentines Day. The day however, starts nothing like it ends, and as time goes back, hour by hour, the two lovers are unable to avoid destiny.  The story is tweaked to reflect her own experiences while involved with a real crime syndicate.
 Amongst  the street lit, AKA urban fiction genre  Clark is the reigning Queen.  She is best known for her Thug and Payback series.  Her works are set described as nuanced takes on the schlocky romance novels you see at grocery stores, replacing the cheese with guns, cash, gangs, and drugs.  She can’t give all the credit to her imagination but rather what she’s lived and experienced.
After opening her own publishing house, Wahida Clark Presents, she has published   70 plus titles from incarcerated authors like CA$H, Victor L. Martin–author of A Hood Legend  and others. Clark has also signed deals with major publishers like Kensington and Hachette. She was also picked up  by rapper Birdman/Bryan Williams to have her books distributed through Cash Money Records, and is now entering the movie and TV game with Wahida Clark Films, which currently has two projects in development based on her Thug series. 
Clark explained that her  husband, was also locked up and they had teenage  daughters,  so she had to find a means by which to provide for them. She says, “My husband wrote a book called Uncle Yah Yah and then I saw a clip about Shannon Holmes, who signed his first book deal while in prison, and I said I could do this.”
Her husband  gave her the best advice, which she took and ran with.  He basically  told her to write about what she knows. He told her that  what publishers are interested in from people in their position is sex, drugs, murder, and crime.
After that she was  on her way and  signed two deals with two major publishing houses while she was serving time. Her books landed on  the Essence Magazine best sellers list multiple times while she was incarcerated. Clark knows that her success stated something . So many of the sisters and brothers locked up were inspired by her   that  many of them started writing. She  relishes in the idea of having inspired others, many who have written her seeking advice or to share their own achievements.  As she put it, “It is a wonderful thing to inspire others. On top of being a four-time New York Times Best Seller, it feels like a wonderful accomplishment.”
Clark is excited about the next direction in, which   her work is  moving but doesn’t know which will come first, a play, a TV series, or a movie. Her producers and directors haven’t decided which route to go but she awaits patiently their final decision. In December they are doing a talent search.
Clark reveals her biggest secret, “My husband taught me that it was easier to write books for money than to write books to educate.”  She chose to make money and it’s worked out very well for her. 
A list of Clarks Books:

  • Thugs and The Women Who Love Them (2002)
  • Every Thug Needs a Lady (2003)
  • Payback is a Mutha (2006)
  • Sleeping With the Enemy (2008)
  • Payback With Ya Life (2008)
  • Thug Lovin’ (2009)
  • Golden Hustla” (2010)
  • Justify My Thug” (2011)
  • Payback Ain’t Enough (2012)
  • Honor Thy Thug” (2013)
  • Blood, Sweat & Payback” (2014)

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