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Meet Sevyn McCray

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Sevyn McCray.

Sevyn, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started writing at a very young age using words to convey my thoughts because I suffered from a speech impediment. It just seemed easier to write things out instead of trying to speak it. We know school-age kids can be cruel. Books we’re the great escape to transport me from the reality of the streets of the westside. I had read practically every book in my elementary school library including the encyclopedia. So, I was beyond excited when a public library was opened in the Perry Homes community where I grew up, that was my after-school hangout. I was truly a book worm. I would grab a book and immerse myself into the suburban world of the likes of the characters created by Judy Blume or take adventures with Babysitters Club, the Sweet Valley Twins or Nancy Drew. But it wasn’t those tales that made her believe that I could become a writer. It was when I came across Black Girl Lost by Donald Goines. The story of Sandra was so relatable and real to me. It showed me that people wrote books about little girls growing up in the hood like me.

Atlanta Public Schools and the Department of Public Safety sponsored a monthly essay contest and I was urged by my fifth-grade teacher to enter. I did and I won every one for the next two years. Creating memorable storylines became second nature to me. By the time I got to high school, I knew that literature was my passion. Teachers and my peers singled me out for my way with words and excellent grammar skills so I began to tutor my classmates. I had my own advice column in the school’s newspaper that was made up of fictional characters with real-life situations that people approached me with. You could always catch me in halls talking to someone about a problem or walking with my head down, engrossed in a book.

It wasn’t a shock to anyone when I chose to major in English education considering the fact that words were my first love. I continued to use my writing skills to my advantage as a peer tutor throughout college as well as an adult education instructor. I tackled corporate America by using my detailed writing and proofreading skills as I worked for Fortune 500 companies.

Stepping out on faith after being laid off, I penned my debut novel. ‘What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross ‘, a grimy street tale about betrayal, family, and money based in northwest Atlanta, Georgia. It skyrocketed to the top of the charts reaching #1 in African American Urban Fiction. I also penned the infamous series ‘Real Block Wives of Atlanta’ and ‘Love and Traphouses Atlanta’. My knack for creating realistic stories and relatable tales centered around Atlanta, the African American Mecca has landed me at the top of the bestseller charts time after time.

I started an indie urban fiction publishing company that published over fifty chart-topping novels. After experiencing the death of loved ones as well as being involved in a car accident, I stopped publishing and writing to focused more on myself, my family and my new normal.

I am now back with a vengeance, I have launched a T-shirt company called DopeVibes Co and I’ve just completed two books simultaneously Love and Traphouses 2-Sleeping with the Enemy and L..A. to ATL the Dollhouse, after being on hiatus for the last past four years. I have started penning my next two releases as well as working on a television series about Atlanta with indie filmmaker Rob Slocum. I have been gone for a minute but I’m back now doing what I love, bringing my beloved Westside Atlanta to people across the world.

I currently coach several up and coming authors, as well as mentor teens interested in becoming authors. I’m very involved with the Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia community, bringing awareness to these invisible diseases. I’m currently penning The Real Blockwives of Atlanta 3 and the sequel to the Dollhouse as well as putting my masters in creative writing for film to use by delving into film. In my spare time, I’m reading anything that I can get my hands on as well as designing T-shirts for my Dope Vibe Co and trying my hand at cooking different vegan recipes.

Has it been a smooth road?
Becoming a published author was easy, but becoming a bestselling author was definitely a challenge as a creative in the digital age, all you have to do is just put your work out there, but it takes real work to get it in front of actual consumers. You have to definitely have tough-skin to be able to bounce back from bad reviews, or not charting as high as you think you should. After writing my first novel, I had to market it myself because I self-published it, I literally had to put myself out there and that was indeed a struggle because I have really bad anxiety. I had to go into stores and request them to put my books on the shelf as well as get comfortable with being in the public eye and meeting strangers.

After being away from the literary industry for four years, I’m fighting to get back to the top of the bestseller’s list and the best way to do that is to write great books, market yourself and stay consistent. Since my accident, I now suffer from memory issues so it does take a little longer to do things that once came so easily. But I’m not giving up, I live, eat and breath books and that isn’t going to stop because of an illness.

What do you do? What do you specialize in?
I’m a writer that specializes in Urban Fiction. I”m known for my page-turning tales about characters that are based in Atlanta. I’m most proud of being the best selling author from Atlanta, not just an author from another town writing about Atlanta. I’m a product of the Atlanta Public School System. My teachers encouraged me to be who I am today. I actually grew here is what sets me apart. I call my stories realistic fiction because they are about 85% factual. My neighborhood was drug-infested, my family has impacted me the crack epidemic, I’ve been homeless, sexually abused, lost family to the streets but I’m still here, alive, a college graduate, and I grew up to be exactly what I told my elementary school teacher that I aspired to be.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I love the best about Atlanta is that people from Atlanta work together as well as root for each other. I also love the fact that here you can be anything that you want to be. I have no dislikes, this is the best city in the country.

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