At just 25 years of age, Floree Williams has already published a book, Pink Teacups And Blue Dresses, and is about to release her second, Through The Window, at the close of this summer. She is also one of 60 contributors whose work is featured in Souls of My Young Sisters; Young Women Break Their Silence with Personal Stories That Will Change Your Life. Written and edited by Dawn Marie Daniels and Candace Sandy, the book contains a foreword by Madeline Smalls and Mary J. Blige. 

Williams loves writing, but she would to be the first to tell you that she never gave any thought to writing in the past. “I actually had no interest in writing,” said Williams, “I had a diary that I used to write in every six months, but was scared that someone would find it, so I would write in code.”

So how did she become published? Williams actually wanted to study psychology at university, but didn’t have the math requirements needed. She hated math so decided to do opt for IT instead, where she was told that she needed another major. She took up professional writing and in her senior year gained entry into the class, Publishing A Book. She learned all of the technical aspects of publishing from letter spacing, fonts and editing. Her professor’s independent publishing company published 70 copies of Pink Teacups and Blue Dresses, and later she would commission a New York publisher to re-issue the book for sale.

Williams plays the pan as a member of the Spring Gardens Moravian Church Steel Orchestra.  She enjoys watching movies, specifically period pieces and dramas that provide insight into the complexity of the human mind. She is also quite the stage performer, having been a part of the 2008 and 2009 Vagina Monologues cast. This year she took the stage again to perform the solo piece Pick Me Part II in When A Woman Moans, a play that also featured a piece from her upcoming book. She admits that she doesn’t read as much as she should, but Williams is a loyal fan of the Harry Potter series.  She confesses to being very envious of J. K. Rowling’s ability to transport you to her fictitious world through her style of writing.

Her new book Through The Window came to be as she didn’t feel completely comfortable with Pink Teacups And Blue Dresses, which is a compilation of short stories about her experiences in school. “I hate writing about myself”, she said, “I wanted to prove to myself that I could write fiction.”

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So did she? This is the first part of a 2-part series on Antiguan author Floree Williams.  Next week find out how celebrated U.S. author Eric Jerome Dickey inspired this young wordsmith to hold on to her dream.