Unspoken Truth: From A Buried Past received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Kylen S. Barron.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Unspoken Truth: From A Buried Past
What’s the book’s first line?
Dedication
“I dedicate this book to Mr. L. Captain Linwood Walker Sr. & Arthur L. Barron (Dad).
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
This book shares an intriguing journey that uncovers the scandalous and thought-provoking tale of family secrets, lies, lust, and abuse. Three marriages, racial tensions, a baby, and a secret affair are only some of the things that have unknowingly plagued Shyrell’s family for decades. She’s always asked herself “what” and “why?” Never in a million years, would she or her siblings imagine there is a “who?” In this true story, travel with Shyrell as she discovers the truth about her mother’s secrets, her marriage, her family, and ultimately herself.
After suffering decades of abuse at the hands of her mother, the answer to “who” would surprisingly come through a social media platform five years after her mother’s death. The “what” and “why” would take years to finally come together. All the answers to “who, what, and why” had laid dormant for almost 60 years, embedded in the heart and soul of the one person still alive who would unlock Pandora’s box to the “Unspoken Truth” of her mother’s turbulent past from Charleston to Philadelphia regarding her unknown baby born in 1957.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
In August 2015, I received a message via FB messenger from a gentleman wanting to know if am the daughter of Evelyn Walker. Hours later, I responded I knew her and yes, she was my mother and that she had passed in February 2009- no definitive date, just the month and year. Upon confirmation, I received a phone call from this gentleman that he is her son born to her in 1957 and his father was of Russian Jewish descent. The man he thought was his biological father was of African American descent and had been married to my mother since December 1952. He was not his father. My mother, my grandmother inspired me to write this book based on her many years of dark depression, severe mood swings, and abuse towards her subsequent children after this son’s birth never able to speak his name after giving him up for adoption, and she and her then-husband telling everyone they knew, including their parents the baby died at birth from a skin disease.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
The main reason would be for people to be honest with family. Today, we live in a world where technology has grown and is still growing in leaps and bounds from an era where everything was hidden and unspoken. Now that era is dying off and secrets are becoming revealed in surprising numbers, leaving generations numb and even more divided in such a cruel fashion.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I’ve always aspired to write since the age of 12. So many things in my personal life hindered my aspiration until after the emergence of my brother; bringing this story to the forefront and here we are today.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
Yes.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
Anything and everything to market my work as I continue writing. I have just completed my 1st Children’s trilogy on Autism.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
Every open opportunity I can; sometimes as much as 40-80 hours per week outside of my grandchildren.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Being an indie can be difficult. Writing to me is absolutely the best part of who I am. The most difficult part for me was not knowing all that would go into getting my story out to the masses; and just how pricey the budget could and would be for marketing, etc. for Indie authors, especially for a 1st-time author. My first experience has taught me to know better, to focus better, do my homework, do better research, to network better.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Find your inspiration and know your story, whatever genre it may be. Focus on every detail you want to reveal, find a quiet place and focus.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
I don’t know; again it’s about doing my homework.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
No, fame and fortune do not motivate me. God motivates me! My family, for those who want to be a part of my family, motivates me. My grandchildren motivate me; I have three beautiful grandchildren who inspire me to be nothing less than my best and one that is autistic. To me, life doesn’t get any better than this. I am motivated and humbled by the entities God has placed in my life.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Zora Neal Hurston, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, August Wilson, Nikki Giovanni, Angela Davis, Bebe Moore Campbell, E. Lynn Harris, Iyanla Vanzant, Gloria Naylor, and Barack Obama to name a few.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
“Their Eyes Were Watching God” I wish I could have shared her thoughts, and her feelings during that time, although well before my time. However, I know I could not have done the phenomenal writing she did in this novel in preparing the world for her, by welcoming the world into her world.