Nathan C. Heard is considered one of the forefathers of 'urban street literature' and 'prison literature'. Heard begin writing while serving a seven-year prison sentence for armed robbery at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, New Jersey. His book, HOWARD STREET, landed on the New York Times bestseller list and his life changed forever. Without even graduating from high school, Heard received offers to teach at colleges across the nation and was released early from prison. After his release, Heard moved to California and taught creative writing at California State University-Fresno. In later years, he returned to the East Coast and taught at Rutgers University. Heard also appeared in a few 'Blaxploitation' films and wrote a column for the New York Times, Essence, and other publications. Heard has written four other novels, including A Cold Fire Burning, To Reach a Dream, When Shadows Fall and House of Slammers.