What type of image does this bring to mind?

How about this one: High school honor student, voracious reader and accomplished author.

These are descriptions of 36-year-old Corey Miller, aka C-Murder, a multiplatinum-selling rapper and author of Death Around the Corner.

“I normally read Christian fiction and this is definitely not Christian fiction – but it is still a story of hope and overcoming. It just goes to show what happens when you attach labels to things,” said Robin Gardner, a member of the Conversations Book Club, which has organized Miller’s visit to the Jackson area Thursday and Friday.

Death Around the Corner (Vibe Street Lit, 2006, $15) was written while Miller was in prison for the 2002 death of a 16-year-old fan. The conviction was overturned, and he was released from prison after four years.

Raised in the Calliope Projects of New Orleans, the book centers around Daquan, a little boy growing up in similar circumstances, and the results his choices have on his life.

“Basically, this book comes from the experiences of family members, friends, people that lived in the neighborhood … I witnessed a lot of things and heard a lot of stories …

“I wanted to show people that being from the hood didn’t mean you had to be some crazy, deranged person with no heart. I wanted Daquan to have a heart and for people to really understand why he does some of the things he does, but, at the same time, understand where he’s coming from and that he does have a family that’s there for him and cares for him. He tries to do the right things … but sometimes he gets swept up.”

Cyrus Webb, Conversations Book Club founder, had the book recommended to him. “It was so gritty, but it was so real. And, even though the subject matter was so different than what I’m used to, it was easy to relate to.”

Miller calls the book a positive outcome of his incarceration.

“I always wanted to do it, but me sitting out, basically having a lot of time on my hands and free energy, my thought processes slowed down enough that I could sit down and put all of my emphasis into it,” Miller said.

The response to the book, Miller said, has been gratifying.

“I’ve had some true diehard fans who are always going to accept what I do, but I’ve had school teachers, attorneys, people who you would never suspect would read the novel read it,” he said. “I really appreciated that, but it surprised me though.”

Since education was strongly emphasized in his family, promoting that same message has become a priority for Miller.

“That’s one thing I’m really glad I’m getting out of it; now I’m accepted by fans that (before) would never have picked up a book,” he said.

Source: Clarion Ledger

Download the latest songs from C-Murder

The day the cops took his daddy away for murder, a new emotion gripped five-year-old Daquan Watson’s heart: Hate. It would stay with as he came up in The Calliope, New Orleans’ most notorious, drug infested housing projects, where every brother is a soldier goin’ to war every day. Grandma Mama does her best to raise him the right way, but those streets keep calling. Trying to get ahead in such a harsh environment can make your heart turn cold – unless you learn how to listen to your guardian angel…

There’s a time to take one for the team…

But the vilence at The Calliope is nothing compared to what Daquan experiences doing time at Scotland Correctional Center for youth, watching cats get stabbed over card games, young boys get raped, and racism of the worst kind, even from the black guards. A voice inside tells him he’d better learn to use his anger – instead of letting it use him, ya heard?

And time to THINK FOR YOURSELF…

From the moment Daquan heard his first blast of hip hop, the music spoke to him, and from him. While his friends are getting their street hustle cracking, his way with words is leading him in another direction. With a good woman by his side, he’s owning up to his responsibilities and building a new future with New Orleans’ biggest rap label. But what about his homies in The CP3 – will they ever truly be free? Daquan knows his hardened heart will never allow him to become a victim. He can only pray it won’t allow him to become a predator…

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