THERE ARE NO LIMITS FOR CRYSTAL LACEY WINSLOW
September/October 2004

“"I had a very colorful childhood,"”says author Crystal Lacey Winslow of her tough life growing up in New York. Born in Brooklyn and shuffled around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, 25-year-old Winslow remembers her parents separating and her father passing away when she was a child. That experience, paired with her racy imagination, created the formula for the “'melodramatic”stories she writes today. “"I just draw on the environment that I lived in," she says.

Covering the subjects of sex, rape and drug abuse, Winslow's freaky tales began in her smash debut novel Life, Love & Loneliness (Melodrama Publishing, $15), and resume in her highly anticipated sophomore effort, The Criss Cross ($15). Published by her own Melodrama Publishing, the novel is the intense story of Nikki Ling, a troubled half-black, half-Japanese foster child turned prostitute who is asked by a stranger to do the “"criss cross," (swap murders). Her experience takes several twist and turns, entangling her with some of the popular characters of Life, Love & Loneliness.

Still gaining popularity, Winslow recently opened Melodrama Books & Things, the first bookstore in Far Rockaway, Queens in 30 years. For Winslow, who plans to expand the store to other cities, drama knows no boundaries.

Article written by Kendra Story