Clarissa Burton

Biography

Clarissa Burton aka Queen Of The Pen™, International Investigative Journalist and Womanist Media Historian, writes poetry and short stories. She has published in the Charleston Post-Courier, the KC Star, Flourish Magazine, and the KC Small Business Monthly. She has several blogs and is the founder of The Burton Institute of Education™, Princess Onyx™, and Queen of the Pen Books™ websites. She has published four books: Travel – A Poetry Compilation; Elijah’s Great Race; The Black Family Tree™ -a workbook and facilitator’s manual, Princess Onyx Precious Gems as well as Faces~Samantha, the first of a six-novel series. Clarissa is Navy veteran serving from 1984 to 1990. She has an EdS in Higher Education and Adult Learning from Walden University, an M.A. in Business from Webster University, and a B.A. in Psychology from Ottawa University. She lives in the Midwest with her husband.

Smashwords Interview

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, my family moved to San Bernardino, California when I was 12. We lived in the valley area where we had an orchard that produced oranges, lemons, grapefruit, apricots, and my mom grew fresh vegetables. Living in the 'country' gave me lots of time to sit outside and watch and listen to nature. This type of environment helped me focus on writing my short stories and essays.
When did you first start writing?
I first started writing when I was in the third grade. My teacher, Mrs. Brown, introduced my class to haiku. I've been in love with writing since.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Clarissa Burton online

Where to buy in print

Books

Faces~Samantha
Series: Faces Novel Series, Book 1. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 19,750. Language: American English. Published: September 2, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Coming of age
Eight-year old Samantha is a beautiful, biracial girl who has an adoring father, Grayson, a baby brother, Tavis, who worships her, wonderful grandparents and aunt, Carol. What is missing is the affection and love from her mother, Tanya, who struggles to love anyone even herself.
Elijah's Great Race
Price: $5.99 USD. Words: 690. Language: English. Published: March 24, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Cars
Elijah runs to the end of the hall. "Look at the RED car, Tata!" He says with excitement. "The BLUE car is faster! Let's race, Tata!" Together Elijah and Tata have a great race. Together they say, "V-room! V-room!"

Clarissa Burton's favorite authors on Smashwords