Nakia R. Laushaul was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and now resides in Houston, Texas with her lovable teenage son. She is a poet, novelist, and entrepreneur. Nakia is a real people person so, in her free time she enjoys spending it with her family and participating in many social activities. She has always loved to read and early on in life guessed that writing would play a major role in her future. Like many others, Nakia ran away from what she loved, immersed herself in work and concentrated fully on being a mother. Inspired and fueled by attempts to be molded into the norm, she began to write her first body of work titled, THE TRUTH AS I SEE IT: IN POETRY & PROSE. Nakia remains determined to present the truth as she sees it in all facets of her writing, and hopes that her writing will inspire and serve a meaningful purpose for her readers. Nakia is committed to challenging everyone within her reach to find compassion and empathy in the differences that exist among us all. Her debut novel, RUNNING FROM SOLACE recently won the 2011 USA Book News Best Book Award for African American Fiction. She is currently working on her next novel.