Kristen Marin has written and published 22 books to date, all of which are available on Amazon. She is working on number 23.

She recently became certified in screenwriting from the US-based Coach John Screenwriting Academy and is working on the script for her first movie – a crime romance based on one of her books, which will begin shooting in February 2024.

The 29-year-old author of these "urban romance" novels says she draws from her own life experiences and goals when writing – experiences that range from racial discrimination to jail time.

When Marin left TT to live in New York at five, she found herself immersed in the predominantly white Staten Island neighbourhood.

The initial culture shock gradually waned, as her schoolmates got over her complexion and "strange accent." Shortly after settling in, however, she was confronted by the ugly spectre of racism. Her best friend randomly greeted her one morning with the news that “my mom said that I can’t play with you because you’re a n----r."

Until then, Marin had no notion the word meant, and only understood when her mother explained. She was bewildered.

But this experience paled in comparison to what she would endure later on in life, when she was charged with bank fraud, sentenced to two years in prison and subsequently repatriated to TT – a country and a culture she barely knew. Her deportation, she said, took a tremendous toll on her mental health, as she had to deal with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts all over again.

[caption id="attachment_1047012" align="alignnone" width="640"] Maintaining good grades and excelling at basketball in high school earned Kristen Marin a full athletic scholarship at Harcum College in Pennsylvania. -[/caption]

From childhood Marin was a high achiever and successfully balanced her A-grade profile with co-curricular performances, “participating in everything; cheerleading, basketball, track, everything.”

By the time she got to middle school she had narrowed her focus to basketball. Maintaining good grades and excelling at basketball in high school eventually led her to a full athletic scholarship at Harcum College in Pennsylvania. She was on the basketball team for two years before being elevated to team captain. And in her final year she won title of Miss Harcum in the institution's pageant.

“I was having a great life, but still doing what I had to in school, while also holding down a little job at the bank,” she told WMN.

"My mother always told me, 'If you want nice things, you have to work hard,'” and by her own admission, she likes nice things. Marin recalls transitioning from one semester to the next with the same shoes, bag and clothes while her peers would be dressed in the newest and trendiest. She dreamt about one day being able to do likewise; and held fast to her mother’s advice to work hard for what she wanted.

In addition, she said, “I always saw myself as extraordinary, I wanted to leave an impact on the world, no matter what I did.”

She graduated from Harcum with an associate d