Clarence Nero is a native of New Orleans and a third generation Ninth Ward Resident. He graduated from Howard University with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and worked as a toxicological chemist in the forensic department of the District government in Washington, D.C. Nero was nicknamed “Cheekie” and grew up in New Orleans’ infamous Desire Housing Project, where drugs, violence and poverty defined the way of life. His first novel, Cheekie: A Child Out of the Desire, a story loosely based on his childhood, was nominated for “Best Books for Young Adults,” by the American Library Association and selected as “One of the Best First Novels of 1998,” by Library Journal.