Photos: Personal Journeys: True confessions of a crime writer

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Photos: Personal Journeys: True confessions of a crime writer

Author Amanda Kyle Williams reveals the secrets of her past life.

Amanda Kyle Williams prepares to go out to her backyard with her dog Brando in Decatur. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Amanda Kyle Williams with her dog Brando greets with one of feral cats Mouse near her home where she cares several feral cats. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Amanda Kyle Williams greets with one of feral cats Mouse near her home where she cares several feral cats in Decatur. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Amanda Kyle Williams smiles as he talks to reporter at her Decatur home. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Amanda Kyle Williams looks out the back window of the house she rents in Decatur. Williams writes her novels at her desk, with a view of the woods behind. The blue books are crime-scene manuals that she often consults to make her descriptions real.

Williams, 57, sorts through family photos. She spent her early childhood on a ranch in Colorado before moving to Gwinnett County in 1964 with her parents and two siblings.

Williams suffered dyslexia as a child and performed poorly in school. Untrained in recognizing her condition, teachers told her parents she didn't apply herself. She read her first book at 23 after learning to read. She still describes herself as a slow reader.

Williams with her father, Fred Williams, in January 2001. Fred Williams traveled widely as an executive for a Georgia carpet company.

Williams, age 5, at River Canyon Ranch in Colorado where she lived when her father worked western states in the carpet business.

Williams in 1993, two years before she kicked a cocaine addiction that devastated her life and ruined her financially.

Williams starts each morning carrying water and food to feeding stations she built for feral cats living in her neighborhood. She has cared for the cats since about 2001, and the activity has been important to her recovery from cocaine addiction.

Williams finds inspiration from the woods and garden behind her house, and does most of her writing in the morning after chores and a few cups of coffee.

Anna Williams, age 9 in this photograph, the adopted girl from China who served as the inspiration for detective Keye Street in Williams' "Stranger" trilogy. Anna Williams is Amanda Williams' niece.

Williams signs a book at the Roswell Public Library on Aug. 10 as Karen Schneider looks on. Williams often talks to book clubs, sharing her struggles with dyslexia. She plans to speak to the Georgia chapter of the International Dyslexia Association in February.

Williams lives with three dogs and five cats. She's editing her third novel, due out next year, and sketching out the plot of a fourth. All her novels are set in Atlanta and Georgia.

Williams signed a three-book deal with Random House in 2010 for a trilogy based on her heroine, Keye Street, a recovering alcoholic and former FBI profiler.

"The Stranger You Seek" was published in 2011, followed by "Stranger in the Room" in 2012.

"Don't Talk to Strangers" is due out in February.

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Amanda Kyle Williams prepares to go out to her backyard with her dog Brando in Decatur. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

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