Racquel Brown Gaston
Racquel Brown Gaston was born in Falmouth, Trelawny on the island of Jamaica. She migrated to Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York at age 14. Shook by the drastic change in socio-economic status, culture and the introduction of life on the streets of Bed-Stuy, Racquel escaped to her studies and her imaginary world that emerged. It was then, as a hobby, that she began to put her gift of storytelling and imagery personification on paper. It was also then that she was most at ease.
Racquel won a scholarship to Boston University, and from there she attended the University of Miami School of Law. Returning to New York, she worked as an advisor to the School of Business at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, and later became the College’s Affirmative Action Officer, the coordinator of the Department of Public Administration’s law program and an Assistant Professor. She simultaneoulsy maintained her law practice, specializing in Business and Real Estate law. Despite her professorial and legal accomplishments, Racquel still felt unfulfilled as her truest passion — that of writing, still tormented her.
Responding to the constant nudging of her high school sweetheart, best friend and now husband, she dropped everything and followed her true passion. With faith as her means of transportation, she walked away from her secured income and lifestyle and with her husband, began her career as an author. On December 15th, 2009, she released her debut novel “Deadly Instincts” – a thriller with Bedford Stuyvesant as the setting. Readers have described the book as an adrenaline rush, heart throbbing, mesmerizing and “a movie.”
