Preslaysa Williams

Preslaysa Williams
Born (1979-06-11) June 11, 1979
Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
OccupationAuthor
Notable awards2015 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award for Short Novel
Website
preslaysa.com

Preslaysa Williams (née Edwards; born June 11, 1979) is an American actress, journalist, and author from New Brunswick, New Jersey. She is a novelist with HarperCollins, specializing in contemporary romance and women's fiction, with a focus on diverse characters.[1] She has been featured in The New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, NPR, and Writer's Digest. During her acting career, she was best-known for her role as Cindy Ornette on Nickelodeon's The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (1996-1998). She was also a panelist on Figure It Out.

Personal life

Preslaysa Williams was born June 11, 1979, in Brunswick, New Jersey. Williams attended Bishop Ahr High School in Edison, New Jersey and graduated from Columbia University.[2] She has also earned graduate degrees from the College of Charleston and Seton Hill University.[3]

Career

Acting

Williams began acting in the early 1990s where she performed under the stage name Presley Edwards. In 1990, she appeared in the Off-Broadway play, The Onliest One Who Can't Go Nowhere at the Ensemble Studio Theatre directed by the acclaimed director Woodie King, Jr and written by J.E. Franklin. She was called "appealing in the central role" by the New York Times.[4]

She played Cindy Ornette on Nickelodeon's The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo from 1996 to 1998, and in 1997 was a panelist on the game show Figure It Out. In 1999, she acted as Gertrude in the Horton Foote play The Death of Papa, which was part of a series of plays called The Orphans' Home Cycle.[5]

Novelist

Self-published

In November 2018, Williams released her debut short story, Touched by Fate, the first work in the Lowcountry Bride continuity. In November 2019, Williams released her debut novel, Healing Hannah's Heart, a fictional romance novel. She was included in two Luxe romance anthologies thereafter, in 2018 and again in 2019.

HarperCollins

In early 2020, it was announced by Publishers Weekly that Williams had signed a book deal with Avon Books (a romance imprint of HarperCollins) as part of the #OwnVoices initiative.[6] Her first novel under the deal, A Lowcountry Bride, was released June 2021. A sequel was released in 2022, A Sweet Lowcountry Proposal, and a third novel in the series is due in 2024.

Williams has been noted as "carving out [her] place on the American bookshelf with own-voices diaspora heroines."[7]

Journalism

In 2020, Williams co-founded Black Catholic Messenger, a nonprofit media publication covering stories of interest to African American Catholics.[8] She has also written for Literary Hub.[9]

Awards and recognition

Williams' writing accolades include the 2015 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award for Short Novel (for her work "Coming Home to Love"), and the Indiana Romance Writers of America's Golden Opportunity Award.[10]

Williams has been featured in Publishers Weekly,[11] Kirkus Reviews,[12] NPR,[13] The Root,[14] Boston.com,[15] Writer's Digest,[16] and Columbia Magazine.[17]

Bibliography

  • A Lowcountry Bride: A Novel. New York: HarperCollins, 2021. ISBN 9781665096447
  • A Sweet Lowcountry Proposal: A Novel. New York: HarperCollins, 2022. ISBN 9780063236981
  • A Wedding in the Lowcountry: A Novel. New York: HarperCollins. (expected 2025)

Filmography

TV

Year Title Role notes
1996 Weinerville Election Special:From Washington B.C. Liberty Brown [18]
1996-1998 The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo Cindy Ornette [19]
1997 Figure It Out herself [20]
2017 This Is Us college student (uncredited) [21]
2018 Homeland (TV series) various uncredited roles [21]

Theater

Year Title Role notes
1990 The Onliest One Who Can't Go Nowhere Addie Off-Broadway
1994 Joan of Arc Joan of Arc
1999 The Death of Papa Gertrude [5]

Film

Year Title Role notes
2020 Last Moment of Clarity Yoga-woman (uncredited) [21]

References

  1. ^ Burnett, Katharine A.; Hagstette, Todd; Miller, Monica Carol, eds. (2022). The Routledge companion to literature of the U.S. South. Routledge literature companions. New York London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-00992-4.
  2. ^ "Edwards-Williams", Home News Tribune, November 3, 2002. Accessed January 23, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "Edwards is a graduate of Bishop George Ahr High School, Edison, and Columbia University, New York, with a bachelor's degree in Spanish language and literature."
  3. ^ Nichols, Marissa (2021-03-11). "Preslaysa Williams: Hallmark and Hard Topics". Where Peter Is. Retrieved 2025-08-22.
  4. ^ Gussow, Mel (1992-06-02). "Review/Theater; Four One-Acts on the Ways Life Can Go Wrong". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  5. ^ a b Ascheim, Skip (1999-06-09). "Strong cast, directing fill out flat 'Papa'". The Boston Globe. p. 89.
  6. ^ Deahl, Rachel. "Book Deals: Week of February 10, 2020". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2025-08-22.
  7. ^ Wallace, Jennifer (2021-11-19), "Army trenches and school benches: the Philippine-American War in the Sugar Sun series", The Routledge Companion to Romantic Love, London: Routledge, pp. 215–225, doi:10.4324/9781003022343-17, ISBN 978-1-003-02234-3, S2CID 244437127, retrieved 2023-11-03{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  8. ^ "The Vision and Mission of the Black Catholic Messenger: An Interview with Nate Tinner-Williams". Millennial Journal. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  9. ^ "Untold Stories: A South Carolina Lowcountry Reading List". Literary Hub. 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  10. ^ "Genesis Contest Winners". ACFW. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  11. ^ Deahl, Rachel. "Book Deals: Week of February 10, 2020". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  12. ^ A LOWCOUNTRY BRIDE | Kirkus Reviews.
  13. ^ Rodale, Maya (2021-05-22). "For May, 3 Romances About Staying True To Your Passions, Whatever They May Be". NPR. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  14. ^ "November 2022 Books by Black Authors We Can't Wait to Read [UPDATED]". The Root. 2022-11-06. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  15. ^ Dwyer, Dialynn. "The Boston Public Library released its 'Black Is…' booklist for 2022. Here's what's on it". www.boston.com. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  16. ^ "Preslaysa Williams: On Finding Hope in Romance". Writer's Digest. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  17. ^ "32 Movie and TV Stars who Graduated from Columbia". Columbia Magazine. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  18. ^ The Weinerville Election Special: From Washington B.C. (TV Movie 1996) - Preslaysa Edwards as Liberty Brown - IMDb. Retrieved 2026-02-11 – via m.imdb.com.
  19. ^ The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Irene Ng, Pat Morita, Adam Busch, CINAR, 1996-03-17, retrieved 2026-02-11{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. ^ Nickelodeon (1997), Figure It Out Season 1 Episode 36 (High Quality), retrieved 2026-02-11
  21. ^ a b c "Preslaysa Edwards | Actress". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
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