Talen Williams, born in Washington D.C. in 1985, was raised as an army brat, which led him to live in various states throughout his childhood. Despite this, he considers Texas to be his true home. As an adult, Talen bounced from job to job, unsure of his direction, until 2010 when he enrolled at Northern Michigan University. There, he discovered his passion for graphic design, earning a bachelor's degree in 2014. After graduation, Talen took on various freelance design jobs but grew increasingly disheartened by the corporate world.

Eventually, he left that career behind for something more stable—one that allowed him to focus on his true passion: writing. For nearly a decade, Talen has been devoted to crafting stories, and today, writing is at the heart of his work.​​ Williams draws inspiration from the films of John Hughes ("The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off") and John Singleton ("Boyz N The Hood," "Poetic Justice"). Using those movies and his own life experiences, he writes the stories he's wanted to since he was a teenager himself.