Before becoming a writer, Thomas A. Williams taught literature in the University of North Carolina System. During his teaching career, he published in scholarly journals, but soon decided he was more interested in simply writing. With the decision to "branch out", he started sending his articles out to publishers, and sold his first article, "How to Teach about Poetry" to Teacher's Scholastic magazine. Williams also soon had his first book, Mallarmé and the Language of Mysticism, published by the University of Georgia Press. After this, he continued to send out his material to publishers, and soon managed to sell an article to Esquire magazine that was also highlighted on the front cover, giving Williams increased public exposure.-ECU