Pyerse Dandridge was born Pierce Dandridge, Jr. to Sonya Robinson and Pierce Dandridge Sr. on October 29, 1978 in Sacramento, California. He is the eldest of two boys who enjoyed a normal childhood in North Carolina and at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, near Santa Barbara, where their father (who has two daughters from other relationships) was stationed. His mother later divorced, moved the family to Sacramento and remarried.
Growing up, Pyerse wasn’t allowed to watch television on school nights, instead he played board games and began writing plays and short stories. He even submitted a book to a publisher in eighth grade. He never heard back from the publisher and since his days in Tokay High School didn’t mature his acting and writing skills, he later gave up his dream of pursuing a writing career.
With his focus on obtaining a degree in animation and computer science, after graduation he decided to move to Las Vegas with his aunt in 1996. Despite his efforts, Pyerse had to move back to California eight months later and found a job at a hospital filing records. For a while he job hopped and worked at various restaurants and as a janitor at Wal-Mart. Determined to keep his life moving forward, he attended San Joaquin Delta College in hopes of obtaining a computer science degree. There he also took poetry classes and returned to his first love of writing fiction. Unfortunately, college wasn’t affordable and Pyerse had to resigned, but he kept writing and completed a science fiction novel called PAWNS in 1998. He was successful in publishing and distributing it to a local bookstore.
As he focused on his writing career, Pyerse contracted an agent, but after eight months of stagnation, he terminated the contract, believing the agent was giving him the runaround. While working at Applebee’s, he gained the feedback needed to begin sharpening his writing skills to improve his publishing opportunities. Searching for his next big chance, he again returned home from Seattle, Washington in 2002 and later moved to Sacramento three months later.
Determined to become a successful writer, Pyerse decided to rewrite his failed books using professional editors, but publishers still rejected his stories. Realizing he needed more skills, he strengthen his talents by attending the American River College in 2003, then transferred to Sacramento State University in 2005. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in English with a concentration of creative writing.
While he attended the University, his future seemed to look brighter and he decided to receive help from a loan officer to purchase five homes in Sacramento. He was also a day trader. Living off the income of four homes, he lived in the fifth mortgage free, but in 2008, all five homes went into foreclosure. He lost all five homes as well as his day trading monies and returned to bussing tables at various restaurants. Although he had just started his website, pyersedandridge.com, his heart wanted a steady job with a clear direction.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, in 2009, he was indicted with six counts of mortgage fraud and money laundering. During the two years in pretrial, Pyerse knew he would have a hard time finding a job after prison. He knew that governments job or professional career were now out of his reach and he’d have to make it on his own. He believed his degree was the only way to make a living once released from prison. However, he didn’t have a clear direction as to how to start. Still pushing forward, he created a new website, www.myblacknews.net and strengthened his knowledge in obtaining income online, but had no success.
To make matters worse, he was sentenced to 17 months in a Federal Prison Camp. He served 12 months at Herlong Federal Prison Camp and three months at a halfway house in Sacramento. During his time in prison, he focused on completing two drafts of one of his books. He also wrote several short stories and poems. He also improved his reading skills and read 14 books. The halfway house he resided in was a Federal Halfway House in Oakland, California. There he improved his social media skills and social marketing. He began working with a temporary agency called ACROBAT which outsourced him as a employee bussing tables and washing dishes. This same agency transferred him to Sacramento at the end of his sentence on August 3, 2012.
Although Pyerse has had a life full of hills and valleys, he is still moving forward. He is currently pursuing his writing career full force and even has found success in acting. He has two published books and is close to being a published author for the third time.
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