Author Interview with Regina Walker & a Giveaway

By Deena Adams

I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know author, Regina Walker through this week’s interview. Her books, “We Go On” and “Still With Us,” are contemporary stories based on true to life topics and point to hope amid tragic events .

Check out her books, and if you enjoy them, please leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and any other bookish platform you can.

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Welcome Regina! Let’s begin with how and when you started writing? 

I started writing as a child. In my teens, I wrote a lot of poetry. I also played some different text based games that involved a lot of writing and story crafting. I always loved how I could express myself. Writing untangles all the wires in my brain.

In my early twenties I felt called to write by the Lord. I dabbled at blogging and starting novels but I was not consistent. This year, He called me to be obedient and has really nudged me along to write, write, write.

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Since you started writing a while back, how many unpublished and unfinished manuscripts do you have? 

On last count (which has been a while) I have 15 unfinished manuscripts. I have two finished but unpublished manuscripts.

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Wow! You have done a lot of writing. Good for you.

How do you incorporate Christ and hope into your writing? 

I wish I could tell you that it was always easy and automatic to incorporate Jesus and even hope in my writing. In my debut novel, We Go On, I was dealing with a very heavy topic and it was actually in the editing process that I found more places to really add in the character’s faith and how Jesus was central to their healing.

In my second novel, Still With Us, it was much the same. The topic is so heavy, sometimes I didn’t see clearly how to weave the hope in until I was revising.

I think it is important that as writers, we are prayerful and seek Jesus ourselves to ask Him how, when, and where to represent Him in our works.

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You mention difficult topics in both your novels. Are any of your stories inspired by true events or personal history? 

Yes, they are. Suicide is a topic near to my heart as I’ve watched my mom and my son struggle with suicidal ideation several times. I lost an uncle to suicide (I was very young but I know the impact his death has on my mom). I also have several friends who have lost loved ones to suicide.

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I’m so sorry you’ve had to endure such tragedy. Are there aspects of your stories you don’t have personal experience with and have to spend time researching before you begin writing the book? 

Depends on the topic – but I’m a discovery writer/pantser. So I often do research in the middle of writing, or I make a note to go back to a sticky section and do research. I prefer to write the bulk of the story as fast and furious as possible and then work through revisions with a more meticulous, line by line method.

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Makes sense. How many hours a day do you spend writing? 

Two is my average, four is a good day, six knocks my socks off! (Hard to reach six hours with 3 of 7 kids living at home, homeschooling, horses, and farm life.)

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With such a busy life, how long, on average, does it take you to write a book? 

When I write a complete first draft it takes me three to four weeks, usually.

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Wow, that’s amazing. If only I could write that fast! What does your writing space look like? 

Chaos – which greatly affects my creativity. And aids in my procrastinating. I often spend my writing time organizing the chaos and then when the time is up, I am frustrated. I am working on a better schedule for our home so I can keep up with everything.

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So much to juggle as a writer, but the rewards are worth it, right? One being the lessons learned during the writing process. What did God teach you through the writing of We Go On? 

That He is always near. He helped me work through some of my own pain and really identify that He uses our pain for His purposes in so many ways. He is faithful.

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What a great lesson. Aside from that, what do you hope your readers take away from the book? 

Hope and a sense of God being there, ready to use our deepest pain for His greatest glory. He reconciles all of those deep wounds that we never saw coming.

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Beautiful. I love that. Which character in We Go On was easiest for you to write and why?

I identified with Liz the easiest and found it easiest to put her on paper.

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Which character presented the biggest challenge? 

I couldn’t get into Josh’s role for a while. I had to do a lot of character quizzes and rewriting to give him a voice in the story.

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What’s next from you? 

My novel, Still With Us, just released. I have a sweet historical romance planned for a March release.

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Congratulations on your new release! Besides posting comments on your website, how can your readers and fans support you? 

I love to hear from readers when something I’ve written resonates with them. While sharing something about me or my books helps to spread the word, it is the personal stories and the connections that fuel me personally as I continue this journey.

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Any last words for your readers? 

Thank you for being here today to check out this interview. Thank you for the love and support you share with me. Thank you for taking a chance on a new author.

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Thanks so much for sharing on my blog, Regina. I look forward to reading your books!

Join the conversation. Do you enjoy stories based on true life events? Is it important to you that authors write about serious and tragic circumstances and offer hope? Do you have any questions for Regina?

Comment on this post by January 19 to be entered into the giveaway for an ebook of “We Go On.”

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Connect with Regina: Website / Facebook / Instagram / BookBub

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If you missed last week’s Zoom interview with Amre Cortadino, find it here.