Featured Interview With Author Leah Dawkins
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in the suburbs of Atlanta and had one of those childhoods where the neighborhood kids hung out together every single day, playing softball, riding bikes, and jumping on the trampoline. We walked to school. It was great. I went to college in the Midwest and received a great education, majoring in nursing and graduating with a BSN. I missed the south and was excited to move back below the Mason Dixon line, residing in South Carolina since then.
I am a mother, grandmother, yogi, Jesus follower, vegetarian, love hiking, and prefer Diet Pepsi over Diet Coke. I live with my husband in a small town, raise chickens, and have a stray cat named Atticus.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been a reader since I can remember. Mrs. Wright, the librarian at my elementary school turned me on to books. In the summers, the county pool was across the street from the county library, so I would spend hours there, checking out endless titles. I am also a diarist. I write letters. And papers, reams of papers which turned into publications, mostly in nursing journals. I have also done a few articles that have made the newspaper. I always harbored this idea in my heart that I could write a novel, but it wasn't until just a few years ago I was brave enough to follow the dream and start doing what I wanted to do, instead of what I had to. I think the turning point for me was when I hiked El Camino Primitivo with a couple of friends. It was a profoundly holy experience for me and changed my views on a lot of things, mostly myself.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
So, I am not gonna lie! Nora Roberts is a favorite. That woman is an inspiration and she can really write a good story. John Grisham is another go to, but my all time favorite is Karen Slaughter. She is crazy good and her stories are hard to put down. So, my favorite genre is definitely suspense/thriller. However, I also read a ton of self-help and philosophical books, like Michael Singer. Write now my desk if full of how to publish and market your books Indie style.
I love when people ask me who inspires my writings and I must say it is the amazing men and women I work with and care for in my career and in life. Southern women are especially amazing. I don't know what it is about them, but Steel Magnolia's are a real thing. And southern men, that need to provide and protect. It's just ingrained in them from birth. Its hard to explain to people who don't live in this culture, which is why I love to try and transpose it onto the page.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
So, my latest book is also my first adult fiction novel. It is the first of a series. The book is set in the south, on a working farm that used to be a plantation. The story centers around a main family, the Beauregard's, old, prominent, and wealthy. There are four children, Scarlet, Sawyer, Laura Lynne, and Avery. An event occurs when the children are teenagers, something that ends up tearing the family apart, sending them on their different ways, each experiencing different journeys.
Book I follows Laura Lynne, the youngest of the Beauregard daughters. A successful adult and almost grandmother, Laura Lynne is called back home to Venice Mississippi. This is her story of reconciling her past, standing in her own truth, and finding her family.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
Leah Dawkins’s Website
Leah Dawkins Facebook Page
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