When and why did you begin writing?

I began writing approximately three years ago. I’d never imagined it would turn into a practice, yet here I am. The impetus for me tackling my memoirs came from an encounter I had with my estranged father on a San Francisco MUNI train. The experience was so affecting, the only way through it was to write about it.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I don’t believe my style is specific to any one thing. However, I feel that as an emerging writer, I am constantly learning to listen to the various “voices” that come through, in an attempt to find a comfortable and compatible way to tell the story.

What books have most influenced your life?

Wow! What a BIG question. To Kill a Mockingbird created an opening in my heart of unyielding compassion for my African-American ancestors and the trials and injustices they endured for my freedom. Gwendolyn Brooks’ Annie Allen is prolific. Wallace Thurman—The Blacker the Berry, as well as, Huckleberry Finn and The Color Purple.

What are you reading now?

Erasure by Percivel Everett. This guy has a true talent in bringing dimension and texture to the written word.  Selah’s Bed was cool by Jenoyne Adams. Oh yeah… I just discovered, and absolutely love Bell Hooks.

Tell us your latest news?

Currently I am planning a book release party for my new book Somebody’s Someone.  Because the party is also a benefit for children in the foster care system, I am busy soliciting donations for our silent auction. It is all keeping me really busy.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I would have to say it is a toss between Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou.

I admire Morrison for her symbolic and thematic mastery and Dr. Angelou for her seemingly ease of being with words. Both women in my opinion are true wordsmiths.

What are your current projects?

I am in the process of writing my second memoir, a follow-up to the first.

Do you feel more African-Americans are reading?

Yes. However, I feel that we have always been “willing” to read, it’s the lack of representation and possible distribution that in the past, kept us from finding literature for and about us.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Heavens yes! I want all children and folks who are responsible for bringing them up to read Somebody’s Someone and know, on the deepest level that no matter what may occur in your life! Never, and I mean NEVER give up.

If you could do it all over again, would you change anything?

So far, the answer is NO! I wouldn’t change a thing. Although the path has been quite trying at times, I am grateful to God, for always shinning that light at the end of my tunnel.

All My Best,

Regina Louise
www.reginalouise.com