AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID L. WINTERS

David L. Winters is an Ohio author, speaker, and humorist. His fiction works include A Baby’s Right to Choose, Driver Confessional, and Stock Car Inferno. His iconic memoir Sabbatical of the Mind: The Journey from Anxiety to Peace won numerous awards. With Steve Reynolds, Winters wrote Taking God to Work which blends biblical principles with stories from Winters’ many years in management with the Navy and Department of Homeland Security. The pair won a Finalist Designation from the Next Generation Indies Awards for their book.

If you had to describe yourself in one sentence, what would you say?

God’s love continues to transform me.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to really make an impact for Christ. This includes attending church, belonging to a home fellowship through the week, and just taking time with friends and acquaintances.

Any interesting hobbies? 

My favorite activities include going to concerts, both secular and Gospel. I’ve seen about every well-known band from the 1970s. Favorites were Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Chicago, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Robert Palmer, etc.

Tell us three things about yourself that might surprise your readers.

I’ve never been married. I worked for Department of Homeland Security for eight years. My former job with the Navy included travel to most major cities in the United States.

What genre did you start out writing? Have you changed course? Is there another genre you’d like to try someday? What is it?

I began by writing my story about going crazy in the Washington, D.C. ratrace, stopping to take time with the Lord, and coming back with much less anxiety and renewed purpose (Sabbatical of the Mind.) My heart is really in writing mystery and suspense. My second book was Driver Confessional about a Christian Uber driver who gets falsely accused of murder. As research, I was an Uber driver for five months. The book includes stories that really happened to me fused into the murder/suspense fictional tale. My latest book, A Baby’s Right to Choose, melds my love of the unborn with mystery/suspense. It was an honor to be nominated for the Carol Award and even be in the same category as you, Nancy Mehl.

If you could go back in time and do something differently at the start of your career, what would it be?

I would do it the same. God brought me along for the past six years, and I trust Him to get me wherever He wants me to go.

Do you have any writing goals you haven’t met yet? What are they?

I’d like to make maximum (positive) impact with my goals. Awards and sales are not the main target for me (though almost everyone loves recognition.) I get motivated by the individual stories of readers who found a helpful thought or idea in one of my books which brought them closer to God.

What are you working on now?

The next publication that includes my work will be the 2022 All God’s Creatures daily devotional from Guideposts. I’ve been part of this 365-day devotional guide since it’s reboot in 2019. All the devotionals take a lesson from animals and draw parallels to God’s love for us.

What is the most important thing you’d like readers to take away from your books?

God is active and moving in our lives each day. He’s right there with us, trying to lead us to Him and away from the things which harm us.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Each of us can make an impact on the world – right where God planted us. Give it your all each day, and eventually – you will have a lifetime of love to look back on.

A BABY'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE

As bodies pile up in their small Ohio city, the victims have only one thing in common. Each young woman visited the local women's clinic and chose not to have an abortion. An intriguing young couple faces an impossible decision amidst a pandemic of murders. With their futures in balance, will they have their baby or decide to end the pregnancy. Conventional wisdom goes out the window when a surprising development casts suspicion on the least likely suspects.

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