About

With thirty years’ experience as a journalist, capitol hill press secretary, and the author of two award-winning books, Steve Watkins has developed a reputation as an advocate for truth combined with great down-home story telling.

Reviewers and readers describe his work as redemptive, emotionally intelligent, both polished and gritty, while unfiltered and nuanced. “Sometimes the words hit you like a cold bucket of ice water on a steamy summer day,” one reviewer said.

His first book, Pilgrim Strong: Rewriting My Story on the Way of St. James was named. Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference Non-Fiction Book of the Year in 2018. His recent release, The King of Highbanks Road: Rediscovering Dad, Rural America, and Learning to Love Home Again was an Amazon #1 New Release five hours after launch. The Independent Book Publishers Awards gave it the bronze medal for Best Non-Fiction in the South.

In 2018, he completed a 63-venue national speaking tour for Pilgrim Strong. He has appeared on HGTV’s House Hunters International, completed three marathons, and walked the 500-mile pilgrimage of the Camino de Santiago. He’s interviewed more than 15,000 people in his journalism career.

When he’s not writing, Steve loves all things outdoors including hunting and fishing, and tending a one-acre garden. He has a passion for cooking the great food of his Southern culture and sharing it with others, and believes community is formed around great hospitality.

Steve divides his time between homes in Jonesboro, Arkansas and his Tranquility Base Retreat Center for Writers and Thinkers in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas. He is married to, and adores his wife, Dana, and three adult children, Adam, Emma, and Sophie.