Author Interview with F.X. Regan

Welcome Readers to another installment of our author interview series. Today we have the pleasure of chatting with FX Regan, author of a novella series on the mysterious Area 51.

JMR-Welcome to the Books Delight, F.X. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun and what does the perfect day look like?

FXR- Thanks for allowing me this opportunity. I split time between the Washington, D.C. area where I am a rare native, and Florida – depending on the weather. I’m still a licensed Private Investigator though I only take a few cases a year – it has to be something really interesting. Most days, I write in the morning, and work on marketing efforts in the afternoon. I also enjoy road biking, exercise, and reading. My bride of 40 years and I have seven grandchildren in three states, so we try to keep up with them too.

JMR-What’s your favorite historical time period? Why?

FXR- I’d have to say the 1980s – it’s when I got my start in law enforcement, and while technology has certainly made life more efficient, there was something about working out problems without it. Today, young people can’t tell time on a clock or navigate with just a map. There was a post-Vietnam peace, the economy was good, and by 1989, we won the cold war.

JMR-Who is your favorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what would it be?

FXR- Picking one is REALLY hard. Going back to the previous question, I’ll say Ronald Reagan. He was the president the country needed at the time and led the nation with a combination of sunny optimism and strength. If you’ve never been to the Reagan Presential Library, I highly recommend it. As for a question: “Did you ever consider backing down from your strong position (especially on the issue of Star Wars,) with Gorbachev at Reykjavik?”

JMR- You spent your career in law enforcement; how did you come to be a writer?

FXR- I was a lifelong reader, especially fiction when I was young. I transitioned to reading mostly to non-fiction for years in my early adulthood, except the classics like Tom Clancy and anything by Joseph Wambaugh. I’m now back to mostly fiction. Law enforcement is not conducive to good writing – it’s 100% passive voice - third person – “just the facts ma’am” (IYKYK.) But I always had an interest in writing. And some of the things I’ve seen and done during my career cry to be put into stories.

About ten years ago I penned an autobiography. I was determined it would not be like a lot of the bad law enforcement autobiographies I’d read, (my first day at the FBI Academy, my first big arrest, etc.,) but it was still awful. Since I had already fictionalized several of the characters to protect the guilty (that’s a joke J,) and the locations where they happened, I decided to turn some of those stories into fiction. In my CJ Hawk thrillers (not out yet,) and Kiki Diaz thrillers, (one book out,) almost all the action comes from real events that have been fictionalized.

JMR- Did you visit anyone of the places in your book? Where did you feel closest to your characters?

FXR- Almost everything in all my books (so far,) takes place in the Washington, D.C. area because it a place I know so well. (And it’s conducive to conspiracy and intrigue.)  While I’ve never been to Area 51 per se, I’ve been to a classified facility nearby. If I told you about it, I’d have to kill you, or the FBI would not be happy with me. Probably the latter.

JMR- FX, tell us about your novella series, Area 51: Project Series.

FXR- So, I wrote two full-length CJ Hawk - FBI Thrillers featuring an FBI agent who is (wrongly) dismissed from the Bureau and becomes a high-end PI in Washington, D.C. He gets retained to, off-the-books, help solve a number of high-profile homicides, and he runs into rogue government operations and other challenges. They were loosely based on actual homicide cases in the area.

I’ve spent a couple of years with editors and agents on these books, and there is some interest from small publishers so far, but nothing I’ve pulled the trigger on. It also takes time for me to get books about the FBI, even fiction, through the required FBI pre-publication review process. I promise one of these books will come out in 2024, one way or another.

In the meantime, I started writing these kitschy novellas about murders at Area 51 in 1955, 1963, and 1969, and a D.C. homicide detective, John “Black Jack” Morrison, who can’t stay out of the dog house with the chief of detectives. As punishment, Black Jack gets sent back to Area 51 to secretly solve the murders. There are three novellas so far, plus a volume that incorporates all three in one book, and there is an Audiobook version. They have been a ton of fun to write and easy to self-publish on Amazon. A fourth novella will come out in 2024.

JMR- Why do you think readers are still fascinated by Area 51 after all these years?

FX- Because for years, the government refused to acknowledge it even existed. Technically, they still don’t acknowledge it, but there has been so much that has come out in the open press that there is a lot known about it. Whether we acknowledge it or not, American’s love a conspiracy. I highly recommend Annie Jacobsen’s book, Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base for further background.

JMR-What projects do you have in the pipeline?

FXR- I am working in three series: The CJ Hawk – FBI Thrillers I talked about above, The AREA 51 novellas, and a new series I just published the first book in. That latest book, Rosslyn Station – A Detective Kiki Diaz Thriller features a Fairfax County, Virginia Police Detective Sergeant and the travails she goes through solving complex investigations. Book 1 dropped in December, and I’m working on Book 2, Fairfax Station – A Detective Kiki Diaz Thriller right now. Look for that in late spring/early summer.

As I noted, at least one CJ Hawk – FBI Thriller will come out this year sometime, maybe two – we’ll see. The first is Department Echo – A CJ Hawk – FBI Thriller, the second is Zulu Center – A CJ Hawk – FBI Thriller and I’m working on the third, Washington Field – A CJ Hawk – FBI Thriller.

And, as I said, the fourth AREA 51: Project Series novella, this one, Project Gemstone, will be out sometime in 2024.

Since that might not be enough to keep me busy, I also write a Substack column called The Regan Revolution every two to four weeks. It’s fact/opinion and concerns crime, the police, and the FBI.

JMR- Tell our readers how to find you on social media and the web.

FXR- Sure – the best place to see everything is my website, www.fxregan.com. You can sign up for the newsletter while you’re there. Whether you sign up for the newsletter or The Regan Revolution, I tend to send out everything under the latter. You can go right to https://fxregan.substack.com to see that and sign up. I’m on X (Twitter) and Instagram at @fxregan. The Amazon links for the books are https://amzn.to/482pxjg (eBook, paperback, and Audiobook,) and https://amzn.to/4aA1r0K (eBook, paperback, Audiobook is in production.)

JMR- What question were you hoping I’d ask but didn’t?

FXR- Who are my favorite authors today: A. - Joseph Wambaugh (though he hasn’t written anything new for a while, but he remains the patron saint of cops turned authors,) Michael Connelly (who learned the police culture with 14 years on the police beat as a journalist,) Jack Carr, Don Bentley, Don Winslow, Alma Katsu, George Pelecanos, and Isabella Maldonado. I shouldn’t have gone down this road because I’m leaving too many great writers off the list.

JMR- Thank you, FX, for stopping by. Your books look really great! Readers, I’ve included a link to FX’s books below. Please be sure to check them out.