REGINA – Growing up in Regina, Johnny Slastukin struggled to articulate what he was trying to tell people because of his stuttering.
Instead of talking, Slastukin would write what he wanted to say and how he felt. He decided, in high school, he wouldn’t let stuttering conquer him.
So, in secondary school, Slastukin got “into English and was into, like, acting and plays. And I [Slastukin] was like [the] editor of the yearbook and then [the] newspaper.”
While Slastukin was into writing, he felt publishing a book was a “pipe dream.” He mentioned that when he was growing up, an author needed a publisher to back them to publish their books.
Later on in his life, Slastukin reconnected with a girl he had trained to write while he was in high school, and they had written a book. Slastukin, at that moment, realized I “taught her how to write. And she already has a book. I’m like, of course, I can write a book, [too].”
Since Amazon was available worldwide to publish books, Slastukin figured he could upload his books on the company’s page, and his books would be seen around the world.
Slastukin’s first book is called Trapped Inside: Stuttering & Being Set Free. The book tells the story of Slastukin, including his health problems, the challenges of his stuttering and his heartfelt message to anyone who stutters like Slastukin.
After Slastukin wrote multiple books, he created a series of books based on Regina.
His original idea was to create one large book about the city, but Slastukin felt the book would have been way too long, so he decided he was going to write around 10 books.
So far, Slastukin has written two books around Regina, including Regina: What’s Not to Love? And Regina: Blast From the Past.