Ask the Author: David Rough
Answered Questions (7)
David Rough
What a great question. At first thought, the idea of mystery in my life did not turn on many light bulbs. But with a little reflection, I began to consider the adventures in my day-to-day experience. I am a warrior fighting spiritual battles every day. I am an explorer seeking new paths to walk. I am a private investigator probing evidence to discover truth. I am an orphan who found a new home filled with many brothers and sisters.
So here is the plot - if you like it, don't steal it but let me know f you want to read more:
At 20 years old, Brad found himself in a dark room with only a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. His captors let him out each morning for the appearance of freedom but they were always watching, always close by, always making sure he knew they were there. For seven years, they had provided for his needs and even encouraged his wants, but they directed his mind toward their overall goals. He was well fed. He enjoyed the advantages of books and competition and relationships as long as those advantages agreed with the strategies of his captors. He was kidnapped living a lie in a world that thought he was free. Oddly, Brad found security and comfort in the darkened room and had come to accept his daily routine as good and the abuse of his captors as normal. And then he met Dan and Liz....
So here is the plot - if you like it, don't steal it but let me know f you want to read more:
At 20 years old, Brad found himself in a dark room with only a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. His captors let him out each morning for the appearance of freedom but they were always watching, always close by, always making sure he knew they were there. For seven years, they had provided for his needs and even encouraged his wants, but they directed his mind toward their overall goals. He was well fed. He enjoyed the advantages of books and competition and relationships as long as those advantages agreed with the strategies of his captors. He was kidnapped living a lie in a world that thought he was free. Oddly, Brad found security and comfort in the darkened room and had come to accept his daily routine as good and the abuse of his captors as normal. And then he met Dan and Liz....
David Rough
Karen,
Thank you so much for your question. The answer takes on a strange complication for me. I think the complexity revolves around the word inspiration. Part of me recoils when I hear it because my mind immediately associates with the biblical doctrine of the inspiration of scripture – that the writers of the Old and New Testament were moved by the Holy Spirit as they recorded the truth of God’s word. I want to please God with my writing and create positive characters that carry with them good stories, but my books are far from infallible and should not be canonized.
But, if I take your question like I think you meant it, my motivation, my source of insight, my vision for my writing, then my answer would flow out of my passions. I love to hike and breathe the fresh air of creation. So, my first book (Hike it Forward) was a natural expression of my personal five-month experience on the Appalachian Trail. Trying to capture the pre-hike, the people I met of the journey, the breathtaking views, the adversity, the adventure, and the completion of the hike was a joy of self-expression. My young adult novel (Prion-4) also has the hiking theme and captures my hiking on steroids. I read a lot of young adult literature and some of it is rather disturbing to me. I wanted to write a clean book with action and adventure that any young person could read without being exposed to graphic violence, crude language, or immoral relationships. I have written one book on spiritual warfare (We Are All Warriors) with the hope of helping Christ-followers to successfully navigate through the challenges of living for Jesus. My source of insight for this offering was my reflection, study, and application of the Bible to 21st-century life in America.
I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with my sister by writing several children’s books. I attempt to capture the stories in words while my sister captures in words in drawings. I think her illustrations are wonderful. A large portion of my motivation for these books arises from my years as a dad of four terrific kids who wanted a bed-time story. Instead of reading, I would make up stories: sometimes funny, almost always filled with adventure, and often told in a series. Diane and I worked first on one of those series about Princess Polly and Sir William the Brave. I wanted friendship and character development to be highlighted in these stories. They are not blatantly Christian stories, but The Provider is present, directing the affairs of men, and biblical character qualities are easily taught through the adventures of Polly and Billy.
Many years ago, I wrote a Christmas musical for children called Toothpick. It was never performed or published, but I so enjoyed writing the story and composing the music. I found it in an old file in the attic and decided to pull it out and reminisce a bit. A few months later, Diane and I transformed the play into a book and Toothpick was in print (without my catchy tunes).
Diane and I have another book just about to come out. It should be available next month (April). It is based on a true story about her husband’s boyhood dog, Rex. The title is Remarkable Rex and I found it so much fun to take a true story and fill in some major gaps with some creative story-telling.
So, making a long answer to a short question even longer, I imagine you can tell that inspiration comes in various shapes and sizes. Each book takes on a life all its own with unique aspects of motivation and vision. However, for me, I know that to be genuine a story must reflect personal experience, a deep passion, and a pure motive.
Thank you so much for your question. The answer takes on a strange complication for me. I think the complexity revolves around the word inspiration. Part of me recoils when I hear it because my mind immediately associates with the biblical doctrine of the inspiration of scripture – that the writers of the Old and New Testament were moved by the Holy Spirit as they recorded the truth of God’s word. I want to please God with my writing and create positive characters that carry with them good stories, but my books are far from infallible and should not be canonized.
But, if I take your question like I think you meant it, my motivation, my source of insight, my vision for my writing, then my answer would flow out of my passions. I love to hike and breathe the fresh air of creation. So, my first book (Hike it Forward) was a natural expression of my personal five-month experience on the Appalachian Trail. Trying to capture the pre-hike, the people I met of the journey, the breathtaking views, the adversity, the adventure, and the completion of the hike was a joy of self-expression. My young adult novel (Prion-4) also has the hiking theme and captures my hiking on steroids. I read a lot of young adult literature and some of it is rather disturbing to me. I wanted to write a clean book with action and adventure that any young person could read without being exposed to graphic violence, crude language, or immoral relationships. I have written one book on spiritual warfare (We Are All Warriors) with the hope of helping Christ-followers to successfully navigate through the challenges of living for Jesus. My source of insight for this offering was my reflection, study, and application of the Bible to 21st-century life in America.
I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with my sister by writing several children’s books. I attempt to capture the stories in words while my sister captures in words in drawings. I think her illustrations are wonderful. A large portion of my motivation for these books arises from my years as a dad of four terrific kids who wanted a bed-time story. Instead of reading, I would make up stories: sometimes funny, almost always filled with adventure, and often told in a series. Diane and I worked first on one of those series about Princess Polly and Sir William the Brave. I wanted friendship and character development to be highlighted in these stories. They are not blatantly Christian stories, but The Provider is present, directing the affairs of men, and biblical character qualities are easily taught through the adventures of Polly and Billy.
Many years ago, I wrote a Christmas musical for children called Toothpick. It was never performed or published, but I so enjoyed writing the story and composing the music. I found it in an old file in the attic and decided to pull it out and reminisce a bit. A few months later, Diane and I transformed the play into a book and Toothpick was in print (without my catchy tunes).
Diane and I have another book just about to come out. It should be available next month (April). It is based on a true story about her husband’s boyhood dog, Rex. The title is Remarkable Rex and I found it so much fun to take a true story and fill in some major gaps with some creative story-telling.
So, making a long answer to a short question even longer, I imagine you can tell that inspiration comes in various shapes and sizes. Each book takes on a life all its own with unique aspects of motivation and vision. However, for me, I know that to be genuine a story must reflect personal experience, a deep passion, and a pure motive.
David Rough
Jan,
I have not read a book by that title. Looking on Goodreads, there appear to be several works by that title. At least four authors have published a book under this identifier - Eben Alexander, Mary Curran Hackett, Jason Black, and Camilla Kendal. The one by Eben Alexander has a subtitle - A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. Is this the one?
If you are recommending this read, please let me know the author. I would be most interested in exploring your suggestion.
I have not read a book by that title. Looking on Goodreads, there appear to be several works by that title. At least four authors have published a book under this identifier - Eben Alexander, Mary Curran Hackett, Jason Black, and Camilla Kendal. The one by Eben Alexander has a subtitle - A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. Is this the one?
If you are recommending this read, please let me know the author. I would be most interested in exploring your suggestion.
David Rough
I am not a professional writer that depends on publishing for my livelihood, so the pressures of deadlines and the expectations of others do not weigh heavy on my spirit. I think such tensions would drive me to an empty pen and a loss of expression. As it is, I have not experienced great issues of writer’s block. I write when I feel inspired, I sit at my computer when I have words that want to come out of my head and find a resting place. If the story hits a wall or the plot starts to run into a fog, I just save my documents and do something else.
I love to hike, so I often grab my trekking poles and bask in the majesty of creation. Getting into the quiet and finding communion with the gracious heavenly Father give clarity of thinking and peace to the soul. It might not help with the writing, but it sure is wonderful for my well-being.
I find myself being okay with the need to wait. Cultivating patience is not easy but when it comes to writing, I find it beneficial and valuable. Some weeks are filled with words and the desire to paste them on the page. When that happens, I try to make the most of the ideas. However, during those days of quietness, I try not to panic but wait with anticipation. All it takes is a comment from a friend, or an inspiring incident, or a strange idea to pop into my brain, and I am sitting at the keyboard once again.
I love to hike, so I often grab my trekking poles and bask in the majesty of creation. Getting into the quiet and finding communion with the gracious heavenly Father give clarity of thinking and peace to the soul. It might not help with the writing, but it sure is wonderful for my well-being.
I find myself being okay with the need to wait. Cultivating patience is not easy but when it comes to writing, I find it beneficial and valuable. Some weeks are filled with words and the desire to paste them on the page. When that happens, I try to make the most of the ideas. However, during those days of quietness, I try not to panic but wait with anticipation. All it takes is a comment from a friend, or an inspiring incident, or a strange idea to pop into my brain, and I am sitting at the keyboard once again.
David Rough
I am an aspiring writer. I am more in need of advice than I am an advisor. I am not a director but rather I am looking for direction – not a coach but a rookie; not a sage but a student; not an expert but a novice.
My counsel to myself is to be open, to learn, to be willing to take a risk, to be honest and real, to be myself, to speak my mind, to love others, to bring glory to God, to take a stand. I need lots of practice. I need to write as often as I can, so I blog and write reviews and work on a book several times a week. I need to think and meditate and pray before I write.
My counsel to myself is to be open, to learn, to be willing to take a risk, to be honest and real, to be myself, to speak my mind, to love others, to bring glory to God, to take a stand. I need lots of practice. I need to write as often as I can, so I blog and write reviews and work on a book several times a week. I need to think and meditate and pray before I write.
David Rough
Where do I begin? Let me count the ways. There are so many personal benefits from capturing thoughts on paper, from expressing priorities in words, from attempting to communicate deep emotions so that others catch it. I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of telling a story in a way that resonates with the hearts of others.
There is nothing more rewarding than to hear from someone that has embraced the heart of one of my books. My hope for every individual that opens one of my stories rests in my motivation to encourage the reader and place them in an atmosphere of ethical challenge that they might succeed in the right way. I love to express eternal values and biblical principles in my works, whether they are explicitly stated or more softly hidden in the qualities of the cast of my stories.
Playing with words can be downright fun or a head-scratch frustration. Sometimes the words flow like the sweet stream along a pine-lined trail in Vermont, other times they run hot like the lava cascading off the volcano, and yet, in still other moments, they stop moving like a summer drought in Nevada. Trying to optimize the flow while avoiding the desert enables true communication to happen.
For me, one of the best things about writing is to ride the flow, so that the end product says something worthwhile.
There is nothing more rewarding than to hear from someone that has embraced the heart of one of my books. My hope for every individual that opens one of my stories rests in my motivation to encourage the reader and place them in an atmosphere of ethical challenge that they might succeed in the right way. I love to express eternal values and biblical principles in my works, whether they are explicitly stated or more softly hidden in the qualities of the cast of my stories.
Playing with words can be downright fun or a head-scratch frustration. Sometimes the words flow like the sweet stream along a pine-lined trail in Vermont, other times they run hot like the lava cascading off the volcano, and yet, in still other moments, they stop moving like a summer drought in Nevada. Trying to optimize the flow while avoiding the desert enables true communication to happen.
For me, one of the best things about writing is to ride the flow, so that the end product says something worthwhile.
David Rough
Beside my soon-to-be-released children's book called Remarkable Rex, I am currently working on three projects. One is another children's book about a cat who loses his way during a major winter storm and his desperate attempts to find the family he loves. It is based on a true-story of "Mister" from Utah. A second project involves the Christmas season and a practical book of ideas for families to celebrate the Advent season. The third book that is beginning to germinate in my creative files will explore my favorite book in the Bible - the Epistle to the Ephesians.
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