Ask the Author: David Tindell
Answered Questions (6)
David Tindell
I would travel to 18th century Scotland from Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" books, and I'd head to Northumberland, in northeast England, which is my family's ancestral home. I would look up one of my ancestors, the Rev. Nicolas Tindal (1687-1774), who was an historian. There would probably be a few other distant relatives hanging around. I wouldn't necessarily worry about hurting my family's direct timeline, as by then, another Tindell had already made his way to the New World. It would've been tempting to cross the Atlantic and come to Colonial America, though.
David Tindell
Not my life, but my ancestor's. William Tyndale (1494?-1536) was an English biblical scholar and linguist who ran afoul of King Henry VIII around the time he translated the Bible into English. Eventually he was arrested, tried and executed. I've always wondered why he didn't flee when he had the chance. Was he willing to die for his principles? Was he captured before he could escape Henry's reach? Did he ever consider coming to the New World, as one of his relatives did?
David Tindell
I enjoy the creative aspect of writing. Years ago I attended a workshop where the moderator said, "You are the god of the book." You can make virtually anything happen on the page. Whether it is plausible or worth reading is another question, of course, but you're only limited by your imagination and your ability to tell the story.
David Tindell
Learn your craft and the business of writing, but most of all just write, write some more, and then keep writing. You only fail if you quit.
David Tindell
"The Heights of Valor" is a stand-alone novel, separate from the "White Vixen" and "Quest" series. It's a multi-generational story of a Wisconsin family, connected by their military service. It begins with a diary kept by Charles Dawson, who leaves the University of Wisconsin in 1898 to join the Rough Riders and fight in Cuba. 116 years later, the diary comes into the hands of Charles's great-great-grandson, Jake Dawson, who is an Army officer and recent graduate of Special Forces training. Assigned to his first team, advising Kurds in their battle against ISIS in northern Iraq, Jake is facing great challenges as he assumes his first command. With nowhere else to turn, he digs into his ancestor's life, hoping to find the inspiration that will carry him and his men to victory.
David Tindell
I've always been a student of American history, and since seeing the movie "Rough Riders" in 1997, I've been fascinated by the life of Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th president and the only one to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in combat. Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were a special breed of men, and the more I read about them, the more I knew I had to write about them. The last of the Rough Riders died in the 1970s, but their descendants live on. Quite likely some of them are serving in uniform right now. "The Heights of Valor" is the story of one of those descendants.
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