Q&A with Peter Rosch

 

 

 

Peter Rosch is the author of the new novel What the Dead Can Do. He lives in Wimberley, Texas. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write What the Dead Can Do, and how did you create your cast of characters?

 

A: When my son was 2, I started to obsess that I would die prematurely, like within that year. It was an unreasonable thought—I’d had plenty of those and still do—nonetheless, I couldn’t shake it. I was convinced I’d mucked things up by smoking a pack a day and living hard and unwisely in the life I led prior as an addict and alcoholic.

 

So, I sat to write my son letters. I wrote about him, what I loved about him already, and about the things I thought would be important for him to hear directly (and if my death happened, indirectly) from me. I didn’t do this to shape him from beyond. I did it because I was smitten with him.

 

Fear of losing a child is common, but what I didn’t know until I started to share the premise of this story in earnest was that the fear of dying in the first few years of having a child turned out to be relatively common as well.

 

At some point while writing those letters, the premise and plot started to form in my head—all of it around a pretty simple but terrifying question: if my wife and I died simultaneously and left our son behind, if we could, would we do something drastic—even kill him, if we could—that brought him to the afterlife to reunite him with us?

 

The idea of writing about a mother who wanted to kill her young son struck me as quite a challenge as well.

 

From there, the cast of characters flowed easily. Also, around the time I got serious about finishing the manuscript, I’d read some absolutely amazing thrillers that revolved around family, parental love, and the consequences of loving too much.

 

No one character in this book is based on anyone, not even on me, but I do feel now that I’ve known each person in this cast. Of course, that could be only because they have lived in my head for nearly a decade at this point.

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The original title of this novel was “Tend.” For a long time, I thought I’d absolutely nailed it with that title. I like book titles that are one word, especially if there is a twist to it. I thought it had real stopping-power. It DID not. It was confusing to some, but I tried to force it.

 

Fortunately for me, author Johnny Compton had the nerve to ask me how tied I was to that title when I reached out to him for some querying advice. He liked it, too, but mentioned it didn’t do a great deal to help set up what the book was about.

 

I started to brainstorm new titles. By then, the manuscript was pretty much done, and “What the Dead Can Do” came to me relatively quickly.

 

I love the title and not just because it may have helped me get the manuscript noticed. I think those of us who believe in ghosts, spirits, and the idea that there is something after this life spend a great deal of time wondering what is possible for our deceased.

 

A podcaster asked me recently if Second Plane, the afterlife I’ve created for the book, was what I believed in or was hoping for in an afterlife. I responded that I hoped it was actually more of a roadmap for what we can free ourselves from here on earth while still living.

 

Because, to some extent, I think the global populace is “dead.” Stagnant, complacent, and distracted is more accurate. What can we do that we aren’t doing now? I doubt many will read the title and come back to it as some sort of self-help mantra, but for me, there’s a little bit of that baked into the title and the book itself.

 

Q: The writer KC Jones said of the book, “His characters are messy and real, his take on the afterlife haunting and heartfelt and at times horrifying.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I was absolutely thrilled with that description and everything else that KC Jones said of the book. I can’t want or expect everyone to enjoy or “get” this novel, but I can roll through life pretty peacefully for a long time when authors, friends, and colleagues who I admire have love for this book.

 

His own debut novel, Black Tide, is a family favorite. The story itself and the when and where of my reading of it and subsequent retelling of it to my wife and son hold a special place in my heart.

 

I think that section of his description of my book is exactly what I had hoped to achieve. Hearing that I might have done so from KC himself was a high I won’t soon forget.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I had a sense of how I wanted it to end only because there was a lesson that I hoped would be attached to its end. But yes: there were many changes along the way. The biggest of which I owe to the early observations of a good friend and editor I used, Karmen Wells.

 

I never miss a chance to plug Karmen. If you have a manuscript that you believe is ready to be seen by an editor, I highly recommend putting it in front of Karmen.

 

I’m very proud of how this story concludes—and like so many real-world accomplishments, I’m aware that the success of this ending (if that’s a thing one can say about an ending) is the product of my being open to feedback—the product of collaboration.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m pitching my current WIP as “the antihero story my mother deserves.” It’s a crime thriller in which two estranged adult brothers come together in North Texas to help their aging mother cover up her gruesome murder of a former friend.

 

There’s some Minion-Jesus in it, some loathing for the US industrial medical complex, and also some old-fashioned, yet unique, hijinks around a dysfunctional family that loves each other just enough to protect each other at all costs.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: At its core, What The Dead Can Do remains a love letter to my son. The wow-factor of it getting published will never not be lost on me. My son is 11 now. An avid reader, too. I asked him recently if he thought he’d read my book. Not now, but at some point further down the road. “Probably,” he said. Love his honesty.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb