Rodney Walther - Writing About Fatherhood, Grief and Life Lessons

Rodney Walther - Writing About Fatherhood, Grief and Life Lessons
author of the day

Multiple award-winning author, Rodney Walther, writes in a strong narrative voice about difficult themes. His books are known to be thought-provoking and engaging and Broken Laces, a bestselling novel about a workaholic father who suddenly faces single parenthood, is no exception. Today, we chat about Broken Laces, baseball and the importance of parent-child relationships.

Please give us a short introduction to Broken Laces

I’d be happy to. My bestselling debut novel, BROKEN LACES, tells the story of Jack “The Cannon” Kennedy, a suburban workaholic who doesn’t understand the importance of family until he faces life as a single parent. The emotion-packed story explores the struggles of shared grief, the significance of father-and-son relationships, and the power of redemption.

Broken Laces centers a lot around the theme of dealing with loss.  What inspired you to pick this theme for the book?

I wanted to explore the father-son dynamic in the face of terrible events, and there is nothing more devastating than the death of a wife/mother. As I considered my main character, a self-centered man who’d always allowed his wife to take care of family matters, I wondered how he could ever recover from such a tragedy and also repair the lousy relationship he had with his son.

You managed to create characters who are interesting and relatable.  How did you pull this off? Are any of them based on real people?

Thanks for the kind words. The great challenge for any writer is to create characters that live in the “fictive dream” of the reader. It can be easy to fall into the trap of writing cardboard characters, but I strive to make them real . . . with honest motivations and authentic feelings. The second half of my book takes place in the world of Little League baseball, an environment I know very well after spending many years as a manager, coach, board member, and volunteer umpire. Those characters are in some cases amalgams of folks I’ve run into, but it’s still pure fiction.

Jack makes a lot of mistakes and some readers said they felt like smacking him at times. What is it about a flawed hero that appeals to you?

First and foremost, a flawed hero is interesting! Jack “The Cannon” Kennedy is self-centered but does have redeemable qualities. I believe a good story should be about the changes a character goes through, both the exciting external ones but also the important internal ones.

What is your message with Broken Laces? What do you hope readers take away from this book?

Without trying to be preachy, I hope that readers take away the message that relationships can be fragile. They can be lost too easily, and you have to fight like hell to build up the ones you have. Life—like the game of baseball—offers the opportunity for second chances. No matter what has led a person to a particular state in their life, change is possible. More than that, change is necessary.

Sunset over Rodney's Texas ranch, which inspired his second novel (Space in the Heart)

 

You used baseball as a backdrop in Broken Laces.  What, would you say, is it about sport that inspires, heals and brings people together?

 

While baseball serves as a backdrop for the story, I hope that readers don’t think of BROKEN LACES as simply a sports book. That said, baseball is a game that has always been about second chances. How many times have we seen the lowly hitter in the midst of a batting slump come to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and then drive in the winning run? The shortstop who boots an easy grounder, only to come back and make a sparkling play to stop a rally from the other team?

Baseball is also a game that teaches humility, a trait that is vitally important for my main character to learn.

As a coach, how often did you come across "Jacks" - dads who are a bit hard on their kids at times?

The stereotype of the hard-charging dad who pushes his kid to unhealthy levels can certainly be seen on the baseball diamond (or the football field, or the basketball court, or the soccer pitch…). As a man, I’ve seen it and maybe even been a little guilty of it at times. Overall, though, I believe I was able to achieve a good balance in my life on that front. Yay, Coach Rodney!

But when I wrote BROKEN LACES, I wanted it to be more than that caricature of a jerk who was living out his dreams through his son. I wanted to explore why a truly broken man could behave that way… and how the game he loved could offer healing.

How challenging was it to write about the characters' emotional struggles and make the story heartfelt and realistic without it becoming too preachy or sappy?

Well, we all struggle. I just tried to be honest with the emotions/motivations for all the characters. They learn their own lessons, and if it tickles the conscience of the reader, that’s great, too. I once had a reader from Canada, a man with four kids, who reached out to me via email and thanked me for helping him prioritize his family more. That wasn’t my doing, of course, but I’m glad that reader saw something about himself in my main character and learned from his mistakes.

How much did you draw upon your own experiences of what it takes to be a father for this book?

Fatherhood is important to the story, and being a good father is certainly important to me. When I began writing BROKEN LACES, my youngest was maybe 11 years old, so I was able to tap into those crazy parenting moments and the feelings of wanting to do your best to raise that child into a quality adult.

Our parent/child relationships can be just as important as our romantic relationships, so we need to see more of that represented in fiction.

Broken Laces is a book that is hard to put down. What is your secret to keeping readers immersed in the story until the very end?

With each scene, something important must change. And that means at each turning point, life for the characters is going to be different for the rest of the story. If readers become invested in the characters, they will want to know what happens to them, and that propels them to keep turning the page.

You have won a number of writing awards. Can you talk more about that?

I have been fortunate to be honored with six first-place writing awards from a number of organizations across the country (Houston Writers Guild, Maryland Writers’ Association, Crested Butte Writers, West Virginia Writers, etc.). I’ve also been twice named a finalist at the Writers’ League of Texas and a Top 5% quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards, all for different novels. I take great pride in improving my craft, and those awards help serve as some validation.

Those writing awards helped propel BROKEN LACES to a long run on the Amazon bestseller list, including reaching the Top-100 of *all* Kindle books and staying in the Top-1500 for more than nine months straight.

Reader reviews are another way for me to know that I am reaching my intended audience. I am grateful for readers who take the time to post a review (hint, hint), because reviews are the lifeblood for authors who don’t already have the last name Picoult, Sparks, or Grisham.

Rodney's favorite writing spot on the front porch at the ranch

 

Give us three good-to-know facts about yourself

 

My wife is still very much alive, although I have killed “her” off in my first two books. We like to spend time together on our weekend ranch, which means sometimes clearing trails with the tractor or sitting on the front porch and watching a Texas sunset. Let’s see… I have two stupid dogs and a very intelligent grandson. And I’m a proud former student of Texas A&M University. Gig ’em!

What are you working on right now?

I am excited to report that I’m close to finishing my third book, a romantic suspense titled WHAT REMAINS BEHIND. It’s another novel that delves into the themes of grief and regret, of forgiveness and second chances.

WHAT REMAINS BEHIND tells the story of Carly Peters, a struggling single mom who kills two people in an unwitnessed car crash after accidentally taking a powerful medication. Without planning to, Carly then falls in love with their surviving son, a former soldier who suffers from PTSD. The problem? She knows the truth about his parents’ deaths. He doesn’t.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

I always enjoy interacting with and hearing from readers! My website is located at www.rodneywalther.com. I’m also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rodney.walther.author.

This deal has ended but you can read more about the book here.