About David Rich:
David Rich grew up on a ranch in Colorado. His dad introduced him to tractors and cattle, and his mother to music and travel. He toured the country with an amazing group of fellow misfits in the fighting 529th Air Force Band, attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and the University of Chicago Law School. By some fluke he began practicing law in Phoenix with Lewis and Roca, the firm that handled the Miranda case (which he had nothing to do with). After a stint as a law professor, David tried private practice but found the cushy job of assistant attorney general more to his liking. His appointment as judge pro tem by the Maricopa County Superior Court was a resounding success because attorneys immediately settled any case to which he was assigned.
He retired in his 40s to become a sailing captain, pilot, and full-time traveler, living in almost every country on the planet while writing dozens of travel stories. Myths of the Tribe, When Religion and Ethics Diverge (Prometheus Books 1993) examined the influence of organized religion on ethics, 2nd ed. 2019. RV the World, 2nd ed., 2018, combines his seventeen-years RVing the world with how anyone can do it. In 2019 David wrote The ISIS Affair, a satire on religion and nationalism in Syria subtitled Putting the Fun Back in Fundamentalism, and Scribes of the Tribe, Our greatest Thinkers on Religion and Ethics. He published Antelopes, A Modern Gulliver’s Travels, in 2020 and Sail the World?, the prequel to RV the World, in October 2021.
What inspires you to write?
Originally I was inspired to research the history of the world's many religions to determine the ethical foundations of our religions and was surprised to find the many problems engendered by our religions throughout the ages. This led to my first book being published by Prometheus Books in NY in 1993, now in second edition entitled Myths of the Tribe, When Religion and Ethics Diverge. That led to the second nonfiction book on the subject, analyzing the thoughts of our best known thinkers on the disconnect between religion and ethics in Scribes of the Tribe, plus two fiction book, The ISIS Affair, Putting the Fun Back in Fundamentalism, a black comedy of two crusty curmudgeons pursuit across Syria by ISIS, and Antelope, A Modern Gulliver's Travels, an equally dark comedy about a plane crash on a remote tepui in Venezuela and the survivors' capture by an intelligent civilization of antelopes. The other two books, Sail the World? and RV the World recount the full time travels of my wife and I in 170 countries.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman.
Tell us about your writing process.
For nonfiction, research, research, research, then edit, edit, edit. For fiction, flights of whimsy while looking for the humor in any given situation no matter how dire. Outliner for nonfiction, sort of an outliner but more a seat of the pants writer for fiction.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
For fiction I know my characters, all based on old friends and crazy characters we've met worldwide.
What advice would you give other writers?
Writing is rewriting.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I first published with a traditional NY house and found I do better publishing my own stuff.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I haven't a clue, but self-publishing does seem to have a big future.
What genres do you write?: Religion and ethics, humor and parody, sailing and RVing all over the world, travel.
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
David Rich Home Page Link
Link To David Rich Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on Smashwords
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
