Novelist Dewayne Rahe is chatting with me today about his new historical fiction, The Search.
Welcome, Dewayne. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a 72-year-old retired veterinarian, having practiced large animal medicine for 45 years. My artist wife Krystal and I live on a farm near Dyersville, Iowa just down the road from the famous “Field of Dreams”. We have four happily married adult children and ten wonderful grandchildren. Our children’s careers have taken them to various parts of the United States, so we spend much of our retirement traveling to visit them in their new homes.
Please tell us about your current release.
The Search deals with a topic that concerns everyone at some point in their life, “How do I want to live my life?” Set in 1910 Iowa, it follows the journey of young Fred Schmidt as he navigates various life decisions, the effect of each decision leading to the climatic ending.
What inspired you to write this book?
I tried to incorporate the unwritten history of our area with some life lessons that would develop into an interesting narrative. I hope people find the story thought provoking as well as entertaining.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I have started work on the third book in this series. The first book, Last of the Wild introduced the characters and told the story of their immigration to northeast Iowa. It chronicled the family’s adventures from1840 up to 1898. The Search follows the maturation of the family’s oldest son, Fred during the summer of the year 1910. The third book will deal with the youngest son’s efforts to complete his veterinary education incorporating historical aspects of Iowa during the summer of 1916.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I was always interested in writing from the time I served as Editor of our high school newspaper up to and including the time of my retirement. I enjoyed free lancing articles in several Iowa newspapers and have had a series of articles published in “Our Iowa” magazine.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I try to devote at least two hours a day to either writing or researching my book. Although I am supposedly retired, I still enjoy working with cattle and helping to manage my relatives’ cattle operations. As I mentioned previously, my wife and I do travel quite a bit.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I try to end each chapter with a “hook” that will draw the reader’s interest into the next chapter.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Krystal and I started creating these books as a Covid project that would pass some history and personal guidance down to our grandchildren. We never imagined our first book, The Last of the Wild would be as popular as it was. I think our readers will find our second book, The Search, to be even more entertaining.
My novel is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com.