Welcome to my second installment of Interview with an author.  Today I am interviewing DC Rush (Don & Cathy Rush), husband and wife, whose adorable book covers are above.

Thank you Don & Cathy for being here with me today and allowing me to interview you for my blog followers.   I am very happy to have you here.  Let’s begin.

1.  How long have you been an author and why did you decide to write your   first story?

I previously tried writing a book about Management Styles but it seemed I never had the time to devote to the book and it fell by the wayside.

We actually began writing our first children’s book about 2 years ago.  Cathy and I would often sit outside watching the birds.  We fed the birds daily.  They were very clever and fun to watch, especially when the little birds kicked seed to the ground for the larger birds.  It seemed the birds had some group structure and displayed very effective teamwork.  We thought it would be interesting to write a book about birds flying south for the winter.

The finished book sat on our computer hard drive for over a year before my brother and sister-in-law talked us into self-publishing.  I never thought we would actually publish our work.  I didn’t have a great deal of confidence the book was “good enough” to publish. When our grandson Rylie was born, that gave us some added incentive to get the book out there and we decided to dedicate the book to him.  We thought it would be nice to leave something behind for our children and their children. So we had the book proofed, edited, illustrated then self-published it ourselves at Amazon.com.

2. How did you come up with the ideas for your characters?

We created characters after people we know and the others just came to us.  My brother was the inspiration for Benny the Blackbird. Benny is the bird that flies behind the flock making sure everyone is safe.  The younger birds are a little afraid of Benny but he has a big heart and only wants them to be safe.

Joy and Josie remind us of our daughters, Rebecca and Tiffany.  When the girls were growing up, they liked to push the envelope, so to speak, and often times found themselves grounded.  Joy and Josie, the Sparrow children, are very similar.  They continually wander away from the flock, driving their mother crazy.

Hershey and Nomi are our actual cats. We named Sammy the Dalmatian after our oldest daughter’s Dalmatian, actually named Sammy, short for Sammy Sosa.  Becky and Cathy are big-time Cubs fan.

Jill reminds me of Cathy.  She is always concerned about her daughters, just like Jill.  She will do anything in her power to help her daughters.

We invite Facebook followers to help name our characters such as Wanda the Whale and Penelope the Pink Flamingo.  This helps keep our Facebook friends engaged with our books and they have way better imaginations than we do.

I suppose I am similar to Robby.  I hate following people so I guess that means I enjoy leading.  Before retiring, I was a manufacturing manager then a plant manager.  I had a style very similar to Robby.  I tried to encourage others to come up with new ideas and valued their opinions, just like Robby does.

3. What are the titles of your books?

• Robby’s      Quest for Seed
• Robby’s      Quest: Ocean Bound
• Robby’s      Quest: Return of the Cat

4. Can you give me a synopsis of each book?

We try to write about places or cities that we have actually visited in America.  Since I was born in Northeast Ohio, that’s where the first story begins.

Robby’s Quest for Seed.  Robby, his brother Ricky, and their band of feathery friends decide to fly south for the winter.  The birds have a specific feeding and bathing ritual before departing on such a journey.   As they fly south, they stop off at rest areas to eat and relax.  As usual, Robby always takes roll call before departing.  Everything is going well until they realize that Joy, the baby Sparrow, has wandered away from the group.  Jill is frantic and a search part is formed and dispatched.

Meanwhile, Joy lands in the back yard of Hershey, a very mean and hungry cat. Hershey spots Joy and decides to make a snack of her.  As Hershey sneaks up on Joy, Benny and a few others birds, grab Joy and carry her to safety.

Tired and hungry, the birds finally arrive in Florida. They soon realize a hurricane has destroyed their homes.  Sammy the Dalmatian offers a suggestion.  Fly west top Arizona.

Eventually the birds make it to their new sunny winter destination with their Quest for Seed, fulfilled.

Robby’s Quest: Ocean Bound.  When the birds realize the Arizona temperature is going to get too hot, they decide to fly west top the ocean.  There are two new birds to the flock.  Ruby is a very pretty Robin and has become fast friends with Ricky.  Josie is a little Sparrow and is best friends with Joy.

The trip goes very smooth.  As the birds arrive in San Diego, they find a nice park to nest for the summer.  Then the birds split up to investigate the new city.  Ricky and Ruby fly to Coronado Island, one of my personal favorite places.  The Doves visit the pier and meet Sadie the Seagull and her friends.  While at the beach, Joy and Josie fly out to investigate a cruise ship; however, after eating, they fall asleep and wake to find themselves steaming south towards Mexico.

While the searchers look for Joy and Jose, a friendly whale named Wanda offers assistance.  Eventually the ship docks in Mexico and the searchers finally locate their lost friends and family.

Robby’s Quest: Return of the Cat.  The birds decide to take a road trip to Las  Vegas. They have heard about all the wonderful replicas of famous buildings like the Eiffel Tower, Egyptian Pyramids, and skyline of New York City.  The Sparrow birds decide to stay in San Diego while the others head out.

After a spending the night at the Hoover Dam, an incredible sight, the birds stop at Lake Pleasant to take a short break.  Coincidently, the cats from the first book, Hershey and Nomi, are relocating to Nevada and stop at Lake Pleasant.  Hershey spots the tiny birds, goes into attack mode; however, once again, his fiendish plot is spoiled.

When the birds arrive in Las Vegas, they meet Penny the Pink Flamingo who offers the birds a place to sleep, food, and some travel tips.  The following day the birds visit all the sights like the Eiffel Tower, the Stratosphere, and the powerful light beam on top of the Luxor Pyramid.  Comically, Benny the Blackbird attempts creating a Batman silhouette from the light beam.

After dancing over the tops of the water fountains at the Bellagio Hotel, it’s time to say goodbye to Las Vegas and Penny and fly back to San Diego.

5. Who illustrates your books for you?

Daniela Frongia, an illustrator in the U.K., illustrated our books. Daniela is currently working on adding illustrations to our second book.  After that, all three books will be finished.

6. Do you have any projects you are working on now?

We have plans to write five books in this series. Book 4 is about half-finished.  The birds will be flying the coastal route north from San Diego to San Francisco and eventually to the Redwood National Park.  I’m sure there will be some adventures and excitement along their journey.  I think children will enjoy one part where the birds visit an amusement park in Los Angeles and decide to ride a high-speed turbulent roller coaster.  Benny is not a happy Blackbird.

Book 5 will complete the journey, ending back in Ohio, where it all began.  Jill really loves Ohio, her birdfeeder, birdbath and Maple tree, and really wants to go back.

7. Is there anything else you would like to share?

Cathy and I are visiting local hospitals and giving them copies of our books for the children to read.  We hope to continue doing this depending on sales.  We are working social media sites very hard and our reviews have been very good.  We hope our sales will improve over time.

8. Where can people purchase your books?

We sell all three eBooks at Amazon ($0.99) and the paperbacks at Create space. Here are the links to all three books.

Robby’s Quest for Seed

eBook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009V7GZ2K

Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/4257882

Robby’s Quest: Ocean Bound

eBook:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009V7IRL2

Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/4106755

Robby’s Quest: Return of the Cat

eBook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BI0MU4U

Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/4223120

Here are some other important links:

Robby’s Website: www.dcrushbooks.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/dcrushbooks

Twitter Page: www.dcrushbooks.com/twitter

Pinterest Page: http://pinterest.com/dcrushbooks/

Robby’s Blog: http://dcrushbooks.blogspot.com/

Thank you Janice for interviewing us on your blog.  We have enjoyed sharing our stories with you and your followers.

It has been my pleasure, Don & Cathy.  I have enjoyed learning more about you and your writing.   I have to commend you both for your kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity in donating many of your books to hospitals for the children who are there.  I am sure these children are very grateful to you.  Your books bring a little cheer to them in difficult times making their stay in the hospital a little less frightening.  May God bless you!

You are very talented writers and I wish you much success with your beautiful books and hope that you will stop by in the future to let us know how you are doing.

A special thank you to all my followers and new visitors for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed this new installment of my blog as much as I have enjoyed posting it.  Please come back again and read about more talented authors.  The third and next interview will be on  children’s book author, Sabine Goldman Chennault.

REMEMBER:  READING GIVES YOU WINGS TO FLY!