From Bullying to Books with Kevin William Roscoe

For Kevin William Rascoe, bullying and accepting ourselves are big goals for the middle-grade series, The Unusual Life of David Snod.

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Valerie - Welcome to Bookworthy. Today, we're talking with author Kevin William Roscoe about his middle grade series, The Unusual Life of David Snot. This fun series teaches children how to face life's obstacles by weaving biblical truths from Proverbs throughout the story, helping kids find hope in the daily challenges of their lives. Welcome to Bookworthy, Kevin.

Kevin -Thank you, Valerie, for having me.

Valerie -It's good to have you here. It was fun to meet you at a book event in think what Plano, Texas. So that was lots of fun to kind of find some neighbors that are also authors. It was a very interesting experience. Well, thank you. It was a lot of fun just to kind of talk about writing a little bit.

Kevin -Yes, it was very interesting. Yeah. And you did a great interview that day as well.

Valerie -So we will start our conversation with our random question of the week, which is, do you have a favorite sport you like to watch or play?

Kevin - No, I used to, and I grew up watching sports. I'm dating myself in 1976. I started watching basketball and but I got a little too emotional, and I think that was when New England, Sorry, New England fans, when they beat Seattle at that last second, and that interception, and I think I almost cried, and after that, I said no more sports. It's a little too much.

Valerie - It's, it's a lot, like I grew up where basketball, golf, and baseball were constantly on the television at my parents' house and my grandparents' house. And then my husband, his, what, his grandfather was big into sports. And that was kind of one of the things that his mom and dad talked about when raising kids, they didn't want to have a lot of sports. So he came from a family that played sports, but we don't watch sports. And I came from a family where we watched sports.

Kevin - And it's funny, see I should be into it right now because I'm born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Indiana Pacers are in the playoffs. Even though they blew that game the other day. I heard about it, you know. No, you can't you can't

Valerie - Can't win them all, I guess. Too fine. Well, Kevin, tell us a little bit about your book, The Unusual Life of David Snod.

Kevin - Well, a little bit about me. Let me start there. I live in Oak Point, Texas, and that's like maybe like 20 minutes from Frisco, Texas. So I'm married to my wife, my beautiful wife, Carla. And for 16 years, we have had no children. We met a little too late in life. And let's go back to, I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.

And I was raised in a single-parent household. And my mom, it was a Christian household too. And I have a brother and two sisters, and my brother is sort of like the character in the book who loved to tease me and everything like that, which, you know, that's just part of life. And at the same time, my mom was very protected. She didn't know a lot about what was going on, but a little bit. However, she couldn't protect me when I went to school, and I was a very, very small kid, and I was bullied from the age of seven to 14 years old. So, they would just push me down, trip me, and everything like that. And then when I was in first grade, when I got to the seventh grade, oh, just one bully. He would chase me home all the time. He couldn't catch me because I was so fast. So he would get the fastest guys to just catch me, and they would hold me, and he would just hit me in my arm, and I would go home with bruises on my arm a lot. However, my mom didn't know that, and yeah, she does not like hearing this today. But no, no, she, no, no mom would love to hear that. No. So it made me very insecure. But today, you know,

Valerie - No mom would.

Kevin -I have a lot of confidence. So I decided to create a book to help kids overcome their daily challenges by using the creativity that God has given me and God's word, his word, and then also, just my life experiences to help kids overcome those daily challenges. And so the book is about a kid who just wants to fit in. So he wants this shoe to be accepted by his peers. However, his mom can afford it. She's a nurse and it's a single-parent household, but she can still afford it. But she's trying to teach him values that it's not about, you know, what you have. And so it's the bully, Ron Ron, the bully in a book, and He knows that David, in so many words, can't afford the book. It can't afford the shoes. So, he says, okay, if you guys do not get the shoes, he and his buddy, if you don't get the shoes, what I'm going to do is I'm going to create a website and they're going to put all of your clothes that you, your, your discount clothes that you have to wear your clothes that cause they can't wear a name brand brand clothes to mom. She won't buy it. You know, and so he said, I'm going to post, post everything that you wear on this website. I'm a creative website just for you guys. And I have all of the

students to comment on. So he has to come up with this shoe, and he's given them 14 days. Yeah. To get the shoe. Think it was 14 days. I write so much. I do apologize. And this story now is like, what, nine years old? What book is? Yeah, it's been a while. And then, he has to come up with something in order to come up with the shoes, and until his uncle comes into his life and he doesn't know this is going on. However, he used biblical principles, especially the book of Proverbs, because he knew something was going on in school. His uncle does something in order for David to overcome this hurdle in his life. And, I really love that story. It's still, it's a little bit about my life, but it's really like 90, maybe 95 % over; it is fictional. Yeah. Yeah, it's coming from a life experience.

Valerie - But it comes from life experience. And so you kind of, you were that David Snod character for a little bit. And so to take that experience and to help kids work through what they can be going through. I know one of my sons, it was third grade when bullying started, and I was just, my mind was blown because I mean, I was bullied a bit in middle school, but I don't think anybody escapes middle school without a few scars. But it was like just to be third grade, these cute little kids being so mean, and it was hard to watch as a mom. But the harder thing was to equip your kids to stand up for themselves, to not take people's words to heart, to know who they are and what they stand for. And that's what matters, rather than what the random kid down the street says.

Kevin - Yeah. And, I probably would have gotten a speech like that if I had told my mom about it. See. So, the thing about kids, they don't talk to their parents a lot. Sometimes they do, you know, but for the most part, I was someone who read my book. It was my wife's cousin who read my book. And then the older daughter was in college at that time. She told her mom, she's like That's funny. I was bullied in school. And the mom said, I didn't know that.

Valerie- Yeah. It's one of those things is building that pecking order is like part of human nature, unfortunately. And it happens more than we want to admit. And the more that we bring it to the surface, the more we talk about it with our kids, about our own experiences, about, you know, creating that open communication, it's important to give them the tools to work. Through those things, to know that their identity is not in what these bullies and these kids say, but their identity is in what God says about them.

Kevin -You're exactly right. That's funny. I was going to say something like that. Yeah. And then also, I would like to say the main character stutters, and I wanted to give him so many obstacles to overcome because I used to stutter as a kid. I did. I forgot to bring that up. And it was when I was scared or if I'm very excited about something, but most of my friends today, when I bring that up, that I grew up with, and they were like, I didn't never knew, I knew that. It's because I was very, you know, I was comfortable with them, but if I'm around somebody that I'm not comfortable with and then I stuttered. So, I wanted to, and how I came in, I don't want to get ahead. So go ahead. No, you thought to ask me other questions.

Valerie - You're good. You're good. It's just keep talking. You're fine. Now, what do you hope now with the first book, you kind of focus on David and the shoe, what do the other Books in the series kind of focus on

Kevin -Book two is about how he found what he knows who his father is and the parents they were married to. However, he has a well, they were dead, you know. And so I know there are so many kids out there who have fathers like that. And so I wanted to address that, you know, where is his father? So his uncle was working on a house, because I wrote this stuff so long ago. I had to think about it. Had to go back and listen to the first one because I have it on audiobook, the first book, so I had to go back and listen to it. But the second book. What happened is that the uncle was working on the house, and then David was helping him. Just, you know, a little helper. And he went, and they went to this house, and the father was living there. So he wanted to impress his father, and he knew that his father loves sports. And the brother is great at sports. So he's trying to join a team just to impress his father. And it's hilarious, though. And I sprinkle these stories with humor because that's just part of me. And, but it's hilarious. He's trying to make a team, and his friend and, but the uncle tells him that don't try to impress your father on this earth, but impressed the heavenly father by the way you live in by using and by living by the word of God. was something like that, but I just loved that story. And so much that one. Then, so that's book two, and then you want me to go out to book three?

Valerie - Well, I love how you have inserted a lot of humor and little jokes and even just the relationship between the brothers that, you know, bring some levity to the hard topic of our identity, what we stand for, what we work for, you know, and, you know, but who do we try to impress, whether, you know, try to impress someone that we are related to or somebody that we respect or want respect from And so it is just neat how you integrated that so well to be humorous, lighthearted, and a fun book to read, but also hitting on these heavy handed points that many kids in every city are dealing with for sure. Well, kind of what do you hope kids walk away with when they read your books?

Kevin- Well, I want them to be inspired and to know that trying to impress friends and trying to gain materialistic items is not going to satisfy you. So what's going to satisfy you is to get Jesus Christ in your life and build a relationship with him, and know that you are made in the image of the heavenly father. And that's what's going to satisfy you. Because if you can incorporate that into that child's life, you know, when they're a child, when they grow up, man, life is it will be much easier, you know.

Valerie -I think I heard a quote recently that said, if I can remember it, it's just, you should be the one telling your kid that they're wonderful all the time, so that they'll never be able to think of they're anything else. And so it was just to be a reminder kids that you are valued, you're important, you're unique and created for a wonderful purpose that God knows and just to, repeat, repeat, repeat those things in our kids' lives from a young age, then once they grow up, they won't be as swayed by that mean boss or that, you know, the bullies that find us in adult life too.

Kevin - Yeah, they do. Know, bullies, they've been around forever. You look at Pharaoh with Moses, that was a bully. You look at Goliath, another bully, you know. So, bullies, it seemed like they just won't go away. Because I talk to young kids and they say, and I tell them what I went through, and it's just the same thing. It's just, you know, different objects, you know, that they can have to impress their friends and all that. So things are, you know, it's about the same.

Valerie - In the first book, you talk about building a website and introducing a little bit of cyberbullying. What made you want to bring that element into the books?

Kevin - So kids can relate to it today because, are so many words, you can't get away with a lot of the physical stuff today. Heard they have a, you know, a greater eye on that in school. That's why I heard, you know, a little bit, but they can still sneak it in back then. See, my era, I grew up in the seventies and eighties. Lord. It was just so easy because they would like, we were walking to school. And they would just, yeah, they could just, after school, there is no monitoring. And boy, you're in trouble. You know.

Valerie - It's neat to see how school districts have worked with the kids who have struggled with bullying. Like, what could we do differently? I know in our school district, when we had to deal with bullies with one of my sons, it was neat to give kids the tools to communicate with the principal. I think that was one of the things we have, like a bully four-word-one form where the kids could be on their Chromebook and type in this form, and for my son, it was such a good feeling that he could advocate for himself. He typed in, and this kid was repetitively kicking him. Like he hit send, and within five minutes, there was a phone call to the teacher. The kids were taken down to the office. It was talked through, mediated, and worked out. It was just neat to see how quickly they can respond and are willing to stand up for kids.

Kevin - Okay. And there was another reason why I use cyberbullying, because with social media, of course, in my era, there was no social media. Now this is a mental thing because they can get you with the cyberbullying outside of school, outside of the school. So what, what are you going to do then? You know, because they can easily, okay, I accept you as a friend. I accept you as a friend, but no, you're not accepted as a friend.

And we call that in sales. Mean, sales, it's called people moving what they have to lose. Now they had to gain more of it. So it's called fear of loss. So when they use that on them, boy, if you're mentally tough and have the word of God in you, man, you're gonna, you know, well, let's invite so-and-so to this party when you get them around about 10th grade, but I'm not inviting you.

Valerie - Yep, that can play games with your brain.

Kevin - Yeah, they can play games with your brain. So that's why I incorporated cyberbullying, because I know they do. I'm pretty sure I don't even have to talk. I don't even have to talk to anyone. I just know that's what they're doing.

Valerie - Kevin, did you always want to be an author?

Kevin - No, I tell you what, when I saw Star Wars, I'm dating myself over and over when I saw Star Wars, the first one. Okay. Okay. All right. That's all Star Wars. I think it was 1977. Is that correct? When it first came out, I saw it at the movies, and something told me this is what you're supposed to do now, because when I wrote the unusual life of David Snot, I wrote it like a TV series. That's why I episode one, episode two, episode three, because life is pretty much an episode. And I wrote it like, I wrote it like a TV series. Set it up, and I said, one day I want it to be a Christian TV series. Okay. All right. So, did I always want to be an author? So I forgot all about it after the Star Wars thing, you know, I didn't think more about it. I used to draw as a kid. So I guess you're using the same side of your brain. So what happened is, my mom was reading. No, I tell you what, I started out writing poems in 1997. Okay, and then I started writing greeting cards for my family members when it was like a birthday or something like that. And then my mom was reading James Patterson's novels, which I don't promote anything like that right now. I don't read any of that anymore. Any of that. And so I still loved mystery back then.

So she said, You ought to try reading his novels. And she said, You probably can write, you know, and I read it, and I started writing, and then I was writing this mystery. So what happened is, I don't want to get ahead of you, but I think this goes along with it. It all connects. What happened? I had started,

Um, my wife was I married to her at that time? Yes, I was. I was married to her at that time. Um, but let's go back a little bit. I used to be in Toastmasters, and I was, yeah, I was in it for only like about six months, and it was just, I was moving so fast in it, and I used to win all the time. I ended up winning the trophy within a month. So what happened is they had something there. Have you ever been to Toastmasters?

Valerie - I haven't, no.

Kevin - In Toastmasters, they're going to help you develop your public speaking skills. Okay. So they would give you something called table talk topics. They would give you a word, and you had to come up with a speech on something off the top of your head. And you have about five minutes to do it. Like two minutes, I think it's like two minutes. And what I used to do I used to come up with this, the story about my childhood, but I will make it humorous.

And I would have everybody laugh, and I used to win all the time. So I used to take that story home to my mom was living with me at that time. And she was babysitting my niece, my three-year-old niece. And I should tell her that story, you know, and she's fallen in love with this story. And she was like, Kevin, tell me another, I'm going to say the real bullies. Have to say that. I'm going to say this character's name, Ron Ron story, tell me another Ron Ron story. And over and over, she would tell. So my wife, at that time, we were dating. Yeah. And she heard, and she found it in my niece loved this story. So once we got married and I was still working on this one story, this mystery. And my wife said, You, you needed to do something for kids, and get rid of that and write something that's going to help kids by using the word of God and everything like that. And I was like, no, no. I was like, I'm a mystery writer and I don't know about know how to write a children's book. You know, I love mystery. So she told me that for maybe a couple of years. And then one day, I woke up in the middle of the night, and God woke me up. He gave me this story. And I just woke up, and I just started writing it and writing this story. And at that time, it was the humerus, the humerus life of David Snot.

But one editor told me it fits about bullying. It's not a good idea to put the humorous life of David. So I changed it to the unusual life for David's not because he has an unusual nose. I won't give him something to overcome. His friend had unusual acne at the age of 12. And then, yeah, I know the poor guy and his brother, but his brother is unusually big for age 16, and his sister is doing something unusual by protecting him. And she's only eight years old, and David is 12. And she acts like his bodyguard, which I love that character.

Valerie - We all know a little Spitfire that's going to rule the world.

Kevin - Yes. Yes. So I became pretty much I became an author, you know, that way, you know.

Valerie - I love how God kind of spurred your interest at a young age, but peppered it throughout your life to kind of lead you towards writing your heart.

Kevin -He sure did. Yeah, he sure did. And that is my heart now, you know. So it's amazing how that works, you know. Yeah, he's kind of good at that. So one day I really, yes. So one day I want to have it as a TV series, as I mentioned earlier, and then it will happen. I think it will.

Valerie - It's a really sweet story and it connects with a lot of kids and what they're going through daily and you know to equip our kids to believe in themselves and you know to be to persevere through the hard things is something every parent wants to give their kids for certain. Now, Kevin, what's your favorite book?

Kevin - My favorite book is Personality Plus. This is not a fiction. Have you ever heard of that?

Yeah, personality plus. She was a Christian lady, and she wrote a book. I used to be a multi-level marketer years ago, and I did pretty well at it. And I changed my whole personality for it because I was an outgoing person, and man, the stuff that they put you through, and we had some tough leaders, and it was like a boot camp throughout the entire week every week for five and a half years. Yeah, it was tough, but it was a blessing in disguise. And what did you ask me, though? Well, I it. Couldn't tell that quickly. OK, yes, they used to say focus on personalities, and there are four personalities that God gave everybody. I mean, everybody gave you at least one or two of them. So she didn't give them the names that I'm about to say, but Motel of Mark and they give them, what a group that was in they gave them this name. So it was like a dolphin, a whale shark, and an urchin. A dolphin is a person who loves having fun. And I'm going to bring this back to my books and how it helps. I love having fun, and I never meet a stranger. Okay. And then a shark is a leader. Okay. They normally. That can be domineering sometimes, but we need leaders as well. Okay. And then you have a whale. Love helping people. Urchin is a very analytical person. It's not only people, they are IT or something like an analog of computers or something like that. So we had to know people in sales and people in sales who understand what I'm talking about. You have to know that to close a person, you have to be able to relate to them. So it became my favorite book. Because I just love human beings, and I read it about four times. And what happened is that in that book, like for the dolphin, they give all the characteristics of the individual. And I use that to create my characters. If I want my character to be a part of this, you know, say a dolphin in a well, let's say a person who loves having fun and helping people. And I look at that list. Okay. My character needs to be this, this, this, this, and this.

Valerie - I love looking at different personality types and Meyers Briggs, and yeah, all the different ones to create characters because we are multifaceted people. We're not just one-sided. And I love that your favorite book, yours, has really brought a lot of life into your characters for certain.

Kevin - I love it. Yes, that's what it stems from. Let me say this. The way she ended that book was beautiful. Wish I had in front of me a word-for-word, but she said Jesus Christ was, he was a balance of all of them. He was a shark. He was a, which is a leader. He was a great leader. He was a whale. He loved helping people. He was a dolphin. Dolphins love telling stories. And he was urgent. He was a very analytical individual in order to help individuals and see who needed the right help. But the way she said it was just beautiful. Yeah.

Valerie - I kind of was a was all things to all people because it was just, yeah. He, when he served the need of the person that was there, just like you do in sales, you close, close the deal because you lean into the person that you're trying to help. So I think Jesus was a lot like that, and he could see our personalities perfectly. So you can see how to relate to everyone of us, which I love. Well, Kevin, what can we expect next from you?

Kevin - I'm going to release a book number four, and let me say about book number three, book number three is about lying and the biblical consequences of lying. And it can cause a lot of chaos. And that's what she did in that book. It was a little girl lying. And that story is hilarious. That was like, it was so funny. I mean, you can't stop laughing in that book in book number three. So, book number four. I'm going to release and maybe I'm going to release it this year. And it's about David. He wants to go trick or treating in a scary outfit. And his mom is totally against that. If you're going to participate in that, in Halloween, in trick or treating, you have to wear a quote unquote good costume, something like that. So his uncle comes up with the idea. His uncle is totally against it. We shouldn't be celebrating or participating in that holiday at all. So he plants a seed in the mom's where maybe we shouldn't be participating in. However, at the same time, she thinks about it. So the uncle comes up with an idea. He gives him this Moses costume. Man, the kids and everything. But anyway, his brother, when he puts the costume on, it's just hilarious. That's another great story. I love that story, too. And so it's about, you know, should we participate in Halloween being a Christian?

Valerie - It is an interesting conversation because they're even within one church, people can fall on both sides of the fence on that topic. So it's an interesting thing to get people thinking about the implications and how they're, them as a family or them as a child are going to, you know, step into this space where you don't want to feel left out, but you want, don't want to go against your own beliefs too. So that's an interesting take on the Halloween conundrum, I guess.

Kevin - Yeah. And yes. So the next thing I'm doing is I'm working on an entirely different series. And actually, I think it's going to be an, I, the way I'm writing it, it's about birds, and that's how I'm going to say, and it's going to be an animation one day. And I see it on the big screen, the way I'm writing this one. Um, that's just the way I think, uh, I think God has big things for me and using his word to get it out. And it's going to be a great story too. So,

Valerie - That sounds very exciting. Can't wait to hear more.

Kevin - Yes, it's going to be great.

Valerie - Well, Kevin, where can people find out more about you and your books?

Kevin - Well, I'm not big on social media at this moment. I'm still working on that. So you can go to my website, Children's Book | Inspirational Stories | Kevin William Rascoe. And you can buy my book. It will take you to Amazon if you click on it, and you can listen to like a five-minute sample of my audiobook as well. The first one is an audiobook. And on our audiobook, the narrator, was his name? Prescott Scott, man. Did an awesome job. Did all the characters change their voice, man? He's awesome. Yeah. He did an awesome job.

Valerie - It's great to have that other option for kids who have reading difficulties, allowing them to listen to the same story their friends are reading, too. So that's neat that you were able to do that. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Kevin.

Kevin - Thank you for having me, Valerie. I truly appreciate the invite.

Valerie - It is my pleasure. And thank you for joining Kevin and me on this episode of the Bookworthy Podcast. Check the show notes for any books or links that we discussed, and let us know in the comments if you have a favorite sport you'd like to watch or play. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review so we can discover more great books together.

Happy reading.