BBB: What inspired you to become a writer?
DCR: Looking back, the first inklings of becoming a writer came when I was a young teen. I had a vivid imagination, where all these thoughts and storylines would just come to me. However, it wasn’t until much later in life that I actually began to write. My writing started out as a hobby, but soon grew into a passion to share the messages in my stories with the youth of today. I wanted to create stories where youth would be entertained, yet draw character building aspects from the storylines.

DCR: The Plush Bear is actually based upon true events when my wife and I first started to date. As the Valentine’s holiday approached, I thought to send her a gift. The florist shop had a sale on plush bears which said “I love you” written on the front. Thinking it was too early in the relationship to be saying, “I love you”, I opted for a bear which was plain on the front. However, on our Valentine’s date, I found out she never received her gift. As a believer in God’s intervention and guardian angles, I humorously resolved that the error by the florist shop must have been an angel who intervened. My thought process was, had the florist shop sent her the plush bear which said, “I love you” written on it, it could have caused her to back off our relationship. This spawned the idea for The Plush Bear.
BBB: Tell us about your character, David?
DCR: David (your hero in the story) is a young man in his early twenties. His life revolves around his family and friends from his church’s college and career group. In mishap fashion he meets Linda (your heroine) where David comes to her rescue, and immediately sparks fly between them. David soon finds out that Linda has some trust issues, due to a painful breakup where her boyfriend cheated on her. David shows his understanding by not pressuring her on moving too quickly, and allows Linda time to work through her insecurities. However, David is unaware that one of his best friends, a girl from his college and career group, also has feelings for him. This culminates where Linda sees David and this other girl, in what she thinks, is a romantic moment between them – thus destroying her trust in him. While keeping to his beliefs that God will made a way, David’s character stays stalwart in trying to prove to Linda his trustworthiness.
BBB: What do you think readers will remember most about The Plush Bear?
DCR: A fun aspect to this story, is the plush bear itself which is being directed by “The Peddler.” The Peddler, who you figure out is an angel, places the plush bear into the lives of the characters at key moments. As this little bear makes his way into the lives of all the characters, it has a way of revealing the motives within each of these person’s lives. I think readers will find this a fun and interesting aspect to the overall story.

JCR: It seems like all my projects are coming to fruition all at once. Besides the release of The Plush Bear, the first book in The Fuller Creek Series is due out in September 2013. This is a youth, action and adventure series. I have also just released another young adult novella titled: April Showers; available as an eBook. The book I am currently working on is titled: The Ultimate Gamer. It deals with a young teen’s obsession with video gaming, where he finds it is affecting his grades, as well as destroying the relationships around him.