Peter Rosch
Author Interview - Peter Rosch
Author of What the Dead Can Do
A young child’s fate is at stake in a deadly battle between his deceased parents in this gripping and profoundly original psychological thriller, perfect for fans of What Have You Done and Middle of the Night.
When a commercial flight crashes, all 184 people on board perish—with the singular exception of a two-year-old boy named Ethan, who’s entrusted to family friends Matthew and Nicole per his late parents’ wishes.
From the afterlife, Ethan’s parents, Tag and Amanda, watch helplessly as Nicole’s secret addictions, the family’s financial struggles, and the public’s fascination with their story ignite events that threaten their son’s welfare.
Soon, Amanda’s grief turns into an insidious obsession: Ethan belongs with her and no one else, and she sets out to reunite with her son by any means possible—including killing Ethan herself.
After Amanda learns how to possess the living, only Tag stands in her way. He must protect his child, even if the consequences of his actions mean he may never see his wife or son again.
What the Dead Can Do is a dark, psychological, speculative thriller tinged with horror, destined to keep readers’ minds spinning long after the final page.
Author Interview - Peter Rosch
Author I draw inspiration from:
Too many to list but here’s a few:
Johnny Compton, The Spite House
Samantha Schweblin, Fever Dream
Joe Hill, Heart Shaped Box
Elle Nash, Deliver Me
Samantha Kolesnik, Waif
S.A. Barnes, Dead Silence
Clive Barker, Gabino Igleasias, C.J. Tudor, Cormac McCarthy, Zoje Stage, Cynthia Pelayo
My list is endless to be honest!
Author Interview - Peter Rosch | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
Any hammock or adjustable lounger on or near any beach on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
The unnamed narrator in Charlene Elsby’s Psychros or Hexis. No idea how it’d play out, maybe that’s the draw—could be good, could be bad. That I know what she’s been through and been thinking—and maybe has done, because I was never too sure—in no way helps determine what will come of our own elevator meeting. But you only get a handful of these stuck-in-elevator experiences in your life—PLEASE don’t waste it on Holden Caufield. Anyway, though the narrator has no name, I really think we’d hit it off. Or she’d kill me. Exciting either way!
Author Interview - Peter Rosch | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I’ve never not liked writing. I love words and language and stories.
I’ve been telling stories in one way or another since as far back as I can remember.
I am an author, but more than that, I’m a writer. Could be a Craigslist ad and I’ll enjoy it.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Love them all because each has its place in my life.
Hardback when I’m at home and have the time to sit proper on a chair or couch to read.
Paperback for planes and beaches and vacations, in general. They weigh less and stuff well.
eBook for the books I’m already reading because I find it easiest to navigate while in bed.
Audiobooks. Love them, how did I ever drive anywhere without them? But if I start a book and don’t like the voice, I’ll grab another format because at times a voice just doesn’t work for me.
The last book I read:
The Nightly Disease by Max Booth III. I loved it. Dark, real, yet surreal… typical Max Booth III.
Author Interview - Peter Rosch | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer. Pen and paper for notes. My own process involves writing a story in my head for a long, long time. Living with it and inevitably forgetting parts of it. I don’t recommend that process. I’ll start chapters here and there on the computer to try and hold onto some of the ideas. As I get older, I am becoming more acutely aware of the folly of my ways. I’d like to try and write an entire manuscript by hand at some point, but it will require a ton of Advil, I imagine.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Ma Moore, the grandmother in Joan Sampson’s The Auctioneer. She is of the land, she is connected to her land and tradition (unconstructively at times, but nonetheless, I relate). As I read that book, I imagined teaming up with Ma Moore to put an end to Perly Dunsmore’s con much faster. She reminded me a bit of my own grandmother, who didn’t suffer fools gladly.
Author Interview - Peter Rosch | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Landscape architect. May still give that a go at some point. My brain might be happiest behind a computer or reading a good book, but my body and soul really most enjoy and thrive being outside and interacting with the land, soil, rocks, animals, insects, and plants of the world.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I think my body frame lends itself pretty well to post-WWI men’s fashion, specifically the way the men dress in Peaky Blinders. I suspect if I put that very fashion on tomorrow it’d work out pretty well for me, even one-hundred years later. I’m fascinated by clothes that must have been uncomfortably warm most of the time. That I tend to like things that torture me should make that fascination no surprise. I also think we’ve all become slovenly. Don’t get me started on airports.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I’m going to go a little fantasy with this: I very much long to be on a ship in the 1880s in the arctic as a grunt. I do not know why. I’m ready to take orders and face unsurmountable odds during a time when scurvy was prevalent. I am certain that if granted this experience, I’ll regret it, and yet I pine to be on a ship at that time to see if I can survive and prove myself worthy.
My signature drink:
As of late, pickle juice shots. I’ve come to really believe in its powers. Thanks, Mom.
Favorite artist:
Sylvia Plath. Can we do the stuck-in-the-elevator thing with her instead? Please?
Number one on my bucket list:
I’d really like to try acting in a stage play. I acted in junior high and quite enjoyed it. Auditioning at my community theater has been heavy on my mind as of late.
Anything else you'd like to add:
AI is death. Not actually, but basically. Maybe I’m being extreme. Not a fan, though.
Find more from the author:
IG (@Peterrosch): https://www.instagram.com/peterrosch/
FACEBOOK (@PeterRosch): https://www.facebook.com/peterrosch
THREADS (@PeterRosch): https://www.threads.com/@peterrosch
BLUESKY (Peterrosch.bksy.social): https://bsky.app/profile/peterrosch.bsky.social
About Peter Rosch:
Author Interview with Peter Rosch
Peter Rosch is the author of multiple dark fictions born from the various addictions he chased while living in New York City as an award-winning writer and creative director. He’s many years sober now but remains an addict’s addict. WHAT THE DEAD CAN DO is his debut novel.
Peter grew up in the Southwest, lived in New York for nearly 20 years, and now resides midway between Austin and San Antonio in Wimberley, TX where he works as an author, freelance creative director and copywriter in advertising, and most importantly, full-time dad.
