“Henry Molnar and Murray Applebaum shared a secret so strong and powerful that neither ever dared to consider revealing the truth it contained.” – The Bastard’s Inheritance
From the Publisher: “In the 1970s, in western Pennsylvania, a multi-millionaire’s singularly selfish decision destines his two sons, half-brothers, to wage war in a winner-take-all battle for the family legacy…”
About the Author: “Dennis Roth is always stretching his boundaries and does the same for his friends, readers and fictional characters. This has led to a remarkable life. When he becomes an expert in a field, he moves directly off to another. After earning an engineering degree from MIT, he founded what has become one of the largest structural engineering firms on the east coast of the US.
He retired young and lived with his wife on-board their 35-foot sailboat, Second Wind, in the Caribbean. After enjoying a thousand of magnificent sunsets and then burying the anchor, he moved to watercolor painting. His innate skills blossomed into beautiful, nationally shown and awarded landscapes and seascapes. These he exhibited and sold in his art gallery, Studio Phase 3.
Since 2012 he has dedicated his creative energies to writing poems and stories which in addition to being published in journals and magazines, have been collected in his two chapbooks, ‘Reflections & Other Musings‘ and ‘Harry & Other Stories.’ And now he has created ‘The Bastard’s Trilogy’ anchored by the new novel The Bastard’s Inheritance…”
Your book is set primarily in Western Pennsylvania in the 1970s. Why did you choose this time period and location?
I frequently write about the mid-twentieth century, a coming-of-age time for me, but more importantly, because even by the late ‘70s computers/iPhones/the internet had not so completely invaded our lives and society. It’s the end of the age when life moved more slowly with less complexity. The electronic age grew so quickly, that it can be difficult to have the appropriate devices available for a particular date. That problem is resolved by starting and ending before the ‘80s. I grew up about 30 miles from the town upon which fictitious Parkerton, PA was modeled. I knew the area very well. That familiarity gave me the material to realistically describe places, events and weather.
When you began writing The Bastard’s Inheritance, was your focus on the characters or the plot?
I like to read and write character driven stories. I start with a general idea of a couple of characters, put them in a simple setting, and let them talk. As they get to know each other, I get to know them. I begin to see how their lives have evolved and where they might be going. In The Bastard’s Inheritance, I wanted some obvious built-in conflict and what better source than two siblings. That morphed into two brothers, then two half-brothers, then one was illegitimate and from another country. Their conversations, their ways of thinking and what they think about guided me. I found out early on that their father was very wealthy, that the mother of the illegitimate son had a genetic disease that killed her while he was very young. And so on. The story developed out of the needs and wants of the character as they revealed themselves to me.
Tell us something funny about one of your characters.
I’d been working on The Bastard’s Inheritance for about 2 years and knew the characters very well. One of them, Murray Applebaum, is an attorney with some personal legal and ethical dilemmas. One evening my wife and I were at a cocktail party where we were chatting with two or three other couples. One of them started to tell her story of an attorney friend of hers who had troubles with the law and his profession. I started to say, “I have a friend like that,” when I realized it wasn’t a friend I was thinking of. It was my character, Murray.
Were you surprised by the behavior of any of your characters or the direction of your plot at any point while writing?
This answer is about Murray, too. To escape his troubles, he heads off in his sailboat. He encounters terrible storms, the death of a crewmate overboard, problems with Haitian privateers and more. But after all, it didn’t fit in the book and half a dozen chapters had to be cut.
If you could give advice to new authors, what would you say?
Read, read and then read. In between, write and write. Avoid television and your iPhone. They are vicious time sinks. Try not to self-edit until your first draft is complete. Self-editing is a time sink, too. Get your ideas on paper and then, as Stephen King has said, edit your shitty first draft. Finally, no matter what, don’t give up.
From the Publisher: "In this “smart, irreverent secret history” (Stewart O’Nan) Sewickley set novel by highly praised Pittsburgh native author Anna Read more
New York, NY — The Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP), the national nonprofit organization that for 58 years Read more
From the Publisher: "Imagine that you are a child who was born in a large family, and during your childhood, Read more
From Mt. Lebanon Magazine by way of Facebook: "On February 18, the Mt. Lebanon Public Library Board of Trustees passed Read more
Littsburgh's founder Rachel Ekstrom Courage (now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author!) recently stopped by KDKA to Read more
"The Drue Heinz Literature Prize recognizes and supports writers of short fiction and makes their work available to readers around Read more
"Applications are now open for Read Local Eat Local 2025! This is event is on Saturday, September 6, from 11 Read more
PITTSBURGH, PA – It’s time to book your spot! Registration for the 2025 Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is officially Read more
From the Publisher: "The Mackenzies and the Flahertys, two of the founding families of Port Kenneth, TN, have been feuding Read more
"The Northern Appalachia Review welcomes submissions of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction written about, representing, or engaging with the experience of Read more
But this too is true: stories can save us The writer Tim O’Brien calls storytelling an essential human activity. "The Read more
"'Where do you end and I begin?' is the question which haunts Shaheen Dil’s remarkable memoir-in-poems. Dil’s journey is at Read more
"A poignant memoir exploring small town baseball as a lens into what’s right and wrong with modern America—written by an Read more
City of Asylum Pittsburgh and International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) collaborate to present 30+ free,transformational events over 4 days Read more
"From New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and Courtney Sheinmel comes a historical adventure about a young girl plucked Read more
From the Publisher: "It’s Anny’ s first day of middle school and, after years of being homeschooled, her first day Read more
"A light snow fell on January 30, 2005, a typical cold Pittsburgh winter morning. Inside Calvary, the congregation had gathered Read more
We are so excited to help spread the word about the excellent Woolly Bear Books and Gifts in Carnegie, PA Read more
"If you have considered applying to the CBWR, or have applied in the past and not been selected, this remote, Read more
We're happy to share that Pittsburgh's International Poetry forum is sharing their latest events and performances on YouTube, where you Read more
