Ask Sara - A reader / writer Q&A with David Horning

In hopes of getting to know you better every so often I pull a name from a hat and ask the person to tell me three things about themselves and then ask me three question. Today David Horning is in the spotlight.

So David what will you share and what will you ask?

My roots:

I'm a Native of Oregon -- That is, I was born here and have lived here all of my seventy years. I was raised, until I went to my first grade of school, on my grandfather's homestead., in the central part of Oregon. During that time we had no electricity and I grew to appreciate those who toil and produce with mainly their bare hands. Many do not know, because of Oregon's renown for its amount of rainfall, that the part of the State which lies west of the Cascade Mountains is hot, and dry. The area known as Central Oregon is arid and during the summer can be quite hot while often bitter cold during the winter. It reminds me of the dryer parts of Greece.

Marriage and Family:

I am married to my wonderful wife of 50 years, Sandy and I have 3 grandchildren and a 4th on the way. Together we have traveled to Greece several times and have friends in Nafplio, near where Sara lives. One of our favorite places on earth is Hydra Island (Orino Island, in the Greek Village Series).

Other loves:

My greatest love, besides my wife and family, is doing just about anything creative. My hobbies include watercolor and/or soft pastel painting; photography and writing. I participate in a fabulous writers group, with whom Sandy and I meet every Friday, to read, share and critique what we have written during the prior week.

And here is what David asked me:

Why you live where you do:

When did you first visit Greece; what led you there and why did you choose the Argolida area of the Peloponnesus in which to settle and live?

I first visited Greece on holiday. My friends had booked a two week package to Crete and I tagged along and slept o their floor. But my flight returned after a week and I did not want to leave. I felt I had come home when I was on Crete. But I took my flight and arrived back in the UK to pouring rain. The downpour was so hard the coach that took me from the airport along the motorway to my home was travelling at ten miles per hour the visibility was so poor.

I alighted from the coach and I intended to run through the splashing rain to the station to get the train I needed to my little Yorkshire Village, but my feet took me back to the travel agents. The next day found me back in Crete, much to the surprise of my friends. But this time I had a tent and it was I who waved them goodbye the next week, and I stayed until I ran out of money.

Since then I have lived in Athens, Galatas, Aegina and finally settled in Nafplion. I considered living in Hydra and went to look at several houses there, houses that are now ten times the price they were when I started looking! But I wondered if island life might become just a little too insular for me, as an outsider. I think Nafplion was the place I put my roots party because it was so pretty but mostly for practical purposes; it seemed big enough to hold my interest and near enough to Athens if I needed a ‘city’ fix and only an hour and a half from the airport.

About your writing process:

What part of writing is the most difficult for you? For example: Do you write and rewrite and maybe even re-write again before your satisfied with your story? Your characters are often complex and one of my favourite parts about your writing - do you find developing these characters a challenge?

I start with a vague plot around a character. It is usually very small, like a dream half remembered, and I spend time trying to catch more of it, to make it solid. When I do I try to create its form, I see the ending but then the aspects of the character begin to define what could and could not happen to them. For example a shy character is unlikely to talk to a stranger at a bar, and an over confident extrovert is unlikely to say they need someone’s help. So the character begins to guide my ideas.

The first chapter or two takes several days to write and re-write as I am not only starting a story, but also trying to capture a mood, to let the reader know enough about the character and generally set the stage. This part is a struggle and even though I am excited to begin a new tale I always wish bit was easier.

Once I have begun I have a rule: “Do not read over.” If I look back I become stuck in a loop of writing and rewriting and there can be no end, I would never consider it perfect. One of the idioms I came across in my psychotherapy training was: if in doubt of your abilities remember that you only have to be ‘good enough.’ as your role is an enabler, you cannot do the job for the clients, this they must do themselves. So I have taken this thinking into my story writing. I am not trying to create ‘Great Literature', but instead to share wonderful uplifting stories that allow the reader to slip into a positive place if they wish to and, hopefully, in this way the books make the world a slightly happier place.

As for developing the characters I think this is my drive. I have always felt that I do not understand the world as others seem to and so my quest has always been to try to figure out how other people work, to really understand them. The book I am currently writing, from this aspect, is quite difficult. I feel I share nothing personally with the character and so I am having to work hard and think deeply about how his motivations and thoughts are connected.

As I continue to write I find that starting a new book is more and more like taking on a new counselling client. I have to assess whether I have the reserves of energy to take on the new ‘client/character’, and whether I can truly love them no matter what they have done or will do in the story, because if I do not love them then how can the reader be expected to?

Future Holidays:

When you travel to the United States, will you come to Oregon and look us up? We would love to show you around our marvelous state.

I so want to come to the USA. I am not only driven to see your country but I also want to meet so many people I have been talking to for so long on social media. However being the character that I am the last thing I want to do is disappoint anyone and I am afraid I suspect that my books are far more interesting than I am, as I can be quite shy at times, and in truth, perhaps rather boring!


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