By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
When Larned's Rob Munden is not playing pickleball, he's still thinking about pickleball. Now four-plus years of labor are paying off with Munden's first novel, "Peanut Butter Pickleball and Murder." The established playwright has a logical reason for writing the book.
"The reason I decided to write my first novel is I went on Amazon to look for a novel about pickleball, and I couldn't find one," he said. "I said, ah heck, I'll just write my own. I thought if I can't find a pickleball novel, I'll just write the pickleball novel."
Munden graduated from Hoisington High School, Barton Community College, and Fort Hays State University before settling back in the area in Larned. More than 30 of his plays have been produced or had special readings throughout Kansas, Minnesota, and Florida. Writing a novel, he said, is quite different than writing a play.
"The biggest difference is, with a play, I'm really limited to what I can do on a stage," said Munden. "So what people can see on the stage, and the number of characters, obviously, is limited to what can be put on a stage. Whereas a novel is so expansive, I can put as many characters and people, any place in the world. That's the biggest difference. I thought it would make it easier, but it actually makes it harder. You have a lot more people and places to keep track of during the book."
