Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Interview with Joshua Dobbs Author of "Solo Elite: The Great Awakening"

Book Title: Solo Elite: The Great Awakening
Author: Joshua Dobbs           
Genre: Fiction-Fantasy-Adventure
Available format[s]: eBook, Paperback
B&N link:

Brief summary:
Robin has battled illnesses her entire life and continues to struggle to find her purpose in the small town of Davilla Texas. Through unseen events Robin is casted into a world where thousands of people dwell in sickness. Men who are called the Swine are order by their king La Cinder to overtake the people and devour their hope of healing.  Robin soon discovers that she is the savior to the people according to their prophecy. La Cinder and his men capture Robin and use her to discourage and shake the foundation of the people but unbeknownst to them Robin has led an entire army waiting in the wings for the right moment to attack.

Excerpt from chapter four:

The leaves that had fallen and turned browned crunched and crackled beneath our feet as we walked through the woods. Teddy swung at the branches above, knocking down the few green leaves and some dead branches, sometimes nearly missing my head. “Teddy, watch out,” I said.
“Oh, sorry,” Teddy said, stopping and slowly lowering his arm.
We continued walking while the cool breeze whispered through the dead autumn limbs as they swayed back and forth, as if it were calling to us, “This way. This way.” As we walked deeper into the woods, I pulled the necklace from my pocket that Teddy had given me and threaded the loop of the compass on it and put it around my neck. I asked him, “How did you get this?”
Swinging the stick lower this time, he replied, “I saved my allowance for it.”
“It’s beautiful, Teddy. Thank you,” I said.
He turned to me and grinned, looking a little embarrassed, and went back to swinging the stick.
The chill from the cold air that crept up my back was so cold that I was just about ready to go home.
“Aw, Robin, look!” Teddy said, jumping up and down while pointing at a dingy-looking boat. It looked like it could barely seat two people safely.
He always seemed to get overexcited about the stupidest things. “Yeah, Teddy. It’s a boat,” I said.
As he pulled the small boat from the rocks and closer to the stream, Teddy roared like King Kong. For whatever reason, he felt that was necessary.
“Oh, brother,” I said, as I gave the boat a final nudge with my foot, setting it free.
Standing there, we looked at the old off-white-colored boat. It was rough and rickety, and, in front, it had a small golden bell with a cloth rope tied underneath. The boat had obviously seen its fair share of weather, so its stability was questionable, but I figured, what’s the worst that could happen in this small stream? We could jump out if we started to sink.
“Well, let’s get in already,” I said. The boat had drifted a bit, and we had no choice but to walk through the icy waters.
Teddy didn’t hesitate; he actually took a leap, making a splash and then screaming, “Ahhhhh, cold!”
“Ya think?” I said. I, on the other hand, had a more subtle approach, but sadly I found that tiptoeing was not as effective. After climbing in the boat, we removed our soaking-wet shoes and socks, setting them in front of us. This was so stupid; we were going to get sick out here. There wasn’t a lot of room in this boat for two people, let alone one person, but we found that lying down was the most comfortable for us. While lying there, I quickly analyzed the boat’s structure, trying not to make eye contact with Teddy because that would make things even weirder than they already were.
 
THE INTERVIEW:

Why did you write this book? 
My sister Robin passed away exactly one year before I was born. I had always carried the guilt that somehow I had replaced her. I struggled for years to find a way to give her the life she had never had, or at least in my own mind. It wasn’t until the beginning of 2015 when I had the idea of writing a book and casting Robin as the leading role.

How did you come up with the title? 
I have been a musician for half of my life so, when it came time to give my band a name Solo Elite would always be my vote. Needless to say we had chosen a different name so naturally when I thought of a title I left it as Solo Elite and the rest is history. The great awakening signifies a much needed epiphany in Young Robins life.

How did you choose your genre?
Actually that sort of just happened while I was writing; the flow of the story screamed to be kind of off the wall.

What inspired you to be a writer?
I love to bring people through whatever emotion I was feeling during that time of writing, whether through music or writing.

Are you writing another book?
Unfortunately, I’m not able to write on a fulltime basis and I haven’t had a lot of down time but I have something cooking in the brain. The Great Awakening is a part of a series so I’m very egger to continue to the next book.

Authors, if you want to be interviewed, please see this blog post: http://eyeontheparanormal.blogspot.com/2014/12/authorswant-to-be-interviewed.html