Saturday 5 April 2014

Author Interview - Jeffrey G. Roberts on One Thousand Worlds

One Thousand Worlds today has the pleasure of interviewing Jeffrey G. Roberts.


About Jeffrey Roberts-
I was born 2/24/49, in New York City. I graduated from North Miami Senior High, in N. Miami, Florida, in 1968. I attended Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, Arizona, receiving degrees in writing and history. My hometown is Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, but 3 years ago I moved to Tucson, Arizona. I have written 7 novels and 10 short stories; mostly science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comedy. The Healer is the 1st to be published, by BookLocker.com. I have a life-long interest in aviation, having soloed in 1968, while attending Miami-Dade Junior College.


Tell us about your latest book.
My latest book The Healer, is a science fiction novel set in the year 2181. Dr. Reynolds Cully is awarded a Harvard grant to travel to Mars with his family. His assignment is to research the physiology of an ancient race there, now long extinct. All their recorded history lies within the titanic edifice known as The Face on Mars. But while there, authorities discover an eons old Martian time/space travel device. This is apparently how they explored the universe, when dinosaurs still ruled our Earth. But a mystery has always intrigued him: he is granted a National Science Foundation grant to use the ancient device, and travel to Earth in the year 2013, to try and solve the medical mystery known as The Great Alaskan Plague of 2012. Eventually he does reveal the cause. But unbeknownst to him, back in 2181 Mars, a sinister group of religious zealots known as the Creation Purity Brigade, believe unearthing of Martian artifacts and cultural icons is sacrilege and blasphemy to Judeo-Christianity. And they blow up the time/space travel apparatus! Dr. Cully is now stranded in a violent & primitive world – ours; 168 years and 150 million miles from his wife & children. How will he survive? How will he heal using 22nd century technology, without exposing his real identity; and possibly altering the course of history in doing so? It is a crisis of conscience he must grapple with. But he has no choice. For he is – THE HEALER.

How many books have you written?
I have written 7 books. THE HEALER is the first to be published, by Booklocker.com.

What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I am working on # 8, a novel entitled The Horror on the H.M.S. Cottingly; a comedy science fiction story, My Pet Carrot Speaks Norwegian; and an essay, The Cult of Infinite Complexity.

What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?
The most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer are: faith in a higher power, enough sleep, treating yourself occasionally to comfort foods, good friends, a hobby or diversion, and a 55-gallon drum of industrial strength Ibuprofen right next to your computer.
How much impact does your childhood have on your writing?
My childhood impact on my writing had to be more nature than nurture: my father was a writer for the radio show Duffy’s Tavern, after the end of WW II.

What was the greatest thing you learned at school?
The greatest thing I learned in school (Northern Arizona University) is that creativity & imagination cannot be taught. They are innate.

If you could meet any of your own characters, who would it be?
If I could meet any of my characters, it would have to be Dr. Reynolds Cully, of The Healer.

Do you have a favourite character among the ones you've invented?
One of my favorite characters would have to be Ogden D. Fwipplesnifter, from my fantasy/comedy novel The Weird and Wondrous Bottle.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do I want to be when I grow up? Who says I have any intention of growing up? But when I was growing up I wanted to be a test pilot. My ultimate dream job would have been to work for NASA on the Mars exploration team. But math aptitude was never my strong suit. So much for astronautical engineering.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?
If I could trade places with someone for a week, it would probably be either Donald Trump- for his money- or Dr. Franklin Chang Diaz, former NASA astronaut, and physicist who now heads Ad Astra Corp., developer of the VASIMIR engine for interplanetary flight, which will be capable of speeds of 123,000 miles per hour.

What do you think about when you are alone in your car?
I don’t think about anything in my car because I no longer own one. Eventually I will again. But when I did own one, I usually concentrated on where I was going, and my driving.

What song best describes your work ethic?
The song that best describes my work ethic? I Did It My Way, by Frank Sinatra.


Where you can purchase The Healer:

 

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