Mojave Rift by J.W. Gilbert Interview
About the Book
Book: Mojave Rift
Author: J.W. Gilbert
Genre: Christian Fiction – Action/Adventure
Release Date: March, 2021
Mojave Rift follows a young man, Arcon, as he attempts to leave an isolated community called ArcPoint. He seeks an outsider, Elaina, a young woman with the skills to help him cross the treacherous CalNeva Rift. For eight years they’ve violated the law restricting all contact with those known as the Mojave People. Jesus himself made that restriction, after he returned to rule earth from Jerusalem over a hundred years ago. Ranger Dan is the man in charge of upholding that law, and has no idea what he’s getting roped into.Click here to get your copy
About the Author
John Gilbert Wozniak (JW Gilbert) grew up in an Oregon farm town. He retired in 2016 as an international data center cooling expert. Around the turn of the century, he began writing as a hobby. After years of expert guidance and a lot of editing, his ArcPoint trilogy is complete. His intent is to write books that are enjoyed by all ages—biblically accurate—with a touch of adventure, romance, and humor. JW has been married to his best friend Darlene since 1980. They are both retired and enjoy the hobby of creating lapidary jewelry. He is a member of Oregon Christian Writers, Mensa, ALLi, and the Tualatin Valley Gem Club.
More from JW
I became an avid fan of Christian fiction, especially after reading This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. I was working 12-hour night shifts as a data center technician and had ample time on my hands. At one point I was devouring a book per night but my favorite genre, action/adventure, was almost non-existent in Christian fiction. So, as is the case with many would-be authors, I decided to write the book I wanted to read. The setting? The future when Jesus is ruling the world, as told in Revelation chapter 20. My protagonist? Arcon, an adventurous young man from an isolated tribe of people. The premise? The people of ArcPoint don’t know that the outside world is safe and that Jesus has returned.
My first attempt at writing went well. I wrote my first draft in three weeks, edited it for six months, and landed a hybrid publisher with the final manuscript. The book garnered four- and five-star reviews, so I was pleased. (Not bad for someone who’d flunked English three times.) I was glad the reviews showed that the writing was good, but my readers were missing the message. I pulled it off the market.
For the past few years I’ve been honing my skills as a writer and reworking my ArcPoint story. There have been a few challenges. While researching, I found over a thousand verses in the Bible that sparked ideas for the time period I was writing about. Now the original book has become a trilogy, plus a prequel. However, traditional Christian publishers were not in the market for adventure stories, so I had to learn about self-publishing. And then, like a page right out of my prequel, the unexpected happened—a pandemic. I decided it would be best to put off publicizing until the entire trilogy was available. Now it is.
To see if the first book was ready to be self-published, I sent copies of Mojave Rift to Reader’s Favorite for professional reviews. It got five stars across the board. Then I entered Mojave Rift in their contest and won a silver medal. All the reviewers seemed to appreciate my inclusion of action, romance, and humor in a squeaky clean, fast-paced, futuristic novel.
I hope my ArcPoint series receives high scores from English teachers, but since I still don’t know a passive voice from a hole in the plot, we’ll see. Writing likable characters and adventure stories that run deep and inspire is something I enjoy. I’ve worked hard and it’s a thrill to get high audience scores.
BTW, did I mention the world-building for the isolated tribe in my story is set in America? Now that was a challenge.
And now enjoy a question and answer with the author.
1. Why choose the genre you are writing?
A. I didn’t. I wrote the story that was on my heart. Once I did, I found out it didn’t fit squarely into any current genre. Some said it’s speculative, but it has no fantasy and very little sci-fi. It has a romance, but it’s not one. It’s post-apocalyptic, but not dystopian. The closest I could come was Action/Adventure, but no one has that genre in Christian Fiction. It’s a bit of a unicorn. 2. How long did it take to publish your first novel.
A. Fourteen years. Third one took six months. 3. Where do you get inspiration for your stories? Family? Friends? Yourself?
A. Yes, and the Bible . 4. How much of your personality goes into your stories?
A. Most of it, somewhere. 5. How did you go about developing the setting(s) for this story?
A. A mountain of research. For the setting in time (2165AD), during the 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth, I located over a thousand Bible verses from 46 books of the Bible. For the physical location (Mojave Desert), I located resources, fault lines, topography, climate, and dozens of other subjects. All of it had to be believable, and plausible. 6. What’s the strangest thing you had to do to create this story?
A. Completely isolate the ArcPoint people from society. Totally—for over a hundred years—and have them survive. 7. Which scene was most fun to write? Why?
A. Arcon’s escape from the Ranger Station. There were a lot of people who had to be fooled, and I did it rather creatively. 8. Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
A. In this case, I have. The original story was published in 2016 under my real name. It had problems, so I removed it from the market, and used a pseudonym to separate this trilogy from that book. Plus, I discovered a Google search of my real name brings up a different author with a decidedly non-Christian product. 9. If I write a review of your book, what do you want to hear?
A. I tend to write as if everyone understands what I’m talking about. I’ve been learning to fill in necessary details for clarity. I hope to hear that the understanding came through. 10. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones? Do reviews influence your writing?
A. I’m lucky to have not gotten bad reviews so far (on the ArcPoint series). Certain reviews influence my writing a lot. They allow me to see how others interpret my words. 11. What are your hobbies besides writing?
I’m a lapidary artist, cutting and polishing rocks to reveal the beauty God hid within.
Blog Stops
Texas Book-aholic , October 5
Library Lady’s Kid Lit , October 6 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations , October 6
Simple Harvest Reads , October 7 (Author Interview)
Locks, Hooks and Books , October 8
For the Love of Literature , October 9 (Author Interview)
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting , October 10
Splashes of Joy , October 11 (Author Interview)
Blossoms and Blessings , October 12 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody , October 13 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy , October 14
Adventures of a Travelers Wife , October 15 (Author Interview)
Blogging With Carol , October 16
A Modern Day Fairy Tale , October 17 (Author Interview)
Beauty in the Binding , October 18 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake , October 18
Giveaway
To celebrate his tour, JW is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a print copy of Mojave Man!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/28432/mojave-rift-celebration-tour-giveaway
