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Interview with Robin Webster, author of The Dream Prophecy

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Tell us about The Dream Prophecy

The main character is a mixed raced guy in his early twenties called Alan Callaway who lived a life that revolved around petty crime and drug dealing. He cared nothing for anyone except for his younger brother Lenny. After suffering a serious accident Alan began to have disturbing dreams that prophesize a sickness that wipes out much of the world’s population. He tried to push the dreams to the back of his mind. By chance he met an elderly physic called Ena who also has similar dreams and saw them as a prophecy and introduced Alan to others who shared her belief. The prophecy proved to be true and Alan Callaway found himself involved with a community of survivors who believed that reason and a sense of morality are all that was needed to bring order back to the world. They were not prepared to listen to Alan’s warnings that they needed to learn to defend themselves and that the world outside their small community no longer has any rules, laws or moral code. In the meantime, Alan found a small section of the community who shared his views and looked to him as their leader. When he is proved right and a violent gang started to take over London and enslave all those they came across, Alan had to choose sides and found he couldn’t just stand back and watch as the world tumbled into chaos.

What genre is it?
It’s a very fast paced action thriller. Although there are paranormal and apocalyptic elements to the book, it does appeal to those that wouldn’t normally read a paranormal or apocalyptic thriller.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
It seems to appeal to a wide range of people. Especially people that like action adventure, Brit-crime or thrillers with a bit of an edge to them.

Brit-crime? What’s that?
It is a term which is associated with stories that are centred on the criminal underworld from the perspective of those that live in it without making a moral judgement. Brit- Crime is associated mainly with gritty urban films like Guy Richie’s ‘Snatch’ or the new version of the ‘Sweeney.’ Although there are many novelists writing this type of book, like Howard Linskey who writes about the criminal underworld in Newcastle. His book The Drop is highly rated. It is not a term that I would have used to describe my work, but people have used it so often that I’ve started to use it myself.

Complete this sentence for us : If you like_______________, you’ll love The Dream Prophecy.
If you like gritty fast paced thrillers with loads of action, you’ll love The Dream Prophecy.

Tell us about Alan Callaway.
I have to be careful here because I don’t want to give away too much about the book. Alan Callaway and his younger brother Lenny never knew their father and their mother died when he was a child. He was brought up in the care system and he took on the role of looking out for his brother. When he reached adulthood, after a short spell in the army he turned to crime. Had it not been for the apocalypse he probably would have spent his life in and out of prison, but he is loyal to those close to him, which is his saving grace.

Will we be seeing him in future books?
I haven’t any plans to write any further books about him, but writing apocalyptic books is fun so you never know.

How long did this one take to write?
I still work for a living so it took about a year to write, working on it three evenings a week. You really have to be disciplined to write a book. Sometimes the creativity just flows. When that happens it’s great. However, other time you can get a bit of a block and you really have to work hard to get through it.

What was the most challenging part of your creative process?
The constant re-editing that needs to be done as you are writing the book. Also, making sure that it is paced right. I like my books to move along at a fast pace.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born and brought up in London, but have lived in the South West of England for a number of years. I have always needed to do something creative. When I was younger I used to sing and play blues harp in various bands on a semi pro bases. I also used to write or co-write most of the songs in the bands. As I got older I got fed-up with getting home at two in the morning and then getting up for work the next day. Don’t get me wrong I still love music and my books do tend to have a music theme running through them, but my creative outlet now, is writing books. I work in the criminal justice system, so I’m familiar with the mindsets of various types of criminals from drug gang leaders to just plain murder which helps with my writing. I think it is always important to write about what you know, which I have not only done with this book but also my first book The Blues Man which is a gritty Brit-crime thriller.

Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?
I’m really bad at keeping my blog up-to-date. I’m techno-phobic and just can’t get to grips with it. Anyone who goes to my blog will just find information on my fist e-book the ‘Blues Man’ and some of my reviews. I must sort it out. I am a member of Goodreads where I occasionally write a blog.

My twitter handle is @RobinWebster1.

What’s next?
I haven’t started to write another book yet but I have various ideas. Some that are crime bases and some that aren’t. I will just let the ideas mull around in my head for a while and see how they develop, because in the end, books just seem to take on a life of their own.

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One Comment

  1. robwebster2000

    Thank you for the interview.

    Regards Robin

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