Get to know our featured author, WILLIAM LOBB.
Bill or Billy as he likes to be called, writes suspense thrillers with an underlying theme of redemption or rather, the search for redemption.
1) Tell us something about the man, William Lobb. Who are you?
For as long as I can recall my life, and any particular time in my life, has had some connection to a car, like the eras of my life are all framed in the car of that time, particularly old Fords, it seems. It’s a tie back to my dad, he died a long time ago. I like to work on old cars. I like to figure things out, and fix things that are hard to fix. When I see my greasy hands, I see my dad’s hands and I find a comfort in that I can’t explain.
I like boxing, I’ve always liked to fight. Ali was, and is still, my hero, and a far better man than I’ll ever be. In another life I was a raging drunk and drug addict. While I’ll never call myself “sober,” I have been not drunk or drugged since 1993. Sober seems to me a hill too far.
I take pretty good care of myself these days. I try to live clean and exercise. I used to race bicycles, before I became an arthritic old man.
2) And who's the writer? How was The Third Step conceived?
The Third Step is not autobiographical, but there are many parts of it that are from a long past time, my past. Everyone struggles with something. My greatest struggle was with drugs and booze. Writing this book was a way of bringing many old demons to life, staring them in the face, one more time, and me walking away the victor.
So much of traditional recovery is based on a concept of God, a higher power. The Third Step in the AA/NA traditions is that piece. I think many struggle with the God part. It’s my hope that this book will make those people, on the fringe, living one day, one moment at a time, trying to grasp this “God,” know they are not alone. I spent a lot of my life surrounded with people who went to church and seemed to have this deep understanding I lacked. This book is about that struggle as well as the war to become not drunk. Frankie, the main character, had a hell of a ride to get there.
3) Why did you choose the paranormal thriller genre?
I am very careful stepping up to that “paranormal” line. All my stories may come up to any given line, but I won’t cross into the absurd. That is very important to me. There are many things in this life we can’t explain. I like to work right there. If you explore people you’ll find they all have their own superpower. I have a good friend who is an empath. I think she can read my thoughts—what a horrible and scary place—this power of her’s fascinates me. There are so many people who possess “special powers,” like that. These are the people and things I need to explore and write about. Sometimes just being a good person and doing the right thing, in the face of adversity is a super power.
You’ll get no flying bare-chested men with wings from me, or people hop-scotching through time. There is so much mystery to explore just in people, and their beliefs.
4) Is there a book or author that inspired you to be a writer?
John Steinbeck, without question. I’ve read every word the man has ever written. The final scene in the Grapes of Wrath, when Rosasharn bares her breast to the starving man is the most profoundly sad and perfect ending ever written. When I closed that book—the first of many times I read it—the only word that came to mind was, “perfect.” The way Mr. Steinbeck wrote it, the words he used, the story, the ending, perfect.
5) What can readers expect when they read The Third Step?
If The Third Step has a message it is find your own way and your own answers, and buckle up, it’s going to be a rough ride. It’s been called “gritty,” and “full of back alley characters.” Those were the people I took with me on my journey. I hope they find a gripping story and a message of hope, even if it takes a long time and a lot of work to get there...and maybe a few bloody noses.
6) Are you releasing a new book anytime soon?
I have just released The Three Lives of Richie O’Malley. It’s a look back on a life of crime, and coming to terms with a past that has suddenly caught back up to him, and his rapidly dwindling options to escape it.
7) What do you love about being an author?
The zone. It’s a place. Difficult to describe. In the zone the words come fast and hard. They come from the heart and from another place, a place I don’t know. It’s that moment I read something and I know they can’t be my words. Someone better, smarter, more gifted than me must have written them. In the zone my words are not my own. It’s like I’m channeling someone else.
8) What is your message to readers?
Don’t be afraid of the journey. Grab it, fight it, love it, get beat up, lose, win, but live it. Live it and cherish your stories. If you are so inclined, write them down.
Connect with William Lobb
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