Category: JW Gilbert

Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - Mojave Rock by JW Gilbert (Give.away)

3/25/2024

Arcon forsook his new life of adventure in the outside world to fulfill his destiny with ArcPoint. But the return to his forest home is short-lived—he and Ranger Dan have been called to Jerusalem to meet Central Authority and discover the fate of ArcPoint. A new adventure begins, starting with a round-the-world trip by tube train—something Arcon never thought possible. With its expanded cast of extraordinary characters and a fresh romance, Mojave Rock is the conclusion to the ArcPoint trilogy about reconciliation and truth replacing fear and suspicion.

Genre: Christian Fiction – Action/Adventure
Release Date: March, 2024

Click here to get your copy!

Interview with JW

#1. What was the inspiration for this book?
Revelation 20, Isaiah 2, Micah 4, and hundreds of other verses, where it says Jesus will rule earth for a thousand years. As the Prince of Peace, He will give us the world peace we’re longing for. I took a stab at writing what that experience might be like. Then I gave it a twist by having a group of people who didn’t realize He had returned.

#2. How long did it take to finish writing this book?
It should’ve taken about a year, but due to my wife’s health issues, it took two.

#3. What drew you to write in this particular genre?
Christian action/adventure is my favorite genre to read, so I wrote it how I’d like it when it was done.

#4. Tell us a little about yourself, your family, friends.
Married 43 years to my best friend, no kids, still close to my two brothers and one sister—all of us still lifetime rain-soaked Oregonians. Most of my best friends are scattered around the country. I designed and built my own custom home—which some call a museum, since it’s filled with my lapidary art creations and rock and mineral collection.

#5. What one piece of advice would you like to give readers?
Take some time to go beyond the usual sources for books. Authors are taught to write in a genre that sells. That means some very good stories never get told, because no one chooses to write them. For instance, Christian fiction action/adventure is not listed as a specific genre category on Amazon. If my goal was income, I may have written something different. I’m retired, so I wrote from my heart. Thank God for bloggers who have read my work and given my writing a chance.

More from JW

The ArcPoint trilogy finally reaches its conclusion with Mojave Rock. I ramp up the humor and romance a little, just to make it interesting. A few of the minor characters play a larger role. We get to see how Arcon travels around the world without floating on water or flying through the air. And we get a glimpse of what this world is like with the Prince of Peace ruling the planet.

I also move more toward science fiction with Mojave Rock. I wanted to show how mankind cleaned up our planet, after the tribulation era gave us wars, earthquakes, famines, and other forms of death and destruction. When lawlessness made all of us want to hide as ArcPoint did. As technology helped us, there were always people who used it to harm us.

It was fun to contemplate how accident-free high-speed travel could be accomplished. How could we use it to feed the world? In fact, what would world travel be like without war zones, national borders, corrupt government officials, currency exchange, pickpockets, and terrorists? Can you imagine retail stores without shoplifters? Email without spam? Facial recognition without invasion of privacy? No frauds, scammers, or identity thieves? All of that may sound like heaven, but it’s not. That’s another time and place.

So, how will ArcPoint react to connecting with the outside world again? They were already free of the things listed above. World peace didn’t concern them, since inner peace was a common commodity. Will they leave their oasis in the former desert? Will their community be overrun with strangers? Will Arcon and Elaina marry? It’s worth reading Mojave Rock to find out.

JW Gilbert

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.

It's Time For A Giveaway!

To celebrate his tour, J.W. is giving away the grand prize package of
a $50 Amazon gift card and a print copy of Mojave Rock!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!

https://promosimple.com/ps/2a8f3/mojave-rock-celebration-tour-giveaway

Blog Stops

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, March 19 (Author Interview)
Vicky Sluiter, March 20 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 20
By The Book, March 21 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, March 22
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, March 23 (Author Interview)
Locks, Hooks and Books, March 24
Tell Tale Book Reviews, March 25 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 26
Artistic Nobody, March 27 (Author Interview)
Blogging With Carol, March 28
Guild Master, March 29 (Author Interview)
A Reader’s Brain, March 30 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, March 30
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, March 31 (Author Interview)
The Lofty Pages, April 1

4 Comments

Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - Mojave Man by JW Gilbert (Give.away)

11/17/2023

1 Comment

Mojave Man continues the adventure of Arcon Franklin as he seeks to escape the authorities demanding his containment. His rescuer, Elaina, flees with him to a survivalist compound that could end up being a trap. As a tenacious reporter edges closer to exposing Arcon, Jesus himself makes his desires known. Whether he likes it or not, Arcon’s foray into the outside world could be cut short. He may have to return to ArcPoint, whether they want him back or not.

Genre: Christian Fiction – Action/Adventure
Release Date: November, 2022

Click here to get your copy!

Interview with JW

#1. Do you have favorite character(s) in this book?
Ranger Dan Wilson. He’s an important character throughout the trilogy, but had limited exposure in Mojave Rift. This book allowed me to develop his character fully, and show both his humorous and his authoritative sides.

#2. What do you hope your readers will take away with them when they read this book?
Hope for the future. Right now, things look bleak in this world. But Revelation 20 (and over 1,000 other verses) tells us Jesus will return and rule this planet, along with many others who are resurrected specifically to rule with Him. That means world peace, as I try to show in this trilogy. We need that.

#3. How did you name your characters?
I try to use mostly common names since, as an avid reader, I’ve struggled with names I don’t even know how to pronounce. Some of my characters have names of people I know; some are common to their particular ethnicity; some are complete fabrications.

#4. Tell us something funny, sad, embarrassing, whatever, that happened involving this book.
The place where I located ArcPoint actually exists. The hills, highways, towns, etc. I carefully mapped it out to get it correct. But as I wrote book three, I discovered I had the Mojave River flowing the wrong direction. It took me weeks to go back through the first two books and correct that error.

#5. If you could change one thing in your life, past or present, what would it be?
I’d be more skeptical. I fell for evolution as the origin of man, and abandoned my belief in God. By faith I believed it, even though there’s no evidence. When I gave my life to Christ at twenty-one, I believed everything I was told about the Christian life, and some of it was error. As I studied the Bible, I found the truth about God and how I should live. I should have asked questions earlier, about both. I’m better now.

Bonus. Share with us a thought, Bible verse, whatever is on your mind/heart.
Peace on earth, good will toward men. We say that, but have a hard time believing it will ever happen this side of Heaven—but it will, and soon. Sure, all hell will break loose before we see it. We’ll need to endure that, but Christ said He’ll help us, if we ask. That’s what this trilogy is ultimately about.

More from JW

I became an avid fan of Christian fiction, especially after reading This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. Working 12-hour night shifts as a data center technician, I 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.