Bio: Michael J. Webb
graduated summa cum laude from the University
of Florida and obtained
his J. D. from the same university. Over
the past forty years he has travelled the world in search of adventure.
He is a
history buff, both ancient and modern, and is fascinated by the intersection of
the scientific, supernatural, and Biblical world views, and has studied and
taught from the Bible extensively for more than twenty-five years. He is also
intrigued by recent discoveries in quantum physics that are now providing
extraordinary insights into the reality of the spirit realm, especially as it
relates to the study of Light. He incorporates
all of the above into his supernatural thrillers.
Michael and
his wife make their home in North
Carolina.
Welcome back, Michael. Why do you write the
kind of books you do?
Someone once said, "Inside every fat book is a thin
book trying to get out . . ." I can't help myself--I write "fat"
books! I've tried to write books under one hundred thousand words, but no
matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to lose the weight.
My very first novel started out at over two hundred thousand
words—and became a trilogy. I've tried writing short stories, and they turn
into novellas. I've tried novellas and they turn into full-blown novels. I'm a
hopeless lover of deep characterization and back story, lots of action, and
page-turning plots, something nearly impossible for me to do in less than one
hundred thousand words.
I'm a storyteller at heart, and I love entertaining readers
with pulse-pounding action, flawed—but intriguing—characters, and fascinating
plots that have my readers asking, "How did he come up with that?" My
tagline is "stories that ignite imaginations and stir souls..." I
like to get people thinking about the world they live in from a very different
perspective than they are used to, especially as it relates to the realm of the
spirit, angels and demons, and the intersection of the biblical, scientific,
and historical disciplines.
There is an ancient battle being fought around us on an
hourly basis in the realm of the spirit. It regularly manifests in the natural,
terrestrial realm, yet few people really understand the true nature of the
battle. Hence, many perish for lack of knowledge. Like Toto in the Wizard of Oz, I love pulling back the
curtain and exposing "the wizard" for who he is—a short, balding, fat
man from Kansas!
That’s not to say the wizard doesn’t have power, he does. But with the proper
weapons of warfare we may lose a few battles, but we ultimately win the war. I
like to think that in some small way my stories have the potential to function
like the red pill Nero took in The Matrix—we
awaken and discover just how deep the rabbit hole is. Once that happens, like
Nero, we are accountable for our knowledge.
Nevertheless, while all of my suspense thrillers, including
Infernal Gates, have the purpose of
provoking my readers to examine their belief system, at their core I hope they
are simply good stories, the kind that keep you turning pages long after the
sun goes down and make you wish there was more to read once you've finished. My
heart is to figuratively serve up a ten-course meal with each new story I tell
and leave my readers hungry for their next serving.
Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a place in this
world for short stories, novellas, and novels under a hundred thousand
words. I just won't be writing them anytime soon.
Besides when you came
to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?
The day I married my beautiful, Proverbs
31 wife.
How has being
published changed your life?
It hasn’t yet. I’m still working hard to get to the point
where I can write full time. Once that happens, I’ll be comfortable saying my
life has changed.
What are you reading
right now?
Here’s what is sitting on my desk next to my computer:
The Source Field
Investigations by David Wilcock
Beneath the Pyramids
by Andrew Collins
The Genius of the Few
by Christian O’Brien
Hitler’s Jewish
Soldiers by Bryan Mark Rigg
Plot and Structure
by James Scott Bell
Writing 21st Century
Fiction by my agent Don Maass
Genes, Giants,
Monsters, and Men by Joseph Farrell
DMT: The Spirit
Molecule by Rick Strassman, M.D.
Forbidden Gates by
Tom Horn
The Thrones of our
Souls by Paul Keith Davis.
What is your current
work in progress?
Devil’s Cauldron. A
follow up to my newly released thriller,
Infernal
Gates. A good part of the action takes place in
Antarctica,
a place I’m fascinated with and a place that’s on my “bucket list” to visit. It
is sort of a parallel universe meets Dan Brown kind of historical conspiracy
meets the occult meets angels and demons battling for the souls of mankind.
Here’s a teaser from the Prologue:
It is a sunny, crystal clear, late Southern
California afternoon, and something wicked is brewing deep within
the bowels of the old house.
The house is large, imposing, and very expensive, one of the
many pre-war mansions dating from the turn of the century that line South
Orange Grove Avenue like guardians of another time and place. To the casual
observer there is nothing obvious to suggest that anything is out of the
ordinary at the two-story home located on a quiet, typically American street that has come to be known
by locals as Millionaire’s Row.
The only portent of evil hovering over the stately home like
a ravenous predator is an odd blue-grey haze that suddenly appears just before
five p.m. and swiftly shrouds the San Gabriel Mountains
overlooking the city, obscuring the pristine-white snow-capped peaks . . .
What would be your
dream vacation?
I have more than one! J Lately, my wife and I
have been talking about doing an extended Alaska trip, combining a cruise, a long train
ride, and a stay at a remote-star wilderness lodge.
How do you choose
your settings for each book?
I start with a rough idea of the plot. Then I do a great
deal of research. In the process, I discover locales that are pertinent to the
action sequences. I look for places that fascinate me and hope they will be
interesting to readers. For the most part, the core action of my stories
determines locations and I expand upon that.
In the book I’m working on now, for instance, I knew before
I started writing that the last quarter of the book would unfold in Antarctica.
I love reading about exotic locations in thrillers by other
authors, and I hope my readers enjoy the interesting and sometimes unique
locales I use for settings.
If you could spend an
evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?
Benjamin Netanyahu. Prime Minister Netanyahu is God’s chosen
man for this hour in Israel.
We are the generation that will experience the return of Jesus Christ, and soon
the entire world’s attention will be focused on events unfolding in Israel and the Middle East.
As God’s Divine plan continues to unfold at breakneck speed, with its climax
racing toward us at the speed of a freight train, Israel will more and more take
center stage. Jerusalem,
God’s holy city, and the apple of His eye, has been—and will continue to be—a stumbling
block to the unbelieving nations of the world. God made a covenant promise with
Abraham that He would bless those who bless Israel
and curse those who curse Israel.
I would love to sit down one-on-one and pick Mr. Netanyahu’s
brain about his perspective of current events in the Middle East, his vision
for Israel,
and what he sees unfolding in the next few years.
What are your
hobbies, besides writing and reading?
My wife and I love to travel, both for ministry and fun. We
have numerous places on our bucket list to visit: Iceland,
Australia/New Zealand, and Chile.
I want to visit Antarctica, climb Mt.
Kilimanjaro and to the
Base Camp on Everest. We love to snorkel, and our favorite place to get away
from it all is St. Johns
in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We also enjoy hiking, and I love horseback riding,
although I don’t get to do it often. We are “foodies” who love to try new and
different restaurants and cuisines, and going to movies.
What is your most
difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
I don’t really have a particular writing obstacle I wrestle
with, except lack of time to write all the stories rolling around in my head.
Outside of that, my biggest challenge right now is getting the word out to
large numbers of people that I have five thrillers published and one
non-fiction book and finding key influencers to help me spread the word. Consequently,
I spend much more time marketing that I would like. I’m two years into a five
year plan. In three years my goal is to be writing full time. I have a lot of
stories I want to tell and have always desired to get highly compensated for
doing the thing I absolutely enjoy—writing. I also love to teach, and part of
my business plan is to use the successful and full-time author platform, once I
achieve that, as a springboard for travelling and teaching.
What advice would you
give to a beginning author?
Be clear about why you write and who your audience is. Become
knowledgeable about your craft and the market. Be passionate about your
writing. Seek out those who can help you succeed whenever and wherever possible
(writing is ultimately a very solitary habit). Do whatever it takes to refine
your craft and tell a great story with memorable characters. Read my agent Don
Maass’, book, The Fire in Fiction, to
learn about the extraordinary power of “micro-tension,” and Writing 21st Century Fiction to
understand where fiction is headed in the next few years.
Last, but not least: “Never, never, never, ever give up”
(courtesy of Winston Churchill.) Speak those words over yourself in those dark
moments of the soul when you feel there is no point in writing another word. Keep
writing what you believe in and have a passion to share with others—and trust
God to do the rest.
Tell us about the
featured book.
Ethan Freeman, ex-Special Forces Ranger, wakes up to
discover he is the sole survivor of a fiery commercial airline crash that
killed his entire family. His nightmare is only beginning when he becomes the
FBI’s prime suspect. Only Ethan knows he’s not a cold-hearted murderer, but he
has no idea what happened to him—and why he alone survived.
He finds an unlikely ally in Sam Weaver, the NTSB Chief
Investigator. An ex-military pilot, Sam senses Ethan is innocent. She tries to
remain dispassionate in her investigation of the crash even as she finds
herself attracted to the man who may be America=s
worst homegrown mass-murderer.
Neither Ethan nor Sam realize that shadowy spiritual forces
are at work which will alter their lives forever.
A monstrous evil, imprisoned since the time of the Pharaohs,
has been released by The Nine, a sinister group of powerful men and women who believe
they are the direct descendants of the Anunnaki, ancient Sumerian gods. The
demon they have unleashed intends to free The Destroyer from The Abyss, the
angelic prison referred to in the Book of Revelation, and unleash a worldwide
reign of terror and annihilation.
Facing impossible odds, time is running out for Ethan and
all of humanity as he is drawn into an ever-deeper conspiracy—millennia in the
making—and learns that he is the key to stopping The Nine.
Please give us the
first page of the book.
Less than ten minutes before we’re all dead, thought Ethan
Freeman, and there is nothing I can do about it!
The stricken A320 Airbus—originally bound for St. Thomas and now limping back to Charlotte, North Carolina—shuddered
like a bird suffering a mortal wound, then shook violently. Shouting and
screaming from the rear of the plane drowned out the prayer of the older couple
seated in front of them, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name,
Thy kingdom come—”
Lisa, Ethan’s wife, sobbed beside him.
Across the aisle his eighteen year-old son, Josh, yelled,
“Dad—are we going to crash?”
“No, son,” he lied. “We-are-not-going-to-crash.”
Megan, his sixteen year-old daughter, seated next to her
brother, screamed, “The engine is on FIRE!”
Lisa clung to the seat arms so hard her fingers turned white
and whimpered, “We’re all going to die—just like Greg,” then moaned, “I don’t
want to die—”
Ethan reached for his wife’s hand as a thunderous explosion
shook the plane and slammed him against the window, knocking breath out of him.
He cried out in agony as the palm of his right hand was sliced open by a jagged
metal clasp sticking up on the arm rest between him and Lisa. Blood gushed out
of the ugly-looking wound and splattered the back of the seat in front of him.
The plane banked hard to the right and the nose suddenly
pointed toward the ground, six miles below, as if the commercial airliner was
being plucked from the cloudless, crystal blue heavens by a giant unseen hand. Ethan
glanced toward the rear of the aircraft. A gaping hole replaced the emergency
exit. Loose debris disappeared violently out of the plane—and there were at
least two rows of seats missing!
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
Social Media and Buy Links:
Connect with Michael J. Webb:
The Oldest Enemy:
GIANTS IN THE EARTH TRILOGY
The Master’s Quilt:
The Nephilim Parchments:
The Song of the Seraphim:
Non-Fiction
In the Cleft of the Rock:
Insights into the Blood of Jesus, Resurrection Power and
Saving the Soul:
Thank you, Michael, for visiting with us today.
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