Zané Sachs-Going Down: Michel Robertson Jr--5 Question InQusition

Michael Robertson Jr, author of Transit, broke into my home and is holding me hostage.

Dangerous Psychopath

While we’re hanging out (little does he know that cocktail I just gave him contains a powerful sedative—I don’t use poison, because it taints the meat), I asked him 5 Questions ... let's see if either of us survive.

All 4 Episodes, just $2.99

Sadie: First of all, psycho, how did you break in here?

Michael: Hi Sadie! Thanks for leaving the window in your bedroom unlocked, it slid open with no problem. I climbed right in. Sometimes they stick…

Sadie: Stop yelling, and drink your cocktail. I see you have a killer deal going (the only reason you're still living). You’ve just packaged all four episodes of Transit together, so readers can find them in one place.

Michael: Yes, it’s very cool that Transit is now available as a stand-alone novel. I hope readers will enjoy it and have some fun! More fun than the characters, hopefully! I still feel bad for what I did to some of them.

Sadie: Michael, you're still yelling. Do you have a hearing problem? I'm going to ask you 5 Questions, and your survival depends on how you answer.

Q1: When did you first realize that you weren’t normal? Preschool? Kindergarten? Elementary School? Or have you not figured that out yet? In other words … when were you first drawn to horror?

Michael: When did I realize I wasn’t normal? Wait, is it not normal to smile while the on-screen bad guy slices up the pretty blond girl and wears her ears on a necklace? Hmmm… Interesting. In all honesty I’ve had a fascination with horror and the macabre ever since I was a kid. Even when I couldn’t handle it (sleepless nights with sweat-soaked sheets, where the nightlight was never bright enough and mornings could never come fast enough) I still loved horror films. I don’t know why… It’s just part of me I guess. The same way Nicholas Sparks likes to make at least one of the happy people die and cause all the ladies to cry. Isn’t that abnormal too?

Sadie: Q2: Sounds like you're a masochist. My kind of guy.

Transit begins with the end of a dream vacation and a nightmare ride from the airport. Just wondering how you got the idea for this story … did you get this idea while you were traveling, did you work as a van driver, or are you just deranged?

Michael: You calling me deranged? Pot. Kettle. Black. By the way, whatever’s in the oven smells great.

Sadie: Thanks, a neighbor stopped by earlier.

Michael: Huh ... To answer your question, yes. I did actually get the idea for this book while traveling. In fact, the whole opening scene of Transit is based almost exactly off a trip my wife and I took to the Dominican Republic last fall. The flight got in very late, and it was drizzling and cold. The shuttle stops were mostly deserted, and when ours finally arrived and we climbed in (the only ones in the van), I couldn’t help but think what a vulnerable position we were in, and that we were basically trusting our lives with the stranger up front. Then my gears started turning.

Sadie: So you're married. That's too bad. But, come to think of it, that's never stopped me.

Q3: You are one HELL of a fine writer, and unless a computer chip in English literature has been implanted (at great cost) into your brain, I suspect you’ve been writing for some time. How long have you been writing? What else have you written? And what are you working on now?

Michael: Actually, I do have the chip. I’m a beta tester, so the price was FREE! There are some side-effects though. Last night my wife asked me to call the girls in for dinner and I went outside and accidentally screamed 12 lines from Romeo and Juliet through the neighborhood. My neighbor’s name is Romeo. It was embarrassing.

Sadie: I'm impressed. Can you also recite lines from MacBeth?

(Michael's nodding, but his eyes look a bit bleary.)

Michael: What? Sorry. I feel kind of weird.

Sadie: You are.

I asked, how long have you been writing?

Michael: I’ve been writing semi-seriously to seriously for about the last five or six years. The beginning of that time was working on a novel that will never see the light of day, and after that I’ve released three novels (Including Transit) and a handful of short stories and a collection. Most everything is in the horror and suspense genre. I’m about to start a brand new book, actually. I’m still piecing it together in my head, but it’s going to be more of a mystery, I think, which is something I haven’t tried yet, and am looking forward to.

Hey, is the room starting to spin?

Sadie: Nope.

Q4: Who is this guy Dan Dawkins who claims to be writing as you under his name? Are you schizophrenic? Do you suffer from multiple personality disorder. Why do you find it necessary to write under different names and confuse your readers?

Michael: Dan is a bad man who did some very bad things. He confided in me, hoping I would tell his tale, and I did to the best of my abilities.

I’ve actually been asked this question very frequently – Readers wanting to know “Why Dan Dawkins” and “Is Dan a real person?” – So I ended up writing a blog post of my own about why I used the name Dan Dawkins for some of my work. You can read it here

Sadie: So you made up a phony identity to gain sympathy from unsuspecting readers? (You really are a psycho.) Have another cocktail.

Q5: I’m pretty sure you read a lot, because you can write. If you had a chance to torture one of your favorite authors, who would you choose? And what would be the method of torture? (Please describe in detail.)

Michael: I’d bring in Dean Koontz and ask him repeatedly why all his new books can’t be as good as the Odd Thomas series. I’d tie him to a chair in a pitch-black room and make him listen to the audiobook of 50 Shades of Gray over and over… only I’d cut out all the sex scenes.

Sadie: I'm revising what I said before. You are definitely a sadist.

How are you feeling? You look like you're going to pot, which is, of course, legal here in Colorado. Not that I have any, but you're about ready for this pot on my stove.

Michael: I’m starting to feel a little tired, do you mind if I lay do—

Sadie: Not at all. Are you into power tools ... I think he's out.