This week I am thrilled to be interviewing author Loren Robinson. Loren Robinson will be sharing with us details of his writing life, telling us all about his new book ‘Gold River‘, which was released on 18th July 2020 and answering a few fun questions too. This post contains affiliate links.

This is Loren Robinson’s debut novel. He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, where he studied English. Loren Robinson grew up in South Jersey and now lives in Tampa Bay with his wife. He writes tech thrillers, science fiction and non fiction books about tech. He has written two books.

As a kid, I dreamed about living in New York City and being a stockbroker. I read a lot of books on finance even as a kid and I started out as a economics major in college.

I love science fiction. So I was a big fan of Michael Crichton. I love Jurassic Park, the book & the movies. I started reading his books in middle school.

After putting my writing portfolio together during my senior year of college, it made me realize that I loved writing and wanted to continue after college. Because even though I loved books since I was a kid, I never thought of actually becoming an author until I read my college professors’ books and had discussions with them about writing, which made me realize that becoming an author was a realistic possibility.

I don’t set an exact word count when I write. However, I stick to a strict writing schedule. Such as on weekdays, I write after work from 5 pm to 7:30 pm. And on weekends I usually write from 8 am to noon. I prefer to write in solitude at home. I rarely ever venture out to write at coffee shops. And I try to make sure I write every single day even if I end up writing shorter than planned.

I have written two books. A tech-noir thriller Gold River. And a non-fiction book How To Get A Technical Writing Job: With Little or No Experience.

I’m a plotter. I value organizing my story by writing out a very detailed outline. I’m flexible with the outline as a write though and often make adjustments to it. I think it’s easier not to get stuck when writing a story by having an outline. I write detailed character biographies as well.

Concerning your latest book:

At twenty-two years old, MARCUS BROWN finds himself disillusioned with his job and his life. By day, Marcus is an intelligent cyber security analyst, and by night, he is busy getting rejected by women and spending his money on internet porn.

After being fired from his job, Marcus’s life spirals further out of control when he discovers that his college is suing him for defaulting on his student loans. With only a few months to resolve his debts, Marcus becomes desperate and contacts his old friend, DARIUS MARTIN, who has a business plan to offer drugs, guns, and other illegal fare on the Dark Web. Darius offers Marcus the opportunity to make serious money, and the two begin working together along with computer programmer JESSE HALL.

It doesn’t take long for the men to launch their new site, “Gold River” and for it to become hugely successful. With a sudden revenue of nearly twenty million dollars, Marcus believes he has solved all his problems.

Meanwhile, troubled FBI agent JASON BARRY begins getting whiffs of Gold River, and decides to hunt down the “Golden King.” Partnered with newbie RASHIDA BANKS, who is fresh off the heels of her FBI training, Jason must take big risks if he is to find the men behind the now-infamous Gold River site. He approaches LEONARDO MARINO, a gangster with a special interest in Gold River. Jason’s good intentions quickly sour when Leonardo begins causing trouble with the investigation, even going so far as to kill one of the players associated with the site.

As the investigation deepens, things become more and more dangerous and gruesome for all involved. In an elaborate set up, Leonardo discovers the identity of the Golden King before Jason and Rashida get to him. Just as Leonardo is about to torture Darius, Marcus catches him in the act and shoots him to death.

Realizing there is no way out; Marcus decides to help the FBI. Wearing a wire, Marcus confronts Darius, who confesses to everything. When Darius catches on, he discovers the wire and begins fighting with Marcus. As Darius is about to shoot Marcus, the FBI rushes the scene and Rashida handcuffs the Golden King.

Justice is brought to Darius and even to Marcus, who receives a light sentence for his part in Gold River. Three years later, after finishing his prison sentence, Marcus is free and attempting to piece his life back together. It is then that an old foe confronts him from his Gold River days and he realizes that his life will never be truly normal.

My MC is a cybersecurity analyst. I work in the tech industry so some of the knowledge comes from my work experience and courses I’ve taken. I also researched through search engines, documentaries and non fiction books.

I was working on it on and off because I was taking tech courses at the same time. It took me about three years to write it.

I wanted to name the title of the book after the dark web marketplace website where the main characters are selling the illegal goods. And I wanted it to be a bold color and something you can associate with a journey. And after writing down several different names, Gold River just felt right for the story.

My main characters are Marcus, Darius, Rashida, and Jason.

Marcus is a socially awkward cybersecurity genius that is battling with addiction and loneliness and feels unhappy in his life. He is hoping that teaming up with Marcus for their dark web business idea will solve his debt woes and bring excitement to his life.

Darius is a bold, confident and talented salesman that is ashamed of being poor and is ruthlessly pursing his goal of become wealthy with his idea of the dark web marketplace website. He has massive student loan debt and is recently unemployed.

Rashida is a new FBI agent. She is idealistic and believes in doing things the right way in law enforcement. She is dedicated to her job and ambitious but does things by the book. She wants to get a strong start to her FBI career by taking down Gold River.

Leonardo is a ruthless south Philly drug kingpin. He wants his gang to become drug gang in Philadelphia and he will do whatever it takes to eliminate all of the rival gangs in the city.

I self published my book on amazon. But I did participate in pit mad, twitter party and got some interest from agents but I decided to self publish.

My most recent book is a techno thriller. But I want to venture into science fiction genre with my next story. And want to write a story that is based in the future and not the present or past.

I would choose super speed. Time is our most precious asset, so with super speed I would be able to get way more things done & still have more free time.

Yes I have a tabby cat named mia.

Triumph of the underdog.

I would turn down the cameo role and instead be a screenwriter for the film.

It’s back home where I grew up, South Jersey. I now live in Tampa Bay, Florida. But especially for Christmas I like being back up north where a lot of my family and friends still live.

‘Can I join you, I feel lonely.’

I would like to say a big thank you to Loren Robinson for sharing with us details of his writing life and for a wonderful interview.

Share your thoughts on our interview with Loren Robinson in the comment section below!