Interview with T.C. Roberts, Author of The Cartagena Cartel (The Misadventures of a Modern-Day Nomad Book 2)

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Cartagena Cartel (The Misadventures of a Modern-Day Nomad Book 2)?

The idea came to me while I was in Cartagena, Colombia (the setting of the novel). I went on a first date with a local woman and she spiked my drink inside a restaurant. I blacked out and came to in the back of a horse carriage with nothing on me except my underwear. I could not remember anything that happened except for the last sip of my drink of the Sangria at the restaurant. My wallet, phone and cash were gone and it was a traumatic experience at the time. A silver lining was that it gave me the spark of an idea and served as the catalyst for making my first stand-alone novel into a series. It was difficult to write at times, revisiting what I went through but it has also been a healing process. The Cartagena Cartel is undoubtedly the most personal story I’ve written and I imagine it will be the most personal I ever write.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Cartagena Cartel (The Misadventures of a Modern-Day Nomad Book 2), what would they be?

“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Brian Hyland.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Adventure. Yes, I love to live a life of adventure as well as read and write about it.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

Halfway through To Have and Have Not – by Ernest Hemmingway. Mango Bob by Bill H. Myers. And Drunk on a Plane by Zane Mitchell.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

The Ayahuasca ceremony deep in the Colombian Amazon. My protagonist has an out-of-body purging experience while sitting on a toilet amongst the rainforest canopy and ends up talking to a monkey.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Does drinking copious amounts of wine and sometimes questionable amounts of alcohol count?

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

“In order to write about life first you must live it.” ~ Ernest Hemmingway.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That travel isn’t always fun. It can test you, sometimes to your limit. It can even be painful, but with that comes tremendous personal growth.

T.C. Roberts is the author of the new book The Cartagena Cartel (The Misadventures of a Modern-Day Nomad Book 2)

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