Interview with Michael Presley Bobbitt, Author of Forever, Cedar Key

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Forever, Cedar Key?

“Forever, Cedar Key” is the standalone sequel to my debut novel, “Godspeed, Cedar Key”. The response to the first book was so overwhelming, I knew I needed to continue the story of the characters that so many people had grown to love.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Forever, Cedar Key, what would they be?

“It’s the end of the world as we know it… and I feel fine.”

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

Literary fiction is my favorite genre to read and write. I enjoy character-driven stories that are deeply rooted in a place. I love the art of language and will take a slow-burn atmospheric novel over a thriller any day. I like to say in interviews that “Forever, Cedar Key” is an end-of-the-world book that’s barely about the end of the world. It’s a guided examination of an island community that refuses to go gently into the dark.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

Faulkner’s “Sanctuary”; a re-read of Joseph Heller’s “Something Happened.”

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

The scene in the “Dangerous, Deep Waters” chapter where we learn about one of our main characters’ childhood swimming in phosphate pits in central Florida and learning the meaning and power of friendship.

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

I write my novels on a 1968 houseboat that had formerly been used as a crystal meth lab. The lab blew up and caught on fire, so I was able to buy it for almost nothing. I spent a year renovating it into a perfect writing studio floating in the Gulf of Mexico.

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

What you stand for is important, but who you stand for is everything.

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

The purpose of life on earth is to love and serve others; find and cultivate a community worth serving.

Michael Presley Bobbitt is the author of the new book Forever, Cedar Key

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