Dashe is back! An interview with Dashe Roberts

Let us bow our heads… for the Sticky Pines series approaches its end. 😭 but fear not! Dashe Roberts is here once again to tell us all about it, as well as some hidden treats you may not be aware of. Lets get into it…

– You’ve travelled from California to London in your own life journey. How has this shift in environment influenced the creation of the world within your Sticky Pines series, from ‘The Bigwoof Conspiracy’ to ‘The Wrath of the Blob’?

As an expat living in the UK, writing the Sticky Pines series while living abroad has been a lovely way to stay in touch with my westerly American roots. I think that in many ways it’s helped stave off feelings of homesickness, and as such it’s made me want to return to the page again and again.

I’ve found that Britain is an inspiring environment to inhabit when writing books for younger readers as there is such a wonderful tradition of fantastic children’s books here. Everything from The Hobbit and the Chronicles of Narnia all the way through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, His Dark Materials, Harry Potter, Fireborn, Malamander, Lockwood and Co., Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good… (I could go on and on!)

–Can you give us a sneak peek into what makes the final instalment unique and why readers should be excited about it?

What makes the final instalment unique, perhaps, is that the ending of the Sticky Pines saga was planned and seeded in from the very beginning of the series. The characters have grown through their experiences, the answers to the mysteries they’ve been investigating are finally revealed, and friendships are now being put to the ultimate test. Each of the four volumes have built upon one another and, hopefully, readers will find the finale to be a satisfying resolution to this multi-story adventure.

– Your characters, Lucy and Milo, have become beloved figures in your readers’ hearts. Can you share a bit about how you developed their personalities and the dynamics of their friendship?

Lucy and Milo are basically opposites, but they also share characteristics that I identify with. I can fully appreciate Lucy’s gung-ho reckless abandon in pursuing what she believes to be right and true, as well as Milo’s skepticism and more cautious approach to life, and his conflicting desires to please his family and his friends. With these two characters, I wanted to explore a friendship between two people with wildly different life experiences and world views. This is something I think is especially relevant given the polarised world we live in today. Though Milo and Lucy don’t always agree, they need each other. They each bring something different to their investigations, and without the other, they both tend to end up on the wrong track.

–What’s the most surprising or unexpected journey you’ve taken as an author throughout the Sticky Pines series?

The biggest surprise for me in writing this series was Thingus. I created his character when my publisher asked me to expand the narrative from my original three-book outline, and since then he’s become one of my favourite parts of the whole series! He was such fun to write, and brought a new and intriguing dynamic to Lucy and Milo’s relationship that might not have otherwise arisen.

– It’s been mentioned that the Sticky Pines series is perfect for fans of ‘Stranger Things.’ Can you share what elements of the series you think will resonate most with young readers and fans of the show?

I’m a huge fan of the “Small Town Weird” subgenre of mystery fiction, which both Stranger Things and Sticky Pines could be said to inhabit. Both series share a similar “Kids On Bikes” aesthetic, where kids living in a small town have relative freedom to set out on their own to solve a mystery and save their friends and community. Both series balance horror and mayhem with a good dose of humour, and the relationships between the protagonists are always at the forefront of the story, no matter how crazy things get. If you enjoy these elements, you could well be a fan of both series!

– If you were to create a Spotify playlist to capture the vibe of the entire series, what songs would be on it?

I’ve created different playlists for each of the four books (below), so this is a great question. You can find them on Spotify by searching for ‘Dashe Roberts’. With these playlists I’ve tried to capture the vibe of each book with a list of 13 tracks, balancing classic Americana with contemporary pop and atmospheric indie. If I were to create one for the series as a whole, songs I might choose would include:

• Mr Spaceman by The Byrds
• Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford
• Foil by “Weird Al” Yankovic
• Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
• Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult
• Be Sweet by Japanese Breakfast
• Bad Moon Rising by CCR
• There is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
• Paint the Moon by The Czars
• Looking for Freedom by David Hasselhoff
• Ghost Riders in the Sky by Johnny Cash
• It’s the End of the World as We Know it by R.E.M.
• Sleeping Satellite by Tasmin Archer

Eddy here – just incase you wanna check out these playlists (which are really great) I’ve gathered the links below so you can go and check them out:

– In ‘The Wrath of the Blob,’ Lucy faces an interstellar invasion. How did you approach writing such a grand-scale threat, and what challenges did you enjoy throwing her way in this final installment?

I honestly had so much fun diving face-first into solid sci-fi writing, at last! Despite the menacing monsters, sinister corporations and sticky goo, the first three Sticky Pines instalments have their feet firmly planted on the ground. In The Wrath of the Blob, everything breaks loose, and we definitively learn whether Lucy’s convictions were right or wrong all along. I gleaned a lot of joy as an author putting my heroine into impossible situations with no way out and seeing what would happen. I also wanted to challenge Lucy’s core beliefs and priorities in ways she hadn’t had to consider before. All that, combined with Mr Fisher’s increasingly desperate attempts to maintain control over the ensuing chaos, led to some delightfully wild and woolly scenes.

– The pursuit of truth is a central theme in the Sticky Pines series. How has this theme evolved from ‘The Bigwoof Conspiracy’ to ‘The Wrath of the Blob,’ and what message about truth do you hope readers take away?

I think that understanding the nature of the “Truth” is one of the most important issues we face in a world where objective information seems increasingly hard to find. And even when you do find it, different people can interpret the same information in vastly different ways.

If readers take any message about the Truth away from this series, it’s that sometimes it’s less about finding the answers to the big questions, and more about what you do with the Truth once it’s been revealed. When faced with an existential crisis, sometimes you must take a leap of faith and hold on to what you know is right, and not give in to impulses based on feelings of fear or selfishness. It’s a complicated world out there. Often there are no easy answers. Sometimes the best thing you can do is simply stay true to yourself.

– As you conclude the Sticky Pines saga, what’s the one Easter egg or inside joke that long- time fans absolutely must look out for… if there is one?

Oh, there are a fair few, and many have so far remained a mystery. There’s one involving Lucy’s name that nobody’s ever noticed…

– If you could reveal one mind-boggling truth about your writing process or creative inspirations, what would it be?

My biggest inspiration for this series has come from studying the world we live in. I’ve done a great deal of research about the creatures and people that inhabit this little planet of ours, and the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve realised that the real world is so much crazier than anything science fiction could ever invent! So keep your eyes peeled, because things are only going to get weirder from here, and maintaining a healthy imagination is one of the best ways to be prepared for what may lie ahead.

Get your hands on the complete series:

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I’d like to say a HHUUUUGGGEEEE thank you to Dashe for taking time out of what is no doubt a hectic schedule. I think you’ll agree reader that it is always a treat.

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