Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Seumas Gallacher, Author


Welcome best selling author Seumas Gallacher!

Seumas was born in the cradle of the Govan shipyards in Glasgow in the so-called ‘bad old days’ which were really the greatest of days, where everybody was a real character of note. For the past nine years, Seumas has lived in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East, after 25 years in Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines). 

An early career as a trainee banker led to a spell in London, where his pretense to be a missionary converting the English fell on deaf ears. 

Escape to the Far East in 1980 opened up access to cultures and societies on a global scale, eventually bringing the realization that the world is simply one large extended village.

The lifelong desire to write resulted in THE VIOLIN MAN’S LEGACY, the first in a planned series. Seumas’ sequel novel, VENGEANCE WEARS BLACK was launched on Kindle in early July 2012. The third, SAVAGE PAYBACK, is work-in-progress with at least two other books to follow in the same vein. Kindle downloads on his novels exceed 60,000 to date.


When did you realize you wanted to become a writer?

S. That's kinda snuck up on me over the last three or four years after a lifetime career in the financial markets, much of that as a 'troubleshooter'. 
The pleasure derived from tapping away at the laptop is superb. As a complete Luddite in respect to computers, I'm amazed that it doesn't explode every time I switch it on...
If it lights up, I do a lap of honour.

What do you like to write about?

S. Surprisingly, my writing has split easily into two distinct areas...the crime thriller stuff is so simple, with so much mayhem constantly going on around us in the planet, just pick up on the cable news and magnify the events a little, change the names and the geography to protect the guilty, and hey presto, you have a story...the other stream which I've discovered is writing for my blog,  http://www.seumasgallacher.wordpress.com   I use that for light-hearted stuff about the 'Jurassic ' newbie writer coping with all this (to me) new-fangled social networking scene. A year ago I hadn't a clue what 'blog' meant...and in December, I garnered a Blogger of the Year Award...go figure...

How do you maintain thoughts and ideas?

S. I'm not sure that I do consciously maintain any rigid thought patterns...my story lines are generally pretty well-set in my head, and then I kinda just let it develop naturally. I like to think I'm a logically-minded person, so I find it quite straight-forward (we're not talking Nobel Literature Prize stuff here, y'know!).

Who is your favorite character in your books?

S. If they're 'live' enough in my mind, even the wild and nastier characters, I like 'em all. They're my babies after all...
however in THE VIOLIN MAN'S LEGACY, I had a minor character called Rico that I had to write out of the book as his role was completed...I hated seeing him go...

Where do you like to write?

S. I can write anywhere...I have the capacity to get into my own little cocoon, switch off the rest of you out there, and zone in on my 'other world'.

Where do you do most of your research?

S. Much of the plot development is from my own experience (I'm 250 years old now!), but for detail corroboration, the Web is a boon...

Do you find that editing can be tough?

S. No. Not now. An author pal, Jim McAllister (his book, ' iNation ' is on Kindle now, and a fabulous read) told me about AutoCrit, a self-editing software, which I find enormously helpful. When I realised what it could do to improve my books, I spent two months recently completely re-editing both novels..I know they are much the better for that.


What is your favorite author event?

S. Here in Abu Dhabi, I've been privileged to be a Guest Speaker at several Readers Groups, as well as the British Business Group (on how this old Jurassic came new to the social networking scene and made it work). 
I've also signed up recently with the Book Club Readers List on the Internet, and will make myself available by telephone, etc, to do live discussions if reader groups want me involved. I LUV IT!!! ( I'm still trying to figure out how to use Skype, so that may be the next 'Giant Leap' for this Member of Mankind..).


Who is your favorite author?

S. Depends what day of the week you ask that question, I've so many that I like, and have liked over the years...the bedrock names include Charles Dickens, Sir Winston Churchill, John Steinbeck, John O'Hara, Robert Ruark,...more recently, Lee Child and Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Do you have advice for newbie writers?

S. Oh, yes! tons of it!! My entire blog sequence over the last 9 months has contained loads about my experience in getting to grips with the social networking thing. The writing is the simple bit...getting the babies out there
takes time, and a lot of slog...it's called 'building the platform'...I'm thinking of doing a 'How To' book on my travails to date, to p'raps help others through some of the rapids that I've had to traverse.

Follow Seumas...

THE VIOLIN MAN'S LEGACY:

VENGEANCE WEARS BLACK:

THE BLOGGER'S GUIDE TO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING:





















5 comments:

http://www.seumasgallacher.wordpress.com said...

you've done me proud, Gina.. thanks , m'Lady :):)

Samrat said...

It's nice to know about Seumas.I'll definitely read him. Good work, Gina.

Unknown said...

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