Interview with crime fiction writer Seumas Gallacher…
[Steve’s note: Today we have an interview with Seumas Gallacher, crime fiction writer and master blogger. His two novels (see below) have enjoyed a lot of success and he has won the Blogger of the Year award. The following is taken from his blog (http://seumasgallacher.com/about/): Seumas “was born in the cradle of the Govan shipyards in Glasgow in the so-called ‘bad old days’ which were in reality the greatest of days, where everybody was a real character of note. An early career as a trainee Scottish banker led to a spell in London, where his pretence to be a missionary converting the English locals 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 quite simply one large extended village.” I’m sure you’ll find Seamus to be an interesting fellow. I look forward to sitting down with him one day to debate the merits of Scotch whiskey v. Irish whiskey…hopefully with sampling. Contact info for Seumas can be found at the end of this post.]
On Writing:
Steve: Why, how, and when did you start writing?
Seumas: An unfulfilled lifelong ambition just to ‘tick-off’ from the bucket list ‘writing a novel’ kicked in about 4 years ago. Prior to that, I’d dabbled with short story writing, and some teenage angst-riddled poetry, with some more elegant poems later in life. The novel became a crime thriller tale, and led to the next and now #3 is a work-in-progress, with at least another couple to follow—it IS addictive, isn’t it?
Steve: Did you publish the first book you wrote?
Seumas: The customary initiation for newbie authors of sending out forty agent/publisher query letters was met by precisely forty rejection slips. Then someone foolishly introduced this old non-computer-aware Jurassic to Amazon Kindle, and the rest is history. The two novels to date, The Violin Man’s Legacy [UK http://amzn.to/10wo0ha; US http://amzn.to/10wnMXB] and Vengeance Wears Black [US http://amzn.to/W59BB3; UK http://amzn.to/13yV1YX; Canada http://amzn.to/14gODEZ], have now downloaded more than 60,000 times.
Steve: What is your biggest problem with the writing process. How do you tackle it?
Seumas: I’ve found it relatively easy to get the writing to flow—the tough part is the afterbirth—“building the platform” of awareness for my masterpieces. I’ve become a creature of the web channels, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and my blog, http://www.seumasgallacher.com.
Steve: Do you feel writing is something you need to do or want to do?
Seumas: If I could’ve had any inkling how much pleasure it would give me, I’d have started in earnest decades ago…I LUV IT!
Steve: Have your personal experiences (or situations) influenced you creatively? If so, how?
Seumas: For sure, a lot of what’s in the books, either consciously or subliminally reflects many of the experiences I’ve had over a lifetime travelling around, and living in diverse areas of the globe.
Steve: How much of your creative ability do you think is innate and how much is learned?
Seumas: It’s impossible to gauge how much is innate, but I know that my learning curve has been steep these past four years. I believe that my passion for reading good writers across many genres has fed any “wordsmithing” ability I may have, but technique and nuance I think I’m absorbing by osmosis as I go along. The day we stop learning is the day they bury us.
Steve: Amen to that. What is the last book you read? What are you reading now?
Seumas: I’ve just finished She Becomes You, by O. G. Tomes, an excellent writer, who has jumped with aplomb from fantasy fiction to pyscho-thriller. I met her and her work online. Now I’m reading a debut novel, The Smell of Mud, by Jody J. Ballard, a buddy of mine in Abu Dhabi, who has written a sparklingly insightful novel about fallen women in a mining township in 1890’s Montana, who pull themselves back into dignity and mainstream society.
Steve: Whose writing inspires you the most and why?
Seumas: All my life I’ve been absorbed by the life and written works of Sir Winston Churchill, a master with a black belt in literature, but other early authors for me include Steinbeck, Ruark, and O’Hara. Their common trait of spellbinding literature never grows old. William Manchester, who wrote the first two volumes on the life of Churchill uses language and vocabulary that enchants and has you reaching for the dictionary, because the words are so precisely applied—what you think he was meaning is actually nuanced differently. He’d have been a wonderful English Literature professor.
Steve: Do you have a favorite genre?
Seumas: I enjoy good prose and poetry of any genre.
Steve: Should writers read in their genre? Should they be avid readers?
Seumas: Absolutely YES to both parts of that question. In any other craft or profession, it would be deemed foolhardy NOT to know what the rest of your field/market was producing.
Steve: How do you find your plots?
Seumas: It will sound arrogant perhaps, but ideas just leap around in my head, not always ending up the way they originally appeared to me. I think the crime thriller genre gives a lot of license to sculpt whatever plot the writer wants within reasonable credibility.
Steve: Are your characters based on real people?
Seumas: As with the answer to your question above, much of the characterization spins from amalgams of people I’ve seen or met or known. I find that’s simpler to visualize and personalize in the “committee meetings in my head.”
Steve: How do you name your characters?
Seumas: Following on from the last answer, if I visualize the character, a suitable name will usually jump out.
Steve: Which comes first, plot or characters?
Seumas: Rough plot first, and with the first novel, characters developed as I went along. I use the same characters in subsequent novels at present, so refining those is important now. The plot will ALWAYS deviate from the first outline—makes me a “pantser” more than a “planner.” [Steve’s note: A “pantser” is an author who just writes the story, making it up as he goes, usually without outline or notes. A “planner” is just the opposite extreme.]
Steve: Any comments about writing dialog?
Seumas: Speak it out loud. You’ll know immediately if it’s right or not. Remember speech doesn’t have the same laws and rules as grammar prose.
Steve: Again, amen! How do you handle POV?
Seumas: One POV per passage or chapter keeps it more focused for me and the reader, I find.
Steve: Do you find background material for (research) your books? If so, how?
Seumas: Much of the financial industry and geographical settings come from my own experience, but the web is such a rich seam to find just about any detail you need.
Steve: What reference works do you use most?
Seumas: A good dictionary is the most common reference book. I don’t use a spell check as there are so many words that can sneak in that are wrong. Not much else in the way of reference works.
The Writing Business:
Steve: Do you use an agent?
Seumas: I have an agent, but despite his excellent efforts, so far no publisher. That doesn’t faze me, as the Kindle route has been more than generous to me thus far.
Steve: Do you self-publish or traditionally publish?
Seumas: Self publishing to date, but I’d welcome the option to be with a global house as well.
Steve: What are your most effective marketing techniques?
Seumas: I immersed myself in the social networking world. As a relative newbie author, and as a businessman, I find it powerful in getting access to and reaction from a global base. LUV IT!
Steve: Do you release trade paperbacks or eBooks?
Seumas: eBooks, and I’ve also organized local publishing of paperback versions of the two novels. I then marketed those personally with the three main distributors in the UAE, and have them in diverse outlets, including major hotel lobby shops, and the airports. All self-driven.
Steve: What do you think of publishing services like Amazon, Smashwords, etc?
Seumas: LUVIN’ the Amazon Kindle experience so far. Long may it continue to be kind to my books.
Personal questions:
Steve: What is your favorite place to eat-out?
Seumas: I enjoy fine dining, but from time to time, nothing like a fast-food buzz to hit the spot.
Steve: What is your favorite drink?
Seumas: Diet Coke by the tub-full.
Steve: What other interests do you have besides writing?
Seumas: Watching televised soccer from the UK and plunking away in my amateur fashion on the guitar. I used to sing quite well, but I use that now principally to frighten away the cockroaches.
Steve: What was the last movie you went to see?
Seumas: I’m not fond of going to movie-houses. The last film I saw in a cinema was Titanic. I usually catch movies on air trips or TV re-runs.
Steve: What would I find in your refrigerator right now?
Seumas: Diet coke and ice cream.
Steve: If you could trade places with someone for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
Seumas: Andrea Bocelli on tour for a week. To be able to sing like that is a fabulous gift.
Steve: What is your favorite (song) and why? Piece of music?
Seumas: “Amazing Grace.” I’m Scottish and Celtic. It moves me every time I hear it. Recently I downloaded a YouTube version of Andre Rieu and his orchestra playing it with the Massed Bagpipes and Drums. It’s unbelievably emotive.
Steve: Thanks for your candid answers. My blog readers will find them entertaining and educational. The internet makes writing international!
In libris libertas….
[For further information about Seumas, visit his blog: http//www.seumasgallacher.wordpress.com. You can also visit him online at Twitter @seumasgallacher; Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/seumasgallacher; and e-mail him at seumasgallacher@yahoo.com.]
