Interview with Seumas Gallacher
Author of
Vengeance Wears Black
Questions by R. Murry
Can you tell me a
little about yourself?
I like to look for the bright side of any situation, and am
a passionate devotee of humor of all types, but particularly the droll dry
Scots version. I've great respect for the intellect of other people as well as
their foibles. None of us is perfect. I came from what others saw as the wrong
side of the tracks, the shipyard slums of Glasgow, but my memories of them are
among the most vibrant and colorful that I can recall, with a great sense of
community back then, salt of the earth people, with a solid sense of what’s
right and what’s not. That’s the bedrock of my own philosophy today. I've spent
over 30 years working in various areas of the globe, from London, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Sydney, Manila, and now in Abu Dhabi in the Middle East. The
memories are multi-fold and provide lots of base material for my books.
Do you remember the
first story you wrote?
A long, long time ago I wrote a short story called ‘The
Storyteller’, about a man who makes up fantasy stories for kids, with magic
frogs, tigers with upside down stripes, and teddy bears who explode when they
eat too much. He dies thinking he’s not left any kind of legacy, but his
stories have become legend, and so he lives on.
Were you inspired by
someone or something?
Like many of us, I find inspiration in diverse facets of
life, but on the writing side I pick up on Dickens, and Sir Winston Churchill’s
prodigious output. As a teenager, I worked under a Bank Manager in the Scottish
Hebrides, named Angus Macintyre, who to me was a mix between Groucho Marx and
Einstein, brilliantly insightful, humorous, witty man, full of humanity. He is
my most unforgettable character.
What do you like
about writing a story?
A writer becomes God when in full flow. The pen, or the
laptop key becomes a magic wand, making characters do anything you wish. LUV
IT!
Can you tell us about
your books?
THE VIOLIN MAN’S LEGACY and VENGEANCE WEARS BLACK are the first in a collection of at
least five novels that spin around a trio of Ex-SAS commandos who form their
own specialist security firm. The stories involve international crime, drug
peddling, people trafficking, murders, arson, and all these cuddly things that
bad people get up to when they’re not being angels. It’s not about the SAS a la Andy McNab, because being former commandos, these guys are not
bound by the usual terms of engagement when they set about the bad lads.
How did you come up
with the concept for these stories?
When I was in the Far East, part of my career involved looking
after a troubled shipping company, which needed clearing out of peripheral
criminal elements. During the course of that engagement, it was deemed necessary
for me to have an armored car with a squad of bodyguards. These were trained
by a former SAS officer who was a good friend into the bargain. I guess that’s
where the concept started.
What genre best fits
for the books?
Most definitely a real combination of crime, thriller,
suspense, action, as well as police work. I’m an ‘all-inclusive policy’ author!
Are you working on
something new at the moment?
The third in the collection/series is already well under way
as Work in Progress. I hope to have that up on Kindle by the end of November
this year.
Do you have any tips
for aspiring authors?
Yes. First of all stop ‘aspiring’ and ‘be’. If you write you
are already an author. Get into it. Read as much as you can of authors you
respect and who write in your genre(s). And these days, most importantly,
recognize that writing the stuff is only the beginning. The ‘building the
platform’ of a social media network is vital. Plus, get into the habit of
helping other writers through Re-Tweeting on Twitter, sharing on Facebook and so
on. “Paying it forward’ is a very gratifying feeling. The global writing family
is the biggest-hearted bunch of guys and gals I've ever known.
Which authors inspire
you?
I mentioned Dickens and Churchill above. Of my earlier
reading, I doted on Steinbeck and John O'Hara These days, it’s Lee Child and
Stuart MacBride among many others .
Where can people go
to read your work?
At present, only via eBooks on Amazon Kindle.
Where can people find
you on the internet?
Is there anything
else you want to share with your readers?
A plea perhaps that will be echoed by most authors. We live
and work for YOU, the reading community. We know it’s impossible for our
work to fit everyone’s taste. That’s normal. However, regardless of whether you
like or dislike what we write, posting a brief review (positive or negative) on
the Amazon pages, for example, is the kindest thing you can do for an author,
apart from patronizing his or her work. And finally, Roy, let me thank you for
allowing me airtime on your blog. Much appreciated, Sir. Thank you.
