Interview with Seumas Gallacher

Yep, it's Friday and that means this week's interview with The Kilted Wonder, AKA author Seumas Gallacher.

So, apart from becoming a dab hand at the use of Twitter and Facebook in the last few months, let's find out what he has to share with us.

Gem security is a key theme in The Violin Man's Legacy.   It would seem to me to be a very specialist area. How did you research this and/or have you had a related background?

I’ve been around so many females in my life who seemed to be magnetized towards gem stores, but I don’t think that’s it---my own working background was that of a banker for half my career, then trouble shooter for companies in the Far East and now in the Middle East. High value goods and cash were always a part of that, and remain so to this day.

I loved the title for The Violin Man's Legacy. How did you come up with it?

I don’t wanna give too much away in the way of spoiler stuff, but I’ve a little insight into the scene that points it all up in the book.

With the new novel, Vengeance Wears Black, you have provided the next step for Jack Calder, the protagonist in The Violin Man's Legacy. Do you have an idea of how many Jack Calder novels you would like to write and how do you see his 'adventures' progressing? (without giving TOO much away)

This one I’m pleased to answer. The current ideas stretch to at least a fourth and a fifth book, but if the concepts keep flowing, I’m not likely to limit myself. Besides, I’m having too much fun with these characters as they are now.

I particularly enjoyed the change of locations in The Violin Man's Legacy, as travelling is a hobby of mine.  I haven't read Vengeance Wears Black yet, although I have downloaded it. I notice China, the UK, Turkey, Europe and North Africa are visited in this second novel.   What made you choose these countries for this novel?

You’ve seen above that I’ve worked abroad and travelled to most of these geographies on multiple business trips for the last 30+ years. I feel comfortable relating the nuances in some of them, a lot of which in the books just comes naturally, so much so that readers may not even get the full sense of where it’s all coming from with me.

Have you visited/lived in the countries you write about and if so, which is your favourite and why?

My first foreign posting was London. After that, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia (I escaped from there after 18 months—the old ‘file in the cake’ trick worked a treat), Hong Kong again, Philippines, and now United Arab Emirates. My favourite is and has always been Hong Kong. The city pulsates day and night. The colour and the constant bustle are wonderful.

Vengeance Wears Black was released a few months ago. Are you taking a well-deserved break from writing at the moment, or are you already working on your third book? If so, do you have an idea of when you would like to release it?

The third is Work In Progress, called SAVAGE PAYBACK (another gentle Sunday School outing sort of tale, y’see), which I’m targeting to get out by the end of the year to catch the post-Christmas Kindle market.

In your future writing, should we always expect further instalments of Jack Calder, or do  you expect to deviate from the series at some point, and branch out and write something unrelated? If so, what would you be interested in writing about?

For the moment, the force is still with Jack Calder, but for the last four years, I’ve been building a story concept for a more ‘literary’ book, but would probably do it under a different name, as it’s totally different from the wham-bam action crime thriller genre.

Do you have a military background? You seemed to have a lot of knowledge of the way the SAS would work for example.

I was doing a turnaround contract in a difficult Far East location, which involved firing hundreds of trade union dockers and putting lots of scamsters out of business. We were alerted to certain threats that made it necessary to get me an armoured car and a rotational squad of armed bodyguards. These were SAS-trained. I learned tons of stuff just watching these guys—they were GOOD!

Do you foresee Jack always having a romantic interest in future novels, whether in the shape of May-Ling or someone else?

He’s married to May-Ling right now. There’ll probably always be some sort of bedroom interest in the stories. Frankly, I think the books could survive without it, but having it in the first two, it seems silly to leave it out now.

 

 

Do we see other characters from The Violin Man's Legacy in future novels? And do we have any new characters to look forward to, that you can share details of with us, in Vengeance Wears Black and beyond?

Yes, I think you’ll see some changes as the stories progress, just as in real life, nothing stays the same forever, that would be too boring. In terms of bad guys (and women), there’s always plenty of them to introduce!

 

Fun Stuff

Westerns or sci-fi?

I don’t think sci-fi can ever beat lines like ‘Get off your horse and drink your milk’, so Cowboys’N’Injuns for me.

Comedy or music?

Billy Connolly is my mantra, but I also used to sing in a band a hundred years ago (in Govan!), and still like blues and slow rock like Jon Bon Jovi.

Favourite actress

Miss Piggy

Book you read in one sitting, or fewest sittings

The Scarlet Pimpernel, when I was ten, just after having my tonsils removed, so enforced bed reading.

First book you remember reading

David Copperfield, and it remains my all time favourite book. Dickens was a master wordsmith.

I know you are a keen football fan. Apart from your main football team, which small team do you show pity on and hope they win when they play?

Inverness Caley, although many from the north would claim they’re a gigantic force in world football.

Leading question - Glasgow or Dubai?

I’ve been gone too long, and Glasgow’s changed beyond recognition for me, so Dubai it is for me nowadays.

First job

Delivering lemonade at the weekends with a couple of ‘chancers’ as bosses on the housing estates in Glasgow’s South Side

 Favourite TV programme

Once upon a time it was Morecambe and Wise on black and white telly in the UK. Now it’s ANYTHING by SkyNews, because it’s SO bad it’s laughable.

Cookery programmes, house makeover programmes or Dragons Den? Any particular one you prefer, if either of the first two

Aren’t they all part of SkyNews?

 You can follow Seumas via the links below:-

Twitter : @seumasgallacher

Blog : seumasgallacher.com

Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/seumasgallacher

Email : seumasgallacher@yahoo.com

Tune in tomorrow when it's my turn to be interviewed by Indieauthorland's David Njoku - well, I hadn't done an interview in a while, and I've done and achieved (hopefully) quite a lot since then, so I thought, what the heck?!
Happy Friday!