Straight From the Mouth of 'The Knights of Galaria' O.S. Gill

We have another wonderful guest for you today! O.S. Gill grew up on the Caribbean island of Barbados. He was educated at The Lodge School, a 300-year-old former British boarding school and the second oldest learning institution on the island. A certified information technology professional, he has worked for The Banks Holdings Limited, a local conglomerate that owns the local brewery (Banks Beer) and Coca-Cola manufacturing plant for fourteen years. A Systems Analyst, he has been positioned in various capacities, primarily dealing with sales and distribution, as well as the sourcing and implementation of new technologies to further business efficiency. He always had a passion for writing and published his first novel, THE KNIGHTS OF GALARIA: THE CRYSTALS OF POWER, in 2012. You can visit his website at www.osgill.com.

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Thanks for letting us interrogate interview you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

I became an author because I always wanted to write, and I always had great ideas (or at least what I perceived to be great ideas) for books. So one day I decided to just stop fantasizing about and just do it, and well here we are.

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

The process can sometimes be fantastic and sometimes frustrating. They are days when I am ‘feeling’ it and I would write multiple pages at a time. Then there are other times when I wouldn’t feel inspired and I wouldn’t write for days. It is also pretty demanding time wise, because I would have to write around my work schedule.

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

I went the self-published route, primarily because I was always a go-getter and I wanted to do this all on my own. It is harder I would imagine, than going with a traditional publisher, because all of the groundwork has to be done be myself, but in the end it is all on me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

They have been pretty supportive thus far. I make sure to always make time for them, especially the kids. Regardless of what you want in life and what schedule you have, family is always the most important.

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

Actually, I can’t remember that many distractions to be honest. I usually scheduled my writing, when I knew that I would have at least two uninterrupted hours to work with. Now that I think back on it, I was pretty lucky that way.

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

Thus far, I would say being able to Google newspaper articles and see my name in print. Just for fun, I Googled myself before the book was released and it returned nothing. Now I can see information on me and my book for pages on end.

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

Thus far, I think Twitter and Facebook have been the most helpful because they are venues that you can get the word out extremely quickly. I have not really used any others, so I can’t comment on them negatively or positively.

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

Well, I’m trying to get the word out best I can. I’ve even hired a publicist. My view is that the more the word is out there about my novel, the more sales should start to rack up. So here’s keeping my fingers crossed!

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about? 

Well, and this comes from self-publishing again, the process can be arduous, and there can be many roadblocks. Sometimes it is frustrating, and you do want to find the nearest rooftop to go to scream. But then people will just call you crazy, and you have to decide if you can deal with the stares.

But whatever the frustrations, once you have the love and the will to write, it is always worth it in the end.

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

I really wouldn’t have it any other way. The sense of pride I feel whenever I look at my novel or someone compliments it, really made the entire experience worthwhile.