Dog Island
02/13/2013
I’ve been a little lax in my blog
for a while (many excuses, not many reasons), but now Lauren Sweet, a terrific
writer and editor, tagged me in her blog.
So now I can no longer procrastinate as she talked me into participating
in The
Next Big Thing interview series, in which six
degrees of separation meets the literary chain letter. So thanks, Lauren!
Lauren’s latest book, Alladin’s Samovar, was published in September, 2011. The book sounds intriguing, and I just bought
the Kindle version. Check it out at
Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Here is the
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Aladdins-Samovar-ebook/dp/B005PG4Q18
.
The Next Big Thing
What
Else I’ve Been Doing: Since releasing Dog Island, I’ve
been very busy at my terrific day job. I
have found time to build a website, www.gthomasgill.com,
and I’ve written a couple of poems.
Three samples of my poetry along with the intro to Dog Island are on the
web page. A Dog Island facebook
page has been built as well.
A little more about my first book….
What is the title of the book?
Dog Island. It’s the story of Cornelius
Graham, ex- a lot of things but current beach bum who lives on a remote section
of Dog Island. His idyllic world is
shattered when a boat, laden with a dead man, an injured woman, twenty kilos of
cocaine, and a half-million in cash runs ashore on his beach. Cornelius tends to the woman’s wounds and hopes
to send her on her way when she recovers.
But everything comes crashing down around him when the people she stole
the drugs and money from come looking for revenge.
As
they criss-cross Florida looking for a safe haven, romance blossoms between the
two fugitives. When Homeland Security shows up, the pair has to decide between
right and wrong. But who are the good
guys and who are the bad?
Where did the idea come from for the
book?
The original idea came years ago. I
clearly saw the opening scene, but didn’t know where the story was going so it
was set aside for a while. The idea came
back to me during a visit to Dog Island, a remote barrier island off the
Florida Panhandle. The house where
Corney lives is on the east half of the island, which is mostly owned by the
Nature Conservancy. That’s why there are
only three houses on that end of the island.
The story fleshed out from there.
Corpse,
cash and cocaine was too much for Cornelius to handle, and he made a couple of
wrong turns at the onset. That’s what
brought the wrath of the Russian drug smugglers to his doorstep, and his
burgeoning love for Lisa, the wounded woman, drove him deeper into a messy nest
of problems.
What genre does your book fall under?
Dog Island is loosely categorized under the mystery genre, but while there is a
dead body, it isn’t about that at all.
It more closely matches the suspense genre but has a lot of action in it
as well. With an added dollop of romance
along with a pinch of humor, you get an interesting stew.
What actors would you choose to play the
part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Easy question, I can clearly see Matthew McConaughey as Cornelius. Cornelius is southern, tall, and Matthew
would be great. Lisa is a little more
difficult, but a top contender would have to be Charlize Theron. She'd be perfect.
What is the one sentence synopsis of
your book?
All Cornelius Graham wants out of life is to play his guitar on the white sands
of Dog Island, but life has made other plans.
How long did it take you to write the
first draft of the manuscript?
I really don’t write a first draft, except for perhaps the first chapter. Once a section is set aside, I start again by
reading through the completed work and edit it as I read. Then more gets added at the end, and the process
starts over the next time through. When
it gets too large to handle, a new section gets started and the process begins
anew. So when the ms is complete, it is
way beyond first draft.
Who or what inspired you to write this
book?
Dog Island. We visited my wife’s uncle,
who then lived in Carabelle, and had to go there. Once I stood on the shore, looking out at the
clear blue Gulf, I knew that was the place where it all began.
What else about your book might pique
the reader’s interest?
The settings are real. If you’ve never
been to Florida, the real Florida, not the theme park/beach Florida, you’ll get
to visit places you never knew existed.
Is your book self-published or represented by an agency?
Dog Island is published by Oak Tree Press, a mid-size publisher out of
Illinois.
