GEORGE MALLORY
GEORGE MALLORY
Books
GEORGE MALLORY
George immigrated to Australia from Serbia. He took a B.Eng. from UNSW in Sydney. While working for an international company, both in Sydney and the USA, his childhood love of literature lead him to do a B.A. at Sydney Uni.
His love of creative writing started him in the long process of scribbling. Blissfully unaware of the complexity of the process, he sat down and wrote a 300,000+ word historical novel. His parents originally hailed from Russia, so not surprisingly, the protagonist in that story is a Russian. She was one of the early women surgeons battling for recognition in a man’s world. George is still revising and editing this magnum opus that will see print one day.
The author recently published another book called The Unexpected Heiress, which is now available on his website and on Amazon
This is an Australian family saga novel. There’s been a lot in the news and in various documentaries about Jewish Holocaust survivors who have amassed fortunes to top the Forbes billionaire list. But no fictional rendition of an example.
In The Unexpected Heiress, George believes, he has faithfully depicted one such character and his family. To sharpen the focus, he has chosen (yet again) a female protagonist, as the daughter of such a successful person. And added other characteristics to include the topical subjects of the glass ceiling, sexual orientation and abuse.
George’s years as a corporate manager alerted him to social prejudices in general, and discrimination in particular. It provided a fuel to these issues in his writing. In his novels, he hopes to inspire people to examine these topics, while enjoying a good read.
Q. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO NEW AUTHORS THAT YOU WISHED YOU HAD RECEIVED YOURSELF WHEN YOU STARTED?
A. Read Stephen King’s On Writing.
Q. WHEN YOU READ YOUR BOOK REVIEWS HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE BAD ONES?
A. Try to be objective. See if there are any good points to take on board.
Q. HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU DO GET A GOOD REVIEW?
A. Chuffed.
Q. HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDER WRITING UNDER A PSEUDONYM?
A. No.
Q. ARE YOU TRYING TO HAVE EACH BOOK STAND ON ITS OWN OR ARE YOU TRYING TO BUILD A BODY OF WORK WITH CONNECTIONS BETWEEN EACH BOOK?
A. Most of my writing is about independent women.
Q. DO YOU WRITE EVERY DAY? HOW MANY HOURS A DAY DO YOU WRITE?
A. No. Only when I feel like it.
Q. HOW MUCH OF YOUR PERSONAL LIFE DO YOU INCORPORATE INTO YOUR WRITING OR DO YOU MAKE UP EVERYTHING?
A. A bit of each.
Q. HOW DO YOU CONNECT WITH YOUR READERS? DO YOU OFFER THEM A FREE BOOK? DO YOU OFFER THEM A NEWSLETTER?
A. Free short stories.
Q. HOW LONG DO YOU RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BEGIN YOUR NEXT BOOK?
A. Read a lot.
Q. WOULD YOU GO BACK AND REWRITE ANY OF YOUR BOOKS? WHY?
A. Yes. Always room for improvement.
Â
Q. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF. ARE YOU MARRIED? HAVE CHILDREN/GRANDCHILDREN? IS THERE A SPECIAL DOG/CAT/BIRD IN YOUR LIFE?
A. Widower, no children. No pets.
Q. DO YOU HAVE A DAY JOB OR ARE YOU A FULL-TIME WRITER?
A. Retired.
Q. ANY HOBBIES? DO THEY HELP YOU IN YOUR WRITING?
A. Reading. Yes.
A. DID YOU JUST KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A WRITER OR DID YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR EXPERIENCE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO START WRITING?
A. Always an avid reader. Stumbled into writing.
Q. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THE TITLES FOR YOUR BOOKS?
A. I agonise!
Q. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP THREE FAVORITE TYPES OF MUSIC? DO THEY HELP YOU WITH YOUR WRITING?
A. Jazz, Popular & Classics.
Q. WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST DIFFICULT PART FOR YOU WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING?
A. Deep point of view.
Q. IF YOU COULD PICK ONE OF YOUR BOOKS TO BECOME A MOVIE BLOCKBUSTER, WHICH BOOK WOULD THAT BE AND WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY THE CHARACTERS?
A. Tanya – A book about a pioneering battlefield surgeon.
Q. WHEN WRITING DO YOU TRY TO GIVE YOUR READERS WHAT THEY WANT OR DO YOU GO FOR ORIGINALITY?
A. I choose topics that interest me, but keep an eye for the typical reader.
Q. HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR BOOKS? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY? WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE WAY?
A. Amazon. Try to get as many referrals.
Q. WHO DO YOU TRUST TO GIVE YOU OBJECTIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OF YOUR WRITING?
A. My peer group of writers.
Q. HOW LONG, ON AVERAGE, DOES IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE A BOOK?
A. With several editions, several years.
Q. HAVE YOU PUBLISHED IN A TRADITIONAL WAY, OR SELF-PUBLISHED OR BOTH? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS METHOD?
A. Self-published. Tired of rejections, but still trying.
Q. DOES WRITING EXHAUST YOU OR ENERGIZE YOU? HOW?
A. Energise.
Q. WOULD YOU RECOMMEND SELF-PUBLISHING TO NEW AUTHORS? WHY?
A. Not unless they were able to obtain a review by a recognised, well-respected reviewer.
Q. WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING YOU HAVE FOUND WHEN WRITING CHARACTERS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
A. Trying to get into their mind-set.
Q. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON PROFANITY IN BOOKS TODAY? IS IT OK TO USE? WHY?
A. Okay in moderation and in right context.
Q. ARE YOUR CHARACTERS ‘REAL’ OR DO THEY COME OUT OF YOUR IMAGINATION OR DO YOU BASE THEM ON SOMEONE YOU KNOW?
A. A bit of each.
Q. WHEN DID YOU START WRITING?
A. 30 years ago.
Q. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BOOK.
A. In 1903 Tanya, a twenty-s-year-old surgeon in St. Petersburg, struggles with the prejudice against women in her profession. She has recurring nightmares and finds it difficult to deal with her anxieties about thunderstorms and physical intimacy with men. Tanya is attracted to Sasha, a twenty-six-year-old career army officer leading a promiscuous life in St. Petersburg. The book traces their life in the context of the 1904/5 Russo-Japanese war.
Q. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTERS?
A. They chose themselves.
Q. WHAT DID YOU EDIT OUT OF YOUR LATEST NOVEL? A SCENE? A CHARACTER? A SUBPLOT? WHY?
A. Many scenes. I overwrite and then edit.
Q. AN AUTHOR'S PATH IS NEVER EASY. WHAT KEEPS YOU GOING?
A. The love of written words.
