Interview With Author Gerald Hogg
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am originally from Bedford in England but I grew up in Middlesbrough in North East England. When I was four years old, in the mid-1950s, my parents took me to Jamaica to live which must have planted in me the seed to travel, as I have travelled the world working as a chef in 5-star hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, Antarctic supply ships, custom patrol vessels, rig tenders, and oil tankers. I have also lived in Jamaica, Bermuda, Singapore, The Falkland Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the USA. I have been visiting Thailand regularly as a tourist since 1983 and I have lived here for seven years since retiring and moving from Australia in 2017. Since arriving in Thailand to keep myself busy in retirement I re-invented myself from a chef to an author and started to write travel books which in turn led to me writing my biography and I then took the next step of writing fiction books. I have written fifteen books in total, nine of which are travel books aimed at retirees and baby boomers who may want to retire to another country, where their pensions will stretch much further. I have also written my biography; You Will Never Amount to Anything. Being a glutton for punishment two years ago I started my own YouTube channel about my life living in Thailand, “Thailand My Land…Retiring Disgracefully”
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkNHbkKVvsUQbSJR4Qx3fCA
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book will be published at the end of April and is called The Eight Best Retirement Locations in Thailand and is the ninth book in the Retirees travel book series.
Synopsis
Thailand is one of the most popular countries to live in for retirees and expats from all around the world, and there are plenty of reasons why that is so. For pennies in the pound, you get low-cost living where your income or pension will stretch much further, a tropical climate, beautiful palm-fringed islands, friendly smiling people, inexpensive housing and affordable high-quality medical care. A country where Buddhist monks, golden beaches, palm trees, monkeys and elephants become part of your everyday life. The problem with Thailand is you’re spoilt for choice. So where do you start to look for the best place to live or to spend your golden years? The book is a comprehensive look at eight towns that I consider to be the best areas for expats to live in Thailand. Of course, where you may want to live in this fascinating and diverse country will depend on your outlook on life, hobbies and the lifestyle that you want to achieve in your new country and many more towns might tick the boxes for where you may want to live These are just my personal favourites, places that I have either lived in or spent a considerable amount of time in.
My eight favourite places for retirees in Thailand in no particular order are:
• Chiang Mai
• Koh Samui
• Bangkok
• Phuket
• Hua Hin
• Krabi
• Chiang Rai
• Pattaya
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Being of a certain age I didn’t grow up with computers but I have certainly adapted to them since I started writing books. I do most of my writing thanks to the wonders of Wi-Fi sitting on a beach or around a swimming pool in Thailand or some other Southeast Asian country. Quite often when the sun is going down my inspiration is helped along with a cocktail or two.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The first books I remember reading were the Just William series of books by Richmal Crompton. As I matured, I read everything Charles Dickens wrote and all of The Hobbit series of books by J. R. R. Tolkien, I also loved Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. My daughter was born in 1974, and as she grew older I would read Watership Down by Richard Adams to her at bedtime. Looking back now it was probably a little scary for a little girl, but she loved the book as much as I did. Being at sea for much of my life, books were an important source of entertainment in the few leisure hours that you get working on a ship. I would read everything that I could get my hands on, from Agatha Christie to Ernest Hemingway, from Nevil Shute to Leslie Thomas. My favourite authors of today are James Lee Burke, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane, Kate Atkinson, and Khaled Hosseini. I also like to read travel-related books especially anything by Michael Palin and Bill Bryson. I don’t think any author actually influenced me, I just loved losing myself in a good book.
What are you working on now?
I plan to have some well deserved R&R and do some travelling around Asia to get some inspiration for my next book
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have recently published a website as it seems a necessity in this day and age. Apart from that, being a retiree and of that certain age, I am not very knowledgeable about computers and social media, so I rely on word of mouth and hopefully, my publisher getting my name out there. I know I must be missing out on many selling opportunities but I find the whole social media thing rather boring and time-consuming. I also promote my books via my YouTube channel…Thailand My Land: https://tinyurl.com/3t32zprj
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep doing what you’re doing; even if you don’t get published, you’re still improving your mind, enjoying what you’re doing and fulfilling an ambition. My brother John, who was a much better writer than I will ever be, tried most of his life to get his books published and never succeeded. I wrote my second book in 2017 (the first book I wrote was never meant for publication) and I was offered a publishing contract for it within a few months of releasing it on Amazon. What I discovered since becoming an author is that getting a book published is quite often down to luck, being in the right place at the right time and of course writing a great book.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Travel to different countries whenever you can. The greatest experiences are seeing other cultures and getting a real perspective on life and the lives that other people lead”. Which is the way I have always tried to live my life.
When I was in Cambodia recently researching my book, I spoke with a lady who was just forty-two years old the same age as my daughter. Her father was arrested, imprisoned and later killed by Pol Pot’s henchmen for the crime of being a teacher. When she was one year old, with her mother, older brother, and sister, they were forced to march 330 kilometres from their home in Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville to work on a communal farm. Her mother died along the way of sickness and malnutrition and she was separated from her brother and sister, and she would never see them again. She was taken in and raised in impoverished conditions by another family who had befriended her mother on the long march south. Being born in Cambodia during those murderous days she had not had the opportunities in her life that my children or grandchildren have had. She had no education, no real family, and had been working as a prostitute since she was fourteen years old to survive. It certainly put everything in perspective for me. You don’t see the real world by watching it on TikTok or YouTube.
What are you reading now?
I have started to read Neville Shute’s books. I read them all when I was younger and they had a big influence on me. I love reading great books but unfortunately living here in Thailand with the many things to see and do here with being an author and also having to make content for my YouTube channel there are not always enough hours in the day for me to sit down and read a good book. I thought that when I retired, I would have lots of time to read but it didn’t work out that way.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a few ideas that I am formulating for my next book in Thai detective The Chai Son Sinuan series of books.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Blah Story by Nigel Tomm. It’s reputed to be the longest book ever written. I am not sure if I would enjoy it but it has 7312 pages so it would last a while whilst waiting to be rescued. It’s probably cheating but I would take the boxed set of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. How to Survive on a Deserted Island by Tim O’Sheid would be invaluable and for a little light entertainment Adolf Hitler; My Part in His Downfall by Spike Milligan.
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