Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am originally from Bedford in England but I grew up in Middlesbrough. 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 been traveling ever since. I have lived in ten different countries and worked in five-star hotels and restaurants around the world as a chef. I have also worked on cruise ships, Antarctic supply ships, a gold mine in Papua New Guinea and the Falkland Islands after the war with Argentina.
I have written ten books in total, five of them are travel books aimed at retirees and baby boomers and I have also written my biography, “You will never amount to anything”.
I have now retired to Thailand where I live on the beautiful island of Koh Samui and travel extensively throughout South East Asia researching my travel books.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Ten Best Countries in The World to Retire on Your Pension.
Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica, Belize and Panama
You may be retiring soon or maybe you have already retired after working hard all of your life and you will have the time and money to live your life to the fullest. Well, you hope that you will have enough money to live your life to the fullest. Many people that have retired or are retiring had well paying jobs, a healthy superannuation account, invested wisely and saved enough money to live out their retirement years in comparative luxury. Unfortunately, many more retirees have not been so lucky or so foresighted and only have their government retirement pension and whatever savings and investments they have managed to accumulate over their working lives, and for them, the thought of living in retirement can sometimes be quite scary. For those retirees, retiring to an overseas country has become a real consideration, because they can spend a lot less money, and have a better lifestyle due to the lower cost of living than they would be able to by staying in their home countries. Add to this the tempting incentives of tropical climates and exciting new experiences to spice up your life and you can see why more and more retirees from all over the world are looking for alternative retirement options abroad.
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 Wifi 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 favorite authors of today are James Lee Burke, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane, Kate Atkinson, and Khaled Hosseini. I also like to read any 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 have a YouTube channel on living in Thailand so I will be traveling around the country looking for inspiration for my new 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.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
As I am a relatively new author myself there is not much advice that I can offer. 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 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 the television.
What are you reading now?
During one of my recent trips around Thailand for my YouTube channel, I visited Kanchanaburi which is where the movie The Bridge on The River Kwai was based on. It was quite a moving experience so I bought the book The Railway Man by Eric Lomax, one of the survivors of the death railroad.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Probably book three in the Lieutenant Chai Son Sinuan of the Royal Thailand Police Force, an incorruptible police officer in a police force engrained in corruption.
What is your favorite book of all time?
To Kill a Mockingbird
Author Websites and Profiles
Gerald Hogg Website
Gerald Hogg Amazon Profile
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