Featured Fantasy Author – Gus Gallows

I’m very excited to introduce you to an epic fantasy author, Gus Gallows. Gus’s larger-than-life personality will captivate you. Keep reading and you’ll realize just how much Gus loves writing, and how much he enjoys sharing his creativity with the world.

Who is Gus?

Gus Gallows works as an IT Manager in the real world, but where he lives, where his mind dwells, deep inside, is a place not of this world. Go with him, if you will, into the darkest recesses of the midnight cloaked forest, amidst the sleeping critters, and hunting nocturnes, in a freshly dug burrough beneath the greatest of oaks. Tucked quietly within its deepest reaches, sits a goblin named Gus. He is annoyed that you are interrupting his musings, but he is quick to tune you out as a world slowly develops from his tattered, ink-stained quill upon the freshly cured deer hide parchment. Do not get too close, though, for the things he passes from his mind's eye to the eyes of the world might be a bit disturbing if it goes unchecked. He is, after all, a goblin. And a goblin without an editor is a scary and almost ridiculous thing. Go now, quickly, before his story ends, for he has not yet eaten this day, and the evening is just about to retire.

 

The Price of Honor Synopsis

Ganth, the Minotaur Empire, stretching across the continent of Ice Wall within the realm of Algoron, is a place where honor is the foremost trait among its citizens, and strength defines law; A law that has left Pah'min in disgrace. His life in Ganth is forfeit, his childhood love denied, he is snubbed by all. But there is one house that will accept him; its members all burdened with similar circumstances. The house is despised as an honor lacking abode of spies. It is from this dark place that Pah'min must begin the long and painful trek to restoring his honor. He must begin again in the land of his enemies, and feign loyalty to a king he loathes. He will raise a family in this place to protect his cover. There will be many foes, on all sides, but his greatest battles are within as the gods themselves try to sway him toward their own mysterious ends. Ultimately, he must escape, sacrificing those he holds dear, all to pay the price—The Price of Honor.

Why Gus wrote this Book?

Gus’s brother runs an online text based role-playing game called the Dark and Shattered Lands (DSL), which to some extent, he helped develop. Part of that was to write up a few kingdom areas, dungeons, and other types of areas. As much as he enjoyed this, the real fun was in playing it. The storylines they developed in their role-play were, in many cases, better than a good many novels that he has read and loved. Gus needed a story for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and the first one to come to mind was the one based on his character’s back-story. Since he had played it, the words pretty much wrote themselves. He now has two books in the DSL series called The Lore of Algoron. The Price of Honor is the first. His hope is to write many more DSL books based on actual player experiences.

It’s interesting that Gus wrote The Price of Honor for NaNoWriMo, because I wrote Net Switch during 2008 NaNoWriMo. I’m sure we’re not the only authors who have written and published books from our participation in National Novel Writing Month.

Why Indie?

It was not his intent to self-publish originally. Like most authors, Gus wanted agency representation and traditional publishing, but he had no idea how to get there. He didn’t know anyone who could refer him (which is by far the easiest way, or so he was told) and didn’t have a clue about how to do a submission or who to submit it to. The story was burning in him though, and he wanted it out there, so he chose to self-publish. As it winds up, he loves having full control over his books and hasn’t looked back. He’s not saying that if an agent were to find him that he would turn them away, but while he waits for the miracle, his books are being read, and frankly, that is what it’s all about.

The Price of Honor can be bought at the following links:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Price-Honor-Lore-Algoron-ebook/dp/B008GTICZ2
Paperback on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Price-Of-Honor-Algoron/dp/1469964775 

Paperback on CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/3779814

Website: http://www.gusgallows.com

Gus’s Literary blog: http://gusgallows.blogspot.com/

Gus’s General blog: http://blog.gusgallows.com/

Gus’s Fictional blog (He calls it bliction): http://dailydaydreamblog.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Gus for an intriguing interview and for being a part of Pay It Forward. It was great to virtually meet an epic fantasy author. Help spread the word about Gus
Gallows, the Goblin Writer – http://bit.ly/SfFnZR.

Fantasy and Role-Play,

Bea