Interview with an eBook writer- Gisela Hausmann.
1. Hello Mrs. Gisela, what is your feeling after being an author for a long time? What’s your perspective about life now after achieving this in your life?
Hi Abhilash, Happy to be here. Thank you for asking this cool question. It actually proves what I write about in my book – with the best effort everything is possible! Since I was born in Vienna, Austria, English is not my mother language, which means I probably had to work harder to write this book, which was also my very first novel-style book. However, the effort paid off. My ebook was recognized as being immensely inspirational and motivational and won Bronze at the eLit awards 2012, a rare achievement for an author with mother language German. Then again, that is exactly what I am writing about in “Naked Determination” - learning to own determination will get you where you want to be.
2. When you saw your first novel on E-commerce websites, what kind of thoughts dominated your mind?
I hoped that all people, who need some practical tips how to reach their goals would see and buy it. It took me 45 years to amass all this important information, which has proven to work in the past and which keeps on proving itself. For instance, when I won the award.
3. Before we head towards discussing your book, we would like to know in spite of being an author, what do you exactly do? And do you wish to continue with the job or come into full-time writing?
I am actually working on creating a reality show to improve education This would be a project, which could help millions of children and teenagers to get a better future. The project is also described in my ebook, in the chapter “the Reality of Education”. My work is mostly about helping societies.
4. Gisela, in your book you tell of your adventures in India. It appears this happened right when Pakistani president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq got killed in a plane crash?
Yes, I absolutely fell in love with India, when I visited there in 1988. The trip encompassed touring the Golden Triangle New Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra. Seeing the Taj Mahal was really special. As I went on the trip I said to myself, “Well, I already know what the Taj looks like…” Truth is, it is the only famous building I have ever seen, which cannot be captured in a photograph. When I actually saw it, it was just so much more beautiful than it appears on any picture I have ever seen. I also traveled to Srinagar, and from there up Zoji La to Zanskar and Ladakh. Among my trips to 48 countries this one is in the top 3. The beauty of the valleys, the spirit of the people left me in awe. That did not get spoiled by the fact that on the day we returned to Srinagar Zia-ul-Haq 's plane went down and we had to be confined to our houseboats. We also heard shooting but the beauty and peace of Zanskar and Ladakh was so striking that it will have a place in my heart forever! That is why I presented this story in my book. Even for a seasoned traveler like me this was more than special.
5. In one of your stories you tell how met a sky marshal with a huge gun, aboard a Boeing 747. What went through your mind when that happened?
That was 1982; I was on my first Transatlantic flight, flying to New York City. Of course, that was almost 20 years before 9-1-1 and people did not even know about sky marshals. I was flying aboard ALIA, the Royal Jordanian Airline. Indeed, I had heard that the Israeli airline had sky marshals, but then that was something, which could have been just a rumor. So when this gentleman pulled up his trouser and showed me his gun, I almost fainted. My next thought was, “At least nothing can happen to me…” When he invited me into the cockpit, I almost fainted again. It was an awesome adventure, which is why it made it into my book.
6. Gisela, you seem to have a way with authorities, you also got caught by the KGB in Russia?
(laughing) Yes, I did that too. That comes from sticking one’s nose into everything and seeking every adventure. I was visiting the Kremlin and Gorbachev was there in the midst of a big crowd of people. That did not deter me to work my way through the crowd and take the picture. A second later the KGB agents had me and apprehended me. But they let me keep my camera and film. I use this story to show, how so very often in life we have only seconds to get what we want and if we wait this opportunity may never come back.
7. So, what is the purpose of your book?
I have to admit that I love the adventure; I tested every limit, and sought every adventure I could be part of. Of course, that is what adventurers do. Consequently, over the years I have found out what works and what doesn’t.
I wanted to reveal these tricks for the benefit of my readers. However, I wanted this book to be like I am, mostly adventurous and funny. I did not want to write a boring lecture book, I wanted a smart book, which is fun to read. There are also stories about friendship, love, jobs, and money, in other words, stories and concepts all of us can use.
8. You won Bronze at the eLit Awards, with your ebook “Naked Determination”… tell us about that.
That was very special. Obviously, every year thousands of books get published and hundreds of those enter into competitions. That’s why I did not even want to think about whether there was a chance for me or not. I basically entered into the competition because you can only enter in the year after publication and after that the chance is gone. So, if I would not have participated I would have skipped the opportunity. Three days before the winners were supposed to be announced, the organization notified all writers that the competition was so tough, that the judges needed one more week and the announcement would also come one week later. That’s when I really thought, “Ok, that’s it… no way I can win…” And, then I did win Bronze. I actually danced in my living room upon receiving the notification.
9. How long did it take you to write this book from the moment you started developing the story to start writing it till completing it finally with editing and all?
You caught, me… indeed, I had played with the idea for many years and taken a few approaches over the years. Somehow, none of them seemed to flow and work. Then, one day I had the idea to tell my stories as individual stories. I think that is important, because today we are all busy. Then again, as an ebook “Naked Determination” can be downloaded to a smart phone. While the reader has to wait somewhere, he or she can use the phone to read a funny story - with great tricks how to be more successful in life. Once I figured out, that I had to dissect the one long adventure story into 41 short adventure stories, it just flowed and I wrote the first draft extremely quickly. I wanted to create something, which is fits into the life of readers.
10. What exactly is your target from your Books- 1. Getting most copies sold out or 2. Getting the love of readers?
To me “Naked Determination” is about application of good tricks. Lots of people would like to know how to reach their goals faster. Basically, pretty much anybody the planet wants that. However, the smartest book could be lying in front of us, if it is boring nobody is going to love the book, or the author, let alone read this book. So, what I really wanted to do is, TO DELIVER – deliver the book with the tricks, the adventures, the suspense, and all of it as humorous as possible. The cool thing is that every reader can get proof for himself. They can go to Flipkart or Amazon, download the sample to their Smartphones or laptops and see for themselves, what a cool ebook “Naked Determination” is.
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