Bob Korolus interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

My name is Bob Korolus. I lived on beautiful Vancouver Island.

When did your love of books begin?

My love of reading started as a child. I was reading grade school books as a three year old. I fell in love with the world of Dickens, and later on with Sherlock Holmes.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

While ion college I had aspirations of studying journalism and fine art. The desire to write was always there. My College Major morphed into English Literature and Creative Writing., with a minor in Physics. During the 80's I wrote many articles on a freelance basis for all the major In-flight magazines. I love telling stories about people, and places.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

My demanding  career in printing and packaging occupied my time, and I didn't write for over a decade.

In 2019 I was starting to have health issues. By 2020 I was using a cane, then was trudging along with a walker. I had been physically fit, I ran every day, and completed several half-marathons a year for over a decade. The doctors diagnosed it as severe OsteoArthritis in both hips. At one point I was walking bone on bone of my hips. The pain was excruciating.

I could barely walk, and couldn't sit in a chair. I needed something to keep sharp. So armed with a mini-tablet, I started writing again. I had read Chicken Soup for the Souls, and thought about submitting a story about a special dog. I wrote a short story about a dog I rescued named Gabby that gave me one of the happiest and saddest moments of my life at the time. I thought I had submitted it to Chicken Soup, but instead I accidently submitted it to a publisher. They liked the story, but wanted at least 22K words.

 

For the next six months I wrote several short stories about a decade of my life where I helped rescued unwanted Dogs, Cats, lizards, reptiles, turtles, and tortoises. I titled the book The Island of Misfit pets. After 16 stories and 26K words later I submitted the book to the publisher. Three months later they wanted to publish it. It turns out they were really a Vanity Press, and wanted me to foot the costs.

I decided to self-publish on Amazon. It was a steep learning curve. You are a writer, editor, cover designer, and marketer. I sold copies, garnered several sterling reviews. Then I kept writing a murder mystery set in the Plateau District of Montreal. Along with several short stories, and outlines for novels.

I read this great book by Ray Bradbury called Zen and the Art of writing/ He wrote Don't think, just write.