INTERVIEW: Fantasy and Children's Author Gigi Sedlmayer

 Gigi Sedlmayer 

Gold Coast, Australia

 

Good morning, Gigi, and welcome to Vision and Verse, the site for today's artists and authors. Can you tell us a little about what you've written?

 

I have now 6 books published in the Talon series.

“Teaching Children Self-Confidence through Service to Others.” Children today face immense pressure to fit in with their peers. This pressure is leading to record rates of depression among preteens and teenagers and this to suicide. Parents look for ways to build their children’s self-esteem; however, teens look to their peers and popular culture for acceptance rather than their parents. This puts parents in a challenging situation. Most children of this age group have issues with acceptance, and this is explored and resolved in a positive manner within the story line of the Talon series, Matica shows children and teens that they can overcome great obstacles with love, patience and a selfless attitude toward helping others and experience exciting adventure on the way.

I wanted to let children and parents know that they don’t need to suffer more than they already do. So:

Children suffer from all sorts of afflictions and through my book they can learn how to coup with everything, as Matica did, the main character in my TALON books. She had to learn it in her early life. Children can find a “Condor” as Matica did. Not literally a condor, but every child or adult for that matter, they are battling with incurable afflictions, should find something that let them forget what is happening to them. Finding a “Condor” would help them to overcome that.

Parents can read my book to younger children so they can see that they are not alone, but that they can overcome it in a positive way, not in a negative way.

I say:  Children with special needs or with disability, or are handicapped don’t have an illness, so there is no cure and it’s not contagious. They want what we all want, to be accepted and loved.

My books are not only for children. As I said, adults face some illnesses as well, so my books are for adults as well as for children. 

Also, the books earned several Awards and mostly 5-star reviews. 

 

Very interesting. What is your favorite genre to write?

Children’s and fantasy

 

Favorite food.

Potatoes in all sorts of cooking 

Tea or coffee?

Coffee

Pizza or ice cream?

Pizza 

Wine or beer?

None 

 

Where would you like to visit?

Middle of Australia, 

 

Favorite musical artist.  

Don’t have one 

 

Do you listen to music when you write?  What?

No, never 

What makes you laugh?

When I am happy and that is outside seeing nature, animals, and birds 

 

Favorite artist, work of art, or sculpture.

Van Gogh 

 

How old were you when you started writing?

56

 

Do you plan out your book with outlines and notecards? Or just write?

No outlines, I just write, put my fingers on the keyboard and the ideas are coming. Can’t plan beforehand. Nothing would come 

 

Describe your perfect evening.

A great dinner then sitting in piece before the TV and watch a great movie 

Where do you get your inspiration?

They just come. Not planning or anything 

What do you do when you get a writer's block?

I don’t know. Never had one. 

 

Who is your favorite author?

In the moment I read a book from Jesse Frankel. Love his books, sci-fi. Frank Herbert – The Dune saga.  Read it 3 times. Anne McCaffrey 

 

OMG! I love Jesse Frankel! The Auctioneer. What the Good Allow. The Tower. Star Maps. Randor's Moon. He is fantastic. Best book you ever read.

Anne McCaffery books and Frank Herbert and Dune series. 

 

Last book you read.

Alien People (Alien People Chronicles) by John Coon 

 

What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?

Restore old paintings. 

 

The heroine in my WIP is an art restorer. The research on art restoration is fascinating. Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?

I was always put down, not good for anything. My husband came along, and he must have seen the real me. And I became the person I was meant to be.

 

If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?

Jesus. He was the most amazing person, I believe. 

 

What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?

Never give up, even it looks like, nothing works. You never know, the success is might right behind the next corner. 

 

Do you have some links for us to follow you?

https://www.amazon.com/Gigi-Sedlmayer/e/B003U8G4WC/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

https://www.facebook.com/gisela.sedlmayer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gigi-sdlmayer-talon/

Gigi Sedlmayer (@GigiSedlmayer) / Twitter

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