An Interview with Dieter Gartelmann: Author of Pandemic

Dieter Gartelmann had moved to Australia from Germany in 1953, and straight off to high school, learning English and the ways of the new country. The full lifecycle of a migrant escaping from the past, marriage, and four great children. After a 45-year IT career followed by a postgraduate study in cybersecurity, he now lives alone, with a new interest in writing. This is his second book.

Tell us about your book.

The book Pandemic is about the pandemic in the US. The first part is the history of how Trump handled the pandemic, described as dialogue between fictional families discussing all news and presidential events and bulletins. Part two is fiction describing the human and presidential interactions when a massively infectious strain runs through the US whilst protestors in the hundred thousands march.

Why did you want to write a book?

The pandemic and civil divisions nearly destroyed America, and I wanted a book where everything in the US got fixed. Great idea if a bit presumptuous.

Why did you choose to self-publish?

I wanted the book to be published now, not in three to five years with a traditional publisher and I wanted good royalties.

What tools or companies did you use, and what experience did you have?

I used Google to collect news items and bulletins published by The Washington Post, CNN, and The Guardian, companies I had subscribed to get the true stories. When the chapters were rolling off my desk, I used Grammarly to perform the first level of editing. When the book was finished, I purchased a month subscription to Grammarly Premium. A marvelous investment.

Would you self-publish again?

Almost certainly. I would not get published within two to five years with a traditional publisher. I am eighty and might not be alive.

What do you think are the main pitfalls for indie writers?

You are alone without help during the writing process, without guidance t write a great book.

What tips can you give other authors looking to self-publish?

You must select a publisher who gives you a great agent who has your interest at heart, and you must satisfy yourself when selecting one that they have a great service reputation – answer questions you ask them in a timely manner.

What was your steepest learning curve during the publishing process?

Writing is the easy part. You must learn all the processes to get your book bought by readers. You must embrace the processes.

As a writer, what is your schedule? How do you get the job done?

Once I’m some way into the book I find it disturbs my sleep and I wake early, get up at five, shower and breakfast to start writing by six. By 2 or 3 pm I need a nap and two hours later write for another hour or so. For Pandemic, I started in December and wanted it published in early April.

How do you deal with writer’s block?

I did not really have writer’s block because I lived the story. If I got stuck, I revised what I had done and looked to see where I wanted to go with the story. This is the creative part of a story, develop the plot. Short answer is developing the plot gets you past the block.

Tell us about the genre you wrote in, and why you chose to write this sort of book.

Pandemic is in the historical or political fiction genre, but the deciding factors were I wanted to fix the US mess by writing a book where it all got fixed. My other book is a romance/adventure book. It is a genre I like: it is not so stressful yet intriguing and heartwarming with lots of room for humor.

Who are your biggest writing inspirations and why?

Initially Lee Childs with Jack Reacher for thrilling tension, then TM Clark with Tears of the Cheetah for romance with chilling adventure. I am now reading Candace Camp’s A Monetary Marriage. I am reading it to discover how to write love scenes without having explicit sex. I need to revise my first book to make it a best seller.

How do your friends and family get involved with your writing? What do they think of your book?

My sister Christel became my book champion reading and rating chapters as they were completed. My twin brother read Pandemic when it was published, and thought the start was slow, the second part thrilling. I used his comments to resubmit the book to address his concerns, which had been echoed by a first review. My children have not read the book yet – I hope they will love the revised edition.

What are your plans now your book is published?

I will shortly finish reading Candace Camp’s book again, having marked scenes to learn from, and then resubmit Destiny Cottage. In October I will start either a cyber warfare thriller novel or a global warming doomsday novel that solves it.

Why did you write about this particular subject?

I wrote Pandemic because it was in my face every day and I wanted to fix it. Fanciful but a great incentive. You could say I was flabbergasted at the Trump approach to the pandemic and so irate about it I wanted to give them a blueprint of better society.

What did you learn on your journey as an author?

The most important thing I learned is that I need to keep the readers intrigued and love what I had written. The author, not necessarily myself, and the only way to find out is to submit my book to a representative audience.

What do you love about writing?

I am now someone who is inspired, as the inspiration note for the book says. No matter what, I have a passion and mission

What do you like the least?

All the admin associated with publishing is never something I will love but I need to do it, and effectively.

What’s next for you as an author?

After a month to resubmit Destiny Cottage, I will start in October on one of three books on global warming, cyber warfare, or Islam on the path to domination.

My next book will use a lot of plot planning. I used PowerPoint effectively to manage complex tasks and I want to use it to develop the plot almost completely and have it audience tested before I start to write.