Meet Gillian Royes | Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gillian Royes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gillian, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve always been a writer. One of my proudest moments was receiving my first official rejection letter from Readers Digest when I was around 10 years of age. Since then I have published poetry, business histories, family histories, a series of novels, a guide to senior dating, and now plays. No thought process goes into deciding to be a writer. One either has an urge to write, an urge that one cannot resist, or one doesn’t.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Ease comes from following your heart. Had I not done so, it would’ve been much more challenging and far more difficult to succeed in my craft.
I can’t say that I’m proud of what I’ve done or excited about it. I have done what I wanted to do, what I had an urge to do, nothing more. This took me in many different directions. Helen Keller once said, ‘Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.’ I totally agree with this statement. I have lived in four different countries. I have been an academic, an entrepreneur, a communications consultant, and all while being a writer. I have no regrets and would do everything the same way all over again.
What makes me unique is that as an immigrant, and an elder, I stand on the periphery of society and see things in a more objective, some would say compassionate, way than others do. I write stories about the marginalized, feeling a need to speak for those who cannot or who are too afraid to speak.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love the city of Decatur. I usually hang out there since I live there. But there are so many intriguing places in Atlanta to visit, it’s hard to narrow it down. I do think that the civil rights museumI do think that the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta, as well as the Martin Luther King Center and the King tombs, or a good place to start.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
For a writer, one of the most important people in their early development is the English teacher. So I have to shoutout Mrs. Tess Thomas, who taught me English at Saint Andrew School for Girls in Jamaica. A red-headed English woman, she was relentless in pushing us to dig down deep to write.
Next up is my father, himself a reader and writer, who made sure we always had books to read and encouraged my writing.
Then there are all of the writers who I admired and emulated as I went from training wheels to balancing on my own!

Website: www.gillianroyes.com; www.thirdactdating.com

Instagram: @royesg

Linkedin: Gillian Royes