Gil Waugh

Biography

Gil was born in Callander, a small town on Lake Nipissing in Northern Ontario. He is a classically trained trumpet player and electric bassist who toured as a rock musician in the 1970s. In the early 1980s after leaving full time music, he trained as a commercial pilot, worked as a licensed Private Investigator, and eventually ended up returning to university to studying Criminology, and then college to study computer programming. He is avidly interested in cognitive science and neural network applications, and for many years now, has designed, secured and maintained corporate networks. In the late 1990s, Gil wrote the Karen Simpson Sandalwood Detective agency series novels Mind Surfing and Evening Song – Òran Feasgair, which are still in print and which were originally published in 1999 went into a 2nd print edition in 2008. He has appeared on countless radio shows, was a feature guest on Global Television’s Mystery Ink and The Destiny Files, and in 2002 was a keynote speaker at the AMEC conference at the University of Mexico in Mexico City. In 1997, Gil co-founded Round the World Challenge (RWC) with Scottish-born World Cup ski champion and James Bond stuntman, Mike Nemesvary, who lives with quadriplegia after a training accident in the mid1980s. The goal of RWC was for Mike to drive his specially equipped truck around the world to raise funds and awareness of the abilities of people with disabilities. Mike and actor Christopher Reeve officially launched RWC in the spring of 2001, and in October of 2001, Mike succeeded in becoming the first quadriplegic to circumnavigate the globe. The trip won media attention all around the world, raised an estimated 1.5 million dollars, won Mike a Governor General’s meritorious service medal, and was captured in a feature-length documentary film.
Gil hails from a proud mix of Highland and Lowland Scottish heritage which has strongly motivated him to embrace, support, and promote Gaelic language, music and culture. In February 2009, he rallied a core group of directors together and incorporated Comunn Gàidhlig Ottawa. In June of 2009, he formed the Ar n-Òran Gaelic choir which recorded their first CD only three months later. He continued to spearhead the Gaelic movement in Ottawa by organizing and holding the first-ever Mòd Canada in November 2009. Gil currently teaches the Gàidhlig course in the Celtic Studies program at the University of Ottawa, is a certified PDQB (Scotland) bagpipe tutor and runs the West-End Bagpiping Studio. He also is creative director/composer/recording artist and musician (Bass, Bagpipes, Irish Whistles, Vocals) with the increasingly popular Canadian Celtic hard rock band Fiùran ( https://fiuran.com/ )

Smashwords Interview

How do you discover the ebooks you read?
I read a lot of non-fiction books. What I read is usual subject based. So, I search on a given subject, then sift through the choices for books that look like they may contain what I'm looking for. Finally, I download a sample of the text to confirm that it is well written and have a quick read. I have discovered some real gems this way.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
I have been writing since I was a child. We didn't have a television, and even when we did, it didn't get used very often. Instead, I wrote plays that my brother and sister and I acted out for friends and family. When I was 10 years old, I wrote my first play entitled "The Last Flight" which was about a plane crash in Canada's high arctic. It was about the actual crash, and the hardships faced by the survivors.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Gil Waugh online

Where to buy in print

Books

Mind Surfing
Series: Karen Simpson, Book 1 · Sandalwood Investigation Agency, Book 1. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 67,170. Language: English. Published: June 17, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Action & suspense, Fiction » Fantasy » Urban
A botched surveillance during a drug bust in an abandoned bowling alley leads Karen Simpson, a young Ottawa Police officer to an encounter that changes her life forever.
Evening Song - Òran Feasgair
Series: Karen Simpson, Book 2 · Sandalwood Investigation Agency, Book 2. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 62,300. Language: English. Published: June 6, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Spies & espionage
Evening Song is a blend of Scottish language and history, original Celtic music, Einstein''s relativity, a murder mystery, and a tale of eternal love.