1. Greetings, can you tell us a little bit about your history and how your work has evolved up to this point?
I am from a lovely Eastern European country called Bulgaria. The capital city Sofia is my residential city. In the last 15 years sports journalism has been my work, passion and a way of living for me. It gave me a chance to travel around the world and to meet some of the heroes of our current time. I am very happy to have a great family. Two years ago, my girlfriend Ralitza gave birth to our lovely daughter, Valeria. The time spent with them is my favorite one.
2. What genre, or genres, do you write?
My first and only book is a non-fiction. It’s a real life story about sporting character.
3. What is your latest book called and what is it about?
The White Prisoner: Galabin Boevski’s secret story tells everything about the life of an Olympic, World and European weightlifting champion. His ups and downs, his struggles and happy moments, and all the dark corners of elite sport are put under the lights.
4. What was the inspiration for your book? When did you first get the idea for The White Prisoner?
The life of the main character Galabin Boevski is like a movie story. He was imprisoned in Brazil for cocaine traffic and during those times there were many negative reactions in our country against him. Almost everybody had forgotten all the glory moments Galabin had brought to our nation.
I was already thinking of writing a book about him when one day he surprisingly came back home. The mystery was born, because Boevski was miraculously released from jail after serving just two years of his nine year sentence. The most interesting part was that no one knew how he managed to get out of prison.
5. How long did it take you to write it?
I started with the research long before Boevski was released, but the serious work took two months. The editing and publishing of the English version took another five months.
6. What can we expect from you in the future? What are you currently working on?
My next project will be another non-fiction sports book. It will feature a sports great, who had amazing fate. The researching is taking longer than expected time, but this is non-fiction.
7. What is your writing process like?
I love to stay after my work in the office and to write in the quiet atmosphere for several hours. This is how my focus is at its best. The research phase is something more different, because of so many meetings with people involved with the story of the main character.
8. The White Prisoner is based on a real life story. How did you go about researching these events for the novel?
Hours of interviews were recorded from the closest people around the main character, including his relatives, teammates, friends, coaches, etc. The timing of the events was essential. There were some black holes in his life, but I tried my best to fill them.
9. Who are some of your favorite authors to read? Favorite books?
Crime: Michael Connelly; Fantasy: Raymond Feist; Adventures: Karl May and Emilio Salgari. I love history books or history fiction, because I studied Archaeology in University. Books? Let’s say just one, which I read couple of times – Sinuhe the Egyptian by Mika Waltari.
10. Where can we buy your books?
Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/4808648
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-white-prisoner-Galabin-Boevskis-ebook/dp/B00KMFP2VK
Thanks for having me.
The White Prisoner
This wasn't the first time Galabin Boevski felt oppressed. He had suffered the atrocious legacy of communism and the lack of support that a talented athlete like him should otherwise expect from his motherland. It had been a week since his arrest. He'd spent a night in the jail of Sao Paulo's airport, then transferred to another Brazilian prison for temporary detention. Now he was in Itai, a prison for foreigners, full of people from all over the world. His memories kept rushing in and he kept going over the unfortunate events over and over. What went wrong? He spent his first night in jail with 1500 prisoners who were serving their sentences there - murderers, rapists, fraudsters and thieves, but the majority of them people like him - accused of drug trafficking. "I'm not a mule," he thought, "I am Galabin Boevski. Legendary weightlifter and Olympic champion, not a criminal!"
This wasn't the first time Galabin Boevski felt oppressed. He had suffered the atrocious legacy of communism and the lack of support that a talented athlete like him should otherwise expect from his motherland. It had been a week since his arrest. He'd spent a night in the jail of Sao Paulo's airport, then transferred to another Brazilian prison for temporary detention. Now he was in Itai, a prison for foreigners, full of people from all over the world. His memories kept rushing in and he kept going over the unfortunate events over and over. What went wrong? He spent his first night in jail with 1500 prisoners who were serving their sentences there - murderers, rapists, fraudsters and thieves, but the majority of them people like him - accused of drug trafficking. "I'm not a mule," he thought, "I am Galabin Boevski. Legendary weightlifter and Olympic champion, not a criminal!"
About the author
Ognian Georgiev is a sport journalist, who is currently working as sports editor at the "Bulgaria Today" daily newspaper. He covered the Summer Olympics in Beijing 2008 and in London 2012.
The author specializes in sports politics, investigations and coverage of Olympic sports events.
Ognian Georgiev works as a TV broadcaster for Eurosport Bulgaria, Nova Broadcasting group, TV+, F+ and TV7. He is a commentator for fight sports events such as boxing/kickboxing and MMA.
The author was born in the capital city of Bulgaria - Sofia. He started work as a sports reporter in 2000. In the following years Ognian Georgiev covered different sports events in USA, Germany, Switzerland, UK, France, Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Spain, and Italy.
The author lives in Sofia with his partner Ralitza and their one year old daughter Valeria.
The author specializes in sports politics, investigations and coverage of Olympic sports events.
Ognian Georgiev works as a TV broadcaster for Eurosport Bulgaria, Nova Broadcasting group, TV+, F+ and TV7. He is a commentator for fight sports events such as boxing/kickboxing and MMA.
The author was born in the capital city of Bulgaria - Sofia. He started work as a sports reporter in 2000. In the following years Ognian Georgiev covered different sports events in USA, Germany, Switzerland, UK, France, Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Spain, and Italy.
The author lives in Sofia with his partner Ralitza and their one year old daughter Valeria.
Links
website: http://ogigeorgiev.wordpress.com/
blog: http://ogigeorgiev.wordpress.com/
twitter: https://twitter.com/galabinboevski
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/galabin.boevsky
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/22376625-the-white-prisoner
Buy links:
Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/4808648
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-white-prisoner-Galabin-Boevskis-ebook/dp/B00KMFP2VK
website: http://ogigeorgiev.wordpress.com/
blog: http://ogigeorgiev.wordpress.com/
twitter: https://twitter.com/galabinboevski
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/galabin.boevsky
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/22376625-the-white-prisoner
Buy links:
Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/4808648
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-white-prisoner-Galabin-Boevskis-ebook/dp/B00KMFP2VK