We were lucky to catch up with Ozgur Sahin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ozgur thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about one of the craziest things you’ve experienced in your journey so far.

One thing people all tell you when you’re writing a historical novel is how unforgiving readers can be. “You’d better get your research right, because the readers will call you out on everything!” they’d say, as if the project isn’t daunting enough without that worry. Of course I plugged on ahead simply doing my best–I’m a big believer in simply doing your best and accepting that it will be good enough in the end. Perfectionism isn’t my style, as I view it as a fear of failure more than a love of success.

Naturally once I was finished and my first book was out there, I expected someone, somewhere to call me out on some detail. And this is when I learned an important lesson: People like to take on airs of being experts, but most of the time, they don’t know any better than anyone else.

You see, even among history buffs, most people know particular things about particular eras, and everyone has a specialization. More often than not, if what you say sounds plausible, people will simply accept it as accurate…and I can sound very plausible.

I remember one instance where someone went out of their way to specifically compliment me on my explanation of the gap between when the flintlock firing mechanism was invented and when it began seeing widespread use, as well as how that related to why pirates tended to be better marksmen and were far more successful than the various militaries of the time. “The accuracy and attention to detail of that explanation was brilliant,” I was told (or words to that effect). Outwardly, I accepted the compliment in stride, with as much grace as I could muster. But inwardly, I thought to myself, “Man…I completely made that up.”

It just goes to show that many obstacles are based more on fear than on reality, and they can melt away in the face of mere effort.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I initially became a student of astrophysics, though by then I also began having stories I wanted to write. Nevertheless, I had turned to the hard sciences to answer the big questions. After a couple years of university studies, where a love of learning was turned into a constant feeling of distress as calculus professors taught mere memorization, and the entire program seemed more intent on weeding students out rather than teaching them what they were paid to teach, I checked out, joined the office workforce, and began focusing more intently on my stories.

In time, I had a number of experiences that led me to the field of consciousness studies (particularly the works of Ken Wilber), and I felt like I’d accidentally discovered the field that would genuinely answer all those big questions I’d gone to astrophysics for. So alongside my stories, a desire to write non-fiction blossomed, as did my life-coaching tendencies-turned-business. But of all my projects, I focused on my pirate trilogy first, and I now have only one book remaining in the series. Many people ask me, “So how do you trace a path from astrophysics to consciousness studies to pirates?” I suppose the answer is simply that I love all things discovery-related: space discovery, self-discovery, and the Age of Discovery. So there will of course be some self-discovery projects in the works soon as well, and that will also dovetail nicely with what I’ve found in my journey as a small-time life coach.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Authenticity, without a doubt. Many authors try to be perfect sales people, marketers, social media moguls, or some other kind of sensation. I try to be my most authentic self, as publicly as feels authentic to me as an ambivert. I enjoy people, and I am a very non-competitive person. If I have a tip that will help another author sell a bunch of books, I’m not going to keep it to myself in the spirit of artist competition. I feel we all do better when we behave as though we’re never competing, at least in this space. That attitude has certainly paid off with other artists, but my engagement with fans and readers has also left an impression. They seem to find me approachable, friendly, helpful, and above all, authentic. This can do nothing but help me in building an audience for my non-fiction works, but there’s simply no downside in any other space either. As long as I keep my boundaries and don’t agree to do a bunch of things I’m not interested in doing, there’s no reason not to answer questions, offer tips, discuss my own journey, and generally just be a gentleman and a professional who puts people–colleagues and fans alike–at ease.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Some wise person once said, “Write what you want to read.” I’ve certainly taken it to heart with my pirate novels, but it also applies to my entire career. I wish I’d had a better manual for how people operated when I was younger. Some kind of owner’s manual would have been ideal. So I suppose you could say that I want to help people face old fears and see new truths. I want people to explore, learn, and feel less afraid and more enriched. My fiction does some of that, but my non-fiction is where I really intend to put my focus. I want to help illuminate truths for people that they’ve long struggled with but could not put to words. As doing so is a particular gift of mine, I may as well supply some of those words and help people get ahead. As I said, I’m a very non-competitive person, and I think society would move along a lot faster if we weren’t always reinventing the wheel because we don’t want someone else to build on our ideas. I hate watching everyone learn things the hard way…so I’d better help provide more of an easy way for those others who don’t want to slog through the same old quagmires. As a gen-Xer, I’ve been reminded how much the film industry indicated I’d have to deal with quicksand as an adult. In a way, they weren’t wrong…but those sand pits were never physical, and it saddens me to see everyone after me fall into the same ones.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ozgurksahin.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100025979323052
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozgur-sahin-28068a32/
• Twitter: @ozgurksahin

Image Credits
Historical Novel Society Indie Award Program