Name: Phil TruppBook: RUTHLESS: How Enraged Investors Reclaimed Their Investments and Beat Wall Street
Phil's website.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in real-life situations. I am drawn to the drama of conflict, especially when a worthy cause is at the center of the action.
What advice to you have for aspiring authors?
Write from the heart--or gut--whichever revs you up. Remember that first drafts are unpublishable; all the best writers understand this. Truman Capote said good writing is rewriting, so be willing and able to gin up lots of energy at each stage of composition. Write the truth--even if it's "fiction." Old saying: "Sometimes you have to lie to demonstrate truth." Sounds like a contradiction, but it isn't. Finally, understand your craft. Good writing doesn't just happen; it's the product of 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.
What are you reading right now?
I'm revisiting F. Scott Fitzgerald. Right now I'm rereading "Tender is the Night."
What's your favorite opening line from a book?
"Call me Ishmael." --"Moby Dick" by Herman Melville
What book has inspired or affected you in some way?
I've been inspired by countless books, books read over many decades. More recently, however, Philip Roth's "Everyman" is a fascinating study of aging, loneliness, and longing. It's "fiction," of course, but then it isn't. Anyone past 50 might may learn some important life lessons between the lines.
If you could have dinner with three other authors, living or dead, which authors would you chose, and why?
Maugham, Hemingway and I.B. Singer. Maugham because of his amazing technique as novelist and playwright; Hemingway as stylist-novelist-celeb; Singer for his humor and unaffected elegance. I name these names among hundreds of others I admire, but with Maugham's perfect caveat to your question: "It is best to known the author between the pages of his book."
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