#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Gregory Phillips
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I’d like to welcome author Gregory Phillips to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!
Things you need for your writing sessions: A cup of strong black tea. Other than that, I can write anywhere as long as I’m feeling inspired.
Things that hamper your writing: Distractions. For the most part, distractions are mental, and a successful writing session depends on getting your mind in the right place to enter the world you’re trying to create.
Things you love about writing: When a story gets moment and just takes off. When the characters start to feel so real that it feels like you’re watching them and simply writing down what you see, rather than creating it from your own head. That’s when I get really excited about what I’m writing.
Things you hate about writing: Terrible to admit this, but I kind of hate editing.
Words that describe you: Joyful, positive, optimistic. This is how I try to live each day and I hope my books can transmit some of this outlook back to my readers.
Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Great question! Deliberate and sometimes slow-witted. I’m the guy who thinks of the perfect comeback ten seconds too late. Probably a reason why I’m drawn to the written word.
Favorite foods: At this time of year, strawberries! I just picked up some amazing strawberries from my local farmers’ market and I can’t get enough of them.
Things that make you want to gag: Mayonnaise and sour cream. I just can’t and I don’t understand how y’all put that on everything!
Favorite music or song: I’m a real classical music nerd. Hard to pick a favorite but I’m currently enamored with Prokofiev’s second violin concerto.
Music that drives you crazy: Directionless jazz.
Favorite beverage: A dry gin martini with olives.
Something that gives you a sour face: A dirty vodka martini.
Favorite smell: Evaporating rain on a warm summer day.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Fabreze. It’s worse than whatever you were trying to cover up with it.
Something you’re really good at: Dancing. I love partner dancing, especially tango and salsa and like to think I’ve gotten pretty good at it.
Something you’re really bad at: Creating visual art (painting, drawing, graphic design). My lowest college grade was in drawing class even though I never missed a class or assignment.
Things you always put in your books: Hope and aspiration. Everyone needs more of this and there is room for it even in the darkest stories if you know where to look.
Things you never put in your books: A pet peeve of mine—novels about novelists. So many authors do it and it annoys me, though in an ironic and hilarious way.
Favorite books (or genre): I’m not particular about genre as long as a story pulls me in. A few favorites are “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemmingway, “Housekeeping” by Marilynne Robinson and “Written on the Body” by Jeanette Winterson.
Books you wouldn’t buy: Ones that adhere to a formula. I won’t call out any authors by name but there are those who seem to plug characters into a mold that works. However, that’s not how life works and I find myself quickly bored by a formulaic novel.
Most embarrassing moment: There are definitely highs and lows in life as an author. Most embarrassing was when I was doing a signing outside a book store and one person came. It was at a busy shopping center and people were passing by, avoiding eye contact because they seemed to feel sorry for me. Embarrassing at the time, but I get a good laugh about it now.
Proudest moment: The first time I won a literary contest. It was the moment that launched my career, really, but it also felt validating after all the years of work to get to that point.
About Gregory:
From a prolific literary family, Gregory Erich Phillips writes aspirational stories through strong, relatable characters that transcend time and space. Readers frequently describe being transported into the world of his stories. His most recent novel, “A Season in Lights,” won the Grand Prize in the Somerset Awards, and was named the book of the year by The Write Review. This continuing the award-winning tradition of his first two novels, “Love of Finished Years” and “The Exile,” each of which won a major award. Gregory is also an accomplished tango dancer and musician.
Let’s Be Social:
http://gregoryerichphillips.com/
