Ask the Author: Gil Troy
Answered Questions (4)
Gil Troy
The book is out -- so in our capitalist system the burden is on you, I mean the wonderful opportunity is for you to order it. It is on amazon and elsewhere. Happy Reading!
Gil Troy
"The Age of Clinton" is a follow up to a book I wrote about a decade ago called "Morning in America: how Ronald Reagan invented the 1980s." Both books tell the story of a particular president in the context of the decade he shaped. One of the first history books I ever read was Frederick Lewis Allen's "Only yesterday" about the 1920s -- I was attracted to the book because it had Babe Ruth on the cover. These two books of mine link that decade approach with a look at the presidency -- and my innovation in both books was to make each chapter be a different year 1990, 1991 etc linked to a location and starting with a defining moment.
Gil Troy
Intellectual freedom, the ability always to be learning, tremendous flexibility in scheduling, and being your own boss -- although my own boss, meaning me, happens to be a terrible taskmaster who works me too hard and is far too driven and perfectionist. Still, for all the crazy hours I may work, I can take lots of time off and usually be spontaneous...
Gil Troy
The best advice I can give is first, revise, revise, and revise again. I write long and then cut and cut and cut -- and I love the process of editing, of honing down. I have a photo I love to show my students of my now 20-year-old daughter when she was 1 sitting on a pile of manuscripts on my desk. On the left is the largest pile, which was the first draft of my second book, single-spaced. In the middle is a pile half the size and double spaced. On the right is the final draft, still double-spaced and still much smaller. I also warn; accept rejection as part of the process - so know you will get rejected, but refuse to get dejected. It takes time to get published but the best writing comes from passion and if your passionate no gatekeeper will be able to stop you from doing what you want to do.
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