Ask the Author: Philip Lee
Answered Questions (14)
Philip Lee
Either the past or the future - both, in their own ways, fictional places.
Philip Lee
The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.
Philip Lee
Actually my next book "The Mole At Greenham" (which comes out early next year) concerns the bizarre death of Caroline Taylor - my friend and fellow campaigner.
Philip Lee
Hi! As far as I know, if you have followers they can opt to receive automatic notifications of any blogs you post. I don't know if these are emails. Goodreads takes a feed from the blog but, in my case at least, it loses its formatting. I hope this answers your question.
Philip Lee
Thanks for the question. "My Heart Forgets To Beat" is an historical novel and writing it required huge amounts of research into a period time that my parents and grandparents saw at first hand. In terms of the setting and larger events, I can't say that much of it was based on my own experience. However, in terms of the various characters portrayed and the way they reacted to events, experience played an important role. Would I say this means I was driven by nostalgia? To some extent, yes. But I have both fond and frightful memories, so nostalgia wasn't the only spur to my writing. I hope this goes some way to answering your question.
Philip Lee
"Your lamb's liver, kidneys & stuffed heart, Sir; with a side dish of fries."
"Well the fries look great, but I ordered the vegetable bake with tahini & paprika sauce"
"Well the fries look great, but I ordered the vegetable bake with tahini & paprika sauce"
Philip Lee
That's a tricky one, because fiction is always much better at presenting failure than success, so I'm tempted to say Nicole & Dick Diver from Fitzgerald's "Tender is the Night" because the height they fall from is pretty staggering. Thanks for asking.
Philip Lee
This answer contains spoilers…
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Philip Lee
I use a saw. Axes scare me. (Seriously, I do some woodwork - a hobby - which clears my head and helps me refocus on things.)
Philip Lee
Being asked to sit between Mick Jagger and Angela Merkel at dinner parties.
Philip Lee
If you want to be rich, do other paid work and buy as many lottery tickets as you can. If you want to be famous, always sit next to other famous people in trendy restaurants. If you want to be a writer, eat lots of nuts. And be lucky. Or be truly different (and lucky).
Philip Lee
A series of longish poems about literary and fictional characters in World War One. An example is, "1916 in glorious mud" where JRR Tolkien encounters Adolf Hitler at the Battle of The Somme.
Philip Lee
I write mainly in the morning, so getting a good night's sleep is important. Tea is a brilliant stimulant. I usually have a good idea of what I'm going to write, but the act of writing brings out all kinds of unexpected things.
Philip Lee
From reading a compilation of Spanish Civil War poetry (mainly by non-Spanish combatants). I knew I wanted to write about a Civil War Volunteer, and the idea that he was also a poet gave me the hook I needed to create his life before he went to Spain.
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