Philip’s Comments (group member since Apr 02, 2012)

Philip’s comments from the Q&A with Philip White, author of Our Supreme Task: How Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech Defined the Cold War Alliance group.

One of the keys to my writing process is not sitting down on the job...

http://philipwhitebooks.blogspot.com/...

So, I can't claim any credit for the idea to write Our Supreme Task. In late 2008, my good friend, Henry Worcester, took me, his daughter and our mutual friend, Mr. Matt Feeney to the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, MO. Housed in the basement of a splendid Christopher Wren church that was shipped stone by stone from London, the museum is a treasure. A few days later, Henry told me that while there was a collection of essays on the speech Winston Churchill gave in Fulton and it was included in some Cold War history books, the full narrative had not been told. "Why don't you write it?" he said. So I did.

And, not to confuse Tudor England with pre-World War II England, but I renewed my Audible.com subscription for my recent long drives to/from book events and am 24 hours into the unabridged 36.5 hour version of William Manchester's majestic The Last Lion 2: Winston Spencer Churchill Alone 1932-40.

The third volume, Defender of the Realm, written by my friend, Paul Reid,is now available for pre-order via all the usual outlets. Check it out.

And I just pre-ordered the sequel, Bring up the Bodies . Can't wait for our UPS driver to bring me that brown box.

About half way through Hilary Mantel's wonderful, rich Wolf Hall. Her powers of description leave me awestruck. Not that I'm jealous...much!

And while we're on the subject of writing, a very well known non-fiction writer gave me a few solid tips on public speaking. The first of these? Never, ever, EVER rely on technological aids. I'll put this into action at my address/Q&A/book signing at MidAmerica Nazarene University's Mabee Library.

http://calendar.kansascity.com/venue/...

I'm not into long, boring writing manuals/textbooks, but I do like to read books by writers for writers. I recently raced through Stephen King's excellent On Writing, and today came across a list of this + nine other "Good Reads" (pardon the bad pun) on this topic. Check it out: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.ph...

I have taken tips and tricks from many other writers and cobbled them together to create a research & writing approach that works. Wondering why interviews are so important to my work? Want to know how I'm productive when working from home w/ two small kids? Need some help with a project you're working on? Happy to answer questions on these and any other topics.

Philip

Me again. In this thread, I'll answer any questions you may have about writers that inspire and challenge me, and why. A few to start off with: Erik Larson, David McCullough and Paul Reid.

Hello all. In this discussion thread, I'll answer questions on my latest book. Curious how I came up with the idea? Wondering how Churchill and Truman's relationship influenced the 'Iron Curtain' speech? Then fire away!

Hello there. For the next month, I'll be answering questions about me, my book and my writing and research process. I welcome your contribution.

Philip