ILLUMINATION Writers

Interview with Phil Truman

Featuring creative writers of ILLUMINATION

Purpose of the Story

In this story, I share with you an interview that I conducted with Phil Truman. Phil is a new writer on Medium and recently joined ILLUMINATION but is not a stranger to writing.

I am impressed by the progress made by Phil in such a short time. Phil has already experienced curation on Medium due to his high-quality and high-impact stories. I find Phil’s stories insightful, interesting and engaging.

Phil is a published and award-winning fiction author with a unique literary style. We are privileged to have Phil as a writer for our publication.

Let’s explore the exciting life of this fabulous writer of ILLUMINATION.

Tell us a bit about your background, Phil.

First, thank you, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, for inviting me to give this interview. I’m honored to be among such a glittery literary group on ILLUMINATION.

I’m kind of an old guy — 75. I live in a suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma — Broken Arrow. I’m a native Oklahoman. Married to the same woman for 47 years, thank God. No telling how big a fool I would’ve become without her. We have two adult children and five over-indulged grandkids.

After some military during the Vietnam Era and college, I did the dad, husband, and breadwinner thing (wouldn’t trade any of it, except for some of the breadwinning — loved teaching high schoolers, coaching; being a corporate lemming not so much) for the better part of forty years before hanging up the button-downs and putting on the spurs; that is, becoming a fulltime writer. Published my first novel in 2007, four have followed, so far. Two in the chute. All my novels are Oklahoma-centric, historical westerns, mystery/thriller, one sports inspirational. Been plagued with the writer bug since I was a kid. Never been able to swat it away. It’s a chronic infestation.

Why do you write on Medium?

I like to call myself a novelist, mainly because it sounds cool, but that’s what I like to do most. Most of my writing is fiction, even the short stuff. I’ve written my share of columns, newsletters, blogs, but those were only a means to an end — to sell my novels. For me, blogs are a pain. They require a lot of thought and effort for little ROI (in my case). Then I ran into Tim Maudlin and JeffHerring.com who put me onto Medium. Long way around to answer the question, but Medium is a platform with practically a built-in audience where I can post my stuff, new and old with very little effort and angst. And, so far, good ROI. And, dang, I’ve connected with a lot of good writers. Their feedback and support are much more valuable than the pay… so far.

What are your values as a writer?

There’s the old writer’s cliché, “Write what you know.” I would also rephrase that to include, “Write who you are.” My values as a writer are the same as my values as a person. For me, that’s summarized in God, family, country, and all the ancillaries therein.

What are the top three books affected your life?

The Grapes of Wrath — John Steinbeck

Lonesome Dove — Larry McMurtry

The Holy Bible — God

Not necessarily in that order.

What are your hobbies?

My writing has one main attribute of a hobby — I don’t do it for the money, and apparently, that’s true. I wish I could say I also enjoy it, but that’s not always true. I sometimes feel like a mouse who can’t stay away from that cheese so tantalizingly perched in the trap. And then there’s that line from the movie A League of Their Own: “Throw the high fastball. She can’t stay away from it; she can’t hit it.” Somehow that seems to fit, except for the “she” part.

How do you connect with your readers?

You know, I give them every opportunity to connect with me — emails, website, newsletters, social media, bribes. But nooo. They’re too busy liking other writers or trying to avoid me because they think I might be trying to sell them something. Well, there might be some truth to that. And besides my books, there’re my grand children’s fundraisers. Which, by the way, my oldest grandson is starting varsity football. Would you like to buy some popcorn?

Why did you join ILLUMINATION and how do you find it so far?

Like most, I was naïve when I signed-on to Medium. I was led to believe you write a piece, publish it, and once it was curated, BINGO, you were off and running on the money track. Nobody mentioned you had a 1 in a [place number of Medium writers here] chance of being chosen (curated) to be placed above the rabble. Curated. Now that’s a curious euphemism. Makes me feel like a dinosaur or a Picasso knock-off.

The more I read on Medium, the more I discovered this publication called ILLUMINATION seemed to be popping up. So, I sent in my request to become one of their writers and here I am. Never looked back. What a great opportunity and community. Who are the top ten writers you follow on ILLUMINATION?

I’m still a newbie. I’ve only been a Medium member a couple months, so I’ve not gathered a lot of favorites. I’d have to start with Tim Maudlin and JeffHerring.com since they introduced me to ILLUMINATION. But, pandering aside, they write great inspirational and helpful stuff. Recommend them.

Then coming up on MaryJo Wagner, PhD who’s tiptop and loves Bach. I mean, who doesn’t love Bach; Nathan White, the most positive and sincere guy I’ve found on this platform; Sooner Woodard, because he’s a long-time friend and Sooner; Alison Tennent because I like her style. I’ll have to get back to you on the rest.

What are your top five stories that you want to share with your audience and why?

You asked about writer values. This one does that:

And this:

I try not to take myself or the physical world too seriously. Most of my short pieces are humor and satire.

Current events, as I see them:

Every so often I like to put in little vignettes of some characters from my novels:

What are the success factors for you as a writer on Medium?

I would have to say the added potential of notoriety, hopefully the good kind. Out of the gazillion readers on the platform, some are bound to notice me. It’s not so much the fame I want, as readers of my books.

What do you recommend to the new writers on ILLUMINATION?

What everybody else says — write, write, write; read, read, read. Study the publications. Don’t expect to get rich quick. Follow and connect. Hone your craft. Seek advice/critique from peers. Submit a request to become a contributor to ILLUMINATION.

What are your future plans as a writer?

Keep writing, publishing, marketing my novels. Expand my presence on Medium and ILLUMINATION. Wallow in all the gold from my royalties. (More a goal than a plan)

Thank you for your valuable time Phil. I enjoy reading your excellent stories on ILLUMINATION . Your writing background and capabilities are impressive and inspirational to us. I’d like to explore your books. I also appreciate your wonderful support to our publication, writers, and readers.

You can learn more about Phil Truman from his writer bio.

I found Phil’s author profile on Amazon serendipitously and started following his novels. Here are a few books that I saved for my recreational reading.

This mystery novel is Winner 2019 Will Rogers Medallion Award and has an audio version.

I have started listening to the audio version via my Audible subscription. I am inspired by fascinating voice of Richard Peterson reading this breathtaking novel. If I disappear next seven hours, you would know the reason.

I also saved the following novels for my future reading:

If you are a writer on ILLUMINATION and would like to be interviewed, please send a request via this link with the title of “Interview Request”.

Other Interviews

You may also check other interviews I conducted with inspiring writers of ILLUMINATION recently. These stories can provide a great opportunity to know more about our creative writers and connect with them.

Timothy Key

Desiree Driesenaar

Holly Jahangiri

Dr John Rose

Ming Qian

P.G. Barnett

Jill Ebstein

Bill Abbate

Terry Mansfield

Ann K Frailey

Woei T

Charles Roast

Julia E Hubbel

Aric D Mayer

Chris Hedges

Paroma Sen

Jeff Hanlon

Besom & Bletherskite

Sherry McGuinn

Sylvia Love Johnson

Maïa Belart

Henery X (long)

Chowa Sekai

conny manero

Sumera Rizwan

Karen Madej 💛

Anita Lesko

Marianna Saver

Suntonu Bhadra

John Cousins

Annelise Lords

Tree Langdon ♾️

Aisha

Aurora Eliam, CMP

Martine Weber

Sharon Hurley Hall

MaryJo Wagner, PhD

Kevin Buddaeus

You might check more interviews in the attached collection.

You can find inspiring profiles of ILLUMINATION writers from this story.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

About the Author

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