1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I have been writing–both songs and stories–my entire life. I wrote my first song at six years old. I still remember it. I studied writing at Cornell and started my first novel, A Metal Sky, in my senior year there. I think a writer simply needs to write. It doesn’t stop.
2) What inspired you to write your book?
Like 86% of other Americans, I am sick of a dysfunctional government and the two-party duopoly that enriches its members while doing little for the public. I was daydreaming about what it might take to finally, one day upend that entrenched system and it occurred to me that it would need to be an accident. It requires a regular person–like a modern Rosa Parks–to capture and articulate our collective frustration, and perhaps turn it into action.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
The opening line is “Ordinary people often do extraordinary things.” That’s true. And sometimes, people not much different than any of us, do something that they were told is impossible. Change is not just possible, but inevitable. So are big changes.
4) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
What a cool question! I love that. Vonnegut used to insert himself as a character into some of his books. I would want to talk to John Campbell. There’s this movie “Yesterday” about an alternate reality (as is the case with my book, “A Real Collusion”) and the main character goes to see John Lennon (one of my heroes) and I almost can’t watch it without crying. I would want to ask John, “What next?”
5) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
None. I am just getting started. @stuthemeddler on Tik Tok, Insta and Youtube. WIP.
6) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
The answer to this is immediate and easy, but putting it into action is nearly impossible: Think about the most embarrassing or difficult parts of the human experience, for you, and talk about that, but give it to us with as much honesty as you can muster.
7) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
Yes. I think I have found a groove in writing novels that are literary, about characters with real depth and range of emotions, but with an underlying sociopolitical theme or mission. I want to rake a little muck and help a few folks. My next book will be called, “Divorce Lawyer Vampires.” They usually take me about five years. I still have a day job.
About the Author
Stu Strumwasser studied in the creative writing program at Cornell University and then pursued dual careers as a writer and investment professional. His first novel, The Organ Broker, was published by Skyhorse (distributed by Simon & Schuster) in May of 2015 and short-listed as one of five finalists for the Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing. Lee Child (NY Times #1 bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series) hailed it as, “Exciting and thought-provoking–the perfect package.”
His band Channeling Owen, for which Strumwasser was the primary songwriter and drummer, was featured on hundreds of college radio stations in the late 1990s and an episode of Dawson’s Creek when it was the number one television show in the world. The band was also featured alongside Blink-182 in a lengthy article in Forbes magazine in 1999 about how the internet was leveling the playing field in the music industry.
Strumwasser is also the Founder & Managing Director of Green Circle Capital, a specialized merchant bank focused on advising food brands and investing in food-related technology. Prior to launching Green Circle, from 1990-2005, Strumwasser worked at major Wall Street firms (including Paine Webber and Oppenheimer & Co.). In 2006 he left finance temporarily and founded Snow Beverages to make a natural soda. He served as the company’s CEO for six years.
Leading up to the 2000 Presidential election, Strumwasser, who has been concerned with broken government for thirty years, consulted on fundraising for the Committee for a Unified Independent Party. He is an articulate and passionate speaker and has been interviewed on the WPIX NY morning news, “The Closing Bell” on Fox News, for the cover page of the money section of the NY Daily News, a six-page article in Forbes ASAP, Crain’s NY, Timeout NY Kids (with his twins) and more. Strumwasser has also been mentioned or quoted in the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, Dow Jones, and been a speaker at NY Entrepreneur Week, Baruch, Columbia, Pace, NYU, and many more.
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