Posted on May 8, 2019 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Today we’re interviewing Peter Ralph, who writes political and crime thrillers.
Ralph is a former “big four” chartered accountant who specialized in corporate reconstructions, recoveries, and liquidations.
In the reconstructions, he acted as a surgeon chopping away the excess fat. In the recoveries, he was like a lifeguard giving mouth to mouth. In the liquidations, he was a combination of funeral director and forensic investigator.
As a forensic investigator, Peter spent a large part of his career investigating and testifying in the courts about the reasons for corporate collapses and whether directors had engaged in fraud.
Later he became CEO of one of his recovery clients, a heavy transport equipment designer, and manufacturer that he successfully floated as a public company.
He has a background well suited to writing novels about white-collar crime and fraud.
In 2012, he was highly commended in the Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary Awards, for his novel about unconventional gas, Dirty Fracking Business.
SADYE: How did you come to see yourself as a writer?
PETER: My lawyers told me that I wrote excellent business letters.
SADYE: Which of your characters would you least like to trade places with?
PETER: I would least like to trade places with The CEO (in my novel, The CEO).
He was ruthless, unscrupulous, and without conscience.
SADYE: What period of history would you most like to travel back to and why?
PETER: The early 1900s. I would have loved to have met JP Morgan.
He was a giant of his time and virtually performed the same role that the Federal Reserve does today.
SADYE: What has been the most touching or memorable piece of reader feedback you’ve received?
PETER: “The best book I have ever read” – DKW, for An Unholy Union.
SADYE: What advice, as relates to your writing career, would you give your younger self?
PETER: Don’t write standalone novels. Write a series.
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Learn more about Peter Ralph on his website, where his books can also be purchased; like him on Facebook; and follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
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Categories: Author Interview