StanleyWheeler

 Author Interview with Matthew Cox

Author of

The Ubergirl series, Temporal Armistice series, and the Vampire Innocent series

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

At the time of filling this out, I’m in-between books. I suppose the fourth Maddy Wimsey novel, which is presently in the editing stage counts as a work-in-progress, but it’s also a co-writing project with JR Rain. I’m preparing to release Dr. Infinity and the Soul Smasher as soon as the cover art is done, which is the fourth novel in my Übergirl series. The next project I will start on is either going to be another novel in my Temporal Armistice series or the thirteenth book in the Vampire Innocent series.

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

Since I’m not presently working on a WIP, I’ll answer this question in reference to my Vampire Innocent series which I am trying to promote with these interviews. In mid-2018, my then-publisher began to deteriorate. I won’t go into nasty details, but simply put, they were going down. I’d been considering going the self-publishing route and as such, put out The Forest Beyond the Earth as my first self-pub release. After, it occurred to me it might be a good idea to have a series on the self-pub side as at the time, all of my series were mired with the publisher.

I still can’t really explain where the idea to write a vampire-themed series came from. While sitting around trying to come up with an idea to base a series on, it randomly hit me to juxtapose the concept of a vampire with a teenage girl still living at home with her parents. From the start, I wanted to keep a humorous tone to the story. It really did surprise me how well people received it. When I started writing this series, I never expected it would make it to twelve books (and counting.

Do you write in more than one genre?

Yes! My books span cyberpunk, science fiction, post-apocalyptic, fantasy, urban fantasy, superheroes, paranormal, and a handful of horror. I’ve written books for adults, young-adults, and middle-grade readers as well.

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

This is something I’ve always struggled with. Answering questions like this feels so much like bragging to me it’s a challenge. To respond here, I’ll use things I’ve seen in reviews. Readers tell me I capture characters’ emotions and thoughts realistically and create deep, fully realized characters that they truly empathize with and come to know almost like real people. I’ve also had people tell me my writing is ‘cinematic,’ allowing them to visualize the scenes and such as if watching a movie.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

Here and there. Nothing major or overwhelming. Bits and pieces of my history and personality come through in various characters over multiple books. One character witnessing someone have an aneurysm is based on a real event when my grandfather died in front of me, for example. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) my real life has been kind of boring, so I don’t have an abundance of exciting material to draw upon.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I need character actions to make logical sense. Generally, I’m a fan of happy endings as the world has enough darkness in it already. I’m a cat person, a recovered WoW addict, and still a fan of video games.

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

Malus Domestica by S.A. Hunt. Also his Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree. Another suggestion is the Mayhem Wave series by Edward Aubry.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

This is like asking a parent to pick a favored child. My favorite character is Althea from the Awakened series. Not sure if I’d call Prophet of the Badlands my best book, but I like her the most. The more time I spend writing, the more polished my writing feels. If you’re asking about stuff in terms of inspiration or profundity, maybe The Eldritch Heart or Sophie’s Light. I got the idea to write the Eldritch series after hearing someone erroneously complaining about the movie Frozen “forcing” the LGBTQ narrative. Yes, the guy saying it was an idiot. But it got me thinking about a ‘Disney-like’ princess story where the girl got the girl. I jotted down some notes but didn’t do anything with it until a beta reader told me her daughter came out after months of being terrified to say anything. Upon the book’s release, she told me her daughter loved it and read it twice (which she does not do often). Soon after, I heard reading the book encouraged another teen to come out as bi to their parents. It’s a high fantasy adventure story with a love story going on as well. The main ‘message’ there is it’s okay to be who you are.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

Haven’t really gotten anything I’d call a ‘break’ yet. I spent years dabble-writing but didn’t take it seriously. Around 2012, my immediate supervisor at the day job asked me if I had ever considered writing novels. (He’d been reading a few emails I sent out to customers and something about them caused him to ask the question). He’d written a book about his life experiences, and suggested I try writing a novel and self-publishing it. At the time, I had already written a draft of Of Myth and Shadow, but in hindsight, I realize it hadn’t been anywhere near ready for publishing. However, a few months after Chris (my supervisor) made the suggestion, I decided to give the novel-writing thing another shot and started again with a smaller book and idea.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

Hmm. Probably stuff about particular character’s mindset, actions, background, or the like. Granted, questions like that would tend to require the interviewer to be familiar with the book.

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

I don’t really have a catch-phrase, but I find myself using a quote rather often lately: “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religions conviction.” – Blaise Pascal.  I choose it because our reality is far too full of people doing evil and thinking their religion justifies it.

You can connect with Matthew at:

http://www.matthewcoxbooks.com/wordpress/about/

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As for me and my writing, I did very little this week, but what I did was pretty good. I attended this years Life, The Universe, and Everything symposium in Provo, Utah. Of course the symposium was online this year, so I didn't have to travel to Utah. I got to be on 4 panels and received some great insights and information from the presentations I watched. I've even started toying with a filk to the tune of My Darling Clementine. One should start simple. I particularly remember an interesting presentation about creating multidimensional characters, and an exciting presentation on plotting from John D. Brown. I also enjoyed a discussion about watching movies to be a better writer, killing characters, editing the early chapters of a novel, as well as a history of underwear.

Naturally, I am brimming with renewed vigor to finish my current project and to get started on a dystopian thriller which has been scratching like a cat at the screen door of my mind for two weeks now. The symposium provided me with some new tools and ways of thinking to better address the project.