Ask the Author: Matt Spencer
Answered Questions (10)
Matt Spencer
Just PMed you on the matter.
Matt Spencer
This is a strange one to think about honestly. When you think about it, pretty much any "secondary world" of fantasy/sci-fi literature would be a nightmarish hellscape for any of us to be dropped into, as we are, from this world to that one...yes, no matter how tough you think you are in this reality. Yes, you too, whoever you are. But suppose you *could* phase on over the world of your favorite fantasy adventure series, as your preferred doppelganger there...Y'know, kinda like Westworld, except let's say for the sake of argument that no, you *don't* get safety protocols...Hmmmm...Going on a sword-wielding adventure through one of the trippier worlds of Michael Moorcock's multiverse would be pretty great.
Matt Spencer
Catching up on the longer works of my fellow small-press/New Pulp authors I've discovered through the various short-fiction publications I've shared with them, some of which I've become a regular reader. That, and catching up on some of my favorite authors, new and old.
Matt Spencer
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Matt Spencer
By "most recent book," I'm think I'll go with "Most recently completed novel that's been accepted for publication." It's an offshoot of my Deschembine trilogy, the first book of which (The Night and the Land) has been published by Damnation Books, the other two of which (The Trail of the Beast, The Blazing Chief) are forthcoming. The trilogy is set primarily in our contemporary "real" world, and focuses on the hidden feuds between other-dimensional humanoid beings from the world of Deschemb. The trilogy is self-contained, as in by the end of it, all the primary story/character threads are told and have played out to their natural conclusions...In the process, though, I found my way into a much larger world (multiple worlds, really), with a vast, rich history, full of other characters and stories it could be cool to tell at some point. The fourth book, Changing of the Guards, is the first of those stories I found that really sucked me in and fired up my imagination. It's set entirely in the fantastical realm of ancient Deschemb itself, and takes place ages before any of the events in the trilogy. So it follows a completely different cast of characters, through a book that could be read entirely independently, as a straight-up one-shot sword-and-sorcery adventure novel. The spirit of the story (inspired by the Bob Dylan song of the same name, more specifically Patti Smith's cover and what hearing it evoked in my soul) had lived in my head for a long time, just waiting for me to be ready to write it. I didn't know I'd found "that book" when I started typing it. I was just chilling at a close friend's place on night after work, we'd been shooting the shit and debating some hot-button social issues over some drinks...then he started working on some of his music, and since I had my laptop on me, I opened it up and started typing a few sentences while I listened. Before I knew it, there I was, back in Old Deschemb. I found my way through the rest of the story very swiftly and naturally from there, and had the first draft hammered out in a little over a month. The rest, as they say...Well, I guess we'll all just have to wait and see, now won't we?
Matt Spencer
Everything connects to, inspires, comments on, informs upon everything else...and the answers to "Daddy, where do stories come from?" is all over the place therein. There's no telling what'll turn out to be a story idea, what it'll turn into once you start typing with that idea in mind, or once it starts taking shape, what other factors will pop up to inform upon it. Something you saw or read in the news. Some life-changing memory, distant or recent, that you feel the compulsion to process artistically somehow. Some random event/conversation/incident you happened to witness/glimpse/participate in the other day that made your storyteller mind go "Hmmmmm..." Some book or movie you watched or read with a given genre-element/troupe/whathaveyou that made you think, "So what might happen if I tried my own take on that, put my own stamp on it? Let's find out." Whatever music I'm currently listening to is always a big one for me. You never know. It's all potential material.
Matt Spencer
An increasingly nifty new bundle of short stories that try some (for me) new things. And a new small-town supernatural-noir novella that might actually turn out to be a novel when all's said and done. You never know 'til you get there with these things. Plus getting better at the whole promote/market-one's-work racket. See my earlier "Gotta put in the hours" statement. For better or worse, mastering social media and such seems to have become an inextricable part of being a pro/semi-pro author in this day and age.
Matt Spencer
If something's important, you make the time for it. Whatever your circumstances, daily or weekly, make a schedule and stick to it. The work doesn't end with your own fresh material, either. Study the works of authors who inspired you to want to write, learn to read with an eye for *why and how* something works/doesn't work. Great stories aren't born in a bubble of the imagination. Remember that balance is everything. Put in the hours, yes...but also make sure get out there and live, love, get to know yourself and other people, have some real-life adventures. Carrying around a notebook and pen for random flashes of inspiration is also a good idea.
Matt Spencer
It makes it easier (or at least more intuitive) to keep yourself entertained within your own head, during those stretches when real life is frustratingly tedious. The more you get your name out there, the greater the joy and surprises you find, in connecting and interacting with fellow writers and readers and such.
Matt Spencer
"Writer's block" is that moment when you've spent all day doing other stuff, while all sorts of vivid material is flashing through your mind, harping at you to get away from all that "real life" shit so you can sit in front of a word-processor and write it all down...then you finally get there to put in the writing hours, and it's just not happening. It's pretty frustrating, but there are ways around it.
First response: take it one sentence at a time, 'til the words start flowing freely.
Second response: Okay, missed that window, so write something else.
Third response: Open something you've already written but haven't polished up, and spend some time whipping it into shape, then look around online for markets to sell it to.
Fourth response: Maybe you just need to decompress from the rest of life a bit more. Go sit and read a book, watch a movie, eat, fuck, clean your apartment, call up some of your martial-artist buddies and fight/spar out in the back yard for a while. That sort of thing.
Repeat steps 1 through 3, reaching into your brain-meat at random, and just keep throwing what you pull out at the wall 'til something sticks.
First response: take it one sentence at a time, 'til the words start flowing freely.
Second response: Okay, missed that window, so write something else.
Third response: Open something you've already written but haven't polished up, and spend some time whipping it into shape, then look around online for markets to sell it to.
Fourth response: Maybe you just need to decompress from the rest of life a bit more. Go sit and read a book, watch a movie, eat, fuck, clean your apartment, call up some of your martial-artist buddies and fight/spar out in the back yard for a while. That sort of thing.
Repeat steps 1 through 3, reaching into your brain-meat at random, and just keep throwing what you pull out at the wall 'til something sticks.
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Feb 11, 2025 09:52PM · flag