Matt Tracy's Blog
July 26, 2024
An Imaginary Interview Part 3
A Famous Interviewer sits down with Matt Tracy to discuss his new book in part three of this series.
FI: And then there’s Darker Than the Sky. It’s a novel. Quite the departure from self-help.
MT: Yes and no. Happy Here and Now tells you what to do and how to start doing it. The Meaning of Life Coffee Shop sits down beside you and has a discussion with you. In Darker Than the Sky, we get to see the main character, Van Weathers, living and struggling like we all do.
FI: What’s it about?
MT: Van’s had more than his share of losses in his life. It seems to him like every time his life is going well, fate sees that he’s happy and reaches down and takes away something he loves. Each time it happens, Van rebuilds. Over time, though, he tries to hide his contentment from fate by denying it. He makes himself miserable on purpose so that fate won’t notice him and ruin his life again.
FI: It sounds like an extreme version of what I’ve felt sometimes. When my life is going too well, I’m a bit afraid to mention it out loud.
MT: Exactly. We all have a touch of that fear. Van’s is just more extreme. There’s a lot going on in the novel. Manly stuff like poker and camping and bad guys and hunting, and while they’re doing all that, they talk about important issues in their lives.
FI: Important issues?
MT: Family and identity and regrets and acceptance get mixed in while sitting around the campfire drinking whiskey.
FI: What else?
MT: Oh, there’s gold too. Lost gold found and lost again. And wildfires. You won’t be bored.
FI: I’m looking forward to it. When’s it coming out?
MT: November of this year.
FI: And then there’s Darker Than the Sky. It’s a novel. Quite the departure from self-help.
MT: Yes and no. Happy Here and Now tells you what to do and how to start doing it. The Meaning of Life Coffee Shop sits down beside you and has a discussion with you. In Darker Than the Sky, we get to see the main character, Van Weathers, living and struggling like we all do.
FI: What’s it about?
MT: Van’s had more than his share of losses in his life. It seems to him like every time his life is going well, fate sees that he’s happy and reaches down and takes away something he loves. Each time it happens, Van rebuilds. Over time, though, he tries to hide his contentment from fate by denying it. He makes himself miserable on purpose so that fate won’t notice him and ruin his life again.
FI: It sounds like an extreme version of what I’ve felt sometimes. When my life is going too well, I’m a bit afraid to mention it out loud.
MT: Exactly. We all have a touch of that fear. Van’s is just more extreme. There’s a lot going on in the novel. Manly stuff like poker and camping and bad guys and hunting, and while they’re doing all that, they talk about important issues in their lives.
FI: Important issues?
MT: Family and identity and regrets and acceptance get mixed in while sitting around the campfire drinking whiskey.
FI: What else?
MT: Oh, there’s gold too. Lost gold found and lost again. And wildfires. You won’t be bored.
FI: I’m looking forward to it. When’s it coming out?
MT: November of this year.
July 25, 2024
An Imaginary Interview Part 2
Continued:
A Famous Interviewer sits down with Matt Tracy to discuss his books.
FI: Then after that, you wrote The Meaning of Life Coffee Shop?
MT: Yes. I enjoyed the process of writing Happy Here and Now so much that I wanted to write more. I decided to try my hand at a self-help book thinly disguised as a story. It gave me a chance to find out if I could write dialogue and plot while still staying in the genre I was used to. I think it came out well.
FI: It’s a story about a young guy who’s not sure where to go next in his life. He stumbles on a unique coffee shop in an alley and has interesting discussions with the people he meets there.
MT: And meets the girl.
FI: I wanted to know more about their relationship.
MT: I know. Their relationship is just beginning. As it is, the book is short and sweet, and leaves you wanting more. After writing a full-length novel, I’ve toyed with the idea of going back and expanding the plot to make it longer, but I decided against it. When I re-read it a month ago, I still liked it.
It works almost because it’s so short. Although it’s the second of my books, it sometimes functions as a gateway to Happy Here and Now. People who couldn’t see themselves finishing a whole self-help book can breeze through The Meaning of Life Coffee Shop without much trouble, and when they wonder what else they can read, Happy Here and Now is there in front of them.
Next Post: Matt's new book Darker Than the Sky.
A Famous Interviewer sits down with Matt Tracy to discuss his books.
FI: Then after that, you wrote The Meaning of Life Coffee Shop?
MT: Yes. I enjoyed the process of writing Happy Here and Now so much that I wanted to write more. I decided to try my hand at a self-help book thinly disguised as a story. It gave me a chance to find out if I could write dialogue and plot while still staying in the genre I was used to. I think it came out well.
FI: It’s a story about a young guy who’s not sure where to go next in his life. He stumbles on a unique coffee shop in an alley and has interesting discussions with the people he meets there.
MT: And meets the girl.
FI: I wanted to know more about their relationship.
MT: I know. Their relationship is just beginning. As it is, the book is short and sweet, and leaves you wanting more. After writing a full-length novel, I’ve toyed with the idea of going back and expanding the plot to make it longer, but I decided against it. When I re-read it a month ago, I still liked it.
It works almost because it’s so short. Although it’s the second of my books, it sometimes functions as a gateway to Happy Here and Now. People who couldn’t see themselves finishing a whole self-help book can breeze through The Meaning of Life Coffee Shop without much trouble, and when they wonder what else they can read, Happy Here and Now is there in front of them.
Next Post: Matt's new book Darker Than the Sky.
July 23, 2024
An Imaginary Interview
A Famous Interviewer sits down with Matt Tracy, author of Happy Here and Now, a self-help book, The Meaning of Life Coffee Shop, a fable about finding one’s way, and Darker Than the Sky, his new novel.
FI: Great to meet you. I enjoyed Happy Here and Now.
MT: Thanks. Happy Here and Now was the product of a lifelong passion of mine. For years, I wrote down tidbits of lessons as I learned them, hoping to make them into a book one day. After over twenty years of sporadic essays tucked into a file on my computer, Covid came along and gave me the opportunity to concentrate on making them into a book.
FI: You had a different title in mind as you wrote, though.
MT: Yes. I originally called it A Beginner’s Guide to Happiness because that’s how I see it. I imagine someone who hasn’t given much thought to the effect they can have in their own life picking up the book and finding someplace to start, with lots of ideas.
FI: Like a summary?
MT: No, deeper than that. If the only book you read was Happy Here and Now, and you practiced it, your life would change in amazing ways. That’s the underlying theme of the book: You have to take action in your life. It can be a small step, but you must move, even if you don’t know exactly where you’re going. After spending time with Happy Here and Now the reader might want more depth or breadth of resources, and it points them to some that have been pivotal for me.
FI: How long would you say to spend?
MT: A year wouldn’t be out of the question. The first part of the book describes the theory behind the concepts, and the second part consists of practice. If you decided to concentrate on each of the practices in the second part for a week, you would be at it a year. It’s not like a year of bootcamp, though. Each one is easy, but they add up to a significant difference in your life. As I said, small steps are the key.
FI: I wanted to ask you about something in the book that I’m not quite getting.
MT: Go ahead.
FI: Being thankful for everything. Besides being tough, it just seems like it can’t work.
MT: I know. It’s counter intuitive. But remember, it’s a book on happiness, and being thankful for everything that happens to you is an amazing tool to bring about happiness. And it happens fast. Like as soon as you start doing it.
I started writing down the tidbits when I found out about being thankful for everything because it had such an effect on my life. So, for twenty-five years I’ve been practicing it, but I still find myself bemoaning things that happen to me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be perfect at it. That’s why I recommend starting with the small annoyances and working up to the bigger ones. When you see it working, it’s easier to take the next step.
...Continued in the next blog post
Check out Matt Tracy's Website
https://www.matttracyauthor.com/
FI: Great to meet you. I enjoyed Happy Here and Now.
MT: Thanks. Happy Here and Now was the product of a lifelong passion of mine. For years, I wrote down tidbits of lessons as I learned them, hoping to make them into a book one day. After over twenty years of sporadic essays tucked into a file on my computer, Covid came along and gave me the opportunity to concentrate on making them into a book.
FI: You had a different title in mind as you wrote, though.
MT: Yes. I originally called it A Beginner’s Guide to Happiness because that’s how I see it. I imagine someone who hasn’t given much thought to the effect they can have in their own life picking up the book and finding someplace to start, with lots of ideas.
FI: Like a summary?
MT: No, deeper than that. If the only book you read was Happy Here and Now, and you practiced it, your life would change in amazing ways. That’s the underlying theme of the book: You have to take action in your life. It can be a small step, but you must move, even if you don’t know exactly where you’re going. After spending time with Happy Here and Now the reader might want more depth or breadth of resources, and it points them to some that have been pivotal for me.
FI: How long would you say to spend?
MT: A year wouldn’t be out of the question. The first part of the book describes the theory behind the concepts, and the second part consists of practice. If you decided to concentrate on each of the practices in the second part for a week, you would be at it a year. It’s not like a year of bootcamp, though. Each one is easy, but they add up to a significant difference in your life. As I said, small steps are the key.
FI: I wanted to ask you about something in the book that I’m not quite getting.
MT: Go ahead.
FI: Being thankful for everything. Besides being tough, it just seems like it can’t work.
MT: I know. It’s counter intuitive. But remember, it’s a book on happiness, and being thankful for everything that happens to you is an amazing tool to bring about happiness. And it happens fast. Like as soon as you start doing it.
I started writing down the tidbits when I found out about being thankful for everything because it had such an effect on my life. So, for twenty-five years I’ve been practicing it, but I still find myself bemoaning things that happen to me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be perfect at it. That’s why I recommend starting with the small annoyances and working up to the bigger ones. When you see it working, it’s easier to take the next step.
...Continued in the next blog post
Check out Matt Tracy's Website
https://www.matttracyauthor.com/
