Ask the Author: Matthew Pearl
Answered Questions (16)
Matthew Pearl
I hope so Daniel! We are working to find a perfect Spanish publisher and hopefully will do so soon.
Matthew Pearl
Thanks for asking Janellyn! Books could have been pirated at any time, not just before they were published. Robinson Crusoe, though, would be a very particular case study one would have to research. It was published so early, 1719, so I'm not sure what the copyright issues would look like over time for it, and Defoe died around 1730. My guess is it wouldn't really have any copyright applying by the 19th century. Sounds like a great edition to have, though!
Matthew Pearl
Thank you for such a kind message, Karen! I actually just had an event on Thursday at the wonderful Belmont Books, and had visited Porter Square books earlier in the month. Two more coming up: July 11 there is an event in Cohasett at Buttonwood Books if you are able to get to the South Shore, otherwise October 13, location to come, I will be at Boston Book Festival. Hope you can make it!
Matthew Pearl
Thank you Sheila! Yes, sometimes I get to the west coast, though not this time around! Thanks so much for the kind comments and for being in touch
Matthew Pearl
Hi Christine, I'm so glad you're looking forward to The Dante Chamber, and that you shared our email exchange with your class! I'll be coming to Florida to talk about the new book, but unfortunately not very close to you (Jacksonville and Miami). You know what, I always wanted to do this follow-up, even at the time I was finishing The Dante Club, and this just felt like the right time. Hope you'll look for it on May 29, support of readers like you is the lifeblood for these stories, and I'm especially honored to have teachers among my readers.
Matthew Pearl
Great question, Shafkat, and I'm sorry to be so delayed in seeing it! Dante, however great a poet, is a man of his own time and with his own biases and prejudices, and offends pretty much everyone, including those who, like him, were and are Catholic! The thing to keep in mind is he puts friends and family members in inferno, as well, so he's very strict with his beliefs, even those we might not accept. Thanks again!
Matthew Pearl
Hi Andrea, Sorry I did not see this question when you posted it! Thank you for taking the time to do so. Each story, to me, calls for different approaches and characters, but yes! In fact, my new novel, The Dante Chamber, comes out May 29, 2018 and is bursting with well-known literary celebrities, including poets Christina Rossetti, Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson, and Christina's brother, poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Hope you might check it out, and thanks again!
Matthew Pearl
Dear Whitney, I'm sorry I didn't see this until just now! I'm not as proficient on the Goodreads interface as I should be. Thanks for this. I'm so thrilled you enjoyed The Last Bookaneer. And really happy you liked Kitten! She was a very important character to me. Funny you should ask about a female protagonist, my new novel, The Dante Chamber, comes out May 29, 2018 and indeed has a female protagonist... in fact, in many ways the novel is an exploration of women in the story and in society. I hope you'll check it out and I hope you'll enjoy it if you do!
Matthew Pearl
Thank you so much for posting this question, Jeanne. I'm so glad you enjoyed Clover's role in The Last Bookaneer. I've had characters cross over before without planning in advance, so if there's some way to include Clover in something in the future, I'd love to do that, too. You never know! Thanks again for reading and posting.
Matthew Pearl
Craig, with apologies for the delay in answering. Thank you so much for your kind comment, that means so much that you enjoyed The Last Bookaneer. You know, I don't have any specific Mary Shelley project in mind, but I did becoming increasingly interested, so you never know, I guess!
Matthew Pearl
Thanks for asking this, Jacob. It's really hard for me to compare the books I've written. They're all equally interesting to me when I start them... because it takes a few years to write each one, by the end I'm always ready to move on to something else, though that doesn't mean the subject isn't interesting anymore, just that my brain is overloaded with it! The subject of The Last Bookaneer -- literary pirates -- was one I had my eye on for years as a potential novel.
Matthew Pearl
I'm so glad you enjoyed The Last Bookaneer, Cheryl! You know, it's hard for me to dissect most of my decisions in designing a plot, but I will say the ending to the novel evolved and changed many times over the course of writing the book. The original ending I planned was nothing like what it ended up being, although this has happened before for me, too. I'm so glad you liked the ending!
Matthew Pearl
Thanks, Janet, for coming to Vroman's! That was a fun event. I really don't know very much about Harper Lee's situation other than the few articles I read about it, but it's certainly an interesting scenario!
Matthew Pearl
Thanks for asking, Seregon. Yes, many of my ideas come from subjects I have always been interested in. I started reading Poe in high school, for example, and studied Dante in college. But sometimes I get interested in a subject without knowing much about. That was the case for my novel The Technologists. I had the idea for a story about the first class at MIT but didn't yet know much about it's history. So an idea for a story can come from an interest or lead me to a new interest.
Matthew Pearl
Great question, Peter! I guess it's all about balance. But story has to come first, and making sure the history enhances the story and vice versa. If the story could be nonfiction, my rule of thumb is it should be. That way you're making sure the story really calls for fiction. If I can use a recent example from my own work, my next book is about literary thieves in the 19th century I call bookaneers. We know they existed but really no details. That makes it one of my ideals, a piece of history that can't be told in nonfiction and requires imagination and fiction to explore.
Matthew Pearl
Thanks for asking, Cecily. I studied literature. But I didn't have any inkling of being a novelist, at least not since I was ten years old and wrote two sentences of a novel about a platypus detective investigating a shark. Studying other writers helps understanding storytelling styles and techniques. I wish I had taken creative writing class to give me experience and confidence, and would recommend that regardless of what you major in or study. You might even be able to find one in your area before going off to college. Happy holidays!
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