Ask the Author: Matt Micros
Answered Questions (7)
Matt Micros
Looking to read a broad spectrum of things this summer from Mitch Albom's "The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto", to the latest by Grisham, along with re-visiting a couple of classics by Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise and Tender is the Night. I'm always open to recommendations from people as well. Love to hear what people enjoy and why.
Matt Micros
I'm not sure my life is exciting enough for a mystery, but I will say that nearly every story I write contains elements from my life in it. People. Places. Events. I find a way to work them into the storyline. As they say, you write best and deepest when you write what you know.
Matt Micros
This is a great question. In an older novel, I'd say it is Michael Tillman and Jelli Braden in SLOW WALTZ IN CEDAR BEND. The book is Robert James Waller's lessor known follow up to THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. The characters play off each other well, with Michael's free spirited professor and Jelli, as a free spirit, locked into a life she isn't thrilled with and doesn't know how to escape.
For a modern novel, I would have to say Hazel and Augustus in THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Two star crossed lovers whose pain and anguish makes them real--and wonderful. "We fell in love like you fall asleep. Slowly, and then all at once." Magical.
For a modern novel, I would have to say Hazel and Augustus in THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Two star crossed lovers whose pain and anguish makes them real--and wonderful. "We fell in love like you fall asleep. Slowly, and then all at once." Magical.
Matt Micros
The three best pieces of advice I ever received regarding writing were:
1) Writers write. Write as often as you can. Even when you aren't feeling creative. Chances are what you write will be better than you think.
2) Write what you know. Sure, you can do research (and I advise it), but the best writing comes from the heart. The more experiences you have, the better your writing will be, and the easier it will become.
3) The best stories aren't written. They're RE-written. Write your first draft. Then proof it for punctuation and typos. Then read it again, this time out loud in order to see how the dialogue sounds.
I'll add a 4th. Don't give up. More often than not, it isn't whether your writing is good enough. It's whether someone else THINKS it is, and whether or not you can get enough people to read it. It takes time and persistence to build an audience.
1) Writers write. Write as often as you can. Even when you aren't feeling creative. Chances are what you write will be better than you think.
2) Write what you know. Sure, you can do research (and I advise it), but the best writing comes from the heart. The more experiences you have, the better your writing will be, and the easier it will become.
3) The best stories aren't written. They're RE-written. Write your first draft. Then proof it for punctuation and typos. Then read it again, this time out loud in order to see how the dialogue sounds.
I'll add a 4th. Don't give up. More often than not, it isn't whether your writing is good enough. It's whether someone else THINKS it is, and whether or not you can get enough people to read it. It takes time and persistence to build an audience.
Matt Micros
Destinare is the story of a man who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, who is faced with a difficult choice. He can either fight to extend his life, or accept his fate. What he doesn't realize is that his decision not only affects his life and those immediately around him, but also complete strangers in ways he could not even imagine. What if he wasn't around in three years to save a little girl who had fallen onto the train tracks in front of a moving train? And what if she in turn, wasn't around to become a doctor with the ability to save lives?
The idea came from my mother's decision to not receive treatment for her terminal cancer. She decided that she would rather feel good for as long as she had, than extend her life by a few months, only to feel terribly each day. Selfishly, my sister and I struggled to understand her choice, but we had to respect it. From that difficult time, Destinare was born.
The idea came from my mother's decision to not receive treatment for her terminal cancer. She decided that she would rather feel good for as long as she had, than extend her life by a few months, only to feel terribly each day. Selfishly, my sister and I struggled to understand her choice, but we had to respect it. From that difficult time, Destinare was born.
Matt Micros
I recently finished (released March 20th), Slow Drinkers, Giant Ballbags & Smelly Bastards, which, in spite of its unusual title, is actually a family story of love, loyalty and friendship. It tells the story of a man who lost his wife to cancer a few years earlier and has spent the last three years going through the motions of his life until one morning, he opens the newspaper and sees his own obituary. Convinced by his best friend to attend the Irish Wake, he is reunited with all sorts of people from his life. Friends. Friends of friends. Family. What looked to be a somber occasion takes a turn when the man's brother returns from overseas and takes him on an overnight laugh riot celebration of his life.
Matt Micros
Usually I will see something that sparks a thought. Maybe a movie or a book, or even an interaction between people. I love unique friendships and seeing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances or extraordinary people in ordinary circumstances. I love people who are grounded. Most of my stories are character-driven for that reason.
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