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3Q’s – Matthew R. Davis longs to be an Airhead!

3Q2

One thing reviewing has done for me, is open the doors to so many new and exciting authors I might’ve never taken a chance on previously. I don’t mean in terms of freebies (I do get a decent amount of free ARC’s which I am forever grateful for), no – what I mean is the various projects and synopsis’ that are sent over that might’ve been lost in the fray otherwise.

Case in point – today’s guest came onto my radar with his phenomenal release ‘Midnight in the Chapel of Love.’ I very well might’ve missed that one if not for it being offered for review on Kendall Reviews.

Please, do welcome Matthew R. Davis to 3Q’s today!

Matthew R. Davis

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try to write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

Davis: My writing time is in total disarray at the moment, which is to say, business as usual! My schedules are all over the shop as I work two jobs with floating rosters, which means I no longer have any solid conception of routine. I’d like to say that I write whenever I can, but the truth is, I write whenever I feel like it. I’m not one of those disciplined authors who can sit down for an hour a day and write 500 words every time; I’d much rather do nothing particularly productive for a week while I get the feel right, then block out a day and write an entire short story or novelette in one go. (My record so far is 17,000 words in a day. I know, right?) But my mind is always chewing over ideas new and old, putting pieces together in the dark. Sometimes you have to think yourself into the right state of readiness to write a story.

Steve: If you started a series and for some reason had to have another author finish it, who would you choose?

Davis: Ha! Unlikely as it is that I would ever write a series, I would certainly want to have complete creative control over it. The only reason anyone would finish my work is if I died and the world cared enough to get some closure on my incomplete plots. But if that were the case, what happened next would depend upon the executors of my estate. If they respected my living wishes, they’d probably just leave it hanging; if they didn’t, the choice of author would be up to them, not me. That said, I’ve been idly thinking about projects that would require a group of authors, kind of like a TV writer’s room, and the possibilities are very broad there. Sorry, too many cool peeps to namedrop!

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Davis: At the time of writing, my latest release is a novella called The Dark Matter of Natasha (Grey Matter Press). It came out in June and it’s a terrifically dark, gritty, disturbing slice of small-town despair that, according to the reviews, seems to linger in the minds of those who read it like an inherited haunting. It’s not a horror story, exactly – we called it a psychological thriller for lack of a better marketing term – but with its constant cloud of impending doom, it sure feels like one! It’s for lovers of sex, drugs, and heavy metal, lovers of deep and dark explorations of the flawed soul, and it’s also just for lovers, though as a cautionary tale more than anything else. I may have a few more short stories out by the time this goes live: “Vigil at Singer’s Cross” (Voices in the Dark), “Visitation Rites” (Midnight Echo 17), and “Dawn Dressed in Rain” (Draw Down the Moon) should all be out in July or August.

Steve: Bonus Question! If they made a movie about your life, what actor or actress would you suggest they get to play you?

Davis: Anyone better looking than me! I used to get compared to Brendan Fraser, especially his character in Airheads, but these days, if I have my hair tied back and my glasses on, I tend to get Penn Jillette instead. (Thanks, guys.) You know what, let’s fuck with everyone’s head and cast Idris Elba as me – it doesn’t get much cooler than that! Or maybe Kate McKinnon – Benedict Cumberbatch – a particularly tall mop, with a Sharpie face drawn on a paper plate stuck on it! It’s not like any such film would be hidebound by an adherence to the truth – they never are – so let’s have some fun with it! Maybe I could do a Howard Stern and play myself, and we could cast Karen Gillan as my partner Meg – she’s one of the very few women beautiful enough to even attempt the role – though Meg would no doubt insist upon overseeing the shoot to give Karen notes and make sure I behave myself during the movie’s copious love scenes. “Copious love scenes?” you ask, somewhat disbelievingly. Oh, yes, because I’d be writing the script, too.

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