3Q’s – Mark Matthews creates a new award!
Today’s 3Q’s is a special one for me. When I first really branched out into the dark fiction community, Mark Matthews was one of the first people to ever give me support or encouragement. It went even to the point of sometimes him being the only one to comment on a Facebook post or tweet on Twitter. It’s the little things like this that really stay with you and I’ll always be grateful Mark took the time to do that.
A fantastic author, a phenomenal editor/anthologist and one of the nicest guys out there, please do welcome Mark!
Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?
Mark: I am an early riser, early as 5 am, so typically I write in the morning before work and after I’ve wasted an adequate amount of time scrolling social media. (I’ve also got one child to get off to school, the other is in college) The morning is when my brain seems most fresh and the world seems quiet and the coffee tastes so damn good.
In general, I write in manic outbursts. Every bit of fiction I’ve written has consumed me at one point, where I have a desire to write nearly every free moment, and when I’m not at the keyboard, it still dominates my thoughts. Of course, if we only write when we want, not much will get done, so I do push myself to get words down, but when I do, I have never ever had a word count I aim for. I sometimes aim for a specific scene or a specific paragraph to finish, since I think some are more crucial than others, but it’s more important for me to get the words down and in the right order than it is for me to write a certain quantity.
Steve: Which other author would you most like to see win a prestigious writing award?
Mark: John FD Taff deserves a lifetime achievement award for both his works and how much he’s helped other writers.
Samantha Kolesnik deserves a Jack Ketchum award for True Crime (wait, there’s no such thing as a Ketchum award? Well, let’s start that, and give her the first one)
In general, awards are fun and I partake (I cherish my Shirley Jackson award finalist ‘rock’) but if you write with an award in mind, or if you read based on awards, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. I liked that award nominations and winners get us talking more about fiction, and they are as note wothy for what’s not nominated as what is nominated. It leads to some great discussion.
Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!
Mark: My latest novel is The Hobgoblin of Little Minds, a story that rewrites the Werewolf legend, (though never uses the word Werewolf) in the context of mental illness. It takes place largely in an abandoned psychiatric hospital, a true setting not far from my house. Read it because, well, Werewolves and psych asylums, and it will steal your face right off of your head.
Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror, is the latest anthology that I edited and contributed to. Read it for the talent and diversity in both the table of contents and the pertinent subject matter. It’s a topic which is very personal to my own life.
Steve: Bonus Question! You wake up in a comic book. What is your comic book character and what is your super power?
Mark: Neat question! How about the power of ‘advanced accurate empathy’. With this super power, I can describe with precision and accuracy not just how you feel at that moment, but how you are going to feel when ‘such and such’ happens. With this power, I help you feel more understood and not so alone. This is what I have done in my career as a counselor, and in a sense, what I also hope to do in my fiction. As Kafka said: “A book must be the ax for the frozen sea inside us” —and I think I’d add, for the frozen seas between us.
Thank you Steve!
Most welcome! Fantastic super hero answer!
To find more of Mark’s work, as always, check the links!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Matthews/e/B0058HDKC0
Twitter: https://twitter.com/matthews_mark
Website: https://www.wickedrunpress.com/
