An Interview with Matt Dinniman
If you have been perusing indie science fiction lately, you will have recognized the name Matt Dinniman and, by extension, the LitRPG series Dungeon Crawler Carl. I am an unrepentant fangirl of this series—team Princess Donut. GdM got the fabulous opportunity to talk to the man behind Carl, Princess Donut, and the animated sex doll head. Matt sat down with us to have a chat about his rerelease of the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book, that. Will be closely followed by the other five books that have already released.
[GdM] Thank you so much for interviewing with me for the magazine release. I am a massive fan of the series.
[MD] Thanks for having me!
[GdM] Can you explain the premise of Dungeon Crawler Carl for those unfamiliar with it?
[MD] This book has always been kind of difficult to elevator pitch, but here’s my best one. Aliens come and destroy the world, killing most of the population in a single instant. Amongst the survivors are a man, Carl, and his ex-girfriend’s cat, Princess Donut. The aliens have turned the planet into the set of the galaxy’s highest-rated reality game show, Dungeon Crawler World. Carl and Donut enter the dungeon, become contestants on the show, and are forced to fight for their lives while a galaxy of viewers watch their progress. Donut the cat quickly 1) Learns the Magic Missile spell and 2) Becomes a fan favorite.
[GdM] The concept of Dungeon Crawler Carl is exceptionally dark. Billions of people are crushed to death in an instant. Those that survive are dropped into a Running Man-style game televised for the trillions of inhabitants for the universe’s entertainment. Despite this darkness, the story also features side-splitting humor. How do you manage to balance these dark elements with the satirical humor? I imagine it’s a pretty tricky balance to maintain.
[MD] It is a hard balance because the concept *is* incredibly dark. I never intended for this to be a funny story, but the concept along with some of the characters—specifically Princess Donut (who is given sapience and the ability to talk in an early chapter)—allows for some really bizarre and ultimately funny scenarios. I don’t go out of my way to say “Okay, that scene was pretty dark. Let’s make a funny scene now.” Instead, I try to rely on the characters themselves to get from point A to B, and humor is oftentimes a major coping mechanism. Plus, they are on a game show. The bad guys running the whole thing are also using their own brand of sadistic humor to keep the audience entertained.
[GdM] Princess Donut has quite the cult following. I can understand that, as she is a cat with a British accent, a tiara, and an attitude. How did she come about?
[MD] Before I was a full-time writer, I was an artist. I drew cat pictures for a living, and sometimes I would go to actual cat shows as a part of that job. I learned quite a bit about different cat breeds and competitive cat shows, and Princess Donut was born.
[GdM] I know that people often ask you about Carl, but I have got to know more about Samantha. How did a reanimated love doll head come about? Was she difficult to write?
[MD] I am what some people call a “pantser.” That basically translates to “he makes it up as he goes along.” I never planned on having a reanimated sex doll head a major, important character. But here we are.
She’s not difficult to write because she’s my favorite side character by a mile.
[GdM] Did you always plan for Carl to end up with a leather jacket, heart boxers, a cat, and a computer overlord with a minor foot fetish, or did the story evolve in that direction on its own?
[MD] Like I said in my previous answer, no. It happened organically.
[GdM] Now that you are releasing Dungeon Crawler Carl with a traditional publisher, are the audiobooks being redone?
[MD] They are not, BUT we are going through the series and making what’s called an “Audio Immersion Tunnel.” That means a full-cast radio drama with original sound effects and music. This isn’t replacing the existing audiobooks, which are very popular. It’s a separate product, but it’s amazing.
[GdM] Have you ever written a scene because you know how amazing Jeff Hays, your audiobook voice for the Carl series, will sound doing it?
[MD] I write everything with audio in mind.
[GdM] Do you enjoy challenging Jeff with accents from different languages? I’ve been really impressed as an audiobook listener; the Carl series are, hands down, some of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. It would be interesting to hear Jeff try out accents from languages like the Click language, Gaelic, Jamaican Patois, and maybe Cajun, just for fun.
[MD] Haha. And I thought making him do Icelandic was fun. I do challenge him because I’m a big jerk, and I think it’s super funny.
[GdM] Your first novel, The Shivered Sky, was published in 2003. It is a take on the war between heaven and hell and what happens if hell wins. Has your writing process changed between that novel and the release of The Eye of the Bedlam Bride in 2023? And if so, how?
[MD] Man… That’s a long answer. The short answer is yes, greatly. I think all writers should grow not just from book to book or year to year, but from chapter to chapter. I could talk for hours how I’m a much different writer than I was then. For one thing, I wrote the original manuscript of The Shivered Sky in second person and switched it to third in edits. That is not something I recommend. Another big change is that I have a beard now. And I can afford to buy food. That’s always nice.
[GdM] You have been a hugely successful indie writer for years, and now Carl is being published by Penguin Random House. How did this new publishing come about? And what differences do you see between indie publishing and traditional publishing?
[MD] Comparing Indie Publishing and Trad publishing is like comparing a goat named Chet with a lawnmower. There is no comparison other than both, eventually, lead to a final product… A mowed lawn. This particular deal came about because my agent, Seth, pitched my book to my now PRH editor, Jess, and she read it and enjoyed it. The big unusual part of this all is that DCC has already been out in the world for some time now and that the deal is for physical print only.
That said, the whole working with a team of people thing at PRH has been a wild experience so far. There are editors, and then editors, and then editors (all different) and PR people and marketing people, all when I normally do all this stuff myself. It’s definitely a culture shock for me, but it’s been a blast so far.
[GdM] Are there any differences between the indie version of Dungeon Crawler Carl and the upcoming Penguin Random House release?
[MD] There are! There’s a new cover. This version went through a rigorous edit, and while nothing story wise changed, I fear it was a horrifically brutal comma apocalypse. Don’t worry, though. They had it coming.
But the biggest change is the inclusion of the bonus material. I have written a novella set in the DCC universe called Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret, and it is broken up into short story-sized fragments added at the end of each book.
[GdM] When you wrote Dungeon Crawler Carl, were there any scenes you wanted to include but didn’t make the cut? And if so, what were they?
[MD] I first wrote it on the free web serial website, Royal Road, and that version had multiple scenes that didn’t make the final cut. Mostly because they’re weren’t necessary to keep the story moving forward. My process produces a lot of extra scenes that don’t make the final cut.
[GdM] Where do you think the LitRPG genre is going? Will it remain mostly indie, or do you think traditional publishers will start to take more notice?
[MD] Trad publishers are definitely taking notice because books like He Who Fights With Monsters, etc. keep dropping new books that land at number one on the charts. That said, it’s a genre that speaks to a lot of people. We already have a huge foothold in the indie arena with literally hundreds of new books coming out a moth. I don’t see it leaving that space now matter what happens with trad.
[GdM] After the upcoming release of Dungeon Crawler Carl, what do you have going next?
[MD] The day I finish DCC 7, I will likely get to work on DCC 8. But in addition to that, I have a standalone novel entitled Operation: Bounce House coming from Ace after I actually turn it in. I’m excited for the chance to show the world a story outside of Carl’s. But Carl isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Not until he burns it all to the ground—as long as the pressure of the dungeon doesn’t crush him first.
This interview was originally published in Grimdark Magazine #39.
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