A Chat with Michael Matula & Sam from “Try Not to Burn”
I’m happy to welcome Michael Matula and Sam, from Try Not to Burn! Welcome!
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Mia: What is the name of the book where we’ll find you? Can you tell us a little about it?
Samantha “Sam” Reiss: Try Not to Burn. It’s messed up, is what it is. The whole thing takes place in Hell City, which is some kinda maximum security wing of the afterlife. Basically, it’s where people like me go when they die. It’s supposed to test your soul, to judge you, but the whole damn thing is rigged. They’re makin’ up the rules as they go along, just to make it harder to escape.
Mia: Tell us a little about yourself. Where do you fit into the story? What should we know about you?
Sam: I was from a town about an hour from Dallas. Made some bad choices, had a fallin’ out with my folks, and ended up headin’ to New Jersey with my boyfriend after he needed a chance of scenery—guy was real bad news, not that I cared at the time. Long story short, I ended up on death row after a bank job went bad. Then I wound up in this place. I’m not gonna let ‘em get me, though. I’m not gonna let ‘em Burn me, an’ drag my soul into the fire. I’m a fighter. Always have been.
An’ if I’m gone, there’ll be no one left to look after Jane. She’s a good kid. She doesn’t deserve this. Maybe I do, maybe I earned this fate, but she doesn’t deserve to Burn for all eternity.
Mia: What do you think of the author? Be honest. We won’t tell.
Sam: I don’t think he was loved enough as a child. He’s got some screws loose, or somethin’. I mean, who the hell comes up with this stuff? No self-respectin’ writer would come up with that Morgan freak, much less send an army of those zombie things after his own characters. The only good thing he did was give me a Graller. A shotgun that shoots hellfire? Sure. Sign me up.
Mia: How do you feel about the story you’re in?
Sam: My next story better be a romance novel, that’s all I’ll say. I think I’ve earned it.
Mia: Do you like being a character in the book?
Sam: Are you kiddin’ me, Mia? I’m in Hell. If the monsters weren’t bad enough, I’m surrounded by the worst scumbags that ever walked the planet. If I didn’t have my gun on me, I would’a been torn apart ages ago. An’ now we’ve just found some weirdo named Clarence, who seems to actually believe he can help us. Like that’ll ever happen. He’s just gettin’ Jane’s hopes up. That’s all he’s doin’.
Mia: How do you see your future? Without giving anything away about the story, naturally.
Sam: Well, it ain’t lookin’ good. Despite what Clarence says, I know this place will never let us escape. It doesn’t play fair. It breaks its own rules. We’ll need a damn miracle to get outta this, and I stopped believin’ in miracles a long, long time ago. Doesn’t stop Jane an’ Brand from believin’ him, though. They still think we’ve got a chance. I guess we’ll see, huh?
Mia: What do you know about your author’s plans? Can we expect to see you in any future stories?
Sam: I know he’s got another book comin’. That’s as much as he’ll tell me.
Mia: Let’s say they make a movie about this book. Who do you want to play you, and why?
Sam: I died in 1993, so I’m a little behind the times. Brand and Jane could probably pick out someone more modern, since they died in the 2000’s. But, uh…I guess that chick from Terminator 2 could do a decent job.
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Author Bio: Michael Matula is a novelist and story writer from Chicago, Illinois. He once dreamed of being a comic book artist, sketching pictures and caption bubbles in class when he really should have been studying. Unable to draw fast enough to keep up with all words and images tumbling in his head, he started writing stories based on his characters instead. He ended up falling in love with writing and never really looked back.
Author Site: http://michaelmatula.blogspot.com/
Buy Link: Amazon
Buy Link: Barnes & Noble
