Today’s featured guest author is Matt Mikalatos. Find out about the genesis of his latest book, his favorite Burgerville milkshake (yum!), what things come in threes, and more…
1. First things first…a name and bio:
I’m Matt Mikalatos, I’m married with three daughters and we also have three kittens (this was, I confess, my idea, as I thought the kids wouldn’t fight if there were three cats instead of one). I’m the author of three novels, “My Imaginary Jesus”, “Night of the Living Dead Christian” and “The Sword of Six Worlds.” I blog at http://www.mikalatos.com/ and I’m on Twitter as @mattmikalatos.
2. Where are you from and what’s your favorite thing about where you live?
I live in the Portland, Oregon, area (technically in Vancouver, Washington). It’s a weird, beautiful place. One of my favorite things about this area is the food scene. I’ve lived in a lot of big cities and the foodie culture of Portland is hard to beat. I’ve gotten pretty used to getting an inexpensive but amazing plate of duck confit. I’m not sure I can live without that if I have to move somewhere else. I know that sounds pretentious and I just don’t care because it tastes so good.
3. Tell about your latest book. What made you want to write it?
My most recent book, which my publisher pre-released in e-book form (the print version is coming soon), is called The Sword of Six Worlds. It’s the story of a young girl named Validus Smith who has three goals in life: Stay alive. Save the world. Finish her homework.
Validus discovers that she is a paladin, a warrior meant to protect the Earth from a creeping monstrosity called The Blight. She hasn’t been trained and she’s being hunted by the agents of The Blight. She has to find a way to defeat this evil creature or the Earth will be destroyed.
This novel started as a bedtime story for my kids. Every night I would tell them a new chapter of the story, with a cliffhanger at lights out. After I finished the first time through they begged me to tell it again, and then we started in on sequels. So, one year for Christmas I wrote it as a novel and gave it to them for Christmas. They love the book, and eventually I showed it to my agent. He loved it also, and now it’s published!
4. Where can people find your books?
My first two books are available pretty much anywhere books are sold. The Sword of Six Worlds is only available as an e-book right now. I keep a page updated on my website with where you can buy all the books. Here’s the link: http://www.mikalatos.com/p/matts-books.html
5. What are you working on right now?
A few things, actually. The Armies of the Crimson Hawk comes out next year (the sequel to Sword of Six Worlds) and I’m also working on some short stories and shopping a non-fiction book. I have too much writing to do!
6. What inspired you to be a writer?
Reading has changed my life more than once, and I want to be part of that process with other people. I originally thought I would be an actor, but I disliked that actors have to take any role they can get in the early part of their career, regardless of quality. They have very little control in that sense. I realized that some of what I considered “acting” was actually writing: things like writing skits and plays. I started experimenting with short stories soon after that realization and I was hooked. I’ve been writing “seriously” since college.
7. Who is your favorite character in your stories? Why?
I’m proud of Validus in my current novel. She’s a strong girl who gets thrown in over her head and rises to the occasion, and starts using her position, influence and abilities to lead the adults around her. There are so many weak female characters in genre fiction, and I want my daughters to know it’s a good thing for them to be smart, brave, and willing to make sacrifices to do the right thing. I think I love Validus because I see my daughters in her. She’s a young woman with enormous potential who is doing her best to live up to it.
8. What is your favorite comfort food?
I find it difficult to pass up a fresh Oregon strawberry milkshake from Burgerville. Luckily they’re only available during strawberry season or I would weigh five hundred pounds. And if I’m feeling low I can eat tortilla chips until they are gone.
9. What character from your stories was the hardest to write?
Probably Luther Martin, the protagonist of “Night of the Living Dead Christian.” Especially in the first part of the book. He’s not a likeable person, and he has done some horrific things. So you have this delicate balance trying to make him sympathetic without downplaying how badly he has harmed people around him, and at the same time wanting to condemn his actions. It was a tricky balance, and there were a lot of hair-pulling moments trying to keep it all in line.
10. What’s the biggest challenge about being a writer?
Finding time to write. Like most writers, I have a day job, so writing happens somewhere between work, dinner and the kids’ bedtime. That’s a lot of juggling. Right now I’m answering questions for this interview while laying beside my three year old, waiting for her to calm down enough to do our bedtime story ritual. Which means it’s probably time to go! Thanks for letting me be a part of this interview, Amber!
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If you are a writer interested in participating in Writer Wednesday, please send an email with a short biography to ww (at) ambersistla (dot) com.
