Written Author Interview
Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do outside of writing. What is a day in the life like for you?
For my day job I’m a technical editor at a marketing agency that does work for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). They protect important services like water and electrical and supply chains from cyber and physical attacks, and a large part of their purpose is to raise awareness and communicate with the American public and world at large about the importance of cybersecurity and methods to elevate our resiliency.
So, I am commonly asked to edit speeches, blogs, resource documents, and other materials to help deliver that message. I am in also my family life era, so much of my free time is spent chauffeuring my daughter to and from school and activities and facilitating playdates and outings. When I have some spare time I don’t want to spend on writing or writing-related activities (marketing/social media), I’ll play the occasional mobile game or watch sports.
What inspired your first novel? What was the thing that got you into writing in the first place?
My first finished manuscript is as yet unpublished, and was inspired by growing up in Colorado, and my interest in magic systems. Some years back I had dreamed up what would have been very interesting visuals for a movie, and over time it coalesced into a hero and a story.
My first published work, Steelwing, was inspired by my love for gaming, my daughter’s love of dragons, and my college experience at St. Olaf, in Northfield MN (where the story is set), where I had made a friend who had lost a limb. The protagonist Cammie lost an arm in a car accident, and we spend the first book helping her understand that past trauma doesn’t have to be the story of our lives. Steelwing 2 builds on those lessons and we help teach Cammie how to be a better friend.
How do you come up with characters? Are they spontaneous or meticulously planned?
A bit of both. I’m very much a pantser on my computer and tend to discover little quirky details like side characters on the fly. Main and primary characters will naturally have undergone plenty of mental cycles and ideation as a story is progressing. Where things come out spontaneously that need more meticulous affect, that’s where the second draft comes in, as Neil Gaiman likes to say, to make it look like we knew what we were doing all along.
What are some of your favorite genres to read? Are there any books you’d recommend to first time readers or people looking for something new?
As I primarily write fantasy I tend to read that as well. I actually have precious little free time to sit down with a book, so nearly all of the reading I can do is accomplished via audiobook. I usually listen to things that are in a similar genre and age group to what I’m writing and try to keep to novels that are less than five years old.
This is to flood my brain with the cadence and verbiage that modern published works use, because if the trad houses have published it then that’s what they’re wanting newer writers to use. Every 10 th book or so I’ll listen to something different, ranging from a classic like Pride and Prejudice or Tolkein to a paint-by-numbers thriller like the Jack Reacher books.
As far as recommendations, my favorite author is Naomi Novik, who wrote the Temeraire and Scholomance series. My favorite book I read this year is The Hexologists by Josiah Bankroft, which features a fun take on a London setting, an intriguing magic system, and a wonderful, loving relationship between the married main characters, which is something you don’t see too much in recent fiction.
What’s the most difficult thing about being a writer?
Patience. I find a lot of writers are eager to get their work out in the world and desperate to immediately achieve their dreams of being a traditionally published author with a ten-book deal and movie options and all the privileges therein.
The plain truth of the matter is the vast, vast majority of writers today will not see financial success, far fewer draw representation from an agent, and a fraction of those will actually get a traditional publishing deal. The safest approach is to consider it an artistic hobby or passion, that a very lucky few get to call their day jobs. That isn’t to say that writers can’t have a worthwhile, fulfilling experience creating stories.
People say writing a book is hard, and it is. Just finding the energy and motivation to get 50k+ words in a document that make sense together is an achievement. Because art is subjective for both creator and consumer, it’s important to accept that your idea of a great story words isn’t necessarily someone else’s, and the one you have today may not be the path to your immediate financial independence.
All you can do is create something you enjoy and do your best to find like-minded individuals who might enjoy it as well. And then do it again and again. But no one enjoys an underbaked, poorly-written book, so you have to do that work first.
What is your process to completing a novel from outline to final product?
I tend to spend a lot of mental cycles on stories months to years before I get around to writing them. So, I outline a solid amount in my head and write down ideas worth keeping in a document for reference later as I’ve become rather forgetful as I’ve grown older. I start by getting the introductory chapters of a story done, usually up to the crossing the threshold point.
This solidifies the voice and style of the story. At that point I’ll lay out a very rough chapter outline of 2-4 bullet points to cover the biggest things that are forthcoming. Then I just go for it.
When I sit down to write at my computer I’ll usually go back and read/revise the prior chapter to refresh my memory and improve what I’ve done. I’m a big fan of first time quality, so I do edit as I go. By the time I hit THE END on a story, I want it to be 95%+ ready to go.
What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve written in your novel? Don’t worry, we don’t judge here.
In Dangers to Society, one of the primary characters has the ability to alter people’s perceptions of the world (to do so, he has to pop his joints). He attempts to quell a rambunctious anti-superpower rally by controlling the leader. This unintentionally causes the leader to reveal to the crowd he is hiding his own superpower, and then he’s promptly shot in the head by someone in the crowd. Chaos and guilt ensue.
What’s one thing about being a writer that absolutely drives you up the wall?
I greatly detest the colossal industry out there designed to suck money out of writers. Editors, designers, artists, influencers, promoters, and more. They’re all after money, and a lot don’t particularly care if your book is successful or not, as long as they get paid – there’s always
another hopeful writer coming along they can leech off of.
Of course, unless you’re gifted with the talents of every facet of publishing, you’re gonna have to get and pay for help to push your story across the finish line. But publishing is complex and can be confusing for many, and there are plenty out there who will take advantage of dreamers. All these vanity presses and independent “publishers” out there that make their profit off of writers instead of sold books are some of the true villains of this business.
One independent publisher I’ve come across charges the author nearly double for their author copies from what could be had off of Ingram Spark or Amazon. An industrious author can make a decent haul from book signings, but that’s a lot harder when a lot of that profit gets sunk in a publisher that’s doing little more than stamping their logo on the spine. And they’re not even helping all that much in the editorial or cover art department either, as errors and shoddy covers abound. Writer friends, don’t be afraid to ask for advice, and never accept a book deal without getting a couple more eyes on it.
What does being a successful writer look like for you? What type of life do you want to live as a writer?
Oh, I would love to write novels full time, get a multimillion-dollar publishing house deal, have my books made into blockbuster movies, travel the world to meet fans, and live that dream. My wife would definitely approve. Realistically, I’d like to turn a profit on my investments (haven’t yet, though I’m close), have 20-30 books published by the time I hang it up and have that be a nice supplement to my retirement and a useful income stream for my daughter and beyond.
Secondarily, I hope my passion and skill as a writer helps others achieve their goals. I’ve done a load of research into the craft of writing and publishing industry, so I’m a big fan of sharing that knowledge and learning from others.
Describe your writing journey. If you had to write a story centered around it, do you think you could pull it off?
I spent a few weeks writing and rewriting the first four chapters of my first story, before I realized I needed to learn more about structure and get some other writing tools in my toolbox. Not sure how writers did this quickly before the Internet. I found my first writing group on Meetup, which just happened to meet a minute from my house at the nearby IHOP, and found quick friends in other writers. From there I attended an adult writing program called The Writer’s Path at SMU in Dallas for four semesters before it was shuttered by the pandemic. In that program I learned about the hero’s journey, plot, scenes, character arcs, and how to develop my own productivity.
I had written about 80% of that first story when I began The Writer’s Path and was amazed to find I had unintentionally used almost all 12 steps of the hero’s journey (though some were in the wrong order). I finished that story and got to work on Dangers to Society, having been inspired by the multi-POV structure of the Game of Thrones novels, and a random post on the NaNoWriMo forums about silly superpowers. After that, my daughter was getting older and into dragons and the ideas for Steelwing were born. Throughout this, I participated in a couple other writing groups and am now a member of the DFW Writer’s Workshop, the oldest and largest read & critique organization in North Texas (and the sponsor of DFWCon, the best writing conference in Texas). From meeting agents at DFWCons, I generated plenty of interest with agents for Steelwing, but never got any to bite, so ultimately decided to independently publish it.
As Dangers to Society is a bit harder to describe, I wasn’t surprised when there wasn’t much agent interest, so that was independently published this year. I still love that story and have faith it will eventually find its audience. Steelwing 2 is done and edited and awaiting cover art, then I will begin the process of getting it ready for a spring 2025 release and will be working on Steelwing 3 while that’s going on, hoping to get it out before 2026 to wrap up that trilogy (there may be more, who knows). I’d still like to get that traditionally published notch on my toten, so will continue to query new stories as they’re ready, and independently publish those that don’t draw interest.
Where I am today, I’d say the story of my writing journey is as of yet incomplete, as I’m still striving for appreciable commercial success. I do have patience, however. A great piece of advice that floats around my writing group is to focus on the next story early on, and not spend too much effort or money on promoting the first few books. So, my plan is to get the Steelwing trilogy finished before I put a load of effort into marketing it, and another story or two to have out there as well. Any marketing dollars spent on a new book’s release also helps sell the back catalog, so it’s important to stay productive and keep the new stories coming. Happy to say I don’t see myself slowing down any time soon.
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About
Matthew Rollins is the award-winning author of the Steelwing series, Dangers to Society, and forthcoming fantasy and science fiction books for all ages. Along with writing fun stories, he enjoys cooking and video games. Matthew spent his formative years in Loveland, Colorado, developing a life-long love for skiing and the Denver Broncos. He actually graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota – look it up, it’s a real place! Matthew now resides in the Dallas, Texas area with his wife and daughter, coaches volleyball, and is hard at work on the next story.
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