A short interview wherein one of my favorite authors answers three questions about the writing life.
Set in a world that is dominated by a vast desert, two friends are caught in the middle of a civil war. She’s a warrior. He’s a musician. When they discover that the crux of the war is a prophesied newborn baby that one side will do anything to destroy, they become the only people capable of saving the child’s life—all that stands in their way is an active volcano, a barbarian army, and a cunning assassin with motives of his own.
In what genres have you written, and which one of them gives you the most satisfaction?
My first novel was literary fiction, and The Ghosts of Rathalla is book one of a fantasy series. I feel the urge to be diplomatic about which experience brought more satisfaction because it is a bit like naming a favorite child…but I’ll play along and say that writing this fantasy novel (and prepping for future books in the series) has been more satisfying. I have a rich, personal history with fantasy—my dad was a schoolteacher who decorated his classroom with The Lord of the Rings artwork, and, as a young lad, I’d inspect the artwork and grill him with questions about Tolkien’s world. It was so fascinating to bask in the creative expression of an artist who had the capacity to invent all these characters, worlds, histories, and languages—I really loved and admired it. That experience sparked my interest in the genre, and I spent many of my adolescent and teen years reading Jacques, Tolkien, Brooks, and Salvatore. To now participate in the same creative process feels like I’ve earned the admiration of my younger self, and that is immensely satisfying.
What’s your go-to source when you need inspiration?
Inspiration can be evasive. If we could tap into inspiration whenever we needed, writing wouldn’t be much of a challenge. For me, when I’m struggling on this front, there’s a couple of methods I use to get the inspirational juices flowing. The first is in my personal library of books, where I have earmarked many pages from past, favorite books. It takes just a few minutes to thumb through as many of these as I want to, and re-living the prose and scenes that I’ve loved so much in the past can really help me break a log jam.
If that doesn’t work, I’ll go for a walk with my music. Music is full of energy, metaphors, imagery, characters, and stories…all in a condensed form (compared to a novel). It is the perfect fertilizer for inspiration because you’re just streamlining (or bombarding) all these great artful motifs into your brain. If you’re looking for inspiration, I recommend a long walk with your favorite tunes.
What books do you recommend for an aspiring writer?
The most important books that you can read are books within the genre that you are writing in. If you aspire to write fantasy, then you should be well read in fantasy. If you want to write romance, then you should be consuming a lot of romance. As you do this, you’ll develop a taste for the things you like, and don’t like, and this will be the basis of your authorial style. It is hugely important to immerse yourself within the genre you are writing. However, you also have to make a designed effort to read outside of your genre of choice. An aspiring fantasy writer who only reads fantasy risks ending up in a vacuum, or an echo chamber, of derivative ideas. Get outside of your comfort zone from time to time and come into contact with some tropes you aren’t familiar with—it might take your writing to another level. For me, writing The Ghosts of Rathalla came from years of reading fantasy literature, followed by years of studying American Westerns. I took the qualities from those two genres that I enjoyed the most and attempted to fuse them together.
About the Author:
Matthew K. Perkins is a proud Wyoming native, where he completed an MA in English Literature from the state’s lone university. He currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife, three sons, and two dogs. He is the author of two novels, ‘Saint in Vain’ (2018) and ‘The Ghosts of Rathalla’ (2024).
connect with the author: instagram
