Interview with Matthew Cox
The Blog Ring of Power Presents...
An Interview with Author Matthew Cox
Today I'm thrilled to bring you an interview with science fiction and fantasy author Matthew Cox via BRoP member Vicki Lemp Weavil. I also know Matthew from Agent Query Connect and I'm so pleased I can help him celebrate the release of his first novel. Matthew is here to tell us a glimpse into the writing life and to tell us a bit about his novel, Division Zero. Please feel free to leave a comment or a question for Matthew below. When you're done here, pop on over to the other BRoP sites to read the rest of the interview.
BRoP: What is your writing process? Do you follow a regular routine? Do you use pen and paper or computer? Work at home or at the library/Starbucks, etc.
Matthew: I write at home, on the PC, in a quiet room with two cats watching over my shoulder. My writing process is more or less “If I don’t need to be doing anything else at that moment, I’m writing.”
BRoP: How do you balance writing with other aspects of your life?
Matthew: There are other aspects to life? Oh, right, the day job. Well, I obviously can’t write at work. I just do it whenever time allows. I was once quite addicted to World of Warcraft; I think that same drive has carried over to writing.
BRoP: When do you write?
Matthew: Whenever I can. Typically for 3-4 hours before work each day (currently working a late shift) as well as most of the day when I’m off. I’ve had 16 hour benders producing 14k words in one day sometimes. It depends on the level of inspiration.
BRoP What has been the most surprising reaction to something you’ve written?
Matthew: There is a scene in Caller 107 where the main character is groped. She has this moment of complete paralysis where she doesn’t move as she tries to wrap her brain around what’s happening to her. One of the people who I asked to beta read it sent me a message later that she, too, had been assaulted (something I never knew) and that those seconds of “is this really happening to me” were very close to her own experience. She was astounded that a male author wrote that scene.
BRoP: What is the strongest criticism you’ve ever received as an author? The best compliment?
Matthew: I think the strongest criticism I received was either some of my early stuff being called wordy, or an old experiment at fantasy writing got called boring. (It was a rambly bit that just sort of came to me out of nowhere, and I haven’t done much with it since.
The best compliment I received was when someone told me that they were upset the book was getting close to ending, and started reading only 10 pages at a time and putting it down for awhile to make it last longer.
BRoP: Other than your family, what has been your greatest source of support?
Matthew: Beta readers and crit partners, most of whom I met on AQC.
BRoP: How do you deal with rejection and/or negative reviews?
Matthew: Rejections I file away as badges of pride. Negative reviews… what can you do. If they contain valid criticisms, I consider them. If it’s just someone upset over too many f-bombs or one of those people that say “I didn’t read it, but <blah>.” I ignore it. There’s no point getting worked up over something like that. I think readers are intelligent enough to recognize a malicious/pointless review and there’s no reason to get into a flame war. Any creative work will have people that don’t like it; it’s just the way reality works.
What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)?
Both
Where can readers can stalk you:
Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter
Born in a little town known as South Amboy NJ in 1973, MATTHEW COX has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Somewhere between fifteen to eighteen of them spent developing the world in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, and The Awakened Series take place. He has several other projects in the works as well as a collaborative science fiction endeavor with author Tony Healey.
DIVISION ZERO: Most cops get to deal with living criminals, but Agent Kirsten Wren is not most cops.A gifted psionic with a troubled past, Kirsten possesses a rare combination of abilities that give her a powerful weapon against spirits. In 2418, rampant violence and corporate warfare have left no shortage of angry wraiths in West City. Most exist as little more than fleeting shadows and eerie whispers in the darkness.
Kirsten is shunned by a society that does not understand psionics, feared by those who know what she can do, and alone in a city of millions. Every so often, when a wraith gathers enough strength to become a threat to the living, these same people rely on her to stop it.
Unexplained killings by human-like androids known as dolls leave the Division One police baffled, causing them to punt the case to Division Zero. Kirsten, along with her partner Dorian, wind up in the crosshairs of corporate assassins as they attempt to find out who – or what – is behind the random murders before more people die.
She tries to hold on to the belief that no one is beyond redemption as she pursues a killer desperate to claim at least one more innocent soul – that might just be hers.
GET IT NOW:
Goodreads
This is part two of a five-part interview. Be sure to check out the other BRoP sites for the rest of the interview:
Part 1 @ Vicki Lemp Weavil
Part 3 @ T.W. Fendley
Part 4 @ Emily LaBonte
Part 5 @ Sandra Ulbrich Almazon
The Blog Ring of Power (BRoP) is a consortium of five speculative fiction writers who have banded together to bring you highlights from the current speculative fiction market--news, reviews, and interviews with speculative fiction authors--with an emphasis on small-press and self-published authors. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and relax. Have we got a story for you...