Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Book of Days is my second published novel. My first book, Blackhand, was a fantasy published my New Babel Books back in 2013.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Book of Days: Thirty Years after the Apocalypse was inspired by the novels True Grit and A Clockwork Orange. I loved the narrative voice of True Grit. Clockwork Orange, well, that was a different kind of inspiration. I’ve been a zombie fan since seeing Night of the Living Dead at the midnight movie in Panama City back in 1977. I always wanted to write a story about what life might be like decades after the zombie apocalypse. No fortified houses or malls. Nobody trying to figure out “what’s going on.” I wanted to write about a society that had adapted to the living dead.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’ve never had writer’s block. I used to outline intensely but now I’m kind of a pantser. I’ve completed NaNoWriMo twice and writing those novels was a joy! It was like reading them rather than writing them.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Doc Savage by Lester Dent, Shibumi by Trevanian, Nine Princes in Amber by Zelazny, World War Z by Max Brooks, Eyes of the Overworld by Jack Vance. All of Tobias Wolff. All of Raymond Carver. True Grit by Charles Portis.
What are you working on now?
A sword and planet fantasy. I wrote an 82,000 word first draft in November for NaNoWriMo. Revisions will take longer……
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Amazon. Hopefully Awesome Gang!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is your only goal. Produce!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Lawrence Block’s books on novel writing. Stephen King On Writing. John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist.
What are you reading now?
Kolchak the Night Strangler and a Western called Deadwood that has nothing to do with the awesome HBO series but is a lot of fun.
What’s next for you as a writer?
A movie deal or Netflix series.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Collected Raymond Carver. Collected Harlan Ellison. Lord of the Rings.
Author Websites and Profiles
Matt Hiebert Website