Have nightmares ever been an issue for this author? How completely does he develop his characters before beginning to write? Why isn’t the main character’s name ever given? What are his thoughts on self-publishing?
Sway begins with the transcription of dialogue between a doctor and his patient. The patient’s name, blacked out except for two letters, could easily be yours. Is there a reason for this? Did you perhaps see yourself as the main character in this story?
To clarify for readers who buy the book after this interview: before releasing the novel, I made a change and placed that transcript at the end of the story. My reason for including it at all was to give the readers a little something more to think about than just the story of a man with a terrible life and awful nightmares. Sway is about a lot more than just that. At first, I thought if I had the transcript before the story it would give the reader a specific mindset when they read it, but after some consideration and advice from my editor, I moved it to the back in the hope that it would give the reader food for thought after the story was finished. To me, the greatest stories are the ones that leave you thinking long after they’ve ended.
To answer your question, though—yes. And no. In many ways, I am lot like the main character. I think many of us are, but our good nature overrides the ability to admit it, even to ourselves. I’ve been told I am a very cynical person. I’ve been told that I over-think nearly every situation. I have never made it a secret that I feel like, as a race, we’re inherently flawed. I mention “Adam and Eve” in the novel—they’re the obvious personification of that. I also make the remark, “just watch the History Channel and you’ll see what I mean.” Mankind’s history is filled with terrible, awful mistakes and deeds done in the name of self-service. We all try to be good people… well, most of us do… but our self-preservation and greed get in the way. THAT is what this story is about in the end. Was Dr. Stine behind it all because he had a self-serving need to dominate? Was “the Kid” just crazy because so many people in his young life were flawed? Either way, it is mankind, society, or whatever you want to call it that made him what he is.
Have night terrors or nightmares ever been an issue for you?
Yes. When I was a child I had a regular recurring nightmare. I had it for years. Sometimes I would have it every night for weeks, and sometimes it would be months in between. In it, I would be standing in a house that, through “dream-logic.” I knew was haunted. I always entered the dream in the same hallway of that house. In the hallway were small windows along the floor, like basement windows, with bars over them. Arms would be reaching from those windows trying to grab me and pull me down. They never got me, but there was never any place to run—the hallway was devoid of doors. It was awful. That’s how I would wake up, terrified, every time. I was about 6 when the nightmare started.
Was there any specific inspiration for this book?
This book evolved in a big way from when I first began it. My previous novels were very planned: before I wrote the first word I had an outline and specific, detailed notes on each chapter. I followed that outline and those notes to the letter right through the end of the book, never deviating.
With Sway, I started with a completely blank slate. I wanted to write a book that included the nightmare I just described and I wanted to write from the perspective of being an adult coming back to it. I suppose in a way, it was my attempt at “beating the dream”. I tried to envision the kind of place a house like that might exist. I stuck a guy in it… and began writing. The first chapter was completely off the cuff. Crazy Bob is the only character I already “knew”—he’s based on a very good friend of mine who may not be clinically insane, but he has his moments. The 2×4? That’s been his weapon of choice in the past. We had a fun time in our teen years.
After I got the first chapter done and re-read it, I thought, “I’ve got something here.” I thought about how someone might be able to get to a dream purposely and the sleeping pills seemed a good choice for a catalyst, so I went with it. Then I had to come up with a reason for taking sleeping pills for an entire lifetime, and that’s where the abuse came in. It had to be something terrifyingly traumatic or it wouldn’t make sense.
Do you live close to any orphanages or mental institutions? If so, is Sundance Farms Complex based on any of them?
I grew up in Michigan near Detroit. As a teen, I used to go to with friends to an abandoned mental institution some weekend nights to drink and be stupid. It was an enormous complex, easily spanning a hundred acres. More, I’m sure. We would bring our booze and wander through all the abandoned buildings—it was a truly terrifying place in the middle of the night.
As far as orphanages, my father was adopted and he’s told me some pretty awful stories about his time in the orphanage, but that’s the extent of my knowledge.
“Sundance Farms”? No. I named that after a car dealership that advertises itself on the radio so much I want to just reach through the dashboard and strangle the guy doing his “pitch”. He drives me absolutely insane with his repetitive and annoying message. Seemed perfect for naming the asylum and orphanage.
Just as in Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca, the main character’s name is never given. Why did you decide not to name him?
Honestly, I don’t know at what I point I made that decision. As to why, it just felt right. The book was so surreal, so steeped in his misery… it seemed proper that he shouldn’t be named. I wanted people to be able to identify with him better, and oddly enough I think not naming him helped. He could be anyone you meet on the street (or at the grocery store?) and you’d never know.
How completely do you develop your characters before beginning to write?
Usually, every character in every one of my novels is loosely based on someone I know. Appearance and dominating personality, anyway. In Sway, I didn’t do that except with Crazy Bob. Like I said, I wrote the chapter “with my eyes closed” and let the characters become who they were. I let them tell me their personalities and it worked. It really worked. I’m confident I’ll write more stories in the same way because not only did it give me free rein with them, but it was FUN.
Was there a point where your characters took control of the story?
Twitch always took control in every scene. That guy is such a freak and such a wild-card, there was no way I couldn’t let him. Without spoiling anything, his decision at the end of the chapter “ASSAULT” was his, not mine. Anything else wouldn’t have made sense, because with Twitch, anything that made sense… wouldn’t make sense.
As for the rest, as soon I gave them their main traits it was off to the races. They told the story for me.
So was there a point when they took control? Yes. Right after the first chapter.
Did any of the things you wrote about make you cringe?
Oh Lord, yes. Anyone who has read this book must know exactly which parts did. After telling the story of his father, I felt like I had to go upstairs and wash my hands with bleach. I almost deleted that scene. In fact, I almost deleted all the scenes that dealt with “that subject”, but like I said—the characters took control right after the first chapter. I knew that although the subject matter would make some readers never want to read the story at all, it was part of the story whether I liked it or not. I tried very hard to go right up to the edge, but not “over” so that it could still be readable.
How long did it take you to decide on a title for your book? Were there many other possible titles you had picked out?
Once I wrote the first chapter and decided what the overall theme of the book was, I chose Sway immediately and never looked back. People’s actions sway our daily lives in ways we don’t even notice, both small and large. We sway other people’s lives through our daily actions in ways we don’t even notice.
To all my readers, I ask you—who holds sway over your life? Have you ever even considered it?
I understand that Sway is not your usual style of writing. What did you change and why?
Everything changed. Genre, perspective, “edge” (I guess that could be called style but I’ll be the first to admit, I have no style. Okay, no. My wife will be the first to admit that), simplicity. I kept this one minimalistic on purpose. Personally, I feel like it fits the tone of the story much better.
The only thing I stayed true to was the general subject matter: dreams. My intention is to make dreams the overall subject matter of every book I write.
I changed because my first two books were written with the hope that people would like them. In a way, I wrote those books for everyone else. Not me. But I’m not Dan Brown or Stephen King, and I probably never will be, so I decided what the hell. I wanted to write something just for me and see how it went. I absolutely love writing, and I loved writing my first two books, but Sway took that love to a whole new level. It let my freak flag fly free.
What other books have you written?
My first novel was Watchers of the Night. It is the story of a teen who has the ability to walk the night in his dreams (astral travel). When the story opens, he is unaware that he’s doing it… he thinks he has a sleep disorder. He’s approached by an agency run by the United Nations that recruits people with his ability to be used as spies. Who better to be a spy than someone who can walk unseen among others at night?
My second novel is Indicium Rising, the second installment of the Watchers trilogy. So far, both have enjoyed moderate success.
Do you have a set time to write each day? Or do you wait to be inspired?
I have to FIGHT for time to write. I am the director of operations for a group of 12 pizzerias. I have almost 200 employees who report to me and believe me, they keep me busy. I do a lot of traveling to the stores, which also cuts into my writing time.
That being said, when I can write—yes, I have to be inspired. If I sit down to the keyboard and it just doesn’t feel right, I stop. I’ve tried writing just for the sake getting it done, and in every case, I’ve ended up deleting everything I wrote. I absolutely have to be in the zone to churn out the good stuff.
I guess you could say I set aside my TV time each day. Instead of watching TV, I’ll write.
When you write, do you have to have complete peace and quiet? Or are you able to write while surrounded by noise and chaos?
Complete peace and quiet. I’ve tried writing in the living room while the TV is on. Doesn’t work for me.
Radio? Nope. I write, sing and play music with a couple of friends whenever we have time (nothing serious… garage stuff) but I’m the guy who can’t have music on without singing along. Inevitably if I’m writing and the radio’s on I begin writing what I’m singing.
What are your thoughts on self-publishing?
Loaded question. Without self-publishing, I would never have had a chance to get my work read. Not yet, anyway. Agents are aloof when it comes to new writers. I get it, though—because of the self-publishing industry, they’re inundated now with thousands of authors’ work, and they were inundated before the self-pub revolution. But as a writer who desperately wants to be just a writer, it is frustrating to send out 50 queries and only get a reply to half a dozen. I know they’re busy, but I also know they’re not even reading the first page of the manuscript. Any writer who is reading this… I know… it’s all about the query letter. I know.
That said, I love the freedom of self-publishing. I love that no one tells me what to write, how to present myself, or makes any demands on my time. But I tell you—advertising, without a truckload of money, is a difficult chore. A publisher and/or agent would be a godsend.
Do you ever become bored with what you are writing? If you do, how do you get past that point?
I like writing action scenes. I like when the story is moving forward at a rapid pace. But not all portions of book can be like that because you need to explain the “why” and the “how” sometimes. Those are the parts that are boring to write for me. I get past them just by trudging forward, one word at a time. Sometimes, ironically, when I go back and re-read, those are my favorite parts. That helps.
How do you manage to balance your time between family, friends, and writing?
My wife, kids, and friends are the greatest advocates of my writing. It is my job that gets in the way. Really and truly, writing just comes last in order of priorities, at least for now. Unfortunately, until I have more titles or find “that magic story” I think it will always be that way.
Have any new opportunities come your way because of your writing?
I’ve made a LOT of new friends through other authors. Both in person and through social media. There has been talk of my speaking at the local high school about my road to becoming an author, which is very exciting to me.
Do you have any advice for writers who have yet to be published?
Write more books. Don’t put all your eggs in the writing basket because it about as easy to write a bestseller as it is to become a rock star. If you’ve sent out a dozen queries, change your letter and send out a dozen more. Then do it again.
Did I mention write more books? Do it. And then write more.
If you love writing, if you truly love it, don’t ever stop no matter how unsuccessful you feel you are. The world needs storytellers. I think it was in the movie Rudy they said, “Dreams are what make life tolerable” and what are stories except a writer’s dreams?
Where can your fans find you on the Internet?
www.matthewkeith.net goes straight to my blog.
I’m on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/matthew.keith.52831?fref=ts.
I’m on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AuthorMatthewK.
I’m on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1bgD5m9.
Note: This interview was originally published a few years ago on The News in Books.
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