About
Interview with Robert Mathis
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Since I was a young boy I have been obsessed with writing and story. My first writing experiences were with good old pen and paper. When I was older I bought an electric typewriter and started typing my stories out. Nothing, and I mean nothing was more satisfying than clacking out a short story or paper on that typewriter. I was fortunate enough to have correction ribbon but even so, it forced me to improve my spelling as I went.
Eventually I acquired a word processor made by AT&T. Huzzah! Finally I could type and delete text on a screen with impunity! During that time period I wrote quite a bit of poetry (never published). Eventually for my 17th birthday I received my first computer which was a Compaq. I’ve been writing ever since.
Is Emergence your first book?
Actually no. Back in 2012 I completed two years of work and hurriedly published Fall of the Raven. It was a rush edit and I was not ready to publish when I did. I learned a lot of lessons and pulled the book from the market. Eventually I hope to re-edit it and do a re-release.
How do you write a novel? Isn’t that 100,000 words? It feels like a lot.
When I was writing Fall of the Raven I strove to write episodes like a TV show of around 1000 words or more. That does not translate well and makes the story choppy. In Emergence I decided on having specific scenes and just let the book flow naturally. By the end the original story was only 90,000 words. After getting reviews from the beta readers I went back and I re-did major portions of the book which not only strengthened it significantly but also grew the book to over 100,000 words. The important thing is to not focus on word count. Let the story be what the story is. Even unfinished they can turn into fodder for your other novels, helping you take a good idea to another level.
Is that what happened with Fall of the Raven or Emergence?
Not for Fall of the Raven but it did work out for Emergence. In fact, in the second book currently in production, there are some characters and story arc’s I’ve pulled from a 20, 000 word mock-up that came from a dream I had 5 years ago. Like I said, it’s completely worth keeping anything you write. You never know when you might reference it.
What authors have influenced your writing?
My literary hero is Jack London. I have greatly enjoyed his different works. My writing style evolved once I started reading Matthew Reilly’s Scarecrow series (Icestation). His methodology of nonstop action inspired me on my path to develop my style. Lately I’ve been influenced by The Expanse series. I first saw season one of the show and fell in love with the story. I couldn’t get enough and went right to the series to begin reading more. Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck provide a compelling narrative with excellent character development. It’s helped me develop my characters for The Atlas Grepp Chronicles.
Emergence has an interesting cover. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Absolutely! My graphic artist Doug Lovell and I went through a lot of iterations for covers. Finally we settled on one of the most critical scenes of the entire book, the emergence of the Madhatter AI. In the scene is Welder, the antagonist smoking his cigar. We see the Madhatter being set free from the perspective of Atlas Grepp, our protaganist. I can’t say too much more without giving some pivotal plot scenes away, but this singular scene sets the tone for the book overall. It would not have been possible without Doug and his incredibly hard work and follow through. As a first time author, picking a designer is one of the scariest decisions (outside of marketing and editing) because you’re trying to have them interpret your work through their eyes. It also determines a role in whether someone buys your book or not! A good cover is critical. Doug worked really well with me and even read the book. How many cover design artists actually go so far as to read the book? Pretty daring in my opinion.
Will you and Mr. Lovell be working together on any other projects?
As my design artist of choice, absolutely. Once the book is published we’re going to be looking at the merchandising side and he will be key in developing a merchandising brand for this series. And did I mention the second book is underway at this very minute? So I just want to let the readers know: make sure you sign up on our email contact form so you can be notified when the store is in operation. There will be polls to see what you’d like to have us make. Our fans drive us!
