The Forest Beyond the Earth
Matthew S. Cox
Publication date: February 6th 2018
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult
Under the watchful eye of the Mother Shrine, twelve-year-old Wisp ekes out a simple, but challenging life with Dad, foraging for food and losing herself in old books from the world that came before. She loves the Endless Forest ― except when the Tree Walkers come for her.
In ages past, the great rain of fire and ash destroyed the Earth, wiping out the ancients and everything they had made. Nature has reclaimed much since then, spreading out in a vast forest full of wonder and dread. Ever in fear of being taken away, she follows Dad’s rules without question while learning to survive off the land.
No longer a small child, she accompanies Dad on one of his treks, her first time more than a few steps away from the cabin. A day exploring with him is the happiest time of her life, but joy is short-lived.
A monster follows them home.
Safe in her Haven, she hides while Dad goes outside to confront the beast. She wakes alone the next morning, and waits. Alas, her hope of his return fades with the daylight. Desperate, she breaks his strictest rule and goes outside alone. Not far from the cabin, she discovers his rifle abandoned next to the monster’s strange footprints.
Afraid but determined, Wisp sets off on her own into the Endless Forest to find Dad ― before the Tree Walkers catch her.
Today we welcome the author for an interview!
1. Did you always know you wanted
to be a writer or did you want to be something else?
It took me
forever to figure out it. I never really did “figure out what I wanted to do
when I grew up,” and coasted around a few things until writing became more than
a hobby. I suppose the signs had been there at least in terms of creating
worlds and characters for a long time, as I’d been heavily into roleplaying
games as a kid. Unfortunate experiences with mandatory summer reading lists
rather soured me on the idea of reading (prior to that I did often read for fun). It wasn’t until I was teasing forty that I
started thinking about writing long form fiction.
2. How long does it take you to
write a book from start to finish?
The time can
vary quite a bit depending on how strong my inspiration is. The more into a book I get the faster I go. I
used to be addicted to playing World of Warcraft, and I could go for twelve
hour benders without thinking twice about it. Now, that same energy goes into
my writing. I think the fastest book I’ve written has to be Citadel: The Concordant Sequence. A
reader asked me to write “more post apocalyptic stories with a young
protagonist.” (Which is also what The
Forest Beyond the Earth is). I spent a Wednesday developing the outline of
the story, which I finished in a day. On Thursday and Friday, I wrote after the
day job. Saturday and Sunday saw pretty much all day in front of the computer.
I lost Monday/Tuesday to doing an edit on someone else’s book that my publisher
needed fast. Taking Wed-Fri of that next week off work let me finish the book
by Saturday. So basically ten days from zero to finished first draft for that
one.
By contrast,
the longest one was Virtual Immortality (also the first one I finished) which
took me about three months.
3. How do you come up with themes
for your stories?
The novels
set in the Divergent Fates universe are using the setting for a roleplaying
game world that I have been developing since 1996. They’re not “litRPG” books
since I’m only using the setting. No one is ‘playing a game’ so to speak. With
that setting comes a lot of story potential, some of which includes storylines
modified from old game sessions. Other books hit me as the muse fancies. For
example, I was in a Barnes & Noble doing a book signing for The Summer the World Ended, when
something made the title Nine Candles of
Deepest Black hit me. That title simply came out of nowhere, and I liked
it, so I sat down and came up with a story to go with it.
4. Do you have a schedule of when
you write?
Nothing more
organized than “if I’m not at the day job, eating, sleeping, or spending time
with friends, I write.”
5. How are you able to balance
other aspects of your life with your writing?
Simple. There
aren’t many other aspects :|
6. What elements do you think make
a great story line?
A protagonist
the reader can empathize with going through situations that a reader can find
relatable even if fantastic. If there’s a person antagonist (as opposed to a
hostile environment), their motivations should be complex enough that from
their point of view, they are doing the right thing. Of course, every now and
then a “this guy is just bad” type antagonist can be fun to read about but it
can get stale fast.
I also think
having the protagonist evolve over the course of the story and end up in a
different place (mentally or emotionally) than where they started makes for a
great story.
7. What was the hardest thing about
writing a book?
The waiting.
Waiting for beta readers to give me their feedback, waiting for cover art,
waiting for everything to come together. Of course, I may have brain damage as
I tend to enjoy editing.
8. How many books have you written
so far? Do you have a favorite?
Counting
co-authored novels, I’ve recently completed number 52. It’s difficult to pick a
real favorite out of all of them as I like them for different reasons. Though, it’s
probably a close tie between The Forest
Beyond the Earth and Prophet of the
Badlands.
9. Do you have a favorite
character?
Althea from Prophet of the Badlands. She’s so fun to
write… a combination of significant power, total innocence, and curiosity.
10. Where do you write?
At home.
11. When deciding on how to
publish, what directed you to the route you took?
Most of my
books are published via a small press, Curiosity Quills. However, as of late
I’ve decided to take a stab at publishing myself. Given the current state of
things, it’s becoming more and more difficult to see the benefit of small
presses. Self-publishing is more work and more initial out-of-pocket cost, but
the returns can be better and maintaining control over the book is also quite nice.
12. Have you gotten feedback from
family about your book(s)? What do they think?
Not yet. I
don’t have a lot of family left, and if any have read my work, none have told
me about it.
13. What kinds of things do you
like to do outside of writing?
I used to
dabble with illustration but not so much these days. Video games, movies, also
roleplaying games… but that, too, has kind of fallen aside with age. It’s
difficult to get the group together.
14. What kinds of advice would you
give to someone who wants to start writing?
Grab a copy
of Self Editing for Fiction Writers by
Browne and King. Also, seek out unbiased critique partners. When receiving
feedback, don’t rush to change something the instant one person says it should
be changed. If two people offer the same opinion, start considering it. If
three or more people suggest a change, it’s probably a good idea to do it.
Also, writing
isn’t a race. Some people like me can do 20k words in one day. Some are elated
to hit 1000 in one day. The pace isn’t important at all (unless you’re looking
at a publisher’s deadline). Just write.
15. What is your favorite book? favorite
author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to write?
Hmm. I’d have
to say Neuromancer by William Gibson. It inspired my love of the cyberpunk
genre.
16. Do you have any go to people
when writing a book that help you with your story lines as well as editing,
beta reading and such?
Yes. I have
quite a few wonderful people who beta read for me. In no particular order: Denise
Keef, Dianne Webb, Danny Cox (no relation), David Cox (no relation), Louise
Fegans, Leslie Whitaker, tend to do most of the beta reading. Denise also helps
me out whenever I have questions about police type stuff.
17. Are you working on anything now?
Always. I have
several projects swirling around at once. Out of Sight (a YA sci fi novel). The
Menagerie of Jenkins Bailey (a MG urban fantasy), a few edits, and I’m working
on the outline for the second Alexis Silver novel with J.R. Rain.
18. Tell us 5 things that make you smile
Cats. Videos
of soldiers reuniting with their kids. Finding a new review of one of my books
or having a reader tell me something in one touched them/made them cry/laugh.
Realizing it’s actually Thursday when I’ve spent all day thinking it Wednesday.
Coffee.
19. Tell us 5 things that make you
sad
The news. Bad
things happening to kids. Pictures of abandoned pets. The deaths of fictional
characters I’ve come to like. Coffee mug being empty.
20. If you could travel anywhere in
the world to visit a place so you could use it as a background for a book,
where would it be?
I’d love to
visit the UK or Ireland or Scotland. Likely quite a bit of inspiration for my Tales of Widowswood series
there.
Thank you so much for being with us today, Matthew!
Author Bio:
Born in a little town known as South Amboy NJ in 1973, Matthew 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.
Hobbies and Interests:
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour (<- after="" also="" and="" cats.="" deliberate="" fiction="" fond="" happens="" he="" intellectual="" is="" it.="" life="" nature="" of="" p="" questions="" reality="" science="" that="" the="" what="">
