Episode 104 with Matt Bell, Author of The New York Times Notable Book, Appleseed, and Uber-Talented Craftsman, Worldbuilder, Chronicler of Society’s Mores, and Writing Teacher

Episode 104 Notes and Links to Matt Bell’s Work 

 

     On Episode 104 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Matt Bell, and the two discuss, among many other topics, his upbringing in semi-rural Michigan, his love of video games and fantasy, his skill in writing in different modes, and his blockbuster success Appleseed, with its myriad pertinent themes and its intricately-crafted narratives and allegorical greatness.   

      Matt Bell is the author most recently of the novel Appleseed (a New York Times Notable Book) published by Custom House in July 2021. His craft book Refuse to Be Done, a guide to novel writing, rewriting, and revision, will follow in early 2022 from Soho Press. He is also the author of the novels Scrapper and In the House upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, as well as the short story collection A Tree or a Person or a Wall, a non-fiction book about the classic video game Baldur's Gate II, and several other titles. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Tin House, Fairy Tale Review, American Short Fiction, Orion, and many other publications. A native of Michigan, he teaches creative writing at Arizona State University. 

 

Buy Matt Bell's Appleseed

 

Appleseed Review in The New York Times- “A Novel Charts Earth’s Path From Lush Eden to Barren Hellscape”

 

Matt Bell’s Website

 

Book Recommendations from Matt Bell

 

Buy Matt Bell’s Books

 

New York Times Review of In the House upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods

 

Alta Journal Review of Appleseed

 

The Brooklyn Rail Review of Appleseed

At about 2:00, Matt talks about the different ways of writing, editing, and publicizing books in the Covid era, noting that his newest book, Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts

 

At about 4:10, Matt details his childhood in rural Michigan and his relationship with reading and language 

 

At about 6:15, Matt and Pete 

 

At about 7:10, Matt describes the rural/urban combo in his writing

 

At about 9:10, Matt ponders whether his rural upbringing and reading fantasy, as well as ideas of what is “fantastical”

 

At about 10:35, Matt mentions formative books for him as an adolescent and college student, and how Fight Club led to other favorite writers as prescribed by Chuck Palahniuk, including Denis Johnson and Raymond Carver

 

At about 12:40, Matt sings the praises of The Intuitionist and John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead and inspiration for Appleseed

 

At about 14:30, Pete asks Matt about any “ ‘Eureka’ moments” in his path to becoming a professional writer; Matt cites a “poverty of examples”

 

At about 16:10, Matt describes the “different” feeling that came with an early short story and things started “clicking”

 

At about 17:30, Matt describes just a few contemporary writers who bring “thrills at will,” including Bryan Evenson, DeLillo, Anne Carson, Christine Schutt, Jeff Vandermeer, Laird Hunt, and Dana Spiotta

 

At about 18:30, Matt discusses reading a huge quantity of Ursula LeGuin while writing Appleseed

 

At about 20:00, Pete delivers some good news to Matt regarding his short story output, and Matt responds to Pete’s inquiries about Matt’s previous short story collection and early publications 

 

At about 21:20, Matt talks about the connection between rural and vast landscapes and the themes of man’s relationship with nature from In the House… and other work of his

 

At about 22:10, Matt discusses differing views across the country of his book Scrapper as dystopian/realistic in various American locales

 

At about 24:25, Pete asks Matt about connections between Matt’s history of gaming and his writing, including his book Baldur’s Gate

 

At about 26:40, Matt talks about “writing with your whole self” and writing authentically for him

 

At about 27:40, Matt describes the copyediting process after Pete’s shouts out an atypical

 

At about 28:40, Pete asks about the finished feeling seeds for the book Appleseed, and the process of editing with great help from Kate Nintzel and Kirby Kim

 

At about 32:20-Matt describes inspiration and the impetus for writing his book came from faun myths, myths in general, Dionysus, etc. 

 

At about 33:20-Pete makes Garcia Marquez comparisons with magical realism and the nonchalant and skillful ways in which fantasy is presented in Appleseed, and Matt discusses how myth and research came into play

 

At about 35:20- Matt talks about the ways in which the storylines developed and about the book as self-propelling

 

At about 36:30, Matt responds to Pete’s wondering about the balance between allegory and moralizing 

 

At about 39:10, Matt and Pete discuss the three major storylines, and Matt responds to Pete’s questions about how he made the storylines congeal so nicely 

 

At about 41:50, Matt discusses the essential Chapman storyline from Appleseed

 

At about 44:40, Matt analyzes Nathaniel, a main character from Appleseed, and his motivations

 

At about 46:45, Pete shouts out a wonderfully crafted scene and intricately-meaningful from the book

 

At about 47:20, Pete shouts out a beautiful fraternal relationship and asks Matt about his mindset in crafting the relationship and Matt cites how the faun allowed him freedom 

 

At about 49:20, Matt discusses the John character from his book and themes of the balances between nature and technology, including a real life connection to a detail from the book

 

At about 52:00, Pete wonders if Yuri is representative of someone in particular

 

At about 53:00, Pete highlights themes of “collective memory” and learning from history, as seen through the futuristic storyline, and Matt and Pete discuss ideas of “fates” and “furies”

 

At about 54:30, Matt responds to questions around greater good, and if democracy is up for combating climate change

 

At about 55:35, Matt cites a quote and books from Derrick Jensen and his memorable A Language Older than Words amid constant questions and urges to act

 

At about 57:10, Pete mentions a real-time connection to the themes of the conversation

 

At about 58:10, Pete asks Matt about the ways and places in which the book is being taught, and Matt talks about “think[ing] on top of it/past it”

 

At about 59:00, Matt describes his latest project, coming out in March 2022, Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts, and how he goes about writing about writing; Pete and Matt also shout Matthew Salesses’ wonderful Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping

 

At about 1:02:30, Matt gives contact info and shouts out Changing Hands and Literati and Bookbug, and Snowbound as good independent places to buy his books

 

At about 1:03:45, Matt reads from Appleseed

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Please tune in for the next episode, Episode 104 with Nikesha Elise Williams. Nikesha is a two-time Emmy award winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black & Published podcast. Nikesha writes full time with bylines in The Washington Post, ESSENCE, and VOX. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida with her family.  The episode will air on February 22.