Guest Author Interview - Matt Weaver

On this fine Friday we are joined by Matt Weaver for the guest author interview, read what he has to say below:

Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
My name is Matt Weaver. I live in the Pacific Northwest (USA) with my wife and son where I work as a formulations chemist.  I received my B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Davis.

What first inspired you to start writing?
I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember; while all the other kids were out playing sports I was wrapped up in a book.  The magic powers of an author to transport you to another time or place must have been the inspiration.

And what was your first story?
Until I began working on what became my first novel, my writing was limited to poetry.

Are you a planner? Or do you prefer to dive straight into writing?
A little of both, and an adept at neither! My first draft of The Lightness of Dust was the result of “diving in” and strayed so far from my original vision that I had to start over. I soon learned to do a basic outline, then add specific scenes to the outline, and finally flesh the story out.

If you could work with any author, who would it be?
Ray Bradbury. The imagery trapped in his writing blows me away. Something Wicked This Way Comes…wow.  I would have loved to see what he could have done with my story!

What do you enjoy most about writing?
My favorite part must be the challenge of finding the compromise between my original vision and the path the story itself insists on.

And the least?
Not having taken typing in high school. Of course, back then we didn’t know that the PC would transform the world as it has. But I’m pretty good for using only four fingers!

What advice would you give new and aspiring authors?
Trust your vision, but trust the whispers in your ears more. That’s the sound of the story guiding you.

What are you working on at the moment?
I am starting two blogs on my website and working on the second volume of The Meronymy (of which The Lightness of Dust is the first).

Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
My latest (and first!) work is The Lightness of Dust, a novel that explores the impact of a young woman’s search for belonging through the lives of Telamon, an ancient Anatolian fisherman who risks everything to take her from her cruel father; Samuel Freeman, caretaker of the Persephone Music Hall in 1940 Seattle, who finds his religion in the music of a beautiful violinist; and Jacob Morgan, a university professor in modern-day Northern California, whose life is thrown into chaos by an eager graduate student.

Perhaps the best way to describe it is by sharing the back-cover text:
“We mortals take solace in knowing that our cares will someday scatter with the dust of our bones.  For the gods who walk among us no such hope exists…especially for the goddess who must witness our deaths.”

Find out more at http://www.lunarisen.com/the-meronymy/

Thanks to Matt for sharing his time with us, on Monday Eric Dulan takes his place in the hot seat.