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
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