KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site, so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!

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THE SLATE
Political Espionage Thriller
BY MATTHEW FITZSIMMONS

BLURB

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1. How did you get started writing?

After college, I went to NYC to do an internship at Playwrights Horizon on 42^nd Street with dreams of breaking into the theater as a director. I lived in a series of illegal sublets around Manhattan with a mad coterie of actors, artists, and writers. This was the 90s before the arts scene decamped for Brooklyn, and you just didn’t want to go to sleep for fear of missing anything. I picked up the writing bug just by being around so many creative people, although it was my little secret for a long time. It took a lot of work before anything I’d written was worth sharing.

2. What genre(s) do you write in and why?

Genre is an interesting topic because often it is invented by publishers rather than writers. My professional career began ten years ago with the publication of The Short Drop. It was the first of five Gibson Vaughn thrillers. After that, I wrote two speculative fiction novels about human cloning. The Slate is a political thriller and now I am drafting a supernatural suspense novel. In my mind, if not my publisher’s, all nine of those books have more similarities than differences. All nine involve mysteries, all nine feature characters searching for answers and who will put themselves in danger to get them. For that reason, settling on a genre to me is more about picking the right outfit for the occasion because underneath it is all just story.

3. What do you think about when you’re alone in your car?

Driving is the perfect time to work out a story problem. I got in the habit while writing my first book and was still working fulltime as a high school teacher. It was about thirty minutes each way, and I would turn off the radio and think through whatever plot or character issue had me stuck. An unexpected side effect was that I became a much more serene driver because I felt productive and not in a hurry.

4. What is your favorite part of writing?

I’m not sure this would be my answer had I’d written in the age of the typewriter or, shudder, the pen, but I’ve always loved the editing process. The ability to see the entire shape of a story and see what pieces need to be moved or changed. No question about it, I would say that cut and paste is my most cherished tool. 

5. What is your least favorite part of writing?

The day after my editor locks the manuscript and won’t let me tinker anymore. That’s usually the moment that I spot a half-dozen places I could improve the story. It’s cruel and unusual torture.

6. Pick two celebrities to be your parents. Who would they be and why?

For a father, I’d choose Steve Martin. He’s always struck me as a remarkably intelligent and talented man who has had such a varied career: comic, author, actor, musician. I can’t imagine someone better as a role model and just think of the stories and advice he could offer! For my mother, I think Margaret Atwood would be incredible. Her interviews are always so thoughtful and full of insights. I doubt she’d let a son get away with lazy thinking and would keep him on the straight and narrow. I could have used that as a boy.

7. Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

There’s no one place, but often my ideas come from stories I’ve read or seen. If I see enough stories that begin and end in the same place, I instinctually start trying to see a story in the cracks or margins. It’s an old canard that there are no new stories, but I like to believe there are new angles and perspectives. Ideally that’s what I’m striving for in my own writing.

8.  Tell me about your ideal reader.

All readers are good readers, but a curious reader is my kind of people. A reader who wants to be made to think rather than told what to think. A reader who wants the room to fill in the blanks rather than have everything spelled out. Can you tell I was a high school English teacher?

9.  What is your “go to” routine that helps you get in the mood to write? Special beverage? Music? Etc.

I am most productive in the morning, and my days tend to begin between four and six am. It differs for all writers, but I’m one who works to music and will pick a record that fits the chapter I’m writing. The nice thing about albums is they force me to get up and stretch my back every twenty to thirty minutes. Around ten am, I have a can of Coke over ice. It’s a ritual of mine, and I’m ridiculously particular about how one should be poured. 

10. Tell us about your next book & when is it being published?

My next book is called The Slate and will be published on October 8^th, 2024. My family moved to Washington DC when I was twelve, and I’ve always been fascinated by the innerworkings of my adopted hometown. The Slate is the story of a retired political operative named Agatha Cross who was never afraid to get her hands dirty. It is a classic story of a woman unable to outrun her past, and the choice between making amends or making a brand new mess. 

About Author Matthew FitzSimmons…

Matthew FitzSimmons is the author of the bestselling Gibson Vaughn series, which includes The Short Drop and Poisonfeather. Born in Illinois and raised in London, England, he now lives in Washington, DC, where he taught English literature and theater at a private high school for over a decade.

Links to Matthew’s websites, blogs, books, #ad etc.:

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/3Y2k0Fo

Amazon Hardcover: https://amzn.to/4dPSuRc

Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/4gZMA2L

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-slate-matthew-fitzsimmons/1144772351?ean=9781542009515

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-slate-matthew-fitzsimmons/21156441?ean=9781542009508