There’s a great interview over at Mother Reader with Matthew Cody and Aaron Starmler about their upcoming middle grade titles, and I have to say, I love Matt’s answer about what influenced him to write The Dead Gentleman:
It came out of my love of a certain kind of fiction (see above) but it also came from a childhood fear of mine — the closet door. My older brothers used to tease me about this, but I was convinced that my bedroom closet hid all sorts of monsters and baddies. (It didn’t help that my closet also led to the attic. Double-threat, there!) After finishing Powerless, I was looking around for my next project and talking with my editor about several possible things I wanted to work on — a historical fiction, a steampunk adventure — but none of them really grabbed me (or my editor!). But then I got to thinking about that closet door again, the closed closet door at night, and how universal that image was and I knew I needed to do something with it. In the end that idea kind of pollinated the steampunk book I was toying around with and The Dead Gentleman was born.
Check out the full interview!
Filed Under: News
Tags: Matthew Cody, middle grade, Powerless, The Dead Gentleman
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:05 am
Love the cover, and it definitely sounds intriguing. Will have to check this one out. (When is THE DEAD GENTLEMAN's release date?)
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:05 am
Oh man, if I'd had a closet door that led to an attic, I would have freaked out as a kid. I'd even be freaked out by that now. Way to turn fear into inspiration, Matthew!
Amy