Q&A with Matt Harry

  

Photo by Juliane Crump

 

 

 

Matt Harry is the author of the new novel Ash Land. His other books include You Are a Filmmaker. He lives in Los Angeles.

 

Q: How did the pandemic inspire you to write Ash Land?

 

A: Ash Land started with a simple question. It was March 2020, about two weeks into the Covid-19 pandemic. The world was on lockdown, people were wearing masks everywhere, and the streets of Los Angeles were empty for the first time since I had moved there in 1998. I asked myself: How could this be worse? 

 

That question was immediately followed by another: What if we could never go outside again?

 

Nature is my church. Even during the height of the pandemic, I had to get out of the house at least once a day. The thought of being trapped inside forever was one of the most horrifying scenarios I could ever imagine. And what is keeping everyone inside – a swarm of self-replicating, flesh-eating microbots called the Ash – made the setting even scarier. 

 

I knew I had a world on my hands, but I needed to shape it into a story. Over the next three months, I considered writing a romance, an action story, and a political thriller before finally settling on a good old-fashioned mystery. The conceit of being unable to go outside immediately made my detective’s investigation much more difficult – and much more interesting to write about. 

 

Limitations are a gift for storytellers. Knowing that my protagonist would need to use remote-operated drones to collect evidence, wear a hazmat suit to leave his apartment, and contend with lawless scavengers called Scrappers immediately gave me a lot of ideas for scenes.  

 

Q: How did you create your character Kai Braddock?

 

A: Since the world had a lot of blanks for me to fill in, I felt that my protagonist should be easier to envision. And so I chose to make him pretty similar to me. He’s middle-aged, has two boys, references a lot of pop culture, and enjoys mojitos. He hates bullies and selfish billionaires. 

 

Unlike me, Kai is a divorced former cop. The divorce part was surprisingly emotional for me to write. Envisioning what it would be like to live apart from my wife and kids was a tough headspace to get into every day, but it made me so appreciative to come home to my family every day. 

 

Kai is also much more comfortable than I am at calling out people. He quit being a cop when an entitled rich boy got away with assault. After that, Kai vowed that the criminals he caught would be punished, dystopia be damned. Couple that with the knowledge that he might die at any second, and you’ve got a main character who doesn’t mind sharing his opinions. It’s an incredibly refreshing way to write someone. 

 

Q: Would you consider the novel both science fiction and mystery?

 

A: Ash Land is definitely a sci-fi mystery mash-up, but I hope that it will appeal to fans of both! The science fiction aspect is pretty light – it’s set only two years in the future, and the world looks a lot like ours. (Minus the Ash, of course.) 

 

The mystery part is more robust, but every aspect of it is informed by the sci-fi setting. There are scenes that involve tracking people through high-res satellite imagery, interrogations in which someone tries to crack open another’s hazmat suit, and suspects who have all gone slightly crazy from being stuck inside for two years. 

 

As with any genre mash-up, I hope these two story types enhance the novel.

 

Q: Did you know how the story would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: Authors often describe themselves as plotters (outlining obsessively) or pantsers (writing by the seat of their you-know-whats).

 

I would call myself a plotting pantser. I like to have a rough outline of the story mapped out, but with enough room to add details and discover ideas as I write. So I had a general notion of the ending, but I didn’t know the actual culprit until I got there. Once I realized who was responsible, I went back to set up logistics and throw suspicion on the other characters. Ultimately, I hope I landed on that thin tightrope between surprising and inevitable.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have a few projects in process at the moment. One is a supernatural detective novel that I’m about to submit to publishers. Another is a first draft of a sci-fi action comedy which needs beta readers. And a third project is a sci-fi YA novel that is about two-thirds complete. So after writing my first mystery and my first sci-fi novel with Ash Land, I’m all in on both genres for the immediate future!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Ash Land is a love letter to my adopted hometown of Los Angeles. I’ve now lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere else.

 

For those who have never been to LA, I tried to create a “greatest hits” journey through the city’s landmarks. The story takes readers from the Santa Monica Pier to the Hollywood Bowl to Angel’s Flight to Griffith Observatory. There’s even a stop at the Channel Islands and Santa Barbara. The best part is, you can visit all these places without a hazmat suit.

 

Ash Land has a dark setting, but I ultimately hope that readers will be reminded of humanity’s inventiveness and resilience in the face of catastrophe.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb