An Interview with Matthew McKee

Matthew J. McKee’s micro-fiction and short stories have been featured in Meat For Tea and two of his novels have been published by Atmosphere Press. He graduated from the University of Montana with a Bachelor’s in Archaeology and currently teaches English in Japan.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

Flicker was a title that spoke to the (dare I say it) atmosphere of the book. Flames appear in many different forms throughout the story and have variable meanings and so I wanted a title that would express this pyro undercurrent, but I also wanted it to be one word. There are a lot of allusions that can be made to fire, like “scorching” or “ember,” but after a good deal of playing around, I found that Flicker captures better the feeling I wanted the book to bring out. A flickering flame gives you a feeling of narrow comfort; it lets you see only what is absolutely near to you, and even then, you feel like this tiny oasis could be blown out at any second. And that’s how I wanted the readers to feel as they step into the world of Flicker: at any second, the reliable could be blown away.

As to time, I would say it only took me a week or so to really get the title down. Some of my other stories take longer, but not this one.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

It was an amazing feeling feeling. I am always blown away by the skills of artists to encapsulate hundreds of thousands of words in a single image. Not to mention the color palette. And Atmosphere Press does it so well that I feel like the cover itself even draws out another aspect of the story I hadn’t thought of before, which is one of the greatest rewards for any author. We get to see our work in new ways when people absorb it into their own unique personality and worldview.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I have always wanted to be a writer. As far back as I can remember in elementary school, I enjoyed reading and writing. I was especially lucky because my mother was a huge supporter of mine. She would patiently listen to any story I’d written no matter how bad or silly and always clap and encourage me and ask me to write another for her.

As to works and authors that have influenced me, Jung is a big influence. Reading him has taught me that to each individual, our internal world is unique and has a certain degree of power over us whether we like it or not. Part of the aspect of all my writing is exploring how these psychic attitudes affect our outer realities, and of course, in fiction (unlike reality) the barrier between the inner and outer can come down and the discussions that can occur are really rewarding for me to experiment with.

Another large influence on much of my writing is Japanese literature both modern and old. I got a review on Flicker that said some of my style was sort of comic-bookish and I took that as a grand compliment. The Japanese language has a large store of onomatopoeia that gives a lush tint to sounds and I enjoy co-opting the quirky grammar of using slightly jarring simple sentences to make my prose jump. I could keep my list going, but these few seem to me to be the biggest overcurrents in my influences.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I have been an archaeologist, built trails in Alaska, and now I teach English in Japan! Perhaps something readers wouldn’t know about me is that I also make lecture courses on the ancient board game GO for the company Go Magic. You can find some of my work on YouTube or the Go Magic website. I often play GO to help me focus my mind and find it really relaxing hobby as well.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

The editing process is always a thrill for me. I love seeing how much a fresh take on my paragraphs and sentences can enhance the book’s style and message. I’m like all writers in that I have a devil of a time noticing right away what is necessary and what is not; you can take the adage of “kill your darlings” too far, but for many writers even picking up the scalpel is terrifyingly difficult. The editing process is thus a wonderful and exhilarating experience laced with trembling and worry, but those are the best parts of writing! You know you’re doing something good when your own writing makes you fidget in your seat, makes want to look away, or makes you afraid to put down the next word.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

I’d need lots of classical music mixed with a wild amount of dark modern pop. Give me Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor sliding into Billie Eilish’s “All the good girls go to hell” and the famous sequence number six from Mozart’s Lacrimosa fading away into ODESZA’s “It’s Only.” It would have to be jarring and uncertain. You should never know what the next feeling should be.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I want people who finish a novel of mine to step back and wonder about more than just the book, but also about themselves and question their reactions to what they’ve read. I want my books to be reflective and to be unsettling so that when my readers see themselves in it, they aren’t sure why. Critical thinking and deep self-investigation are something I want to be a sort of companion experience to reading Flicker. Nothing should be pure simple or pure complex; I want readers to put every part of the book up to the light and examine it and then examine it again in the dark and then examine why they came to the conclusions they came to. For me, this is the summation of joy in a book. Lots of books are pure entertainment and there is nothing wrong with that, but for me, I want my novels to reach out farther into the human experience and bring more aspects to that entertainment.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

I am currently writing a cycle of short stories that will fit together into a novel of sorts. Each should further the story of the previous, but also work on its own. Each should bring a new aspect of the world the stories are set in to the forefront, but again, work as an individual story. It’s a bit of a challenge, but that’s part of the fun! The story is sci-fi mixed with magical realism about the curse of the past haunting the future, but also about a dog that can shoot doomsday lasers from his eyes! I think it’s a joy to write, so I’m hoping one day it will be a joy for everyone else to read!

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

It was a fantastic experience for me to work with Atmosphere Press! This was my second time and I enjoyed it just as much as the first. The team at Atmosphere is absolutely professional but never cold or calculating. The humanity really is in Atmosphere Press and I know they are getting bigger but I hope the humanity keeps as they grow and bring joy to many readers and authors! I’d recommend any writer who thinks their work is ready to submit to Atmosphere, but of course Atmosphere isn’t a vanity publisher, so you may not make the cut, but they are certainly willing to support you if your book just needs that little boost, and they sure do know how to make a good book great!

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.