Author Interview: Matthew Bridle

When did you first know you wanted to write? 
When I was in primary school we were given a Wade Whimsy, a small china ornament, in my case a cat. I called her Katy and wrote about her adventure, two exercise books later I finally finished. Since then it’s never gone away. Now I have to write or I get a bit cranky.
What works of Literature/Art/Music have influenced your writing?
Too many to list. I can get inspired by a song title, some chapters in Young Warlock are such. Another example of what can inspire would be the recent movie: Horns. There is a scene where the camera follows the actors through a sun streaked woods. For a brief moment the light catches a thin branch draped in moss, from that instance I created a whole chapter in my new novel just to feature that one branch.

How did you come up with the idea for your book? 
About 20 years ago, when I had writing fever and zero editing I wrote four novels back to back. One of which was King of Kings, a future fantasy written in the style of the King James Bible. Emun, Lo and Dorn were three character from that story who one day invaded my thinking on train from Manchester to London. When I got home I started writing Emun of Mor which I later edited until it became The End of Mor. I then rewrote that novel with 50% totally new content and Young Warlock was born. 

Could you talk a bit about what the publication process was like for you? 
Wow, not very good really. I lack the confidence to promote myself to agents and publishers, I have tried and still do. The hope of a mainstream publishing deal still gnaws at me. Emun of Mor was published by an indie press but sadly they ceased to be. So I hunted around and tried Smashwords, Lulu and Createspace. Along the way I learned how to create ebooks and iron out the faults in them. I’ve helped other authors to get their work out there too, sharing what I know. Having been a graphic designer for 15 years helped quite a bit.
One piece of advice I would offer: Make it shine. Polish your work as best you can then get others to check it over – not friends. Then get an editor before you self-published or send it to an agent. The world is full of great stories lost in bad writing of which I have been very guilty.

Are you currently working on any new projects? 
Yes. I am 60 000 words into the sequel: Fire and Thorn. I publish updates on my blog www.theonesaga.blogspot.com. Do drop by, maybe you could do a guest post?

If you could be any person for a day alive, dead, or fictional, who would it be, and what would you do?
There was man called Smith Wigglesworth, from Bradford UK. He died not long after the Second World War. He began life as plumber until midway through his life he began to preach the Gospel and saw many recoded miracles. I would love to spend a day being either him or around him.

In three sentences or less, why should people read your book?
If you like broad sprawling worlds filled with imperfect characters and mystical monsters. Lands rich in lore and diverse cultures each with their own problems and histories. If you finished Harry Potter and are not yet ready for Lord of the Ring then try Young Warlock it will feel like an old friend showing you something new.


About Matthew:
Mathew Bridle has written 6 novels one of which, Emun of Mor was published by an indie publisher, Vamplit Publishing. He resides in West Sussex where he spends his spare time exploring the magical realm of his fantasy saga the first of which is available at most online retailers.

Nowadays he spends his time writing the sequel to Young Warlock, Fire and Thorn as the nextl installment of this epic saga. When not writing he likes to relax with his Kindle, most likely reading either a classic fantasy or something from a new indie author. 
Young Warlock on Amazon