Matthew Saeman spent the first twenty three years of his professional life in the industries of construction and sales. He acquired his teaching credential at the age of 47 and now instructs students with Autism and emotional disturbances. Storytelling has always been something he loved to do, but it wasn’t until later in life that he began writing novels. The late Gordon McAlpine was his mentor, inspiring him to take the next step once his short stories began getting published, and once he began writing novels, he knew this was the best way to express his creativity. Matthew enjoys writing in the Suspense/Thriller genre mainly because he loves the concept of keeping the reader constantly wondering what’s going to happen next, which characters might turn out to be bad, and whether or not the hero will win out in the end…which is far from certain. He’s written eight novels thus far, two of which have been published. His most recent, To Preserve, Protect and Destroy was released through Palmetto Publishing in June.
In To Preserve, Protect and Destroy, NASA geologist Terrence Sullivan is thrust into a perilous mission of universal significance. He is tasked with retrieving volatile stones from Mars, the same stones responsible for the disastrous end to a prior terraforming mission there. Initially, Terrence believes this mission is solely for universal safety. However, as the story progresses, he discovers the chilling reality behind its true objective. The stakes escalate beyond his wildest imagination, with the lives of the crew and millions of innocents at risk as the ship carrying the deadly stones is set to return to Earth…but not to land safely. As time dwindles, Terrence is forced to make decisions that will not only seal his fate but also that of humanity. Will he manage to avert the looming disaster and expose the truth, or will he become just another pawn sacrificed in this deadly Presidential power play?
Matthew Saeman stops by In Reference to Murder to take some "Author R&R" about writing and researching his book:
Having no first hand knowledge of the Geological science, the inner workings of NASA, or a corrupt U.S. President, in order to write this story with any degree of accuracy, I needed to spend countless hours reading novels, watching movies/documentaries, and scouring the internet not only to locate the “technical” information required, but also to make it believable to the reader that I knew everything there was to know about these topics. Of course, before one minute was spent researching anything, I needed to first put together a proper “skeleton” of the story.
Ideas for the stories I write hit me totally at random. Once I get an idea, I allow it to percolate for at least a day. If I still feel I want to pursue it, I take it to the next stage which is where I’ll write a very brief synopsis from start to finish. There’s a feeling I get in my gut that tells me if it’s an interesting concept and if I’d have fun writing it. With To Preserve, Protect and Destroy, my gut kept telling me to take it to the next stage, which is extending the brief synopsis into a longer one and incorporating more details, to include character names and bios. At this point, the story had begun building momentum, and so I went with it. Stage 4 is the process of developing a chapter outline. The first draft is always minimal but it’s a “living” document that grows as time passes. The outline for this book took about four months to complete… and that’s when I began doing my research.
In today’s world, with access to any and all information at the stroke of a key, the process of educating oneself on any subject is tremendously simpler than it was twenty years ago. But persistence and drive are the keys to success. Once I’d dedicated myself to writing this novel, I’d also dedicated substantial time to not only doing the necessary research, but also incorporating this newfound knowledge with the characters I’d created. Emulating aspects of myself or people that I knew helped me make the characters more real. As I said previously, the outline is a living document, so even after I began writing the chapters, there were changes I made in order for the story to work.
This process is not the same for every writer. In fact, I’d bet every writer does it different. The one aspect that is identical however is sticktoitivity. I love to write and so I manage my time appropriately. When I’m working on a story, there are hours dedicated to the writing process. If I’m unwilling to do this then the stories don’t get written. With To Preserve, Protect and Destroy, I dedicated part of every day to doing something that advanced where I was with that story. To me, writing is like exercising. Once you get into the rhythm of the process, it becomes easier to do each day. If you let days or weeks pass without writing, finding the right words can feel like pulling teeth.
You can learn more about Matthew Saeman and his writing via his website and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. To Preserve, Protect and Destroy is now available via all major booksellers.
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