Greetings and Welcome to:

SlantedK's interview

with Author, Matthew Pizzolato.

http://www.matthew-pizzolato.com/

In the SlantedK way we are discussing the great Wild West Adventure “Outlaw,” among other insightful tidbits of the Matthew’s perspective.

Without further ado, let’s dive into today's Interview with Matthew Pizzolato.

The main character of Outlaw is Wesley Quaid, tell us about his personal demons.

A. At the beginning of Outlaw, Wesley is on the run from the law in Texas and is looking to start his life over again.  He wants to become a man of whom his father would be proud.  He thinks he can do that after making one last significant withdrawal from a bank in a small town in Kansas, until he runs into a beautiful bank teller and figures on settling down for good. Then he is confronted with vile evil that he is forced to overcome.

Very Interesting, tell me, does Wesley bowl? And if so, what is his average? If not, do you think he would have a good average if he did?
A. Wesley doesn't bowl very often, but when he does, he always rolls a 300.  He is more interested in making forcible withdrawals from local banking establishments and bending an elbow in the saloon than he is knocking over pins.

Do you think you will write bowling into his next adventure?
A. Probably not, Wesley spends his free time making generous financial contributions to the soiled dove community with the expected return upon his investment, of course.

I suppose there are ten pins, two six shooters equals twelve rounds. Leaves two for the bank, eh.

"That was dumb, now back to the interview."

Your Synopsis mentions - “Mysterious woman,” can you, without giving away plot, tease us on this?
A. The "mysterious woman" is a contract killer known as The Gray Rider.  At one time, she had a contract on Wesley's head, but he was able to convince her that the pleasure of his company was much more enjoyable than the financial reward gained by killing him.

A contract killer, gone administer of “pleasure” for Wesley, I can see bowling might be less than a stellar plot addition.

When I am in creative mode, just getting the ‘thoughts’ down, I tend to mix Jack Daniels with ice. It makes it difficult to edit, but enough about me. What do you do to get into  character when you're about to create?
A. I don't have to get into character because they are with me everywhere I go. Sometimes they argue among themselves inside my head like I'm not even there.  Whenever Wesley wants me to write, he keeps me awake at night with story ideas and he tends to be a bit of a wiseacre. Don't believe me? Find out for yourself, he has his own Twitter account: @WesleyQuaid

Whenever my yearnings get ahead of my earnings, I just make another forcible withdrawal.

— Wesley Quaid (@WesleyQuaid) December 31, 2012

Do you have a favorite scene in Outlaw?
A. My favorite scene would be the climax at the end of the story. I had it in my head at the beginning and wrote toward it through the entire story. I think that scene defines the man that Wesley has become and it's when he realizes that he can't run from who he is.

Do you have any tips for other writers? Some take away points for beginners, or those struggling to find their place.
A. Never quit writing, no matter what anyone else tells you.  The more you read and write the better your work will become and if you quit, you'll never know what you could have achieved.

I couldn’t agree more, Matthew.  When I got my first rejection e-mail I educated myself on why, she was right, it was bad. It really opened my eyes and made me better.

I have been known to write in my underwear. No question, just writing out loud. Tell us about  “The Western Online.” http://www.thewesternonline.com/ where I understand you are the editor.
A. Wesley always insists that I am fully clothed when I write because he doesn't like the reflection he sees in the computer screen since he has to look at it through my eyes.  Sometimes I'll wear an old slouch hat and put a replica 1873 Colt Cattleman by my side while I'm writing and I've been known to have a glass of Kentucky bourbon on my desk.  However, Wesley is the one who drinks it, not me.

Oh yeah, that’s what I meant earlier. My main character elbows me in the nose if the JD & Ice is not there. A huh, yeah, sticking with that. The reflection in the screen might explain the headaches I get. Very insightful stuff. Please continue.

On a serious note, when I first began writing and was searching for places to submit my work, I discovered that there weren't many places that published Western fiction, so I decided to create one.  With the help of my uncle, Michael T. Pizzolato, I launched a website that is dedicated to everything Western.  We publish fiction (both short stories and novella length work that we serialize), historical articles, Western themed artwork, book reviews, exclusive interviews to help writers promote themselves, and even a recurring Western comic strip.

NASCAR, favorite driver?
A. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Too bad, Tony "Smoke" Stewart is better. Just sayin’ He also employees Danica, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Sure she crashes most of the time in the first three laps, but ya know, it’s Danica.

In your short story collection “The Wanted Man.” Do the tales interweave with Outlaw?
A. There are eight stories in The Wanted Man collection and four of those are Wesley Quaid stories that are precursors of a sort to the novella, Outlaw. All of the events in those stories transpire before the events in Outlaw and there's even some details about the "mysterious woman."


Here @ SlantedK I believe in shameless promotion, so tell us, Matthew, where can this fine book be purchased?
It's available as an ebook for the Kindle and as a paperback through Amazon.

If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow it for free.
http://www.amazon.com/Outlaw-ebook/dp/B009GDDGU8/

Thank You Very Much, Matthew.
You’re always welcome. Please feel free to let SlantedK know when anything new comes down the pike. I look forward to future discussions.

And as always to my visitors:

Thanks for Stopping in From:

SlantedK & DMK

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