Matt Reilly Stories (30 page)

Question:
is your Mother pleased that she has two published authors now in the family?

Matthew
Reilly: She’s very proud! But she loves us just the way we are. She does think
I blaspheme too much in my books though

Roy
Govier: You want me to do WHAT your Roman Sandals???

Matthew
Reilly: That is one of my favourite lines. It really did come from a guy I used
to play golf with! he would say that when he bombed a shot. My other favourite
line drawn from real life is in TEMPLE — its about when a Special Forces guy
talks about joining “The 80′s Club”. That came from some guys I know. They
talked about this 80′s club, and I innocently asked, “What’s that?”

Question:
You play golf? What’s your handicap?

Matthew
Reilly: 10

Question:
How often do you play?

Matthew
Reilly: Time for golf… I need golf to decompress.

Comment:
You should get business cards.

Matthew
Reilly: My books are my business cards.

Question:
Any plans to come to the next Writers Festival?

Matthew
Reilly: Brisbane next year — if they invite me, Yes, I’ll come. It is the most
relaxed festival I’ve attended. Sydney is very S-E-R-I-O-U-S. Melbourne is
super slick. But Brisbane is relaxed and about the books.

Anna:
Too bad the organizer didn’t know who Matthew Reilly was! The nerve.

Matthew
Reilly: Which organizer didn’t know who I was? At Brisbane? It happens.

Question:
Do you worry about originality?

Matthew
Reilly: Originality of plot is always a big question. Perhaps the biggest one.
Not only because people want new and original stuff, but because I don’t want
to become a one trick pony. I have to make it original so I enjoy writing it —
when it takes a year to write a book, you have to enjoy it.

Matthew
Reilly: Just remembered something of interest. I’ve been asked by my US
publisher to rewrite CONTEST but set it in the New York Public Library (not the
fictional New York State Library)

Roy
Govier: Are you going to do that?

Matthew
Reilly: Yes, I will. The believe that US readers (especially New Yorkers) will
prefer if I use the real building. Luckily both libraries match fairly well, so
I won’t alter the story in anyway.

Question:
Who asks tougher questions? Fans or the media?

Matthew
Reilly: Fans definately.

Matthew
Reilly: I should Clarify that. The media doesn’t have the detailed knowledge
that fans have; they are always very general. Its only when I get a journalist
who is also a fan that the questions get tough.

Question:
DO you have a daily schedule when you’re writing a new book?

Matthew
Reilly: The typical writing day for me starts at around 10am, and ends around
5pm. I don’t eat. I will have planned out what I want to get through in
advance. And if I’m not in the mood, I don’t write. It’s all about energy —
starting a new day at the same energy level that I was at the day before.

Question:
You get lost in the writing and time flies?

Matthew
Reilly: Yes, I loose track of time completely. Happened to me today writing the
screenplay. Had “Lunch” at 4pm.

Question:
How do you deal with Writer’s block?

Matthew
Reilly: Hasn’t been an issue – yet. (Hope it never will be)

Question:
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with the urge to write?

Matthew
Reilly: No, it doesn’t happen to me. Sometimes I write into the night, but
generally not after I’ve already gone to bed!

Question:
What can you tell us about your screenplay?

Matthew
Reilly: It is an attempt, basically, to update Raiders of the Lost Ark for the
MTV generation. I thought XXX came close – its heart was in the right place,
but it just fell short of the bar. I want to create a high-tech, big fun
Indiana Jones for the new century.

Question:
Do you have a book full of story ideas that you add too as ideas come to you,
or when you come to write a new novel, do you think up the ideas then and
there?

Matthew
Reilly: I have a story ideas DRAWER. With many slips of paper in it!!!

Question:
Do you do your own research?

Matthew
Reilly: Yes, I do my own. Roy has given me several Jane’s Recognition Guides
over the years, and they help enormously!

Matthew
Reilly: I also like to take responsibility for the research. yes, I sometimes
make mistakes. I still kick myself for some of the errors in Ice Station,
especially the ranking errors, but I was 22 when I wrote Ice Station, and
really just wrote it for my own enjoyment. Then it came out and went around the
world very quickly. I found out very quickly how seriously American’s take
their military.

Question:
Are their plans for a new tour soon?

Matthew
Reilly: No plans yet. But I’ll definately tour with the new Schofield book next
year. I believe it will be released in hardback in Australia.

Question:
Will this be your first hardcover?

Matthew
Reilly: In Australia. So far I’ve been released in trade Paperback.

Question:
Do you travel to the places you write about?

Matthew
Reilly: Sometimes (As I did for Area 7) but usually not. I just read about them
mostly.

Question:
Has anyone approached you regarding episode 3?

Matthew
Reilly: No, no-one’s come forward for Episode 3. Obviously I’m not that widely
read yet!

Question:
What do you do to relax besides golf and watch cricket matches?

Matthew
Reilly: For relaxation, I see lots of movies, read a lot, play touch football,
go to the gym, yes, watch cricket (and play for the mighty Full Tossers)

Comment:
I think you need to write Sci Fiction Space Novels

Matthew
Reilly: Hmmm. Maybe a screenplay. Not a book. Although I do have one idea for a
kids book…AJ: There’d be less profanity in a kids novel huh?

Matthew
Reilly: Why not? Kids swear.

Juliana:
You’d be attacked on the street by angry parents.

Matthew
Reilly: If I wrote a Sci-fi novel I could avoid crazy lunatics who gatecrash
the MR fansite. I think Harry Potter has opened up the “children’s” market. You
could write a pretty sophisticated novel these days and kids (and adults) would
enjoy it.

Question:
Could a Matthew Reilly-style “Harry Potter” ever appear in the not-too-distant
future?

Matthew
Reilly: I am certainly interested in writing a MR-style “Harry Potter” book. A
big idea. And now that I’m out of contract, something I’d like to get into
(Publishers get a bit worried when their thriller writers come in and say, “I’d
like to write a kids book”. Better just to write the thing and dazzle them with
it!)

Question:
Is there any book in particular of yours that you would like to see be turned
into a movie or computer game?

Matthew
Reilly: I’d love to see Temple made into a film. A really big, epic, twin-story
film. But it’s so big. I think I’d have to wait for Ice Station to be a
blockbuster.

Question:
Would you mind if it was CGI?

Matthew
Reilly: I think an animated version of Temple would be sensational! I actually
thought once Temple would make a great Bond Movie. But now I hear the latest
Bond Movie has some Ice Station moments in it… Hmmmmm.

Question:
So Temple is your favourite book?

Matthew
Reilly: Temple is not so much my favourite (I don’t really favour one book over
the others) I think it’s my cleverest book. And very filmic.

Question:
Did you find out about Capoeira during your research into Brasil and if you did
what were your thoughts?

Matthew
Reilly: No, what is that?Fan: Its a Brazillian Martial art that has elements of
dance and acrobatics. I ask because Race mentions “Jinga” which is one of the
moves.

Matthew
Reilly: Sounds very cool. But none of my books have been set in Brazil, so
haven’t looked into it. The “Jinga” was a word from my research, but I
understood it to mean, “Cat-like”

Question:
Any plans for a Sequel to Temple?

Matthew
Reilly: I have an idea for a Temple Sequel, but I’m keen to write a wholly new
book now, having just written a second sequel.

Question:
Did you base the Rapa’s upon a particular Myth, or did you just think “Giant
Panthers would be cool”?

Matthew
Reilly: I actually made up the Rapas, but then discovered that there were giant
cat myths in South America. The actual giant cats were called “titi” but I
thought that name was a bit wussy. So I created the word “Rapa” Actually the
giant cat myths were weird because there are no real giant cats in South
America.

Question:
Rumor has it that you are pouring millions of dollars into genetic research to
create a real life Hoodaya, is this true?

Matthew
Reilly: What does ROTFLMAO mean?

Roy:
Nice dodge of my question.

Matthew
Reilly: The hoods would be a great feature of a Contest movie.

Question:
Can you see your characters becoming McDonalds happy meal toys?

Matthew
Reilly: I would love Ice Station action figures. I would bring them out myself
if I could. Unforunately that now rests with Paramount (although they haven’t
got A7 yet)

Question:
Did you know that Ender’s Game is being made into a movie? and that Orson Scott
Card is heavily involved in it? Would you have a lot of control in a movie
based on your books?

Matthew
Reilly: I’m not surprised. It was a superior work of fiction. I was thinking
about it the other day actually.

Question:
Where do you get your plot ideas from?

Matthew
Reilly: Plot ideas just come from looking at the world and asking “What if you
did this…” I read a lot of non-ficiton and I just try to skew it a little and
create interesting scenarios.

Question:
Matthew, did you take the Theme Park rights out on your books??

Matthew
Reilly: I’m not sure if I sold them. I’ll have to check the contract — it’s
almost longer than the book!

Question:
Is Mother Black or White?

Matthew
Reilly: Does it matter? She’s gonna buy it in S3. I actually pictured her as
white, but since I never actually described her skin colour, I will never
settle the issue.

Question:
Are you a big comic book fan?

Matthew
Reilly: Not really. Have read two: A death in the family, and The Killing Joke.
Both Batman comics. the first was the one in which they killed off Robin (maybe
that had an influence on me!) Very Dark. It’s funny, while I don’t read the
comic books, I keep tabs on all the stories — killing off Robin, Bane breaking
Batman’s back, that weirdo stuff that happened to Superman (when they had all
those imposters later)

Question:
Do you chart out the action scenes beforehand, or just do it on the fly?

Matthew
Reilly: I chart out the action scenes in detail. I never do it on the fly. It
all has to go somewhere.

Question:
When you first thought up the plot to Ice Station, did you deliberately make
Schofields’ past include him being a pilot, just so he could fly the Silhouette
at the end?

Matthew
Reilly: Yep. Schofield’s pilot skills were made solely so he could fly the
Silhouette!

Question:
Will he be flying at all in S3?

Matthew
Reilly: There’s alot of flying in S3. Want a teaser — you’ll find the Sukhoi-37
in S3.

Question:
Speaking of Schofield’s past, do you reveal any more of it in S3?

Matthew
Reilly: Oh yes. You get more.

Question:
Any developments in the relationship between Schofield and Gant?

Matthew
Reilly: Yes, Schofield and Gant’s relationship moves even further!

Matthew
Reilly: I have a WW2 idea. But perhaps I’d do it like Temple, as a split story,
so I could keep my modern gadgets. Oh, and speaking of the Maghook, it makes a
BIG return in Schofield 3 — but for the first time, it may not work! And I’ve
come up with the mini-maghook for The Mine screenplay!

The
Maghook not working?

Matthew
Reilly: Tragic deaths abound in S3. As I said before, everybody dies!

Question:
You have an ideas Drawer… if there’s a fire, which ideas do you save?

Matthew
Reilly: The one about the Nazi’s building a time machine just before the
Soviets take Berlin.

Matthew
Reilly: Listen guys, I fear I have to go. I have to get to touch football!
Thank you for a wonderful chat. I hope I haven’t been too evasive on the new
book. But all will be revealed in good time. Bye now.

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