YA/Fantasy
Date Published: 07/31/17
Dahlia, a centuries old genie, lies hopelessly trapped in a damaged golden locket charm attached to an ankle bracelet. Its owner, sixteen-year-old Liana, wears it for the first time during her father Jamison’s opening night illusion spectacular. Not only does its presence cause Jamison to folly his performance, but it also starts a chain of bizarre events that lead to a showdown with Dahlia’s mortal enemy, Stefan, and an unsuspecting romance between Liana and his son.
Interview
with Matt Dallmann
Can you tell us a
little bit about the characters in Tribal Affairs?
The main character, Liana, is very much like the usual crop
of YA protagonists; having an unusual gift that sets her apart from the rest of
the world. It is an inherited gift that not only alienates her from society,
but also, in a way, from herself, and makes her question her sanity and her
reality. Sort of like if Luke Skywalker or Harry Potter thought, or were made
to think, that they were schizophrenic.
Can you tell us a
little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
I would like to do a sequel to this book. There are a couple
characters, mainly Liana’s mother that several readers wanted to learn more
about. The next book will explore her journey and how Liana affected it.
How long would you
say it takes you to write a book?
It took me about 3 years to write this one. Although, I
think if I didn’t also have a business to run, a wife and two young daughters I
probably could’ve done it in about a year.
What is your favorite
childhood book?
I have a terrible memory, but the one book that comes to
mind is the Giving Tree. I just remember feeling incredibly sad that the tree
kept giving up everything for the child. Only now (that I have two daughters)
do I see that the tree wasn’t sad at all, just happy to have a meaningful purpose.
If you could spend
the day with one of the characters from Tribal Affairs who would it be? Please
tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what
you would do.
I would choose the elder of the Marid genie tribe, Amon. He
is sort of like the Yoda or Professor Dumbledore of the story. I would want to
see and hear about the centuries of genie history and how it influenced society
today. I suspect he would know of many genies still trapped in objects around
the world, and I would want to see at least a couple of them. Who knows, maybe I
have one in my house.
What was the hardest
scene from Tribal Affairs to write?
There wasn’t necessarily one scene that was harder than the
rest. The most difficult part was justifying the omnipotent point of view,
especially when that character wasn’t in the scene at all. I had to create a
couple extra genie abilities to make it work; sort of along the lines of Harry
Potter’s invisibility cloak, which allowed him to witness a scene like a fly on
the wall without the other characters knowing he was present.
What made you want to
become a writer?
I developed the itch for writing way back in elementary
school. We went on a field trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo, and were tasked to
write an article about something interesting we encountered there. At the time,
this was decades ago, the primates had a TV/entertainment box that allowed them
to change channels and watch whatever was programmed—I’m sure it was something
like Planet of the Apes J
I thought this was cool, so I wrote an article about it. The head of this
writing project liked the article so much, that he sent me a separate private
letter encouraging my writing. I’ve strayed quite a bit since then, but
eventually found my way back to the pen and paper.
Just for fun
(a
Favorite song: the one about love
(b
Favorite book: Anything by Gore Vidal or Kurt Vonnegut
(c
Favorite movie: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
(d
Favorite tv show: Westworld
(e
Favorite Food: cheeseburger, medium rare with raw onions
(f
Favorite drink: vodka martini, up, three olives, dry and dirty
(g
Favorite website: imdb.com and/or Goodreads.com
Thanks
so much for visiting with us today!
About the Author
Matt Dallmann has a background in acting and holds a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. His films and screenplays have been featured at film festivals across the United States including Cinequest, Big Apple Film Festival, Seattle’s True Independent Film Festival, DragonCon and Zero Independent Film Festival. His piano compositions have been published for commercial use and he is a member of ASCAP. Matt is also the Co-Founder and Vice President of the boutique medical billing firm VGA Billing Services, Inc. in New York City. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and two daughters.
Contact Links
Purchase Link
1 comments:
Thank you for posting
Post a Comment