Matt Wildasin & Simon Paul Wilson Talk Baggage Steve L. Clark & Sarah Jane Huntington
At the end of 2021, Matt Wildasin and Simon Paul Wilson released Baggage upon an unsuspecting world.
Roughly one month on, Matt and Simon thought it would be cool to talk to Kendall Reviews about what it was like to work together, and how they came up with their tale of demons, guns, and sarcasm.
But who would interview them?
Enter Steve L. Clark and Sarah Jane Huntington, who very kindly agreed to throw some questions their way.
So without further ado, here comes the interview.
Time to talk Baggage!
Sarah: Which one of you had the idea for a collaboration?
Matt: This was Simon’s baby. We threw about a couple of different ideas when Simon approached me, and this idea stuck out of the mix. Plus, he kidnapped my dog and said if I didn’t do this, I’d never see her again.
Simon: I’d had the basic premise for what became Baggage for several years. Matt came up with a lot of ideas that fitted the story perfectly.
As for the dog kidnapping, I am totally innocent of said evil deed.
Steve: What about each one there’s writing led you to start wanting to work together?
Matt: Before Simon and I began working on this collaboration, I read GhostCityGirl and loved the way Simon built up his world and told the stories within.
Simon: Same! Demon In The Glass was a cracking read, and I loved the way Matt told that tale. I thought our styles would fit together well, and I think they do!
Steve: How did the collaboration process work? Did you trade chapters or work through each chapter together?
Simon: We traded chapters. Matt would write from one character’s perspective, and I’d write from another. I’m really proud of how the story worked out. I think the differing POVs really worked.
Matt: We also tried something experimental and traded paragraphs in chapter 12. That was an interesting thing to try, but I think we pulled it off well.
Sarah: Was it easy to work out who would be writing each bit?
Matt: Yes! That decision came about naturally. Simon already had the ideas of who he wanted Paloma, Zeb and Alice to be, and I had Matt Wilson in my head from the get-go. Now, we had to argue over whose name went first on the cover, but I graciously bowed out, being the humble person I am, and gave that honor to Simon.
Simon: You are too nice, Mr. Wildasin!
Sarah: What was the inspiration for the theme of this book?
Simon: We both wanted to write a horror novel that was quite fast paced and relentless, with characters you either loved or loathed. Personally, I took inspiration from Carlton Mellick and Brian Keene books, and films like From Dusk till Dawn. That’s the kind of style I was going for.
Matt: My inspiration for Matt Wilson did come from Logan aka Wolverine, specifically the recent film titled…you guess it, Logan. The style I was going for was to replicate the tone of the film, depressing, and misunderstood.
Steve: I’ve seen you mention online there are characters based upon it inspired by friends of yours. How did this come about?
Simon: One of the characters I introduced, a guy called Zeb, happened to resemble a certain horror writer. It was quite by accident, but we decided to just keep it in, as it was quite cool and a fun thing to do. We hope folk enjoy the cameo, including the author in question!
I’ll let Matt talk about the other guest appearance in Baggage…
Matt: Well, first I would like to say that I enjoyed writing a character that punched Zeb in the face on numerous occasions. If we are not directly naming names, let’s just say the inspiration for Zeb could be tied to someone that rhymes with Byron Sheen. Anyway, later in the book we come across an indestructible character named Steve, based on the man asking this question. I made Steve invincible because he has helped me get over so many speed bumps and hurdles with the endless road that is writing and has been there for me since day one. I couldn’t let him die.
Steve: How did you enjoy the collaborative process, sharing a world and giving up some of that creative control that comes with writing?
Matt: It was a blast! We did a couple Skype calls to gather our thoughts and I was amazed at how we both were on the same page for the majority of the book. When there was an impasse (which happened only once) it wasn’t a big deal that flattened a tire.
Simon: I agree with Matt, Baggage was so much fun to write. As for sharing, that worked really well. In fact, I definitely think it made the book.
Sarah: Would you work with each other again?
Simon: Absolutely! In fact, plans are already being hatched.
Matt: Of course! He still has my bloody dog!
Simon and Matt would like to thank Sarah and Steve for their time and questions.
No Dogs were kidnapped or harmed during the course of this interview.
KR: I wanted to add my thanks to Matt, Simon, Sarah & Steve. You can follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahJaneHunti1 and Steve SteveLC8349
Baggage
Matt Wilson is a demon hunter at the end of his rope.
Paloma, Zeb, and Alice are a trio of misfits working for a clandestine organization.
What starts as a chance meeting on a beach, will take them to the eerie town of Solitude, and into some of the deepest trouble they’ve ever been in. Together, they’ll find out that everyone’s got their demons.
Everyone’s got BAGGAGE.
You can buy Baggage from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Matt Wildasin
Matt Wildasin is the author of Melancholia, The Demon in the Glass, Edge of Twilight, Baggage, and the Horrors Untold series. When he’s not writing, Matt enjoys podcasting. Currently, he produces two podcasts: The Ghost Writers Podcast with, Mary Sangiovanni and Somer Canon, as well as Grindcast with his good friends, Will Bacon and Jason Thomas. Matt lives somewhere along the river in Hellam Township in York, Pennsylvania and is happily married to the love of his life, Jamie Wildasin.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @Matt_Wildasin
Simon Paul Wilson
Simon Paul Wilson is a U.K. based writer of horror and science fiction.
He is currently writing a cyberpunk horror trilogy, the first of which is GhostCityGirl and was published by Not A Pipe publishing in 2020.
Click this link for more info: Ghost City Girl
There now follows a list of writers who have influenced his reading tastes and writing style:
James Herbert. Stephen King, Shaun Hutson, Clive Barker, China Mieville, Haruki Murakami, Carlton Mellick III, Brian Keene, and Adam Nevill.
Simon lives somewhere in the middle of England with his wonderful family. He likes to listen to post-rock and progressive rock at loud volumes. He also plays a mean air bass.
Follow him on Twitter: @spwzen
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