Author M. E. Patterson

M. E. Patterson spent his early years in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley of Virginia before finally heading south to Virginia Tech, where he majored in English with a focus on poetry and fiction writing, and a minor in Digital Design (because building web apps pays the bills better than writing).

From there, he moved on to the west, finally stopping in Central Texas, where he now lives with his wife and an easily-distracted, bright orange dog.




In addition to writing horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative fiction, Mr. Patterson is also an accomplished web software programmer and has been integral in the construction of a number of web applications, both high-profile and unknown, and has a frequently-trafficked blog devoted to the esoteric discussions of that programming field.

Visit his website at www.devils-hand.com

What is the current project you are working on?

With my first book, Devil’s Hand already available, I’ve begun the laborious process of tidying, tightening, and violently cursing at the draft of the sequel. I’ve also written half of the first draft of something completely different: a sci-fi novel set in the near-ish future that will be marketed to both adults and YAs.

What inspired you to become a writer?

I think two forces pushed me in the direction of being a writer. One was the excellence of my senior year English teacher in high school, who, for the first time in my school career, had me engaged with what it really meant to tell a story. The other force was my desire to simply write. I found, upon entering college as a Computer Engineer, that I *needed* to write. I switched to English for my degree and never looked back.

 What is the best thing about being a writer?

Having a certain degree of autonomy is really compelling to me; you only have yourself to impress when you're writing the draft. But most of all, I like building worlds and the characters that inhabit them. The feeling of bringing some unknown place to life and highlighting the people that live and operate there is hard to describe.

 What is the worst thing about being one?

Probably the other side of that same coin. You are your own boss when you’re writing. So if you procrastinate, no one yells at you or holds you to a schedule except you. Sometimes it’s helpful having external pressure.

What is the estimated number of projects you have worked on?

Not sure how to answer this one since I’ve done projects from books to short stories to web-based software systems to logo designs for small businesses. So if you lump ALL the “projects” I’ve done together, it’s probably in the hundreds.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to be come a writer?

Paraphrasing Joe Konrath here (becase I think he nailed it on his blog one day): Read a lot of brilliant stuff. Read a lot of shit. Write a ton. Keep trying and hope you get lucky. Luck goes to those who work really hard. When I tell someone I had my best sales day ever, and they say, “Wow, that was a lucky day, huh?” I usually smile and nod, but really I’m thinking, “I worked my ass off to convince those extra people to buy the book.” It feels like luck when it works. It feels like pointless tedium when it doesn’t. But you’re never gonna get the former without the latter.

What do you like to do besides writing?

I’m a HUGE film buff and spend altogether too much time and money at the Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin, TX. I also a read a ton (big, surprise, right?) Outside of that, I like building web software and gardening.

 Who is your favorite author?

So many to choose from. I think I’m most inspired by Neil Gaiman. From his beautiful stories in Sandman to his more recent works like American Gods and Anansi Boys, he has a magical quality that no one else can compete with. China Mieville is another huge favorite, as is William Gibson.

 What are some of your favorite books?

I think my two favorite books of all time would have to be Hyperion by Dan Simmons and the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman. Coming in close behind would be The Once and Future King by T. H. White, Harry Potter, Mieville’s The Scar, Gibson’s Neuromancer, and Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash.

Who is your favorite filmmaker?

Again, I enjoy quite a few different filmmakers and styles. And if you ask my favorite six months from now, I’ll probably give you a different answer. In no particular order, the filmmakers whose films I will pay to see without even looking at critics’ reviews:

Nakamura (not widely known in the US, but Fish Story and Golden Slumber are some of my very favorite films)

Jee-Woon Kim (directed The Good, the Bad, the Weird and I Saw the Devil)

Guillermo Del Toro

Quentin Tarantino

How would you describe your education?

Lots of writers have these great stories about getting kicked out of college, or bouncing around from school to school, or whatever. Mine is far less interesting. I  thought writing was dumb in middle school and high school, largely because I always got A’s without trying. I didn’t realize then that it was because I was actually pretty good at it, comparatively. I went to college as a Computer Engineer because I liked computers and wanted to get into this whole internet thing. Then I realized I didn’t like being an engineer, so I switched to English, got a degree in Fiction Writing/Poetry, and then proceeded to make a living during the day building the same software I would have been building had I gotten the engineering degree.

What are some of your favorite American films? Foreign films? Television shows?

I would be failing if I omitted the original Star Wars  trilogy. I also loved Hellboy 1 and 2, the Kill Bill movies, Up, and the Lord of the Rings trilogoy. Some of my favorites of all time are foreign films, including Fish Story, Golden Slumber, Breathless, The Good the Bad the Weird, and The Chaser. I don’t watch a ton of television, but I have a soft spot for The Venture Brothers, Ugly Americans, Archer, Modern Family, and Castle. And of course Firefly, the best show that was never given a chance to succeed.

 How would you describe the writing "scene" where you live?

It’s better to describe the ‘creative’ scene here. Austin, Texas is a hotbed of creativity, from filmmakers (indie and mainstream), to musicians of every stripe, to writers, from comic creators to novelists to bloggers and article writers. It’s inspiring to feel like I’m a part of all that, and I love being in a city that really embraces it.

 How has social media changed the publishing?

I think by now it’s become clear to most folks that social media is the new place to advertise fiction, at the very least. Sure, if you’re one of the top 25 known writers on the planet, you can still get a lot out of side-of-bus ads, book tours, billboards, whatever. But for the rest of us, the audience is waiting in the social media world and it’s just a matter of figuring out how to reach them with your product.

What is your thought process like when you're writing?

I’m more of a “let’s see where this goes” kind of writer. Everything I’ve ever written ended up very differently from what I’d expected when I started. Characters that I’m sure are going to stick around through the trilogy suddenly die halfway through; characters I don’t even like turn out to be so compelling that I rewrite them and they become my favorites. So while I sit down with some notes and rough outlines, I don’t so much follow them as use them as touchstones.

 You could have any super power. What would it be?

Teleportation. No question. If I could just step through thin air and show up wherever I wanted to be right now, my life would be nearly complete.

If you could have any first addition book. Which would it be and why?

I’m not really that into collecting artifacts in that way. To me, the story is more important than the physical object. <shrug>

What's your favorite quote and why?

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” -- Douglas Adams

Adams had a way of distilling great truths into these simple, funny little quotes. I think that one, in particular, captures both my writing process and the way my life tends to go.

 What is your opinion on movie remakes and sequels?

I have no problem with movie remakes and sequels, though it bothers me that many studios seem to be using them as excuses to not otherwise fund riskier scripts by new writers or with untested stories. Sure, it’s easy to remake Spider-Man again, and it may be a blast, but someone out there has written a bad-ass superhero screenplay about an original character that would be different and new. Sure, maybe wouldn’t sell as much, but it could create a new franchise and end up being huge. Nobody makes franchise-starting movies anymore unless they’re already tied to a property like a successful comic. Those are fun, but I think we’re missing a lot of opportunities for something new.

What is your opinion on book to movie adaptions?

Books can make great movies. And they can make absolutely awful movies. And it’s hard to predict which will be which. The best screenwriters and directors know that they should be using the book as a guidepost to a great screenplay. The worst try to match the book scene-for-scene and usually end up with a boring, muddy mess.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Nope. :)