A warm Escape with a Writer welcome to author Matt Ferraz!!
Tell us about your life outside of writing.
I live in Contagem, an industrial town in Central Brazil, where I've
spent most of my life. Besides my books, I make an income by teaching writing
online in several online schools. I've also funded a project in Uganda, in
which I teach writing online for free to the Batwa tribe.
Do you have a work in progress?
Yes, I'm working on a book that takes place during the pandemic. My main
character is a once-famous Hollywood star who's cloistered in her house, unable
to go out and... well, you'll have to wait and see!
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?
My
novel Sawara: A jaguar's memoir was literally written in the
jungle! I spent two months in a writer's retreat in the Costa Rica cloud forest
and finished the book in two months. It was a great experience, but I wouldn't do
it again.
What sort of research do you do for your work?
When I submitted the manuscript of my cozy mystery Murder for Reel, the publisher asked me to make better use of the novel's setting: a small American town in the 1950s. So I decided to watch a lot of movies that took place in that era. I also did a lot of research about the slang and clothes people used at that time. Watching movies gives you a great visual basis for that kind of thing, more than books and newspaper articles ever could.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires you?
When I was nine years old, my teacher gave me a copy of Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. It was my point of no return. From there on, I knew I wanted to write that kind of book for a living. I'm such a geek that I even have a tattoo of Hercule Poirot on my right forearm! I'm also a big fan of Stephen King, Raymond Chandler, and Robert Louis Stevenson, to name a few.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
My mother always encouraged me. When I was eight, she gave me a
typewriter and would read everything I wrote. Once I wrote an incredibly
gruesome horror story, which almost made her faint. But that didn't keep her
from giving me useful critiques. She's an amazing person, and I could never do
this without her support.
Website: http://mattferraz.com/
MURDER FOR REEL (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LYP9XRW)
In the late 1950s, the Palladium Movie Theater was the most popular place in Emberview, Colorado. In her first night working as an usherette at the Palladium, young Katrina Stevens is excited to be starting her dream job. During the screening of a science-fiction film, her boss and owner of the theater, Don Keller, is found murdered in the projection booth. Don’s murder causes an uproar and soon the Palladium is facing closure. To support the theater, Katrina organizes a film festival to show old movies from reels that Don kept in storage. However, Don’s murderer has other plans, and unless Katrina can find out who the killer is, the Palladium––and Katrina herself––are in great danger.
When Grandma Bertha moved to her son’s place, she brought along three
dogs, several cases of beer and many, many horror film DVDs. While her
daughter-in-law insists on the idea of sending Grandma Bertha to a retirement
home, a dead girl appears near the house, shot three times in the back. Many
years ago, Grandma Bertha let a murderer escape for not trusting in her own
detective abilities. Now, armed with her wit and wisdom, she decides to solve
that crime before the police. Could this crazy dog lady be a threat to a
cold-blooded killer? And for how long can the family stand that situation?
