One of the most rewarding aspects of this whole writing lark is the chance to connect with other authors and find out a bit more about them. Today Buckmaster Books is talking to SL Matthews, author of Nickel’s Luck, “An excellent book that is not only a good yarn but a great example of what a skilled author can do with the English language” <to quote myself!>. I had a piece of Nickel’s Luck finding this book, as it is outside my usual reading sphere. An author help-page on FB (the wonderful Melinda Martin) ran a thread asking authors to share their web-sites. I had a browse and was hooked in by Shayna’s online presence. Go and check it out to see why!
I won’t repeat all it says in Shayna’s bio here, but suffice to say, it is rather fascinating! Researching history, weaving on looms, making period rifles, dressing as they did in the Old West and the Victorian era, and appreciating the beauty of Tennessee, to name but a few.
As always, I shall shut up quickly and let you all hear as much as possible about Shayna and her work.
Top of the morning to you, Shayna. How are you doing over there in Tennessee? Is the weather treating you kindly?
Hi there! I’m doing well, the weather is in the mid to high 80’s, which has been perfect for summer outings here in the beautiful state of Tennessee. Just last night we had a picnic on a bluff overlooking the setting sun over blue-ridged mountains. It just couldn’t be prettier here. <Nice! Here’s hoping the world can get back to simple stuff like picnics!>
I consider myself lucky to have come across your novel , Nickel’s Luck. Can you tell us a bit about what kind of novel it is, without giving away too much?
Thank you so much, Peter! Nickel’s Luck is many things. Above all, I call it an epic journey. The book transports you to a place on the Texas coastline called Indianola, in 1870, through 1875. The story is a coming of age action/adventure, about a boy who has grown up in a world of sailors and their superstitions, of fishermen and poverty. He dreams of a different life, one similar to his Pony Express dime novel hero, but his hardships and rough family life intervene. The ocean, (a character in her own right), called the “Mistress” by Ryder, seems to know just how to reach him. The story of the town itself, Indianola, is entirely true. I put years of research into the tiniest details, down to the name of the bakery the boys run past in one scene. I acquired original 1875 newspapers, and they have been a fascinating, and heartbreaking, wealth of information. Writing Nickel’s Luck took me four years due to the attention to detail, and I wouldn’t trade that time for anything. It has been an eye-opening journey.
Judging by your website, you plunge deeply into your research. Did you meticulously plan the actual story from start to finish, or did it grow as you wrote?
The character “Ryder” started out as “ranch-hand number 3” in a different novel. But, strange as it is to say, I could not rein him in. That character wanted to run rough-shod all over my pages, his personality was so big, so I began forming his story, until I became borderline obsessed with the story of Indianola, and how young Ryder’s life paralleled the historic port town. It was written, to my editor’s shock and awe, completely without a plotline, and merely a notebook full of fascinating historical facts and trivia for me to remember to work in if the storyline lent room for it. So yes, it grew seemingly on its own, controlled by an ever-grinning mischievous 19th century adolescent named Ryder. He took me on quite a ride, as he will the readers of Nickel’s Luck.
I can appreciate how the character of Ryder could not be tamed, so to speak. Even the awesome power of nature couldn’t bring him down! Along with Ryder, I’m really hoping to read more about some of the amazing characters in Nickel’s Luck. What can you tell us about current and future projects?
Oh absolutely! I am as in love with these characters as my readers are. Nickel’s Luck is actually going to be part of a stand-alone saga — the “Moral Saga.” Currently, I am working on three or four novels for this line, following some of the favorite characters from Nickel’s Luck. They are all set between 1860-1880s, starting with one called “A Song of Silence” which begins in the mountain region of Tennessee, and follows two incredible characters as boys, on two very different journeys up through the Civil War. Another in the works is “Mustang Grey,” which is self-explanatory for fans of the award-winning Nickel’s Luck. Two others are in the works, as well. While there is a definite timeline, most of the books can be read in any order, or as a stand-alone. They are all epic stories, and require a great deal of research. In other words, I am not a fast writer, but they will be well worth the wait, and readers will get to deepen their relationship with these characters throughout the saga.
Is there anything particular or unusual you are doing to research The Moral Saga and Mustang Grey?
Oh, I thought the research for Nickel’s Luck was massive, but my WIP, “A Song of Silence” has it beat. The research is overwhelming right now, for I am learning about 1860s Southern Appalachia and folklore, medicinal treatments using native plants, music of the mountains, specifically fiddles and how to repair them. Then there is the Civil War, or as the South calls it, the War Between the States. Prison camps, train routes, road blockades, you name it, I probably have a hundred bookmarks marking pages about it, all for one book. My research library is continually growing, and some of the information I need is either impossible to find, or contradicts itself depending upon which side of the war the original sources (such as soldier’s journal entries) fought for. However, it is worth the hassle to learn everything I can about these topics, for the end result is a novel people can trust to educate as well as entertain.
Last year was a tough year for the world and we’re still struggling. What has helped you or kept you hopeful?
Last year was brutal for so many folks. I had a hard time of it, and allowed myself to get a bit too caught up in those struggles. Some writers took advantage of staying at home to knock out books. That is what I wish I had done, but I let family loss, grief, and stress get in the way. Honestly, I’m still struggling, as you said, but the ideas don’t stop coming to me. When unrecorded for too long, the characters can get quite loud in my head, so they push me forward to keep writing, as does my husband, who is my greatest support system.
Let us all raise a glass to partners, family and friends who help us get these books out there! We’d be lost without them.
You live in SPARTA! <sorry, I couldn’t resist that; had no idea there was a town called Sparta in the US!>. Can you tell us something famous from your state, something delicious and a bit of local dialect?
Hahahaha oh my, I am SO GLAD you asked this question! SPARTA! – (Tennessee) is a small town gem. I am not a native of this region, but my husband is. His ancestors have lived here for hundreds of years. Sparta definitely has their own dialect, but nothing as unusual as a one-word phrase. They use the word Yert. You heard me, YERT. Y-e-r-t. Since I was not born and raised here, the meaning had to be explained to me, and I’m still foggy on the definition. Best I can figure, it is an explanation, a greeting, and an exclamation all rolled into one. Pass someone you know on the street? “Yert!” It is on Sparta T-shirts, found painted on windows, and generally spoken on the streets. I have heard it used as a word that means everything, and nothing at the same time. I have tried digging for the origin of “Yert” – but no one seems to know where it came from. I’ll keep digging!
Sparta is also home to the famed Lester Flatt, of Flatt & Scruggs, (Bluegrass music fans will know those names). Our little downtown holds music festivals, car-shows, and green markets three seasons of the year. As far as delicious? Fried Catfish and hushpuppies are a big thing in this area. (Hushpuppies are deep-fried cornbread-type balls made with chopped onion). Another regional favorite is RC Cola and Moonpies. In fact, we just returned from a festival honoring the delicious snacks. If you’ve never heard of a Moonpie, look them up! They’re little flat cake-like sandwiches with marshmallow & graham crackers dipped in chocolate.
Okay, back to the interview. My mind was suddenly lost in a maelstrom of strange greetings and delicious foods. The dialogue in Nickel’s Luck is incredibly atmospheric, really bringing the reader in with the characters. Forgive my ignorance, but how similar/different is this to how people speak in your neck of the woods?
Dialogue can be a tricky thing to perfect, especially if you do not live in the region where the dialect is spoken. Luckily, Tennessee and Texas, while different, have many similarities in tone, sound and speech. Bannack, one of the lead characters, is originally from the mountains of Tennessee, and as I am working on several other novels with him, I have years under my belt perfecting his speech and mannerisms. It was easy enough to carry that over to the Texas ranchers and wranglers, altering the speech of each man to form his own personal language. Marbles, I had trouble with. He’s an important character, but he carries a permanent stutter which worsens when he’s around women. Some advised me against writing the stutter outright, but I owe it to both my characters and my readers to write realism in its truest form. Glossing over a character’s flaws is not in my nature. In fact, Marbles carries more than a little of my own verbal awkwardness in speech, so I relate with him well. I taught myself how to write the stutter so it becomes a part of him, rather than a strike against him.
This is a tricky aspect to dialogue, I agree. If it’s done carelessly, it can seem like a cheap or unkind way to make a character different. If it’s done well, though, as I believe you did with Marbles, it brings a great deal of depth to that character. Empathy, rather than sympathy. Are any of the characters inspired by people you know or have lived?
This is an excellent question. The answer is a resounding yes, and at the same time, no. I think many writers, whether unconsciously or not, write bits of people around them into various characters. The Nickel’s Luck “cast” is no exception, with bits of many people I love making up various aspects of a personality. “Bannack,” the stoic cowboy, was written largely after a friend of ours. It was not until years after I had perfected Bannack that I realized the character was the spitting image of our friend. He is indeed a living, breathing cowboy, owning a Dry Goods store here in Tennessee. He was gracious enough to put up with me for many photo-shoots, and is the face of the man you see on the new Nickel’s Luck cover now. Another real-life friend who has shown up in part, is Old Joly the sea captain. There are many other friends who make cameos, though never in entirety. I think of a person, choose a quirk, interest, or characteristic or two and enlarge it, creating a life-like individual who veritably leaps off the pages.
I see on your website that you literally live and breathe the world your characters live in. What is the appeal of this era for you?
I grew up in living history reenactments, which I discuss in the question below, and that lifestyle shaped my love for history. My obsession for the 19th Century/ Victorian Era in the American West, however, that I blame on my father, and my grandfather. The former watched all the cowboy movies with me; I loved the fast horses, the scenery of the western landscape, the raw grit stories of surviving the odds. The latter began feeding me Zane Grey novels early on, and I fell in love with the literary west. Now, I search to write the stories largely untold. True stories, like the town of Indianola, Texas in Nickel’s Luck.
Is there any other era of American history or world history that fascinates you?
My interests lie with the Victorian Era and before, back to the Colonials. Before concentrating on the Old West and the Victorian Era, I had grown up reenacting living history of the French & Indian and Revolutionary War time period. My parents and I would dress in authentic handmade colonial clothing, and camp in fields with hundreds, up to thousands of fellow reenactors for a weekend on up to a ten-day event. We cooked our meals over a campfire, slept in canvas tents, wore the clothes, worked, traded and sold wares just like a real 18th Century town or market. We camped in weather so frigid we had to chip ice out of the water buckets, and in weather so scorching, wearing layer upon layer of long, heavy clothing, folks would pass out from heat exhaustion. We were sticklers for authenticity, and no matter how hot, cold, rainy, or windy, we weathered the best and the worst together as a family. This is where my written characters breathe life, for I have lived the eras I write. I froze with them, and fell ill to heat exhaustion, feared torrential storms. I drove a team of mules as a girl, forged rivers, rode in canoes, scorched my heels around a hot fire, and lived through many a frontier adventure in my childhood. The folks I met became family, thicker than blood, a brotherhood which we carry to this day. It is to this reenacting where my obsession for the story was born, and my friends and our memories live on in the words I write.
I have to admit, I’m somewhat in awe. I camped out in cold fields on training exercises with the ATC, but have never faced such extreme conditions.
And finally, in Japan, when people leave the office, they say “O-saki ni shitsurei shimasu!”, which literally translates as “I am being rude to leave before you.” And your colleagues will respond, “Otsukare sama deshita!”, which is something like, “You must be tired!” What would be the equivalent exchange in Nickel’s world? I imagine it would be fairly short & sweet!
Now that’s interesting! I love that. How would Nickel say goodbye in his world? We must remember, it was a different era, and Nickel grew up in a world of sailors and fishermen who believed their health, wealth, and livelihoods depended upon superstitions. With this said, to say “goodbye” was considered bad form, for it might cast the departing person away permanently, or bring them bad luck. In that vein, a woman could not wave goodbye to her husband if he was leaving for a ship, and to say “good luck” was sure to bring about bad luck. The only way to alter the curse of being wished “good luck” was to draw blood. The easiest method of that? A punch in the nose. Therefore, Nickel and his best friend Les adapted the belief that goodbyes were generally not said at all. They would probably adapt a crude method of slinging insults softened with a broad grin and a laugh. Better than a punch in the nose!
There’s something in this, a warming sentiment. Better to say “Till next time!”, or “Till we meet again.”, than Goodbye or Farewell.
Okay, onto the fun questions I ask all authors!
Q1) What book are you reading now? OR What was the last book you read?
Right now I am reading a borrowed book lent from my husband’s grandmother. It’s an antique, rare book called The Uneven Yoke. I only began the first chapter so far, but it’s about three real frontier families who left North Carolina to settle in the wilderness that is now our little county here in Tennessee. Quite an interesting read, lending both fiction and true-to-life history of local settlers. I’m anxious to finish it, so I may return it and quit sweating over something happening to such a hard to find book, lol.
Q2) What genre of books do you usually read?
Honestly, what I read most of lately, is research books on various topics while I write on my historical sagas. Writing the epic scope of American history stories as I do, I have to read and thoroughly understand so many aspects of the American Civil War, Prison Camps, Medicine and Folklore, on up through the Victorian Era, as well as ranch life, cowboy code, and Southern Appalachia. When I can, I love to read other works of historical fiction, or a good old-fashioned mystery.
Q3) What was the last book that made you cry or laugh out loud or gave you pause for thought?
Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier. I believe at one point in the novel, I quite literally threw the book across the room in between sobs, and could not console myself for a week. The ability to make a reader respond with that much emotion is the earmark of a great writer, right there.
Q4) What book do you remember fondly from your childhood?
Oooh, that’s a tough one, because I read all the time growing up. I think, for me, there are two or three that stand out.
Riders of the Purple Sage, Zane Grey. My grandfather and I swapped his collection back and forth, but Riders is the one he started me with, and that’s the book that did it for me. I wanted to be a writer ever since.
Summer of the Monkeys, by Wilson Rawls. I remember reading this aloud with my parents, and I’ve read it many times since. It’s a heartwarming, sometimes hysterical, sometimes heartbreaking story set in the Ozark Mountains, and I think everyone should read it once, regardless of their age.
Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry. It is through many re-readings of “Lonesome” that I learned the art of writing with heavy character development through the details, and I adore that novel. It changed my life.
Q5) Apart from reading, what hobbies do you have?
I am a woman of many hats, so to speak. I have been busy putting in perennial flower beds, as I learned a love of gardening from my grandparents. I am a textile weaver, mainly straps and sashes for historical reenactors. I actually wove straps and belts for over twenty-five years as a full time job, having learned when I was thirteen. My work landed in museums, movies, and television documentaries, but it’s merely a sporadic hobby now. The stories & characters in my head would not stop harassing me, and so it was easier to switch jobs when I came down with tendonitis in my wrists from constant weaving. I also love to explore new areas/towns/backroads with my husband and son, and we enjoy antiquing, searching for the perfect treasure to inspire tiny details within my writing. I like to needle-felt with wool, particularly in the winter months, and I love to play with photography year-round..
You’re a busy lady!
Q6) Where is your favourite place to read? (Ex. In bed, on the sofa, in a park, in a coffee shop etc.)
My ideal place is to read among a nest of pillows in a hammock, in the garden, but this method prompts snoozing as much as it does reading, lol. Typically I read in bed at night to relax after a long day. I can’t concentrate on reading or writing in a busy coffee-shop, though I admire those who can!
Q7) What book would you like to see made into a TV show and who would you like to play the lead character?
Well, it seems many of my favorite novels have already become movies or tv shows. Lonesome Dove, Open Range, Water for Elephants, Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans, Riders of the Purple Sage. All great movies! Actually, I would like to see a new remake of Summer of the Monkeys, or something done with the L’amour classic novel, Lonesome Gods. I have been told repeatedly by readers that Nickel’s Luck needs to be a movie in its own right, and I quite agree, though I cannot imagine who might play Ryder Wheeler. In my mind I’m seeing someone like the young River Pheonix in Stand By Me. And I love The Last of the Mohicans!
!!!STOP THE PRESS!!! Shayna has just told me the following: “Since you too love Last of the Mohicans — something else you might find interesting? My father was a blacksmith before his back went out, and he actually hand-forged the tomahawks you see in the movie. I was his assistant in the forge as a girl, so it’s always a thrill to watch the movie and spot your own handiwork on the big screen! As well, one of our reenacting friends is a master Gunsmith, and built the longrifles for Daniel-Day-Lewis, and a few others. It was pretty interesting to be involved, even in such a minute scale.” <I need to re-watch!>
Q8) If you could meet a fictional character in real life, who would it be and why?
This is tough. There are plenty of American heroes in real life I would have loved to meet, if we could travel back in time. Annie Oakley would top that list. But fictional characters? Gus McCrae, Lorena, and Newt, from Lonesome Dove. That novel shaped my life as a writer, and taught me the ability to pay attention to character detailing, even with a rich catalog of characters. And of course, in a perfect world, I would love to come face to face with my own characters; Nickel, Les, Marbles, Bannack. The latter I already feel I know, as he has been brought to life by a friend who steps in to model for book covers and social media.
Q9) What literary world would you like to experience/live in?
I feel I’m already living the literary world I want to be in. I research and write the world I call “Moral” consisting of numerous novels and stories every day, I step into the clothes as often as I can, and once in a while, I get to visit a place reminiscent of their life. I don’t need to imagine it–I’m already there, in the 19th Century. What makes writing novels so magical is the ability to share these worlds with others who share the love of the written story. Books are truly a window into a writer’s soul; for they write their entire world between the cover pages. Amen to that!
Q10) If you could say something to the entire world today, what would it be?
I think young Nickel is far more eloquent with his rustic charm, so if I may channel him for a moment, I believe he would say: “Life’s a hard ride. You’ll lose folks along the way. Reckon you might fall off your own path, but that don’t mean you belly-up and quit. You want somethin’? Dig in your spurs, and go get it. Forge your own road, ain’t nobody else gonna do it for you. Smile, even if it hurts. You see, you gotta live life hard, for all the ones who can’t.”
This is true. We need to keep going, making new memories whilst keeping the memory of those we’ve lost, deep in our hearts.
Buckmaster Books thanks Shayna Matthews very much for a wonderfully full and fascinating interview. I really recommend Nickel’s Luck to anyone who likes reading. I’m a fantasy/crime/horror kinda guy usually, but this coming-of-age journey in 19th century Texas was a delight! Step outside your comfort zones, people! There are so many marvelous works out there.
Shayna is active on Instagram so head over for more!
https://www.instagram.com/slmatthewsauthor/
A Facebook post will be up soon with details for the usual giveaway. So be sure to stay tuned!
Please stay safe, one and all! Summer is heating up here, so time to drink lots of water and stay cool! <cue clicking fingers from West Side Story!>
And another scene from Tennessee, this shot from Shayna Matthews herself.
Ragnekai Dad 
What an awesome interview! S. L. Matthews is one of my all-time favorite novelists and human beings. She is so real and down-to-earth and talented.
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