Katrina Thornley

I was lucky enough to meet many talented writers at the Dark Reads event at Rhode Island College, hosted by Horror Depot, in early March. While there, I got to know a few authors and listened to panel discussions, I even participated in one! I look forward to next year’s event and speaking with more talented writers that are passionate about their genre (and life in general).

One of the authors that I chatted with was Matt Forgit. He is author of How to be a Professional Mourner, The Felicitous, and You Better Watch Out: A Christmas Comedy. (He also happens to be extremely funny).

Last week, I shared the first part of our chat where we talked about horror and Forgit’s love for the final girl trope. Today, we take a deep dive into writing and get to know him a little bit better.

Like many of us, Forgit isn’t able to support himself full time as a writer. (We’re expensive, okay!). His day job is teaching but he hopes to be able to fully depend on his passion of writing someday. Between working full time and also working on his dreams, Forgit doesn’t have a strict writing schedule. He tries “to balance writing with work, life, responsibilities, friends, family, etc.” He does try to write at least “a little something” every day and writes better at night when the day’s requirements are over.

Forgit’s favorite space to write is at his desk which is surrounded by photographs of people and movies that inspire him.

Forgit has always had a love for literature and writing. His friends and family encourage his writing and even though they may not be fans of the “scary”, they still support him in his endeavor. Forgit is thankful for the community he has and loves to be able to participate in indie author events across New England. When asked about his favorite event so far, Forgit said, “I can genuinely say I’ve loved them all so far. Joshua at Horror Depot and Dave and Brandin at PVD Horror have been incredibly kind and welcoming to me, and I’ve had a blast and met awesome people every time.”

When asked where he gets his inspiration for his stories and if writing has always been his dream, Forgit said “I have been a huge reader ever since I was a kid and I always wanted to write! I think it was a matter of time and building my self-confidence. I’m constantly inspired by my love of horror, as well as books, movies, television shows, music, friends, family, and observations about the world.” (Forgit fondly remembers reading Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Glowing Eye when he was eight and falling in love with literature and the trope of the strong female lead that he now sees in his favorite horror movies).

During our chat, I picked Forgit’s brain about how he plans his novels. Unlike myself, Forgit described himself as “a prolific outliner and note-taker.” He explained that “writing my books is like Tetris–I have to make all the pieces fit. I like to have scenes and storylines planned out so I can leave clues and build the story. It’s not a perfect science, but I prefer to have a general direction and idea of where everything is going and needs to go.”

Throughout his three publications, Forgit has an array of interesting characters including Annie Porter in The Felicituos who happens to be the proud owner of a ghost town. When I asked Forgit who his favorite character to date was, it was a tough decision that he couldn’t make! “Maybe it’s strange, but I love them all, even the evil ones. All of my characters are amalgamations of people I know and love, or tributes to horror characters past that mean something to me, or imaginary friends I created to keep me company.”

Thank you for sticking with Matt & I through our interview. Take a break and read some of Matt’s work including How to be a Professional Mourner, which according to him is his “best book” yet. 

Matt Forgit lives and writes in New England. His interests include spending time with friends and family, movies, television shows, music, reading, final girls, creepy folklore, urban legends, spooky history, abandoned places, castles, islands, and cabins in the woods. He is terrible with social media, dreams of owning a haunted bed and breakfast atop a cliffside overlooking the sea (don’t we all?), hopes that someday Chopping Mall: The Musical becomes a reality, and doesn’t normally talk about himself in the third person. For updates, random thoughts, horror recommendations, and general nonsense, please like and follow the Matt Forgit Author page on Facebook.