Please introduce yourself and tell us about your background as a writer.
Cheers! My name is Matthew Knight. I am a musician and writer hailing from southern Maryland. I am the singer, guitarist and songwriter of the heavy metal band Eternal Winter and the vocalist of Cauldron Born. Both bands feature extremely prominent sword and sorcery-themed lyrics and imagery. I am also the co-founder of the group Haunted Abbey Mythos which in recent years has produced a unique audio presentation of The Beast of Averoigne by Clark Ashton Smith.

As a child I had a strong creative streak and a knack for storytelling. I wrote stories and drew comics as far back as I can remember. In grade school, whenever I’d be assigned a writing task, I always excelled. It was the same with art and music. The creativity just flowed.

I began reading fantastic fiction at a young age, first through the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Being a Maryland icon, there was a big focus on him in our public schools at that time. His books were sold at the school book fair and I started collecting them early on. I can still remember reading The Black Cat for the first time during silent reading hour in English class and the profound effect it had on me. I’d never experienced that kind of strong, eerie sensation before and I loved it. I then got into high fantasy stuff like Tolkien and Dragonlance which were readily available at my school library. During this time I would also see Dungeons & Dragons displays and Frank Frazetta posters at the local video rental store. Those images captivated me, and along with what I’d been reading, lit a flame for the fantastic within me.

Although I loved reading, my main interest was heavy rock music. Much of my time was spent daydreaming about my imaginary band and drawing sketches of future album covers I would one day create. I soon persuaded my parents to buy me a guitar, and convinced my friends that it would be cool if they got instruments as well. So upon entering my teenage years, I began my lifelong journey as a metal musician. I played in various bands with school mates as a guitarist and singer. Not many kids were as serious as I wanted to be, and although I had some great times, I never felt satisfied on an artistic level. When I turned eighteen, I decided to start my own band in which I would be the leader. It would be 100% true heavy metal (not a watered-down version as my schoolmates were playing) and I would write lyrics based on fantasy themes.

Moving forward with this vision, I called the band Eternal Winter and began writing a dark fantasy saga in order to have material to sing about. This work was quite rough. The prose was shaky at best and it read like an old roleplaying game handbook. It sparked a lot of creativity though, and got me into world building, character development, etc. It was my first real attempt at crafting any kind of original fantasy, and served its purpose at the time.

One day I visited a used book store in my hometown. There on the shelf, I saw the covers of Michael Moorcock’s original Elric novels as well as Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane and Bran Mak Morn. I immediately bought them and was blown away. I had discovered sword and sorcery and realized that the type of fantasy I’d been reading up until then was kid’s stuff! I began devouring the works of all the classic pulp authors and early sword and sorcery masters I could get my hands on. These tales of blood and thunder were the kind of stories I wanted to be singing about. The pulp-style short story format was perfect to hammer out some quick yarns in which I could base song lyrics on as well. I decided to get more serious about writing and started coming up with short stories that could be read as standalone sword and sorcery tales without any connection to my band. This is how many of my early stories originated. As time went on, more and more were penned. I started submitting them to various magazines and anthologies. Several were purchased and over the years I’ve appeared in a handful of sword and sorcery collections. One of my latest published releases is the collaboration novella released by DMR Books called Karnov: Phantom-Clad Rider of the Cosmic Ice. It is based on a cosmic warrior who slays vampyres. I have since been writing up a storm and more of my work will be published this year through various avenues.

What are the most prominent influences on your writing? How do you incorporate those influences without being derivative?
My writing is very much influenced by music, art, film, dreams, spirituality, occultism, esoteric texts, history and the myths of various cultures. Nature, lunar cycles and the seasons of the year have a large impact on my creativity as well. This has especially been the case since I’ve taken to handwriting in pocket notebooks for the last couple of stories. I tend to come up with more ideas outside under a tree with a glass of wine rather than stuck behind a computer screen. As for direct literary influences, some of my favorite authors include Michael Moorcock, Clark Ashton Smith, C. L. Moore, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Poul Anderson and Michael Shea (I recently paid tribute to many of these authors on my latest Eternal Winter album Archaic Lore Enshrined: Songs of Savage Swords and Dark Mysticism). I’m also very fond of early weird/horror writers such as Poe, Machen, Bierce, Lovecraft and others.

I think that although we can be influenced by the authors we enjoy, every writer has their own unique voice that shines through regardless of what they read. It’s the same with music or any other form of art. I definitely learned a lot about writing by narrating Clark Ashton Smith in my Haunted Abbey Mythos project. When you recite out loud a masterful work like The Beast of Averoigne over and over, then spend hours editing the recording and composing music against it, you start to absorb it. The prose begins to invade your psyche, and soon new perspectives on how to construct sentences and creative descriptions start to develop from being immersed in the work. I’ve had the same experience when doing Poe and Smith on my Eternal Winter albums, and the 2nd Haunted Abbey Mythos record based on Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s work. That being said, I don’t think anyone would compare my writing any of those authors. But any time you dive deeply into a masterpiece of fiction, it has some kind of effect on your writing. The key is to take what you learn and infuse it with your own voice and spirit. I don’t think I could write exactly like anyone else if I tried.

With self-publishing easier than ever, there are tons of books being released every day. What makes your work stand out from the crowd? What can readers get out of your work that they can’t from anyone else?
I think that perhaps my background as a musical artist causes me to approach writing differently than most, and may lead to different results. Instead of considering the technicalities of writing, planning a tactical approach, and coming up with extensive outlines, I tend to just see a blank canvas. I take a moment to meditate on how I can fill it with vibrant color and striking visions in the most effective way, then dive in head-first. From a sonic perspective, this can be like staring at a piano and instead of seeing black and white keys, envisioning the full spectrum of the entire orchestra before you, then composing on impulse. The possibilities are endless. I guess what I’m getting at is that I feel the imagination is stimulated on a higher level when immersed artistically. I’m not saying that makes my approach or style is better than anyone else’s. It’s just different. I’m probably a bit less organized and more spontaneous than a lot of writers.

One thing I can say is that I’m not afraid to execute some pretty far-out ideas even if they seem out of the ordinary for a particular genre. I think I’m a pretty creative guy overall and people will be entertained by the wild ideas conjured in my mind. My stories tend to lean toward the heroic adventure side with a strong dose of the weird and supernatural. There’s usually a bit of humor thrown in, some dark magic, and gothic elements. I suppose none of that is anything new for sword and sorcery, but again—it’s about how you execute it. I like to create a cinematic “movie of the mind” sort of experience by adding a touch of drama, stimulating the different senses, and elaborating on vivid imagery. I do make an effort to come up with ideas that to me are new and original. I like to surprise the reader. Inventing creatures such as winged, vampyric elks or two-headed cosmic nuns who control moon wolves is a good way to get people’s attention!

Many authors say marketing is one of their biggest challenges. What tactics have you found to be most effective for getting your name out there?
I really don’t care for social media in any form and don’t find it to be a good place for marketing artistic works. I believe the best thing is continuous exposure by means of these modern pulp magazines and anthologies. I think that’s one of the best ways to get your stories into the hands of readers who will appreciate them and come back for more. Self-publishing is a good avenue as well and I may one day consider doing my own collection. This stuff is not mainstream by any means and today’s average Joe doesn’t spend his evenings reading weird fiction tales. That makes it difficult but I think it’s just a matter of perseverance and getting exposure to the right audience.

How much do your audience’s expectations factor in to what you write? Does this ever cause you to hold back from experimenting?
I don’t really think about people’s expectations. I mostly try to entertain myself first and foremost. This can sometimes lead to trouble. In my very early stories, I sometimes tried to incorporate humor in a way that didn’t always work. It was great fun to write but would occasionally give the story a modern feel which is not what you want in sword and sorcery. I’ve since recognized that error and learned how to handle that kind of thing correctly. But I think that sort of trial-and-error experimentation is how you grow as a writer. I suppose it’s good to be conscious about your audience from a marketing standpoint but I’d never recommend holding back from experimenting. It’s how we learn and find our own style. Furthermore; I think it’s important to explore uncharted terrain in any genre, and worrying about the approval of others will always hinder your creativity. If you’re not concerned about originality and are just trying to be successful by satisfying the masses then I suppose that’s fine. But then you’re just repeating what other people before you have already done and I think your audience will lose interest over time.

Have you had any new stories published recently? Are you currently working on any?
Yes, I recently finished a brand new Karnov adventure called “The Key to the Blood Pyramid.” It’s featured in the DMR Books anthology Die by the Sword. I also have a story called “The Mother of Hellspawn Cavern” that is slated to be printed in an upcoming edition of Tales from the Magician’s Skull. That one features Erodus, the barbarian hero from my Ævänah cycle. I just completed an action-packed, semi-historical sword and sorcery tale about a band of Templar knights who are in league with Baphomet. It is waiting in the wings along with a noir-style occult detective story I’ve had lingering around for some time. I hope to find homes for both of those in the near future. In addition, I have ideas ready for yet another new Karnov yarn and a fourth Erodus tale. I plan to finish those and get them out there as soon as possible.

Name one newer and one older book you have read and enjoyed recently. (“Newer” meaning from the past year or so, and “older” meaning written before 1980.)
I’ve read a couple. Two brand new books that I’ve recently enjoyed are XLZABK001 by Jon Zaremba and The Citadel of Forgotten Myths by Michael Moorcock.

XLZABK001 is an excellent mix of pulp genres ranging from sword and sorcery and supernatural horror to urban street-brawling crime and philosophical insights. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fresh outlook on action-packed speculative fiction told in a unique voice.

As for the new Moorcock book, what can I say? Elric returns! I thought the stories were very colorful and did justice to the original tales. The focus on Elric’s draconian ancestors was an especially cool touch.

Two older books I’ve gotten into recently are Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti and Jandar of Callisto by Lin Carter.

The Ligotti collection is filled with incredibly creative and thought-provoking cosmic horror tales that really get your mind working. I enjoyed doing an ongoing book-study discussion of it with my two good friends Howie K. Bentley and Jon Zaremba.

Lin Carter’s Jandar book was a fun, fast-paced sword and planet adventure. It reminded me a bit of Michael Moorcock’s City of the Beast and other John Carter influenced novellas I’ve read over the years. Despite the bad rap he gets, I’ve always enjoyed Lin Carter’s fiction. I thought he did a good job with the sword and planet format.

Any final words?
Thanks very much for your interest in me and my works. I appreciate all that DMR Books does. Let us raise our swords to the savage sky, shouting barbaric hails to the artistic mind and the creative spirit. Unleash the power of your imagination. Sword and sorcery is here to stay!