Downbeach provides young adults with a historical novel packed with color. It’s the coming-of-age story of Gibb, who moves through the late 1980s in Atlantic City with a finely tuned sense of savvy and purpose. This brings to light accompanying conundrums as he works within the constraints of his environment and its limitations.
Readers who choose Downbeach will likely be young adults, but the novel will appeal into new adult circles. It features considerations of realistic street culture and life challenges that introduce Gibb and his friends to adult confrontations that involve fighting, revenge, brutal disagreements, and revised realities about racial and social conflicts and influences.
Matt Overs not only brings this era and environment to life. He laces it with a powerful overlay of language “known to teenage boys all over the world.” This gives his story an evocative atmosphere that contrasts the interests and experiences of different generations.
An interview with Matt Overs
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
I’ve always been interested in the underworld, those people that operate outside of society’s normal margins. I’m a square, so I find it interesting, and I grew up in the orbit of those kind of people. The boxing world, and Atlantic City, had plenty of proper gangsters in the ranks.
My debut novel, Downbeach, is a young adult coming of age novel. It’s really my second book. I started a crime novel many years ago, but something was calling me to write this book instead. Now, I’m going back to my crime novel.
I’m just writing the stories I want to write, and that works for me. There are people who write as a business, they write what is selling, writing to market I think you call it.
If I had that mentality, I’d write a prequel and sequel to Downbeach. Maybe I will one day, but generally, that’s not for me. I have a passion to tell stories I create, not stories I think people will want to read.
I mean, I hope they want to read my books. I think I tell a good story. But hey, I know there are people making a lot of money writing to market. Good for them. To each their own is what I would say.
I put so much into my books that I don’t think I could write a book a month as some do. But for them, it makes sense. They have readers chomping at the bit for the next book. I’m more of a slow burn, I guess. My current novel in progress is a crime novel titled, Ducktown.
Do you keep a notebook of ideas?
I don’t necessarily keep a notebook, but I do jot down ideas, phrases, dialogue that pops into my head, or ideas for a story that I see on news, online somewhere.
Do you have a muse?
We have a long-running family joke that turns out to be true. I will always be chasing my cousin ‘James,’ who wrote what is widely considered to be the first Great American Novel.
My mother used to say we were related to the Fenimores, aka, James Fenimore Cooper of The Last of the Mohicans fame. We used to roll our eyes, like ok, sure mom. I used to buy his books, and, as a gag, I’d give them to my sister for Christmas, signed “Your cousin James.”
Turns out, with the advent of DNA, we are very distant cousins of some sort. When I researched it, I found that he was born in Burlington, New Jersey, which is where my grandfather and his family are from. DNA results show that my seventh great-grandfather’s sister was James Fenimore Cooper’s mother. My running joke now is, “James Fenimore Cooper was my seventh great-grandfathers favorite nephew.”
Are you more of a fan of plot-driven stories or character-driven stories?
Definitely more a fan of character-driven works. I get the whole twisty, didn’t see that coming stories, and I enjoy them too, but I like more noirish I guess you could say. Same with films. The blockbusters don’t do it for me, but a small, dark, independent or foreign film, that’s for me. Same with books. Off the beaten path.
Fill in the blank: “People will like your book if they like stories about…”
If you were or are a fan of The Outsiders, or Stand by Me, I think you would love Downbeach. It’s that kind of vibe, those kinds of kids, who are looking for adventure, a bit of danger, but also trying to find where they fit into the larger world.
It was a different time in the 80’s. Kids weren’t supervised closely; they were mostly on their own. Both parents worked, and they were out in the streets for hours on end with no phones. They just had their guile and imagination, which didn’t always lead to making the best decisions, but it does lend to great stories!
What are your thoughts on typewriters?
My mom made me take typing one year in the summer, mid 80’s, not sure why, but it was on an electric typewriter. I hated it, but years later, when I was serving in the US Navy and I needed to know how to type, it was a lifesaver.
I credit that class for allowing me to graduate #1 in my navy tech school class, which in turn allowed me to pick where I wanted to be stationed. I chose Spain and got to live there for three years. So, in a sense, a typewriter changed my life.
Had I not taken that class, who knows where the navy would’ve chose to send me. Being able to type makes writing a breeze for me. I used to write longhand. I still do occasionally, but I can type like a fool, which makes writing easy in that sense. I can type with my eyes closed.
There are guys I know who type with two fingers. We call them hunt and peckers. Like a woodpecker jabbing at a tree, they jab at the keyboard, lol.
Would you rather own a bookstore or run a library?
Bookstore. I think you’d have more freedom to customize, prob more stressful too, as you’d need business to stay open. In this day and age, it has to be terrifying.
How do you name your characters?
Some names just come to me; others may be a mashup of real names slightly changed. I hope to write a true crime book at some point, will be interesting what the legalities are of using real names versus having to change them.
What is your favorite website that you use to promote your writing?
I am a staff writer for BreakingAC.com. It’s the go-to news site for all things Atlantic City-related. I also have a newsletter sign up on the home page of my website. That has provided me with a nice base.
I’m in the process of setting up my social media world, X, Instagram, and TikTok. I have my personal Facebook but would like to set up an author page separately.
If Hollywood bought the rights to your book, would you want it to be turned into a movie or series?
This is a great question, I think for many years the answer would’ve been movie, but now with all the streaming platforms, I find most movies wanting, especially book adaptations. There are so many details to try and work into a two-hour movie.
Having the time in a series to set up the story and really get much more in-depth makes me think series would be the way to go. Both are difficult. I know all of our dreams as writers is to see our books on screen somewhere.
Hollywood, if you’re out there, I’m open for business haha! “Oh, forget what I said about series. You want to make Downbeach a movie, that’s fine with me.”
Who is your dream audiobook narrator?
Liev Schreiber. I didn’t know who he was until Ray Donovan, but I had heard his voice narrating HBO documentaries. He is incredible.
How many words or pages do you typically write in one writing session?
It ranges from zero to a couple thousand. I can either sit down and start blasting away at the keys or I can do absolutely nothing. I’m a pantser. I work two jobs, really three if you count my writing, so I only have very limited time, and I never know when that is going to be. Sometimes it’s in my car, or couch, very early or very late in the day.
Friends keep telling me to use voice recording on my phone when I’m driving, but I just can’t get into it. Having time to write, as in this is my only job, would be a dream, but I can also see that as being a nightmare. Wait, I must write every day. I hope to do that in retirement.
Do you have any writing rituals?
Maybe my ritual is not having one since I’m just all over the place. I’m so busy, I really don’t have time to sit down properly and have a routine. I do think about books constantly, my own and others. I enjoy trying to imagine dialogue or scenes, endings, etc.
When my daughter, my wife and I walk our dog at night, I’m always telling stories and imagining things about the houses and the people walking by. I’ve created a whole world of nicknames for people we’ve never met.
What are your passions/obsessions outside of writing?
I am a huge fight fan. I grew up in Atlantic City, going to the fights my whole life. I’ve watched every UFC since the first one in 1993. I watch it every Saturday, and I also watch FC Barcelona every week.
I rarely get to watch live; I tape them or watch them on demand, usually after work. I used to watch football, but with all the rule changes, I just fell out of love with it. It’s not the same game I watched/played growing up. I think that’s just a factor of getting older and only having so much time for leisure activities.
Have you made any public appearances to promote your book?
I have a book signing scheduled at Barnes & Noble in Moorestown, New Jersey and a few other bookstores in my area.
Who would you most want to read your book?
Stephen King.
Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of greatest/inspirational authors (choose four authors)?
Don DeLillo – A gangster of words. I read Underworld, and then I go hide from it. I know I can never write like that. He is not for everyone, I’ve tried to get people to read Underworld, but most give up. I get it. You really need, like, a year to read and process what he’s saying.
Andre Dubus III – Another great writer. Each one of his novels is so powerful. More meditations on life, I think. Plus, he was very kind to me when I emailed him about my book. Genuine good dude! I wrote him a rap/poem that he loved.
Stephen King – What is there to say? He’s so prolific and provided so many stories to kids like me when I was growing up. A master! And a pantser!
Bret Easton Ellis – I saw Less Than Zero by accident, didn’t know what it was about, but I knew it had to be based on a book, just a feeling I had. I think I was 14 or 15. I was hooked. His latest work, The Shards, is a six-hundred-page hummer of a book. I wrote him a rap/poem I hope to give him along with a copy my novel.
Is there a book that somebody gave to you that helped you pave the way to becoming a writer, or is there a book on writing that you recommend all writers read?
Stephen King’s On Writing. That book is not necessarily a guide on how to write but just his take on writing overall. Gave me a great outlook and renewed confidence, as I’m sure it did for many other ham and eggers out there.
Have you ever mentored another writer with their writing?
I’ve worked with some kids at the school where I work, encouraging them to write and not worry about quality. Just say what you want and learn from it.
But to tell you the truth, I don’t know anything about writing haha! I can conjure a story, but my editors are the ones who really pull the hard stuff out of me.
I become lost in the sea of words and can’t see the repetition, the false starts, dead ends, head hops, etc. These guys, Chris Stevens, and Gio Peters, they are ruthless, and I mean that in the best sense. They are very clinical.
If you watch the movie Genius about the editor Max Perkins (he discovered Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Wolfe), what he does to Thomas Wolfe is what they do for me. They slaughter my precious words but always make things tighter and better.
Chris Stevens has the best line comparing Fitzgerald and Wolfe,
Fitzgerald’s prose is like a flawless diamond, while Wolfe’s is like a prism.
I just know I have stories; I try to spit them out and let my editors take it from there. I’m not talented enough to play around like the MFA crowd. I’m an autodidact, self-taught. My daughter, she’s a proper scholar, she’ll be the first one to do something the right, or more traditional way. But it works for me.
I had to learn how to play the game on my own terms. My best advice would be to try and mimic the writers you like, read their opening paragraphs, then try and re-write. Eventually you will find your own voice.
Is there an idea that a non-writer has pitched to you that you have considered writing?
Too many to mention. I remember thinking about so many different ideas I’d jot down, then months later I look back and not even remembering the idea I might’ve had.
I also read from one of the greats, can’t remember who, that an idea is a dime a dozen. The hard part is sitting down and writing the story from A to B to C, beginning, middle, end. Most ideas are fleeting, but every once and awhile you grab one and go with it.
Do you ever use dreams as inspiration for your writing?
I’d like to, but I have trouble remembering them. So many good dreams I get excited about, and 10 minutes after I get up, I forget what it was.
Are you a big reader? Do you own a large collection of books, or are you more of a borrower?
Big reader. My wife hates it. Ha ha. She is a very orderly person, the kind who, once you read a book, you donate it. She wants me to use the library, not buy books.
I have a collection of Atlantic City novels. I try to buy every one I can find. I caught her once with a trash bag full of my books she was donating to charity. A crushing blow.
Have you ever gone away to work on a piece of writing? If not, where would you go if you could?
I like the idea of it. There is a writing camp at a university not far from me. It’s very affordable and accessible, and my editor has been encouraging me to go. But it terrifies me to share my work with other people while it’s in process. I fear I’m not worthy and I’ll look like a fool.
[I’m] Also scared to mess with my own process. I’m very insular with my writing. I don’t want to change, or if I do change, I want it to come from something I read or learned on my own. I’m just a flake that way, I guess.
What is an annoying thing that a non-writer has assumed about writers or the act of writing?
That it’s easy to write a book. I don’t think non writers give writers enough credit. To sit down and write a novel from start to finish and do it well is tremendously difficult.
What you see on the shelf took years to make, likely many years of hard work. The process alone, the doubt, the fear of not being good enough, etc.
People pick up a book, say, Harry Potter, for instance, and they say “I could’ve written that.” Sure pal. Sure you could have. You could’ve created that whole world in five minutes.
I know I am lucky. I am humble. I’m no Stephen King, but I am a novelist. We are just separated by a legion of talent and sales, lol.
How do you measure the success of your writing career?
Success for me is writing the book I want to write. Making it the best I possibly can. Finding a small publisher was like finding Random House. The rest I can’t/don’t worry about.
Sure, I’d like to be a best seller, but an author can’t control those things. My debut is dedicated to my daughter. That she will have that book when I’m gone, that’s success right there.
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