The Y2K bug was a ticking time bomb that threatened to affect computer software and firmware and grind major industries to a halt. For Matthew Dunn, the Y2K bug had the opposite effect. In 1998, Dunn wrote an article about the Y2K bug for a business journal, and the writing bug bit him.Contributing editor Janice Gable Bashman chats with Matthew Dunn about his new thriller, The Tiananmen Square Effect. Dunn is the author of five other novels, including Erased, an IPPY award-winner.
Tell us about The Tiananmen Square Effect
Like all good thrillers, Tiananmen weaves a life-and-death plot using a handful of colorful, and seemingly unrelated, characters. Filled with twists and turns, murder and mayhem, the real fun is in watching the male characters - men who are used to getting what they want - pursue their own agendas while unwittingly assisting the central character, a beautiful, but revenge-obsessed, woman named Azar, to create an inspiring moment reminiscent of the diminutive Chinese man blocking the advance of a line of military tanks to prevent the potential slaughter of protesting students.
The majority of the story takes place in modern-day Iran. The Iranians are on the verge of nuclear capability, while the United States scrambles to prevent it. Racing against time to beat them both to the punch, Azar willingly places herself in the middle while praying that the whole world will take notice of her actions and react.
It is obvious the events that took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989 had an impact on you, particularly the Chinese man standing alone in front of a line of tanks. How has this affected you, and why did it inspire you to write this book?I've always been intrigued with what motivates people, what sparks their emotions - good and bad. My brother came back from the army years ago with a good saying, "Whatever melts your butter." It stuck with me and now, when I'm creating characters, I ask that question of each of them. What makes them tick? Taking that further, I'm also fascinated with life's triggers - the things that cause people to evolve. When I was a fraud investigator just out of college, I observed a veteran investigator interviewing witnesses and potential suspects (we didn't always know which was which, since they don't tend to wear identifying name tags) when a strange thing happened. One of the witnesses cracked, just like in the movies. After a dozen interviews, he finally spilled the beans about his uncle's scheme that had made them both rich. No, we hadn't opted for waterboarding or another CIA unofficially-approved method. We just kept asking the same questions, and I can only speculate why he suddenly caved in. Now I put all those and other speculations to good use in my novels. Tiananmen is a study in the different things that melt the butter.
Your characters confront important issues. In Day One, a young boy discovers the meaning of his existence; in Erased, Daniel Rayne battles to resurrect his life; and in The Tiananmen Square Effect, a woman is willing to risk all, including her life, to reveal the truth to the world. What do you hope to convey to your readers about these universal struggles?
Mainly, I try to make the characters real - characters readers can relate to. So, I put them in a challenging situation that isn't too James Bond-ish. I want the reader to truly believe the plot is not unbelievable. I want them to be thinking as they're reading: Could this maybe happen to me? The fun part for me, as a writer, is in developing a plot that is thrillingly entertaining yet not too far beyond reality.
Before novel writing, you worked as a fraud investigator and started your own accounting and software design business. What led you to write thrillers?
I used to entertain my college buddies with outlandish stories, always looking to stir a laugh or a conversation during our long and boring commutes to and from school. So, I guess you could say they've always been inside me. After twenty-five years in suit-and-tie and the big 5-0 looming on the horizon, I felt a little burned out and in need of something new and different. I had had an idea for a novel floating around in my head for years and one day I started writing it. Six novels later, my only regret is waiting so long to start.
Each author has his own writing process. Tell us about yours?
I start early every morning around seven or eight and type away until lunch time. I have a plot outline that I tweak as I go and a goal of 6,000 words per week. Once I start, I don't like to stop because I'll lose my train of thought. As an accountant, I have to keep financial information in strict order, and that mindset helps when I'm 15 chapters in and I've got five different plot threads going that I must pull together by page 300. As far as the plot, I usually have the big picture in my head when I start chapter one, along with the basics of the subplots. More in-depth development of characters and subplot details happen as I go.
You are the first self-published author ever inducted into the International Thriller Writers. That's quite an accomplishment. Why is membership in the ITW important to you and to your career as a writer?
In a word, credibility. And exposure. That's two words, isn't it?
What's next for Matthew Dunn?
I'm in the development stages of my seventh novel, a who-done-it with more of the humor readers enjoyed in my fifth novel, Erased.
Contributing editor, Janice Gable Bashman, writes for leading publications, including "Novel
& Short Story Writer's Market," "US Industry Today," "Food &
Drink Quarterly," "The Wild River Review," "Bucks," and others. Her
serial feature "Thrill Ride: The Dark World of Mysteries and Thrillers"
(co-written with Jonathan Maberry for the "Wild River Review") includes
interviews with Barry Eisler, Lawrence Block, Steve Hamilton, and other
thriller and mystery writers. She is working on a thriller,
"Vengeance," and her writing won multiple awards at the 2007
Philadelphia Writer's Conference.
