Bestselling author Matt Hartle chatted about his book “‘Of Courage And Sacrifice: Bot Trilogy.”
Matt Hartle is a writer, director, designer, and VFX artist. He lives in northern Montana with his wife, two children, and a colossal Newfoundland dog, Nana. He has worked in theatrical advertising and visual effects for several decades, at first in Los Angeles and later remotely from Montana.
As a partner in a thriving visual effects company, he spends his days helping others to realize their dreams, but at night (or very early in the morning), he works to manifest his own. He has been fortunate to contribute to several of the Harry Potter films, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the Lionsgate logo, to name a few.
In Montana, he and his family ski, bike, swim, camp, hike–anything to be out of doors in the beautiful place they live. They also enjoy traveling, meeting new people, and seeing new places–their favorite so far being Venice, Italy.
Matt has written a number screenplays and directed several short films, including the award-winning short, Agent. “Of Courage and Sacrifice” is Matt’s debut novel and the first in a planned trilogy.
Book description
The world is a deeply troubled place—years of crippling unemployment, a collapsed economy, and rampant crime have left people feeling desperate, but Adam Wesley and his friends don’t care about that.
They’ve finished classes for the final time and are looking forward to a carefree summer of parties, camping, and enjoying their first authentic tastes of freedom after high school. Fate has another plan for them.
On their inaugural outing of the summer, the friends encounter a reconnaissance robot, or ‘bot’ as they are known—with disastrous results. One of the friends is grievously wounded in the exchange, kicking off a race against time to get help before it’s too late.
When the friends finally make it back to the city, they find the streets are overrun with bots; martial law is in effect. People are being loaded onto buses and taken to transition camps. Anyone caught in the open is pacified and detained; not all will survive. Adam and his friends go underground, taking up with Skip, a brilliant but eccentric hacker.
Skip has built a tech hideout called The Nest—a faraday cage suspended in the maintenance tunnels beneath the city. Using antiquated technology—dial-up modems and BBSs—the friends, begin to organize.
Together, they will fight desperately to survive, unintentionally planting the seeds of a resistance that will become more important than any of them can imagine.
Fans of the “Hunger Games” series by Suzanne Collins and “Robopocalypse” by Daniel H. Wilson will certainly enjoy “Of Courage and Sacrifice.”
Q & A interview
Recently ‘Of Courage And Sacrifice: Bot Trilogy Book One’ hit the bestseller list what was that like for you on a personal and professional level?
To have the book achieve this success and then read the reviews is affirmation beyond words. Writing is a very solitary process; gauging how things might stack up is hard—especial on your first book. Those nearest and dearest are always kind and supportive—which is essential to carrying on—but unassociated, positive feedback means so much.
You are gifted when it comes to creating fascinating characters that draw readers in, what is one of your keys to developing your rather epic characters? Also, I know this is probably a hard question to answer but do you have a favorite character in this book?
Thank you. Characters are the heart and soul of any story. I usually start with outlines to get to know the characters before I try to write them. When characters have a backstory, their motivations, choices, and speech patterns make much more sense.
Also, when doing character outlines, I often write things I know will not make it into the story, but it gives me their history, like the foundation for a house buried beneath the dirt. I also work hard to ‘earn’ the believability of the characters and stories they tell by laying a plausible groundwork.
Finally, I try to focus on the flaws as much as the strengths. Characters’ peculiarities make them interesting and relatable—they can also provide that unforeseen redirect that keeps the reader engaged.
Not to play favorites, but I think the character I most admire is Amira. I greatly respect someone who can self-evaluate and realize they need a course correction.
We can all be better versions of ourselves; it takes real strength of character to pull that off. Also, a character that’s actively working to be better is a person we can all root for.
An interesting side note—Amira was not a character I originally had planned for this story, but she became one of the central players. She’s an example of what I love most about writing—discovering the unexpected and following along as things grow.
Clearly, Bots play a pivotal role in ‘Of Courage And Sacrifice,’ what is it that you find intriguing about them?
I love technology, exploring how it might develop, and thinking of ways people may choose to use it. The bots represent what might be the inevitable next step in soldiering and policing.
Autonomous soldiers without emotion or empathy are terrifying, and coupling that with collective, hive-like artificial intelligence running the show is a true nightmare.
Also, I like the David and Goliath paradigm created by having these near-invincible super-soldiers our heroes have to contend with. However, they are based on technology, and all tech fails eventually–if you can survive long enough to see it happen.
You have worked on over 100 A-list films, including “Harry Potter.” How was working on your book, and achieving so much success with it different from working on these projects?
When you work on film projects, you’re part of a team. Creative direction comes from many sources, and you almost always work under someone else’s guidance. This is a terrific exercise—coming up with something cool and impactful that satisfies the direction is a true testament to the artist. Also, you benefit significantly from working with others and learning from them.
As I’ve mentioned, writing is a solo thing, for me at least. All you have is what you bring to it—there isn’t any software or plug-ins to help.
It’s just you and that blinking cursor, which is simultaneously terrifying and incredibly freeing—there are literally no limits on what you can write. I’ve written several scripts and directed short films. In those instances, one of the main guiding factors is what you can actually pull off.
You are constantly limited by budget, setting, equipment, and access to talent— not to say you can’t make something worthwhile, but you spend as much time-solving problems as you do being creative—probably more—its own kind of blissful agony.
Writing a novel isn’t like that—it’s hard to beat sitting in front of the fireplace with a cup of coffee during the early morning hours, snow drifting gently outside, and dreaming up cool shit.
If you could pick one message that you would like to resonate with those who read ‘Of Courage And Sacrifice’ what would it be and why?
Honestly, my goal in writing this book was to create something exciting and entertaining that a reader could escape into. I’ve never held any ambition to be the next great literary author.
I want people to have fun when they read my books—to think and perhaps find a different perspective or learn something new but to be entertained above all.
There are definitely some underpinnings about the dangers of AI and the divorce of accountability technology affords—those are questions to be worked out by societies around the world, and we will all have front-row seats.
When you finish a new book or project, what is your favorite drink to celebrate with?
These days, it’s coffee—I know that’s a little boring. There was a time when it was definitely old-fashioned in a cut crystal glass, made with a nice bourbon, charred orange peel, and an ice sphere.
His book “Of Courage And Sacrifice: Bot Trilogy” is available on Amazon by clicking here.
