Meet Lou Mathews

We recently connected with Lou Mathews and have shared our conversation below.

Lou , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Lou Mathews
Some thoughts on Writing

From “Becoming a Writer” by Dorothea Brande, published in 1934 : “The most important thing for a writer is not talent. It’s morale.” That’s probably more true today, because there are many more reasons not to write. The longer you hang out in this non-business, the more you appreciate the quality of lasting. After you’ve written the obligatory stories (First love, first death, parent problems, children problems) then you move on, or not. The morale Mrs. Brande refers to, unfortunately for most of us, depends on publication. And that’s the worst place in the world to look for validation. If it happens, it’s often a fluke, and you’ll still feel bad afterward, no matter how well you’re treated, because it has little to do with reasons to write. Editors, agents, magazines, Writers’ Conferences, literary gossip are great fun but essentially distractions. What should move you – the source of good morale – is what moved you in the first place: The pleasure of the well wrought word. The essential pleasure is in the work.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I teach Advanced Short Story in UCLA Extension Writer’s Program. I started there in 1989. When friends ask me when I’ll retire, my answer is, “When they stop listening, or I do.” That hasn’t happened yet. I’m actually more effective now than I was a decade ago. Two of my former students, Darrow Farr (The Bombshell) and Sanam Mahloudji (The Persians) have what look like best-selling novels coming out next year. Sanam also won a Pushcart Prize last year, as did another former student, Da Lin, in 2023, whose story “Treasure Island Alley” also appeared in Best American Short Stories.

I’ve had a really productive year myself. I’ve published six short stories, one in Washington Square Review, one in Catamaran, two in ZYZZYVA, one in the 30th Anniversary issue of Chicago Quarterly Review and one just out in the new issue of the New England Review. In January, 2025 my new novel “Hollywoodski” will be published and already there is a good buzz on the book. Publishers Group West / Ingram picked it as one of their Best Books for Spring and it comes with a great blurb from Patton Oswalt.

“Screenwriters and movie buffs beware — Hollywoodski touches the dark nerve of desperation and surrealism behind the glitter of show business with an icicle. You have been warned.”
– Patton Oswalt, author of Silver Screen Fiend and Zombie Spaceship Wasteland

“Hollywoodski” is the story of Dale Davis, a talented screenwriter who made the mistake of crossing a powerful showrunner during the writers’ strike of 1988 and now is essentially blacklisted and has to scuffle to make a living. It’s a very funny and very dark book according to the critics who have read review copies.

This is my third book in four years, starting with “Shaky Town” in 2021, “L.A. Breakdown” my first novel about illegal street racing in Los Angeles, which was finally reissued in paperback in 2023.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The quality of lasting, an abiding love of language, refusing to settle for accepted standards. If you’re truly a writer you don’t have a choice in the matter.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

Two books – “Fat City” by Leonard Gardner as a guide to how uncompromising fiction should be written
and “Mystery and Manners” by Flannery O’Connor as a guide as to how writing short fiction should be taught.

As to those nuggets, that would take a little time to research.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tigervanbooks.com/shaky-town
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lou.mathews.37/
• Twitter: https://x.com/loumathe

Image Credits

Headshot by Tommy Moore