His new book w, The Fall of General Custard or The Overthrow of a Leftover would be what it was like if Dr Seuss and Shel Silverstein locked themselves in a fridge and imagined the struggles of food in the fridge together they would not have written a better picture book in poetry. The cartoon images are hilarious and wildly fun.
Without any further words, here is our interview.
Please introduce yourself to the readers of this blog?
Hello readers. Though I love the actor Matt Damon, I am the older, original Matt Damon and will therefore keep the name as my own. I live in beautiful southern Oregon, and wear many hats in my life, including teacher, school librarian, parent, husband, and, most recently, author. I grew up in Massachusetts and was an avid reader and enthusiastic athlete who dreamed of being either an author or a pro football player! In high school and college I wrote a lot of really bad poetry, but now and then a satisfying gem of a poem would appear on the page. During those years I fell in love with creative writing, and learned the truth of the saying, “creating good art is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration.” As my life progressed, I kept the dream of being an author with me, though I must admit the dream usually went to the back burner when more practical career opportunities presented themselves. Finally, with the help of my wife, Jennie, I carved out some chunks of time over the past two decades, which allowed me to write and to become a published author.
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| author Matt Damon and yours Drewly |
Please introduce your picture book for readers of this blog?
The Fall of General Custard or The Overthrow of a Leftover is a story about friendship, community, kindness, and standing up for yourself and others. When the greedy General Custard spreads unfounded fears and rumors in the Fridge, the seeds of conflict are sown. A food fight erupts, pitting Queen Honeydew’s fruits and vegetables against Custard’s desserts and meats. Fortunately, the bravery and wisdom of the story’s heroine, a maraschino cherry named Rosaline, saves the day, as she convinces the foods in the Fridge that “stopping a war is the best way to win”. Or, as the peas put it, “Make peas, not war!”
What is the origin story of your book, The Fall of General Custard?
About twenty years ago, I took a break from teaching in order to write what I hoped would be the next “great American novel”. I was living on a farm in Santa Cruz, and each morning, inspired or not, I sat a my desk to write for several hours. The novel, much to my disappointment, went nowhere, but I found myself doodling and rhyming in the margins of my notebook. By showing up at the writing table each day I was unknowingly making space for accidental creations, incidental
inspiration, and visits from some marvelous, meddling muses who knew better where my writing talents lay. The character of General Custard was born in this “unconscious, uncontrolled creative space”. A childhood memory came to me one writing morning. I remembered my mom telling me the story of the arrogant General Custer and his defeat at Little Bighorn. In the memory, my mom and I are looking at Custer’s portrait in a book. The name Custer immediately reminded me of the
sweet, yellow custards my mom made for dessert on occasion. But I also connected Custer’s yellow hair and mustache in my young brain with the yellow color of the custards my mom made. Years later the connection melded into General Custard. Once I had this arrogant, warmongering character, the rest of my work was building the world he would live in, and a story he could play a role in. (Oh, and I wanted to make it all rhyme!)
How did you choose the fridge fight scene and the characters?
After the creation of an overall arc for the story, the scenes and characters grew out of exploring, rhyming and playing with the main elements I had to work with: battle language, food language, language around human character traits or emotions. For example, “Salamis and sausages, made in New York, tossed the fresh salad with help from the pork,” plays on the word “tossed” as both a fighting word and a food word. Pork becomes a character because it rhymes with York. Salamis and sausages have such a delightful series of “s” sounds that they beg to be in the scene, as opposed to
bacon and lamb which don’t sound fun together and don’t fit the meter required either. It’s like
panning for gold or finding the puzzle piece that fits. It’s a lot of work, but so satisfying! The
illustrator of the book, Gideon Kendall, of course, is the other contributor to the collection of scenes and characters. Many of the characters he placed in the Fridge are not mentioned in my manuscript. For example, he created the bespectacled broccoli, along with the visual sub-plot of the broccoli
losing his glasses in the battle and, in the end, getting help finding them from a supposed foe, the ham.
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| a food fight told in poetic hilarity with Refrigerated Cartoons |
What are the three most important influences on this book?
Simple. Dr. Suess, Shel Silverstein and Bob Dylan. Rhyme and Reason.
What do you think of public reaction to your story?
I am very pleased with the public reaction to the story. Parents tell me all the time that my book is the one their children want read to them over and over each night. Usually that is a source of frustration for parents, because many children’s books don’t offer connection and entertainment for the adult. The Fall of General Custard has many layers of humor and meaning, so that it engages all ages and has a richness that leads to parent/child conversations and a truly “shared” experience. There is more text in my book than most of today’s children’s books, it rhymes as well, and is full of rich vocabulary. This combination has been avoided lately by most big publishers, so I think readers who discover my book find it to be refreshingly entertaining, lyrical, and meaningful relative to what is out there.
What has been the reaction of kids and teachers? What are school visits like for you?
Kids love the book because it is funny, wonderfully illustrated, includes a food fight, has unique characters, and ends in a very satisfying way. I also hear from a lot of kids at schools I visit that they love the rhyming. It is a thrill for me to read the story at school assemblies and have the rapt attention of hundreds of children who are so obviously drawn to the story. I can share the book with students at all the elementary grade levels because of the layers of meaning and humor built in. Kinders tend to be enamoured with the illustrations, while fifth graders really get into the playful language, like “the meats seemed rowdy and rough, though deep down inside they were tender, not tough.” I have also met with high school classes, where the students enjoy the story very much, but are also drawn to discussions about the creative process and the path to publication. Teachers generally appreciate the richness of the book and get excited by all the themes the story explores: friendship, cooperation, courage, bullying, conflict resolution, and standing up for what you believe is right. The rich, rhyming text also make for a great read aloud which teachers can enjoy with their class, while introducing new vocabulary and literary concepts.
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Dav Pilkey and Mo Willems congratulate Matt on his award winning book. |
I describe your book as Dr. Seuss locks himself in a fridge and finds new life. Clearly your book has appeal across all ages. Explain about the elements of your book that make it so enjoyable to all ages…
I never want to write a children’s book that I would not listen to, read, and enjoy as an adult. I’m
always layering in order to connect with readers of all ages, and I’m striving to find broad intergenerational appeal around the humor, storyline, and themes in what I write. So, for example, when I come to the scene when my heroine, a maraschino cherry, stands up against General Custard, I’m not just thinking about foods in a refrigerator. I’m thinking about women like Rosa Parks and Rachel Carson, and what a courageous person might do to help in a situation where a community is being oppressed or deceived. I don’t write that directly, but I hope it is reflected in my writing, so that when the maraschino cherry stops the food fight, it means more than that to some of the readers, and I hope it touches their sense of justice and humanity.
How does your book relate to thanksgiving Especially food arguments?
Thanksgiving is a great time to share this book. The book is certainly a “foodie” book and would be fun to enjoy while a Thanksgiving feast is being prepared or digested. The book is also about groups in a community joining together to reject fear and greed. It is about people recognizing and coming together around what they have in common, rather than being divided by fears and differences, just as the native people in America and the newly arrived Europeans were able to do for a time. And, of course ,today every family has its conflicts and arguments. Maybe during this Thanksgiving, Rosaline will help a few families to remember that “mashing each other is simply a waste” and that this holiday can be an opportunity to “Give Peas a Chance”.
Matt Damon reading the story of leftovers
What was it like when your book received finalist honors in the 2017 INDIE Book Awards?
Celebration. Satisfaction. Validation. I knew from the very positive responses we were getting from children and adults who heard or read the book, that we had created a special book. When The Fall of General Custard won finalist honors I definitely let myself celebrate the moment. To receive acknowledgment for creating a quality children’s book, twenty years after creating the original manuscript, made a long-held dream feel like it had come true. There was a strong sense of satisfaction and validation, though I hope this is only a beginning. My trip to NYC to receive the award was extra special because I met Gideon Kendall in person, after working on the book with him over phone and email for 2 years. The award night also put me in town during the same weekend as the 2017 Book Expo where I met Dav Pilkey and Mo Willems who both congratulated me on my book and award. It was all a thrill.
What has been the best part of being this book’s author?
The absolute best part is when a young reader tells me they love my book and read it all the time. Or when a parent tells me how much fun they are having reading it aloud to their children. To have my art appreciated, and for it to have a positive impact on kids and families is very cool.
What's next for you? What's new for your book and for your characters?
I am scheduling school visits and book store events for this coming spring. (I still have open dates and flexibility if anyone reading this blog knows of a school or store who may want to host a visit.) I don’t have a big marketing team, so promoting the book really means getting out and about, so people know about the book. Fortunately, when people see the book and hear me read the story, it sells itself.
I have a sequel in the works which will likely be called, The Return of General Custard. No subtitle yet, but the book will feature the appearance of some “bad apples”. (Or at least General Custard claims they are “bad apples”). This is still very much in the early stages of creation.
The most exciting thing happening right now is that my publisher, White Cloud Press, and I have been working with cookbook author Marlene Sorosky Gray to create a deluxe edition of The Fall of General Custard, which will include the original book, along with 20 extra pages that relate to the food characters in the book. We are having so much fun together creating the cookbook, and hope to have this deluxe edition out in August.
Any Parting thoughts?
Yes. Thank you Drew for this opportunity to share about my book and about myself as an author. And thank you for inviting me to share my book in your amazing children’s section at Book’s Inc. My parting words to your blog readers are “thank you” for supporting your local independent bookstore. These stores and their customers play a big role in the continued diversity of choices and voices in our world.
