Interview: Talking ‘Charm City Rocks’ and Much More with Author Matthew Norman

Matthew Norman is my favorite kind of writer. The author makes his novels all about characters you fall in love with, root for, and mourn when the book ends. What more can you ask for? So, having binged all of his work when I first came across him a few years ago, I was very excited for Charm City Rocks, his latest novel. In fact, I was so excited, I made sure to set up a chat with Norman so I could learn more. A month or so ago, we hopped on Zoom for a solid discussion. Today, with the newest book hitting shelves tomorrow, I present our talk to you all.

Below, you can see my conversation with Norman. We got together to discuss his latest novel, Charm City Rocks, but we of course ended up talking about all of his books, in one form or another. He’s a talented author, for sure, but also just a really easygoing guy. So, we were able to hit on all sorts of topics, and in fact continued the conversation once the camera stopped rolling. I’ve nearly finished he book and it’s great, so if you’ve never read him before, now is a perfect time to bone up!

Last week, in a Make This Movie post, I wrote here about why this author deserves his work to be adapted by Hollywood:

Matthew Norman is currently one of my favorite authors. His style of writing is just up my alley. To me, reading one of Norman’s books is like watching a great character study. There’s a joy in the personas he creates, as well as a pleasure in watching these recognizable people strive for better. It may not be the sort of thing that wins awards, but not only is Norman penning underrated stories, he’s making ones that are ready made to be adapted by the film industry.

These are the books that Norman has written so far. Domestic Violets, which feels like an indie dramedy from the 2000s, We’re All Damaged, which has a similar vibe, Last Couple Standing, which could easily be a romantic comedy with an edge, and All Together Now, which reminded me a lot of About Alex, an underrated movie. Next week, he adds Charm City Rocks to that mix, and having almost finished reading it, there’s a Juliet Naked or High Fidelity feel to it.

Something he does here that I’d love to see replicated on screen is make his stories in a shared universe of sorts. Characters from one book show up in the next one, usually having gone through some sort of personal growth. So, you actually get to check in on some of the characters you’ve fallen in love with. That’s really special, and with the right actors and actresses, could really resonate.

Here now is my interview with Charm City Rocks author Matthew Norman. Enjoy:

Charm City Rocks is available to read tomorrow!