Q&A with Featured Author Matthew Quick

Matthew Quick (aka Q) is the author of “The Silver Linings Playbook” and two young adult novels, “Sorta Like a Rock Star” and “Boy21.″ His work has received many honors—including a PEN/Hemingway Award Honorable Mention—and has been translated into several languages. The Weinstein Company and David O. Russell have adapted “The Silver Linings Playbook,” starring Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence.

Where do you find inspiration?
Usually in the woods or on mountaintops — many times while running or hiking. Wherever there are no electronic devices, e-mail accounts, or social networks, all of which I know far too intimately (and often enjoy). I listen to a lot of music — all types. And movie houses are like churches to me — especially on weeknights when my wife and I are often lucky enough to be the only people in the theater. We’ll sit there until the credits are finished, reveling in story.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
The temptation to herd up will be ever-present, and while you’ll always need the safety of a group from time to time, the real work is done alone. Glean what you can from everyone, and then go be by yourself. Have the strength to express the true you, even when it limits your access to the herds. The right people will appear when you do this, or at least that’s always been my experience.

What are you reading right now?
I am reading out-of-print biographies of an aging Hollywood heartthrob. This is research for the novel I’m currently writing, which is top secret. In the name of ART (yes, all caps), I’m studying the life and career of a former People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive.

What’s your favorite opening line from a book?
The first line of Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is a favorite: “When the phone rang I was in the kitchen, boiling a potful of spaghetti and whistling along with an FM broadcast of the overture to Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie, which has to be the perfect music for cooking pasta.”