#51: Why Matt Haig Reads 1-Star Reviews of The Midnight Library
6/18/202653 min
This week on Off The Shelf, Morgann sits down with Matt Haig, bestselling author of The Midnight Library, The Midnight Train, and Reasons to Stay Alive. Matt opens up about the mental health crisis that changed the course of his life, how writing became part of his recovery, and why The Midnight Library was the most freeing book he's ever written. We also discuss the upcoming film adaptation starring Florence Pugh, the inspiration behind Nora Seed, social media, AI, creativity, and what he hopes readers take away from The Midnight Train.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Why Matt Reads His Own 1-Star Reviews
04:06 Why Children Are Better Readers Than Adults
06:24 Trouble at School, Neurodiversity & Finding Writing
08:28 The Breakdown That Changed Everything
11:56 How Books Helped Him Survive Depression
14:05 Recovery, Rejection & Becoming an Author
17:40 The Purpose Behind Reasons to Stay Alive
20:17 Mental Health Advocacy & Writing Fiction
27:26 Conquering His Fear of Public Speaking
33:07 The Origin of The Midnight Library
35:12 Writing Nora's Many Alternate Lives
37:50 How Nora Seed Got Her Name
38:52 The Midnight Library Movie Adaptation
40:27 Florence Pugh as Nora & Behind the Scenes
44:30 Inside The Midnight Train
46:14 What Matt Wants Readers to Take Away
49:20 The Dream of Opening a Bookstore
51:24 What's Next
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Matt Haig
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Find his books at Indigo: https://www.indigo.ca/pages/contributor/matt-haig?id=811768428
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Hosted by: Morgann Book
Created by: Bookish Media, Morgann Book, and Thomas Johnston
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMatt Haig· Guest0:00
When I became, uh, had my breakdown, I didn't know anyone in my family had, who had spoken about mental health. And so people say, "Oh, what are you like with your kids?" 'Cause I've got kids of my own. "Do you talk to them about it?" And yeah, I do, and I think it's important to, you know, in the right way because I needed examples, living examples. So hopefully my example to my kids isn't, "Oh, you will get depression." It's like, when anything bad happens to you in, in life, which, you know, l- life that happens, you will survive it. You have that ability. You have an inner strength that you don't know you have.
Morgann Book· Host0:35
[upbeat music] Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Off the Shelf. Today's guest writes books that can't be put into boxes. He blends mental health and fiction and fantasy so seamlessly that you are just immersed and invested in the story the entire time. Matt Haig is the brilliant author behind The Midnight Library and the newest release, The Midnight Train, but he also wrote several other novels, including Reasons to Stay Alive and The Humans before all of that. His books stay with you long after you read them, and today we're g- diving into exactly how they came to be. Matt, welcome to Off the Shelf.
Matt Haig· Guest1:11
Thank you so much, Morgan. It's great to be here.
Morgann Book· Host1:13
Happy to have you here. Now, gotta ask you before we start, you posted on your Instagram story yesterday about reading one-star reviews.
Matt Haig· Guest1:21
Yes.
Morgann Book· Host1:21
[laughs] W- please tell me- Yes ... why are we reading one-star reviews, and are you okay?
Matt Haig· Guest1:25
[laughs] I... [laughs] I'm never okay. [laughs] Um, I read them.