Eighteen Essential Questions for Matty Lee from Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland

Richard Glatzer: If you charged 35 cents when you were 13, what would you charge now?

Matty Lee: Well factoring in inflation and cost of living increase at least a dollar-fifty, but keep in mind that you get a lot more experience for your money now.

Wash Westmoreland: Are you gay?

Lee: As in happy?

Glatzer: Do you approve of the JT Leroy deception?

Lee: Absolutely; I loved Geek Love and it makes no difference to me if Katherine Dunn has webbed feet or not. I haven’t read all of JT’s books but I loved Sarah.

Glatzer: Who would you have been if your family had never moved to Florida?

Lee: I’d probably be working in a string factory.

Westmoreland: What writer's career would you most like to have?

Lee: Jean Genet of course.

Glatzer: Are you presently in the House of the Father? Explain.

Lee: Don’t make fun of me! I’m trying very hard to get in touch with my own “inner father.” It’s not my fault that he keeps molesting me.

Glatzer: What would Matty Lee's first priority be if elected President?

Lee: I’d paint that fucking house black!

Westmoreland: Is there such a thing as underground culture any more? Does it matter?

Lee: Absolutely there is an underground; it’s just not where it used to be. It’s certainly not all the hipsters out there proclaiming their originality and dressing like Dee Dee Ramone in the seventies. I think there is a very cool new “underground” right now that is moving quietly along without anyone noticing. It’s got the values of the sixties but a little more moderation in the drug department. I’ve heard of some young people who are really starting to change things on their own without a lot of fanfare and marches and stuff. They’re driving self converted bio-fuel cars and living off the grid right in the midst of suburbia. When their shoes wear out they plant them in the ground and a tree grows up. I’ve seen them and I’m impressed.

Glatzer: How will your future books be similar to this one? How will they be different?

Lee: Who said anything about another book? If I do write another book I hope it will not be the same at all, but I am me so there is no avoiding that there will be a lot of sex in it.

Westmoreland: Is the internet saving or destroying the world?

Lee: The internet is like an ice pick. Somebody might use it to stab their husband in the throat while I would prefer using it for breaking up ice for a gin and tonic. It’s all in the hands of the users.

Glatzer: Do you consider yourself a romantic?

Lee: Absolutely not.

Westmoreland: You've lived in many different cities in the US, and England as well. Where were you happiest and why?

Lee: Los Angeles, because I’ve made the best friends in my life here. Besides, LA’s got my two favorite things, Lucia and the ocean. But if you could surf more than twice a year in New Orleans I would still be there now.

Glatzer: Who do you think will be the readership for 35 Cents? Are you happy with that readership?

Lee: I didn’t think that anyone would ever read it so I am happy with anyone that does.

Glatzer: If your book could accomplish one thing, what would it be?

Lee: To muddle the waters of sexual orientation a bit.

Westmoreland: What three adjectives would you use to describe Paris Hilton?

Lee: Who’s he?

 

Read an excerpt from 35 Cents: "Pool Boy "
Read more about 35 Cents at: www.suspectthoughts.com

Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland are the co-writers and directors of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award–winning film Quinceañera. They also worked together on Gay Republicans and The Fluffer. Richard is the writer and director of Grief. Wash, working as both Wash West and Bud Light is the writer and/or director of over eighteen other films including Naked Highway, The Hole, and Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony.