As I mentioned before, Matchbox 20’s 3 AM was an inspiration for a whole novella that I ended up abandoning. The reasons are not complex, and although I’ve tried time and time again to salvage it, I can’t find a way.

It happens to some ideas, and I’ve been guilty of being an “idea guy” instead of a “writer”. Idea guys have excellent pitches, but falter on the road building. Perhaps some thing are best left unwritten.

A lot of that novella, which was going to be titled “3 AM: the coldest hour”, focused on feelings of loneliness and a never ending estrangement, not only from friends and family, but oneself. By the end, the main character (Tocayo) loses everything, including his beloved car, a well-preserved 1977 Ford Maverick.

The car was pristine on the outside, but the axle breaks down while driving back from Mazatlán to Guadalajara. He abandons the car, and as he walks back to Guadalajara, the entirety of the novella is told as a flashback. A sort of walk of penance, hoping for atonement of past sins.

I always think of songs as being ripe with ideas for writing, and that novella had inspiration drawn mainly from Matchbox 20, Fastball, Semisonic, Lauren Christy, and Underworld. The title comes from Matchbox 20’s own 3 AM, and Rest Stop, with its feeling of abandonment felt right at home as the pivotal.

An abandoned novella feels like a massive learning experience. Sometimes you really have to let go of something when it doesn’t work out. Most of the time, you need external voices for this, but then again, you can’t grow as a writer if you don’t start being critical of yourself. I’ve revisited several drafts I had of this novella and maybe, just maybe, it could work as a small piece for something larger. I’ll worry about that when the time comes.

I’m attaching the VH1 Storytellers version, as I feel it’s Matchbox at its most intimate. If you can, watch the whole special, it’ll shine a new light on their discography.

-Sam J. Valdés López