Biographical Information

Matthew usually lets his writing speak for himself, but in some cases, especially with his bizarre stories, that isn’t the greatest idea. Writing is his hobby, and he has found that it’s the easiest way to share his ideas with others. Writing is also the most intimate art form, and he knows when someone sits down to read one of his stories, it’s just the reader and his words.

He is inspired by the thought of being able to gain someone’s full attention and hold it for the remainder of a story. He is also inspired by having the opportunity to throw people for a loop and give them something they’ve never read before.

Matthew is happily married with a four-year-old son, and even though he lives in Columbus, Ohio, he's a diehard Nittany Lion fan. When he's not busy working for the State, he's either surfing the net, posing his action figures, or in a video-game-induced coma.

Things We’d All like to Know

We would like to understand what makes you tick…your character, what, why, and how you write. We’d like our readers to get to know you. With that in mind, we’d like you to please answer the following questions as thoroughly, and as humanly, as possible. Go ahead, be yourself!

You, the Author

Why do you write? Writing to me is the most intimate art form. I’m able to create every detail of a world and when the reader sits down, it’s just them and my words, most likely all alone in a quiet room. I get to entertain their full attention, but the challenge is holding it.

What do you write? While I write in just about every genre, I usually work with some specific human emotion/need to give the story meaning and weave it throughout a plot filled with twists.

Who inspires you? Cancer survivors, people who endure tragedies, a bullied kid, those who give back—every day I read about people who inspire me. People who remind me that there is good in this world.

Who are your influences? Chuck Palahniuk for his writing and Dirk Nowitzki for his drive and work ethic.

What are your three most favorite books and why? Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, because not only is it one of the best dystopian novels ever written, it was the first book that made my thirteen-year-old mind believe that reading didn’t always have to be a chore. Until There Were None by Agatha Christie showed me how to create a riveting mystery with a great twist. And Choke by Chuck Palahniuk is probably my favorite book. Right before I read this book, I was at a cross-road in my writing career. I strictly wrote in third person, had been pouring countless hours a week into workshops, read hundreds of articles about the right way to do things, and was literally receiving 300+ rejection letters for a few novels and short stories. Then my wife suggested reading. It was something I neglected the entire time I attempted to hone my craft. Read something I enjoy. She knew I tended to write towards the dark side, so she recommended Choke and Invisible Monsters (also an amazing book). I became hooked right away with Choke and ended up blowing through it. The combination of first-person narrative and turning boring situations into something fresh and exciting for the reader made me realize that’s what I was doing wrong the entire time. I was always so focused on action and cramming as much as I could into a story that I missed the point—I shouldn’t have tried to solve the world’s problems—I should solve the main character’s.

The Mechanics

How do you write? When an idea pops up, I sit on it until enough has grown for picking. Once it develops in my mind, I’ll write an outline—usually a sequential, bulleted list in Word. I’ll interrogate the list, playing the situations out in my head, searching for plot holes. When I feel confident enough that readers will be getting material that’s top notch, I’ll begin writing.

Where do you like to write? I do most of my writing at work. I’m always at my best when I’m slammed with stuff to do, so when I’m in full swing, I write in-between tasks and on my breaks.

Do you set a goal of so many pages per day, or something else? When I’m writing a novel, I usually aim for 1,000 words per day. But if I don’t have a worthy idea, I’m not going to write just to write. A lot of people say write every day, but I have to do what works for me, and writing every day eventually burns me out.

What program(s) or tool(s) do you use to write? Google. Dictionary.com. Word. Notebooks. Youtube for music. Wikipedia lowers head and says, “What, like you don’t?”.

What do you do when you get stuck on a problem which blocks the writing process? I try to talk through it with my wife or my workshop partners. Or I take a step away from writing and do something else.

Do you envision the entire story at once and just fill in as you go, or do you just see where the writing takes you and troubleshoot as necessary? I don’t freestyle write often, because I’m usually left with an unusable story. Typically, I make sure I know who the MC is, what the conflict is, and how’s he’s going to overcome it. Those are the most important details in any story, so knowing those, everything else is just fluff, and it doesn’t matter if I decide later that the fluff is green or blue or moldy or rotting—it’s still fluff.

What do you have the most fun with during the creative process? Writing with the knowledge that people are eventually going to read the story I’m creating. It drives me to blow people away. To excite them. To make them go, “Wow.”

Do you have any special rituals or superstitious behaviors you must follow while writing? Not while writing, but afterwards, if my wife says one of my stories is okay, I know it sucks. If there’s a hint of enthusiasm in her voice when she says she likes it, I know it’s good.

Human You

What is a cherished memory from your life you’d like to share? Three. The day my son was born. The moment I saw him come out, I cried just like him, because I felt a unique connection I knew I’d never share with anyone else. A childhood spent with my single mother. She’s molded me into the man I am today, and when I think back on the times we shared, I see happiness. Pure, innocent, happiness—another connection I’ll never share with another. And when I was working at Ruby Tuesday as a server, the day I met my future wife. She was the hostess, and I’ll always remember her and I coloring a kid’s menu. Seems silly, but I saw in her the connection which would complete my life.

Do you prefer coffee, tea, or something else entirely? I prefer coffee and drink about two cups per day, but I also enjoy regular Coke, Diet Pepsi and Powerade.

What comes first, the chicken or the alien egg? Breakfast, so the alien egg.

What is your favorite word? Pulchritudinous. Look at it—it’s physically beautiful, and that’s the definition.

This Particular Story (CML)

Who do you most identify with in this work? The main character, Maybon. Always the main character. If the main character isn’t the most complicated character, I’ve missed the mark.

Why this story? This was the first story I wrote in first person, and with a main character whom awakens with no memory of where or who he is, we were both stepping into the unknown together.

Who do you think would be most affected by or touched by this work? My father-in-law, because he enjoys sci-fi stories with unique concepts.

What is a profound memory from this title’s writing process? An x-ray of some random person’s skull—it was the image I messed around with in Photoshop, slapped the CML title on and used as motivation to complete the story.

What do you hope the reader will take away from reading this story – is there a theme, or philosophy? The implications of relying too heavily on technology. That hobbies, exercise, not always doing things the easy way are important in maintaining a healthy body and mind.

This Particular Story (TOWER 5)

Why this story? The foundation of Tower 5 gave me an opportunity to examine the essence of humanity. What’s important? How unsynchronized the pendulum of human emotion can be. The need for order.

Who do you think would be most affected by or touched by this work? My father-in-law, because he enjoys sci-fi stories with unique concepts.

What is a profound memory from this title’s writing process? I work-shopped this story in small segments, and I remember three people reading through, commenting that they loved the story instead of actually reviewing it. It was great to receive such positive feedback, and that's what kept me trekking forward.

What do you hope the reader will take away from reading this story – is there a theme, or philosophy? I wanted to show the possibility that humanity can be insignificant or a spec or a roadblock in the grand scheme of things.