Matthew's Blog
Seeing The World As a Writer
I recently heard an interview with the exceptional writer and teacher Charles Johnson, who made a comment which made such sense to me. He said (slightly paraphrased from memory): “I am not really comfortable calling writing a career or a job; rather, it's a way of...
The Chains of A COVID Kitten
Two and a half years ago (and a few months after our last cat, Olivier, died of nasal lymphoma) my wife and I adopted a little black kitten named Roo ( short for Rousseau). This was just before the COVID pandemic kicked in, and it meant that for the first year of...
Finding The New Tolstoy At The San Francisco Writers Conference?
In preparation for a meeting with an agent at the upcoming upcoming San Francisco writers conference, I spent a few hours reading one of his author's debut novels: Beauty of the Broken, by Tawni Waters. It’s a lovely book—a coming of age story and a young love story...
My Book Publishing Strategy
Here's my current book publishing strategy. Secondary: LoglinesQuery LettersMarketing plansElevator pitchesPlatform developmentConnectingPodcastingFinding a good agentReviewing Indie publishing optionsAttending writing conferences Primary: Writing a really good book....
Expressive Writing and Neurology: A Reference
Does writing about negative events in your life help your brain? Maybe. Here’s a 2019 article which suggests it does (and even suggests some of neurological mechanisms with reference to learning): Effects of Expressive Writing on Neural Processing During Learning....
I’m All In
The words “I’m all in” when discussing one’s career are easy to say, but hard to implement. These words don’t just mean putting all your efforts towards learning and practicing a craft. They also mean not doing quite a few other things—things such as going on...
The Travel Backup Plan as Adventure
The San Francisco Writers Conference starts on Thursday, July 21st, and my plan on getting there is to take an early morning flight on July 19th from Seattle. It’s been over two long years since I’ve been to San Francisco (in fact, I was last there right before Covid...
Two Business Cards For Conferences
I’m not a big business card person, but when I go to conferences—such as the upcoming writers conference I’m attending next week—I will carry two business cards. Both include my private email, but only one has my direct phone number. I think this added degree of...
I Like Lists…but
I like lists. Using a combination of Omnifocus and Reminders, along with an adaptation of a productivity system called GTD (Getting Things Done), it’s accurate to say that lists are the tool I use to run my life. But they do have one downside: they work best when you...