About Matthew Paris:
Matthew Paris is born and raised in Houston, Texas. As a kid Matthew excelled at sports playing football and running track through his youth and high school. Matthew favorite subject was English Literature and did very well in the class.
One day in his sophomore year his English teacher came up to him and told him that this maybe a talent.
Matthew learned the craft of writing and storytelling while he was in college at Texas Tech University. Matthew graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and has been writing articles, books, screenplays, and he writes every episode of his podcast, The Matthew Paris Show.
What inspires you to write?
You never know when an idea will come to you. I could be anywhere. I think basic human life inspires me to write. It's interesting to just observe and here conversations that other people have. You never know when a good story might come up.
Words are very powerful and have meaning. You can use it for goos our bad. So much emotion goes behind it. That's what I find interesting.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
I'ma big fan of Chuck Palahniuk, Richard Matheson, and Stephen King. "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson is my favorite novel. They way he captured the loneliness of the main character and the struggles he goes through. It really captivates the reader.
Tell us about your writing process.
I know a lot of people like to outline what they write. I tend to be a seat of my pants writer. Which means, if something inspires me, I'll usually start writing right there and then let it build over time. For many writers it's a different process for them and what works well for them.
Some people like to set a few hours for when they write. I don't do that. I ten to write mostly at night because I have a day job. However, on my days off I'll write whenever I feel the need, too.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Sometimes, I'll talk in the characters voices, but most of the time I listen to them. For me, It's all about the structure and building the story and the background of these characters. What they go through. It's about creating the world around them for me.
What advice would you give other writers?
The best thing I can say is just to keep writing. Feel good about what you write. Even if you write a sentence, feel good about it. Don't worry if you think it's good or not. The point is that you are doing it.
You can take classes for structure and form, but you can't teach creativity. You have to learn that on your own and there's no right or wrong way to do it.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
There are many publishing options for authors. You can self-publish now. Go the independent publishing route. I'm with a small publishing firm in Los Angeles. Very indy and small. But, I think they do well. It's very tough to get a literary agency and go get a huge publishing company to get it worldwide. However, if you go the indy circuit your book will still be out there and in small bookstores and online. Think of it as a victory.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
A lot of it is going in online retailers. We now have AI possibly saying too writers if they have a story idea just give it to the AI and it'll do it for you. I don't know if I agree with that because you're missing the human emotion of the writer.
Publishing companies could go the route of just online bookselling and digital copies. I hope not, but we'll see.
What genres do you write?: Sports/Drama
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Your Social Media Links
Facebook
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
