Author: Matthew

  • Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop

    I will be a guest presenter at the upcoming Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Worshop (June 14-18).  This event has in the past been held at BYU, but has moved to a new location, the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah.  The new venue sounds wonderful. You may remember that this is the conference where…

  • We apologize for the dust.

    I spent some time yesterday working on a new look for the site.  I’ll probably be fidgeting a bit with it today as well.  If you follow my posts in a feed reader, you won’t notice anything, but if you visit the site, you might see a glitch here and there until construction is completed.…

  • Goings On

    Okay, so I haven’t blogged anything in a really long time.  But when I started up this little endeavor over a year ago, I told myself that I wouldn’t let it interfere with anything of higher importance, like writing a novel.  I’m pretty busy right now, which means any spare time I have is going…

  • Best Friends

    My wife and I have a yearly Christmas tradition of donating to a charity.  We usually pick a cause or an organization that we are passionate about, or has a special meaning to us that year.  This year, we are donating to the Best Friends Animal Society.  If you aren’t familiar with them, they are…

  • May I recommend…

    The holiday season is here, which for many people is a time of giving gifts, and I wanted to take a moment to mention the importance of making sure some of those gifts are books. My parents always gave us books for Christmas.  It was something I could count on and always looked forward to,…

  • Follow the Ripples

    I’m a very linear writer.  I write my stories from beginning to end without skipping anything or writing anything out of order.  In the past, I have tried writing a “fun” scene ahead of schedule, usually in an effort to get myself energized, but it has never worked out.  I’ve learned that I am simply…

  • R.I.P., SWAT House

    You may remember the SWAT house next door to mine.  You know, the one that looked like this after the police department used it for training exercises one morning: Well, it is sadly no more.  After the police department had their way with it, a demolition crew got their turn, as recorded in the video…

  • Book Updates

    A couple of things have been going on, book-wise. First, Scholastic Audio has acquired the audiobook rights to The Clockwork Three! I’m really excited by this news, and I am grateful that Scholastic is so behind my book on all fronts. The audiobook will be released simultaneously with the print edition. I don’t know which…

  • The Green Spy

    As I arrived at work the other day, my principal came into my office and asked me if I wanted to do something fun with him. “Sure thing,” I said. “Thanks.  I need to you be the Green Spy,” he said. “The what?” “The Green Spy.” “Okay,” I said.  “What’s the Green Spy?” “You go…

  • Once Was Lost book launch, and Carl Sagan

    On Thursday I attended the book launch for Sara Zarr’s new novel Once Was Lost.  It was a wonderful event, with a reading and a Q&A, and beautiful cookies and a birthday cake.  Afterward, some of us went out to eat and had a really nice time. I was going to do a write-up on…