Rachel Moulden for Digital First Media
Troy author Brian W. Matthews loves to craft entertaining stories that put his readers on edge. His tales of things that go bump in the night, as well as his penchant for exploring the unknown are fueled by his appreciation for the sci-fi and horror genres.
Matthews, who works as a financial planner by day and a writer by night, has enjoyed writing stories about anything and everything since he was a young child. As he grew up, he continued to express his love for the art by taking creative writing classes in college while attending the University of Michigan. However, his career took on a different path when he decided to pursue a graduate degree in psychology and spent more than a decade as a therapist. This would serve as inspiration for his latest novel “The Conveyance.”
In 2010, Matthews started taking writing seriously when a friend asked him to contribute a story for a science fiction anthology titled “Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero.”
“I enjoyed the experience so much that I decided to try writing a novel of my own,” Matthews says. In 2013, he went on to sell his first novel, “Forever Man” to JournalStone Publishing.
His published works include “Graveduggery” (Co-written with Jeff LaSala) and “Lament” which both appeared in the short stories collection “Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero” in 2012. In addition to “Forever Man” he has also published the novels “Revelation,” and his most recent sci-fi novel “The Conveyance” through JournalStone Publishing.
“The Conveyance” follows the tale of psychologist Dr. Brad Jordan, who happens upon the town of Emersville, where odd events are always occurring. While exploring Emersville, he sets off a series of catastrophes that threaten to expose a dangerous secret hidden within the town. Dr. Jordan follows a trail of madness, suicide, and murder that leads him to a sinister device known as the Conveyance.
Matthews got the inspiration to write this novel from his experiences practicing as a child therapist for 20 years, where he learned a lot about child-parent relationships.
“This novel is a blend of thriller, horror and fiction. I wanted to show real horror is not always about monsters, creepy dolls and zombies, but rather what people can do to other people,” Matthews says.
He was also inspired by all of the horror and sci-fi films and books he digested growing up.
“The scariest book I ever read was “The Exorcist” by William Peter Blatty, when I was about 13 years old. I had trouble sleeping for nights, and my mom was not too happy about that,” Matthews says.
Challenges can occur during the process of writing any book. Matthews says the hardest thing about writing any story is disciplining yourself to sit down and write every day.
“When writing the first draft, I have to ignore everything that I want to change at that moment and just solely focus on writing,” he says.
An avid reader himself, Matthews says that in order to make a good story — and especially in the sci-fi/horror genre — the story must be about the people.
“A lot of the authors today in this genre focus on the monsters in the story rather than the people,” he says. “Real stories are based on your characters and their relationships. You push them to the edge and see what they can do.”
When Matthews is not writing up a storm, he loves to read and travel. He’s been to Russia, Poland and Germany among other places, and wants to discover the world. He also enjoys spending time with family and occasionally golfing in his free time.
Matthews is working on his fourth novel. To learn more about his work, visit brianmatthews.org/.
Rachel Moulden 