For the past little while I’ve been entering a flash fiction writing competition run by the Australian Writers Centre. At 5pm on the first Friday of each month, the AWC reveals three elements that must be included in a story with a maximum of 500 words. You’ve got until midnight on Sunday – just over...
Read MoreFor the first time in a long time, I entered the Australian Writers Centre’s Furious Fiction competition. I’ve had some luck before, and am proud to say I was long–listed for the major prize once again in October 2021. You can read my story, The ‘Burbs Are My Ghetto, by clicking on the link you...
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This website gets a lot of spam. Most it is in Russian or is trying to update me on the latest developments in erectile disfunction management, but sometimes those spam–bots are just downright friendly. For example: ‘You are a very intelligent person!’ – Abet Spzoo Thanks, Abet Spzoo. The internet can be a quiet and...
Read MoreEver tried to write a story in eight words? That’s what the Queensland Writers Centre has challenged you to do, and if they like it, they’ll put it on a billboard! And not just any billboard, but an extensive network of digital billboards across South–East Queensland! A few have already made it, plastered in orange...
Read MoreTo start 2018, Matthew will be writing a blog series on masters. Not revered historic figures, but everyday people in the modern world who excel at what they do, whatever that may be. Each will teach us a little about how we, too, can pursue our own version of greatness. What better way to kick...
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For my first entry on my new website I want to give you an insight into why I write. But before I do that, let me take you back to where it all began. I’m a dreamer. Not a drifty–eyed, combie–van, hope–for–the–best kind of person, but a dreamer in the most literal way. I...
Read MoreAnother one of my posts from the ACT Writers Centre’s CAPITAL LETTERS blog. The link to the article is here, or you can, as always, read the full text below: Latin verbs, letters home and Stephenie Meyer: an interview with Daniel O’Malley I went to the same primary school as Daniel O’Malley; he was...
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Have you met Joseph Herscher and his whimsical machines? I think it’s time the two of you became acquainted. Introducing…The Page Turner: Joseph uses ordinary household objects to create the most innovative, amusing, excessive and unnecessary machines you will ever see. In 2008 he created his first famous kinetic monstrosity—Crème That Egg—a complex, rickety, apartment–spanning...
Read MoreI want to say a few quick words about Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy (aka The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and friends). It took me a while to figure out why I’ve been enjoying these books so much, but I think I’ve finally nailed it. It’s the characters So many novels these days are based...
Read MoreNothing but the Dead and Dying is a darkly humorous post–apocalyptic action–adventure that is yet to find a publisher. Synopsis Eamon Naylor awakes one morning to find his home town overrun with grotesques; ferocious, ravenous, mouldering beasts in human form. But what are they, and where have they come from? Eamon doesn’t care....
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