My name is Matthew Head and I'm a writer from Surrey. Well, I say from Surrey - I was born in Kent, moved to London for a bit and then moved out to Surrey to live with my partner Andrew. I was born in the eighties, raised in the nineties and then I was inspired in the noughties during my time at university where I studied Theology.
Theology is quite possibly the most fascinating subject in the world. Sounds boring I know, sounds like church and everyone knows that church is boring. But it's not like that at all. It's packed full of myths and monsters, gods and goddesses - mad, bad, sad ones alive in stories which rival many blockbuster movies in terms of how epic they are. It doesn't matter whether it's all real or not - it's the story that counts. Stories are beautiful because absolutely anything is possible within them. That's why I love writing because I love the idea of contributing to that and creating stories. Stories that will make you cry, make you laugh, make you scared. Because I think there is some magic in writing - that simple words have the power to make us feel and react so strongly to them.
When I'm not writing or doing my day job then I really enjoy going out and exploring new places. I love going somewhere I've never been before, especially if there's some history linked to the place. Old places are the best - the older the better. You just get this sense that so much has happened there, so many different people have come and gone and yet the place remains.
A few more random facts about me - my favourite pet is the humble goldfish, my favourite dinner is macaroni cheese, I love banana flavoured things but I strongly dislike bananas and the only real phobia I have is a phobia of frogs. Yeuch.
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In the south of England, in the
city of Monks-Lantern, events are starting to unfold which have the potential
to threaten all of creation. Isaac Jacobs is a young university student with a
haunted past who has long been fighting the supernatural monsters of this world
and now he fights them alongside his four friends; Gabbi Gurtpasha, Billie
Stamford, Laura Henley and Ben Pokeley.
What starts off as a disturbing
but relatively low key investigation soon explodes into something much larger,
darker and more fearsome than any of them could have imagined. Just what is
behind the slow but steady disappearance of people from the city? Who is the
much feared Imperator? What is the worst thing you can hope to see beneath a
door in an empty building? How do you define a good man from a bad one? And
what terror lies within the Box of Infernos? A plan which has been in motion for millenia is now coming to fruition and Isaac had better be ready as his life will never be the same again from now on.
Something is coming.
Q) What inspired you to write this story?
It was a combination of things really. I’d had an ongoing supernatural “saga” type story going round and round in my mind since I was a teenager, and that in itself was probably influenced by the huge amounts of Buffy and Angel I used to watch.
Then going to university, living with friends and studying Theology kicked it all into touch really. One day I thought “why not, let’s go for it!”
Q) How long did it take you to write?
I’d say about a year for the first draft. Since then there have been endless additions and subtractions to the manuscript of course, but the original draft took about a year. That was on/off though – balancing it all with my studies!
Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
The freedom. The freedom to literally create anything you like with your words. You want a twenty foot monster with six heads and a billion eyes? You write it. It’s great, it’s like being captain of your own ship on this great big ocean of literature.
Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Those moments (and all writers have them) when you read what you’ve just spent hours writing and think “this is absolute twaddle.” Self-doubt plagues us all, and it’s a horrible thing to endure.
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
Hmmm. I’d be the Queen I think. Sounds a bit silly, but she lives such a different life to 99.9% of the world’s population – I think it would be fascinating to get an insight into that. And I always imagine she must be very lonely, for me as a writer I’d love to experience that.
Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
Oh gosh. There’s a half eaten tub of clotted cream right at the back. It’s been there months but I’m too scared to open it and look at what’s inside!
Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
Well I have the second part of “The Chronicles of Darkness” series coming out this winter, and I also have planned a novella called “The Man of Eternal Tears” which I’m hoping to release this summer if I get round to it. So there’s plenty still to come – watch this space!
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