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Who is this Matt Johnston fella, you ask? Well there really isn't that much to tell. The question you should be asking is how do I purchase his amazing books? (See 'My Writing' via the menu) but as you are already here....
I was born in Stamford Lincolnshire, and then moved to London like everyone else. After 15 years in London I achieved escape velocity, and now I live with my wife and two dogs (bassett hound and greyhound) in Northamptonshire. I love cycling, painting and walking, but my real passions are travelling and writing. I dream of funding the former through a professional career as the latter, and like all aspiring authors I remain hopeful of an agent and publishing deal. But time waits for no man, so I will continue to self publish my writing when I can scrape together the money for copy editing and proof reading. As such, writing as a self funding hobby is a more realistic expectation.
My writing combines elements of science fiction, mythology, fantasy, psychology (in which I have a degree - though I was a poor student) and psychedelia. The only rules I seek to apply to my writing is to try to avoid as many cliche as possible, and to produce something which is my own creation.
My own tastes in literature are wide, but lean towards non-fiction, particularly history. However, in recognition of their influence on my writing I would like to doth a cap to Lewis Carroll, Douglas Adams, Patrick Hamilton, Philip K. Dick, William Burroughs, Carlos Castaneda, Charles Bukowski, Frank Herbert, Kurt Vonnegut, Fernc Karinthy, Mario Vargas Llosa and Joseph Conrad.
My first (published) novel, Dislocate was written over the summer of 2015. It follows the trials of a deeply troubled young woman, Francis Kelly, who can manipulate time through her breathing.
My second novel Beneath Liquid Skin was written through 2016. It is a reality and mind bending tale which was really fun to write (think Alice in Wonderland - but Alice is a drug addict on a stag night). My philosophy was to try and open the top of my head and see what flew out... In this respect, I think I have succeeded.
My Graphic Novel - The Beard was written and drawn while living with my good friend and muse, Matthew Poole, in Brixton, and a year living in Tooting, South London (2008, I think). It was meant to only be a three page comic (a joke at Matt's expense), but concept kept growing, and is now over 70 pages long. It is nod to the Marvel/DC superheroes, though much more silly.
In the continual absence of an agent and publishing deal, I hope to self publish my third novel - Big Sister - in early 2019. This novel combines fantasy and mythology while set in genre of a modern western, drawing from the writings of Carlos Castaneda, and the films of Sergio Leone. It is essentially a revenge story following the murder of a young woman lured to Hollywood of false promises of stardom, but draws elements of native American folklore.
Eventually, I hope to publish my magnum opus - a five novel science fiction/steampunk series called Borealis - which I have been writing since 2014 (two and a half books completed). It simply too big for me to be able to finance for self publishing. As such, if all hope does fade, I will simply publish it 'warts and all' on this website. But you have to have a dream. I have many (I also want to learn how to play the banjo), and this is one of them.
Alongside my published novels I regularly write blogs and short stories which can be found in the blog section of this website.
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