Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have just published my first eBook although I have had several poems and articles published in magazine.
My background is in IT although I discovered a real passion for writing after living and traveling the world for the last 8 years.
I am trying to make a living now in the competitive free lance writing space.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Poems and Ramblings – A Foreigner Abroad
This is largely a collection of short poems that addresses the subject area of anxiety and depression. The aim is not just to show the dark places people go to while facing these challenges, but also to show the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
I am an IT professional with no formal training in literature. I write from personal experience in the hope others can relate and perhaps benefit. Most of these poems were written in under a minute and remain unedited. I write from raw emotions, usually at a time when depression takes too much control of my life. It is essentially a type of therapy for me.
Anxiety and depression is real. It is not imagined or a phase. These challenges are not a result of a person being lazy without drive or ambition. Many people with depression are highly functional. They are the person you walk past in the street every morning. The work college you chat with in your lunch break. Anxiety and depression does not discriminate, and often has no face.
I have also included a few opinion pieces and poems on other topics. Having travelled and lived abroad for many years, I use my unique experiences to write about topics from perhaps a different perspective to most. Experiencing different cultures has changed the way I would otherwise have viewed the world.
This collection is dedicated to my four children. Leah, Brianna, Emily and Jacob. You are and always will be my reason to fight on.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write better poetry after a few to many drinks.
Also when I am at my most depressednit serves as a type of therooy for me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Maurice Gee
Luke Rhinehart
What are you working on now?
An eBook about Socila Media for Business
An eBook around Anxiety and Depression for Business
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Facebook
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing every day!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Don’t hit the ball in the air and you won’t get caught” – referring to way you can go out in cricket (from my dad).
The real lesson however is that if you eliminate ways to fail, your chances of success massively increase.
What are you reading now?
The Bible (I am agnostic however)
What’s next for you as a writer?
Growing my freelance writing career so I no longer have to work from an office.
What is your favorite book of all time?
The Dice Man
Author Websites and Profiles
Matthew Pollock Website