Matthew Jon Smith

12/29/2024 10:57 AM CST Dear Reader, I’m finally going to do what I should have done in the first place. I never introduced myself. Here I am blabbing in your ear about all sorts of stuff, and I haven’t even taken the time to tell you about myself and what I do. I know you’re smart, and you probably have everything pieced together via context already, but I feel I would do you a disservice if I did not confirm the conclusions you have reached through your vigorous detective work. So, allow me to explain. My name is Matthew Jon Smith, and as we approach New Year’s Eve of ’24, I am currently 41, but I tell everyone 42 because my birthday is in January. I’m attempting to get your attention with this here blog because I write horror fiction. I might even presume to call myself an author. I have one published story in a horror anthology, so gall dang it, I am an author. A horror author, to be specific. I know having one published story, a measly 2,500 words, equates to the whi...

This blog is a little late. But I just wanted to quick say: Last Christmas: A Holiday Horror Anthology   featuring the story, "Traditions Tangled in Tinsel," by me, Matthew Jon Smith, from Dark Moon Rising Publications, edited by the illustrious Rob Tannahill, is out NOW. There was a brief moment where it was almost in a top 100 list. I am really stoked to half been a part of this project and I would love if you went and checked it out! The e-book is only $2.99. You can get it at Godless or that other retailer that is so huge I don't need to use their name.

Despite what the article says. I have bought this now and its on my TBR 12/17/2024 6:19 PM CST Dear Reader, I blew you off on Sunday. You probably haven’t caught on just yet, but I made an unspoken promise to you that I would write a blog post every Sunday, and I failed you. I am a goddamned disgrace, I tell you. But, if I’m being honest with myself, it was for a good reason. Inspiration possessed me as I hammered out the second draft of a story I am working on. The story that I am going to be turning in for that big anthology I wrote about last week. (See last blog, “In the Eyes of the IDOLS”) In relation to another blog I wrote, “Re-writes, The Horror I Must Face,” I must tell you that writing a focused and well-informed second draft of that story was exhilarating. I know that sounds cheesy, but it wasn’t until I had let a couple of people read the story and I had gotten detailed feedback from a person with a different perspective that I really started to see my story f...

12/8/2024 8:53 AM CST Dear Reader, This week, I started out thinking I would talk about Street Fighter. That’s right. One of the few things I do nowadays that doesn’t relate to writing is play a decent amount of Street Fighter 6. Sometimes, if I’m struggling with a difficult passage, I will fire up Steam and fight a few online matches. It often gets me out of my funk or at least forces me to take a well-deserved break from the grind of trying to make it as a new writer in my 40s. There are lessons about patience and craft that I’ve learned from Street Fighter, lessons that I plan to apply to my writing. But I’m not going to discuss that today—consider this a tease for later. (For the record, my Ken is currently a two-star gold ranking, and I fought my way there from a low bronze. More on that in future blogs.) Something monumental happened and we have to talk about that instead. I was lucky enough to see an amazing opportunity on social media at just the right time. Michael B...

12/1/2024 10:13 AM CST Dear Reader, Ok. So far, the general topics we have covered are my influences, how I got into reading, how I got into writing, and my adventures in accidental publishing. Today, I want to talk about rewrites, a subject I once hated but am looking to embrace. "Write a second draft." I cringed each time I heard some seasoned editor or agent say it in a "Helpful Tips for Writers" video or when I read it as advice from writers in their blogs. These writers were clearly lying. There is no way they abandoned their 90k-word draft, started over from scratch, and wrote an entirely fresh draft. They obviously want other writers to waste their time and ruin their work, right? My work is a labor of love. I pored over that manuscript for long hours, and there is a delicate balance of symbolism and scenes that unconsciously convey a deeper message and theme. Obviously, I should just do a little editing, revising, and proofreading, and it will be...