My name is Matthew Atkinson and I write stories that aim right for the face; sometimes it’s a punch but it might be a caress. I’ve sneaked into the fiction world through the ventilation shaft since I grew up on ’90s and ’00s video games and my college creative writing program considered me untouchably radioactive (although I did win the school fiction contest my first year as a writing major!). I also work an emotionally intense day job that I think charges up my stories into hammer blows no matter what they’re about.
My creative process is a hard press into the darkness. Every day I learn about trusting my instincts more and discarding the insecurity-laden myths around writing. A lot of my blog content concerns the meta-battle of thriving as an independent fiction writer.
I publish whenever I can. New stories drop with no warning but a funny taste in your mouth, like lightning bolts. I write fantasy, co(s)mic horror, and other stuff.
My north star is the clutch classic pulp authors who followed a hardcore policy of, let us say, “blast it and move past it.” Sometimes I prop up my laptop on the treadmill so I can lock down another thousand words or so while rucking (walking with a weighted backpack). Marching forward, always, I’d like to think!