Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy , The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski , A Song of Ice and Fire ( Game of Thrones ) by George RR Martin , Cherub and Henderson ’ s Boys by Robert Muchamore and Jack Reacher by Lee Child have inspired me the most ,” Matthew said .
“ Back in 2017 , I released an episodic short story titled Forging Steele on a website ,” he said .
“ People would sign up for a story and each week would receive a piece of the story , similar to the way a television show works .
Matthew confessed he was always reading adventure books that stretched his imagination when he was a kid . He loves ancient and medieval history and studied modern history at Colo High School .
Hawkesbury born and raised , Matthew graduated to work as a lab technician in an analytical chemistry business , but soon left the industry to pursue his passion of writing full time .
What makes a good storyteller the Independent asked of him ?
“ A story you read and keep reading and then after a while you realise you ’ ve been reading it for some time . You become immersed in it and you ’ re not paying attention to anything else ,” Matthew said . “ I craft words and use descriptive language as much as possible to tell stories about how people interact and what their locations look like .
“ The dialogue must feel as natural and flowing as possible .”
His two protagonists , Imogen and Ashton , exchange a great deal of dialogue explaining what they see and elaborate on how they ’ re feeling so you get a sense of historical accuracy mixed with drama .
“ In the ‘ modern sections ’ outside the time travel circle of friends , Imogen and Ashton interact a lot with other characters , some are real figures in history and some are fictional .”
Matthew , who attends karate in East Richmond , also draws on his own experiences .
“ I ’ m able to use a number of weapons in practise and I use that knowledge when describing action scenes .” His advice for other budding writers ? “ Just go for it . It ’ s not going to immediately work out 100 per cent of the time but you keep working at it ,” Matthew said .
“ My writing style is so much better now through practise . It started a bit bland , but now I have a tighter structure and use dynamic words .”
Matthew ’ s aim is to continue honing his own personal writing style and publish for many years to come .
Author Matthew Ryan in his Grose Wold office .
McGraths Hill Children ’ s Centre Inc A Child ’ s Learning Centre
Care hours 6.30am to 6.30pm Open 49 weeks of the year Care from birth to 6 years Nutritious meals prepared daily Pre school transition programs Qualified and experienced staff Special needs catered for All daily needs supplied Community based non-profit centre Established in 1989
‘ Til Time , a novella by Matthew Ryan .
The Sultan ’ s Siege is the first instalment of a seven-part series revolving around the thrilling escapades of two modern day adventurers , Imogen and Ashton , who struggle to stick together through notable events in history to make it safely back home .
It is being released in e-book format on Kobo , Barnes & Noble , iBook , Google Play , Smashwords and Amazon Kindle .
You can find more about Matthew on Facebook @ Matthew Ryan Storytelling .
69 Andrew Thompson Drive , McGraths Hill Phone 4587 7141 mhcc @ westnet . com . au
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THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 150 // NOVEMBER 2022 29