I met this young man just a few weeks ago. He is so talented and quite charming. I am excited to introduce him to you.

Interview with Matt Gannon:

Where did you grow up?

I was born and raised country, but I hold a lot of values from the city as well.  I spent the majority of my life in a small retirement town north of Ottawa (and by small, I mean about 1000 people). After a brief foray into the city where I lived in the ghetto as a minority, I returned to my home town to find a better place to live.

Did you grow up in a reading or writing environment?

As sad as it is, I can’t remember my parents reading to me that often. But I do remember my Grandma always reading to me and telling me stories. She’s a great poet, so that initial exposure to writing and reading was there. I owe a lot to my Grandma.

Growing up, I read a lot. It was an escape for me. It fed my passion to discover more. Even as a young boy I knew there was something more to life, and I was hell-bent to find it.

My parents were forced into a mundane existence, and we clashed a lot. I knew there was more. They thought it was impossible. Work, school, debt, and death: that’s what it seemed they lived by. Now that we’re all older, things are changing. They found new people and live happier lives. But I digress.

What genre do you write?   Read?

This is tough to answer. I’ve been told I need to develop a “brand”, so that readers will recognize me. Nicolas Sparks writes Romance and Stephen King writes Horror; that kind of thing.  I write a lot of non-fiction for The Golden Vanguard and my blog, but what I really want to do is spend my days writing fiction.  As for what genre, I like to write romance, fantasy, thriller, and a mixture of everything. I can’t say I have developed my brand yet. However, I can say that I have a strong focus on the nature of life and society. Everything seems to be social commentary, or finding the greater purpose.

My reading habits are a lot broader. I will read anything.

What is Golden Vanguard?

The Golden Vanguard is a website dedicated to publishing all the latest news headlines and providing our readers with entertainment articles. We cover books, music, art, movies, paranormal, strange happenings, psychology, self-help and how-to’s, and much more. You’ll have to see for yourself.  And naturally, we are very dedicated to our readers. Our motto is “Let Your Voice Be Heard”. Needless to say, submissions are always welcome.

What do you do to develop your craft, workshops, reading, conferences etc…?

I study the craft, write as much as I can, and read a lot in general.  I also have a growing network of writers that I talk with almost daily, and of course, our conversations turn to the subject of writing quite often.  We’ve all become good friends, even though I haven’t met most of them. Amazing how that works.

Tell us about your exciting new blog project.

In about 5 months, I’m going to become a father. I wanted to start something that would allow me to chronicle my time spent as a young father -to-be and interact with other people who are going through the same thing.  So, I’ve started a second blog called The Paternity Chronicles that can be found at www.thepaternitychronicles.blogspot.ca

When was the last time you were in a library?

It’s embarrassing, but probably when I was still in high school. I don’t rent books (I prefer to own), and I have never had a decent library easily accessible. However, I spend a lot of time in Chapters, sometimes sitting and reading for hours.

Tell us about your writing space.

Sometimes it’s in bed on my cell phone, or at my desk in my room. I like to have music playing, and a cup of coffee close at hand. I can write anywhere, although familiarity and comfort helps quite a bit.

I really dislike_____________________________

I was going to make a list, but it would be far too long. One of the things I dislike the most is ignorance and arrogance. I have had way too many run-ins with people who are both ignorant and arrogant.  I find that arrogant people tend to be the most ignorant.

I could rant on and on about the things that I dislike, but just know that the things I love far outnumber the things I don’t.

What inspires you when you feel like giving up your dream of being published?

Feel like giving up? I can’t say I’ve ever felt the need to give up on my dreams. They’re what make me who I am after all. I’ve suffered through a lot of depression, and my dreams are what kept me going.  Apart from my unborn child and my girlfriend, they are all that I live for.

That being said, I never did say I have never been discouraged. There was a time not too long ago when things had begun to die a little. My blog didn’t get much traffic and working on The Golden Vanguard was proving to be difficult. Writing fiction was certainly near impossible at that time.  Then out of the nowhere, I got a comment from some anonymous person telling me to keep going and that I can achieve all that I want to. That gave me what I needed to try harder.

So for all the readers out there, your comments matter; even the anonymous ones. Feedback is part of the writer’s lifeblood. That and coffee.

I know that I have the ideas in me just waiting to be discovered; the novel that will change my family’s life.  Somebody somewhere is desperately searching for what I have to offer.

I hope you will all show this writer some comment luv…