Get to know our author of our book of the month for July, Matt Rogers. Matt is the internationally bestselling author of the Dante Jacoby series. He began self-publishing at the age of eighteen, and in the following eight years he single-handedly wrote and marketed more than thirty-five thriller novels. His books have collectively sold over one million copies. His stories weave stimulating philosophy with relentless, page-turning action, and he aims to educate and entertain in equal measure. As an ultramarathon runner and mountain trekker, Matt enjoys exploring the capabilities of the body and mind, lending experiential weight to his visceral writing.
- To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled
I was born in Traralgon, Victoria and raised in south-east Melbourne. I attended Huntingdale Primary School, which had a bilingual Japanese program – the influences of which you’ll see in The Forsaken (a deep respect for Japanese culture has stayed with me all these years). I attended Haileybury College for secondary school.
2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?
I think I determined to be a fiction author at something like 7 or 8 years old, so the goal was still the same at 12. I’ve written fiction since the age of 6, tapping away daily at my laptop when I got home from school. At 18, I took a gap year from studying law at Monash University to self-publish vigilante thrillers on Amazon, and I sold well enough in that first year for it to become my full-time job. I worked seven days a week writing, publishing, and marketing my novels from 18 to 26, and I’ve been fortunate enough to sell over a million copies self-published. I didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder after my initial success, so I wrote and released a book every 3-4 months, self-publishing 36 novels in total. I’m still only 27, and I’d place all my bets on still wanting to be a fiction author at 30. I’ve never wanted to do anything else.
3. What were three works of art – book or painting or piece of music, etc – you can now say had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?
First up were the Jack Reacher novels, which I binged early in teenagehood – they were foundational for setting me on the path of wanting to write vigilante thrillers. I sensed the art beneath the surface of those books. Lee Child’s prose is fairly spartan, but at the same time inimitable: clearly the work of a master knowing exactly what to say and how to say it. There’s a reason he’s sold 100 million copies. Next up was Don Winslow, who to this day is my favourite writer of all-time – he writes commercially as well as you can possibly do it, which I consider an art form in itself. Lee and Don are by far my biggest literary inspirations, and otherwise (because I write cinematically) I look to the masters of modern cinema – Denis Villeneuve in particular. You might know him as the director of the Dune movies, but his previous Hollywood films – Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049 – are all masterpieces, and those movies guided me on the path to making something that readers deeply resonate with.
4. Please tell us about your novel (which is also our July BOTM!), The Forsaken.
I consider The Forsaken my real debut in a way, considering it’s my first traditionally published book. I love writing action, but there’s definitely an art to it – look at the film Mad Max Fury Road, for example. When I first started writing The Forsaken, I thought, “Why can’t you combine the beauty of action with something deeper, like the philosophy that runs through the HBO show True Detective“? This book is the result, which I hope audiences will read with the passion with which I wrote it. It’s a relentless, no-holds-barred thrill ride that follows two protagonists, Logan Booth and Alice Mason, who are struggling to find meaning in a world that has beaten them down at every turn. Their journey through the novel, which takes place over the course of 48 hours, is gritty, raw, and I hope insightful.
5. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?
I believe fiction works best when it inspires, and I hope anyone who picks up this book can connect with the existential struggles of Logan and Alice. I’ve drawn strength from fictional characters all my life, and this is my attempt to do something similar. Whether I pull it off or not is entirely up to the reader, but if just one reader walks away with a different perspective on life and how to approach its challenges, then my job is done.
6. Whom do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?
Don Winslow is by far the writer I admire most. I’ve always written commercially, so I look for the authors who do that best. The amount Don can communicate in such few words is breathtaking, and, as I said above, I consider that an art form. In my own writing, I want to get as much across as I can in as few words as possible, and everything Don’s written gets that done as best as I’ve ever seen it. Of course I love literary fiction, but somehow Don manages to be literary in a way that’s accessible to everyone, and I’ve studied his writing for years in an attempt to emulate even a fraction of what he’s able to do.
7. What advice do you give aspiring writers?
It’ll sound simple, but just show up every day. That’s all I’ve done my whole career. Whether it’s 50 words or 3,000, get something down each day. Stephen King’s age-old advice of “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot,” sums it up. We can get so caught up in technique when the most exponential gains are made by showing up every day and doing your best. Trust me, if you put in the time, the quality will take care of itself.
The Forsaken
In the twilight of his career, Logan learns he has been a vessel for furthering government interests, not a rogue hitman for a band of vigilantes. The revelation destroys him.
But when Jorge Romero – an investigative reporter and Logan's oldest friend – is brutally and inexplicably murdered, Logan allows his fury to deliver him from despair.
With an ally in Alice Mason, a homeless witness with a target on her back, Logan goes to war. Against whom, he isn't sure, but he knows powerful forces are at work behind the scenes.
Now, to deliver justice, Logan and Alice must confront their demons and win a savage battle that could destroy their lives... even if they survive.
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