Matt Stewart's Blog - Posts Tagged "books"

I've always wanted to be an author. Back in second grade, I began typing away on my father's electric typewriter. I loved the smell of Whiteout, brushing the white paint over a mis-typed letter, watching the stack of pages grow as I rolled fresh sheets of paper into the typewriter and let my imagination run wild on the page in front of me. My only problem is I could never quite finish any book I started. And I started lots of them. But then a few years ago, I read a "How To Write A Book" book and took the author's advice to heart when he said, "Write about what you know." What DID I know? Me. I knew me. So I decided to write about myself. I had a very interesting story to tell - an inside look at college football from the walk-on player's perspective. The fact I played at Northwestern when we went to the Rose Bowl made the story that much more compelling. It was very Rudy-like. When I walked on in 1993, Northwestern was one of the worst teams in the country. I had a front row seat as Coach Gary Barnett turned the program around, and we went from the bottom of the Big Ten to winning two Big Ten titles my final two years on the team. I went from walk-on to scholarship player. The parallels were uncanny, and so I wrote about it. I sent it off for review, nervously wondering if others would enjoy my writing. To my relief, the reviews were over-the-top positive. People really enjoyed it! That gave me the confidence to continue writing, and thus, "The Man From KNEW News" was born. My writing is better now, and with my latest creation, I enjoyed the challenge of plotting a murder mystery, leaving clues along the way while telling a compelling story. Once again, I'm writing about what I know, which is television journalism. It also is receiving great reviews (5 of 5 Stars from Reader's Favorite), and everyone who's read it so far has enjoyed the comedy along with the mystery. I'm sure you will, too.