Matthew Sawyer
Biography
About me ... I don't have any awards - not even an honorable mention. Heck, I didn't even go to school to become a Writer - I was going to be a Fine Art Painter. Yet I had to pay my student loans. After college, I worked in Mental Health - as in schizophrenics and other assortment of severe mental disorders. All the while, I painted and drew - and wrote. I'm a Stephen King fan, so that may have something to do with my latter ambition in life. I was reading The Waste Lands (Dark Tower Book 3), much to my disappointment, and the Master's words spoke to me. King once said something about knowing you're ready to write a book when you recognize the fact - paraphrased - "You can do better." Grandiose, I know, but I knew the story I wanted to read - years of drawing monsters had spun my own mythology and I hoped for something comparable and real.
The book I wanted to write would fulfill a fading desire and breathe life into the chimeras I had sketched into my notebooks. That visual mythology was collectively called "The Mortui Philosophies." I had tried animation, but the repetitive work only produced frustration. So much in fact, I joined the 'sane' world and switched careers into Internet Technology. Secure, I had stopped painting and focused on a very rewarding career. After a few years lacking expression from my creative self and a disenchanting experience with the Gunslinger, my Pazuzu Trilogy took its first breath.
And there is the reason readers should read my Pazuzu Trilogy - it is a unique, blasphemous, scrubbed-til-Sunday epic. The Eighth Revision is the first pass in which I did not make major changes - I found typos and a few obtuse sentences, but other than those, the changes are smattering instances of changing blocks of text into dialogue. If my 4,000+ readers would please try Pazuzu - Manifestation again, I don't think they'll be disappointed - it's the same story now told with an Active Voice and looks downright professional opposed my miserable self-publishing effort to date. I hope readers will enjoy the free ebook version of Manifestation - the first book in the trilogy - tell everyone they know and buy the second and third book. Manifestation is background and Emergence is when the story really picks-up speed. The Seventh Revision was good, but the Eighth is better.
Where to find Matthew Sawyer online
Where to buy in print
Books
The Easter Bunny is a Poltergeist
by Matthew Sawyer
Price: Free! 2410 words.
Published on May 21, 2011. Fiction.
How do rabbits speak with each other in a narrative? And more importantly, for the sake of telling this post-modern folk tale, how does Peter the rabbit speak for the benefit of both the author and readers? Telepathy? Empathy and mime? That latter option would certainly increase the manuscript’s overall word count, but the story would become needlessly tedious. Still, how does a rabbit talk?
A Codex of Malevolence
by Matthew Sawyer
Price: $0.99 USD. 49140 words.
Published on March 1, 2011. Fiction.
A Codex of Malevolence tracks the spread of weird and unholy evil from Wister Town, Wisconsin. Witches and the pagan religion become entwined in these short, creepy tales of gore. Witness the horror invade Wisconsin, incorporate in Texas and gain entrance into California.
(this short story compilation was originally titled Cancerous Exodus)
Heart of the Snowman
by Matthew Sawyer
Price: Free! 4880 words.
Published on February 15, 2011. Fiction.
Two young sorcerers in Southern Wisconsin have an opportunity to animate a snowman with a dead man's heart. Rob first must know why Mr Jelinshek showed up at Tim's house, he distrusts his friend and fellow alchemist while they explore the Dark Arts.
Preternatural Valentine
by Matthew Sawyer
Price: Free! 5050 words.
Published on February 6, 2011. Fiction.
In this short, weird horror story, Charlie Prentess gets an anonymous Valentine's Card at his job in Santa Barbara, CA. He's instantly suspicious and thinks his boss and coworkers have conspired against him. After he leaves work that evening on Valentine's Day, Charlie is introduced to his genuine secret admirer. Despite renewed hope and expectations, it ends badly. Happy Valentine's Day!
Gaunt Rainbow
by Matthew Sawyer
Price: $4.99 USD. 86860 words.
Published on October 13, 2010. Fiction.
Rainbow is cursed and drains life from living things so that she remains in perfect health. A self-proclaimed messiah, a pubescent boy, cured her blindness when she was a small girl. Pamela believes the boy also resurrected her after she died in a warehouse fire when all of Capital burned. Her curse began the moment she came back to life, but by then the boy had vanished.
Horrid Tales of Wister Town
by Matthew Sawyer
Price: $0.99 USD. 55980 words.
Published on September 5, 2010. Fiction.
The Horrid Tales of Wister Town is a collection of modern, urban horror short stories by Matthew Sawyer, the author of the Pazuzu Trilogy. Wister Town is a small, ingrown toenail of a place in southern Wisconsin where everyone has a creepy, and often noxious, story.
Pazuzu – Abeyance
by Matthew Sawyer
Price: $2.99 USD. 92650 words.
Published on March 13, 2010. Fiction.
Before she died, Tamara Stoughnt proclaimed her demon-possessed son the reincarnation of the messiah. Heathens then attacks the Chosen's Promised Land. In Pazuzu – Abeyance, the demon and his heathen minister cross the fires burning across Capital, searching for the flock gathered by the mother of the possessed boy.
Pazuzu – Abeyance is the last book in Matthew Sawyer's Pazuzu Trilogy.
Pazuzu – Emergence
by Matthew Sawyer
Price: $2.99 USD. 89630 words.
Published on March 13, 2010. Fiction.
Pazuzu – Emergence continues the bleak tale begun in Pazuzu – Manifestation. Horror comes to the battered squatters at Saint Erasmus. Lost in the chaos, Hen Cortras is taken prisoner and followed into the Shur desert, where he meets heathens - nomadic terrorists who fight the Chosen's Church and military.
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Smashwords book reviews by Matthew Sawyer
- A Pair of Creepy Shorts
on March 11, 2011
"Uncollected Temptation" is a gripping and rewarding tale - definitely a recommended read. "Review" delivers strong writing, but it's nightmarish headiness can be unappealing. Skip straight to "Uncollected Temptation" for immediate gratification.
- The Shaking
on May 23, 2011
Very descriptive and explicit - that's your warning, so hopefully you'll have read the review first! But don't let that dissuade readers. The writer uses rich, descriptive language and effectively portrays a nerve-wracking event.
Criticism: The writing-style reaches too far during the dream-hallucination - short sentences are friendly, despite the mood the author seeks to invoke (But again, that is only during the hallucination). In the same vein, reign in those adjectives - but then that is my fussiness.
Recommendation: A rewarding foray into an author's intense writing.
Matthew Sawyer
Pazuzu Trilogy
- Like Clockwork and a Tangled Mind
on May 23, 2011
I like how Lea Ryan's mind works - I feel like we live in similar fictional atmospheres, because her writing reminds me much of my own - which in my perspective, is decent writing. Ryan's Like Clockwork and A Tangled Mind begins with the short story A Great Man. The questionable protagonist, Charlie, reminisces about a girl he met last night. He remembers Juni, but relies on a brochure to remind him that he wakes in old, lonely Mason's Inn. The only greeting Charlie gets that morning is the scent of the pale girl he met yesterday. He follows her aroma outside. Once Charlie is orientated, she introduces herself. Still, in the end, he decides who she is. It is his divine privilege.
- What the Dead Fear
on May 23, 2011
Wonderful conjuring of ethereal planes and beings. The author does seize on the concept of the Egyptian god Anubis and pays respectable and creative tribute. My favorite piece from Lea Ryan yet.
- The Crows: A Campfire Tale
on Jan. 08, 2012
The author has a promising story - it begins with a old man outside shooting crows for recreation. The author implies the murderous pastime is a result of being fired from a job. The reader doesn't learn much about the man, or even his name, but "The Crows" is a short story and is written to feel in-the-moment - telling more might interrupt the sprint. Unfortunately, the ending is predictable and the story itself quickly moves lockstep into shopworn rhythm. Still, it's an enjoyable and fast read. I'd recommend the tale and tell it at a campfire.
Although, I'd polish the tale and fix the instances of overlooked, novice-like flaws - none of which really disturbs the story but the tale has potential to become poetic prose - probably not great, but stronger. I'm talking about examples such as "he heard a sharp squawk and a blur of shadow." I just can't imagine what a blur of shadow sounds like - blur is a visual word, so the author can step in and make suggestions. Also, there is a little confusion with verb use - ie. swoop, swooping, swooped. This story can generate more dynamic images if the author drops the "-ing." Then again, that's me being picky and my own writing has plenty of room for improvement. I must reiterate, "The Crows" is an enjoyable story, even if it does sound familiar.
- Kraken
on Jan. 28, 2012
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