Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I earned a degree from the University of Arizona in Creative Writing and English Literature, and have been working in the Insurance industry since 2009. I am early in my publishing career, but I have two books out, and am working on the third, which will complete my first trilogy.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Quarantine, and it is the second book in my Containment Series. I love dystopian/post apocalyptic stories, and this blends both of them together, along with a good deal of government conspiracy. Like most of my ideas, I can’t remember exactly where this one came from, but the plot twist came first, and everything branched out from there.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write best in the closet. It’s quiet, free from distraction, and oddly well air conditioned.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been majorly influenced by Joseph Heller, Ian McEwan, and Orson Scott Card.
What are you working on now?
Eradication, book three of the Containment Series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Most of my work is promoted via Amazon ads, but I also promote through my Facebook page, and have just started with Facebook ads, as well as promotion sites to push my discounted periods.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be consistent. Even if you can only write 200 words a day, after a year you’ll have a 73,000 word manuscript, and that’s a novel. Also, just don’t be afraid to put it out there. No one gets it right the first time, and I have just published the 3rd edition of my first book.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
See above. Those weren’t my ideas, but they are the best that I’ve heard.
What are you reading now?
Atlantis Plague, by AG Riddle.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Finishing my first series, scaling up my advertisements, and hopefully being able to go full-time by 2022.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Catch-22, Lord of the Rings, The Complete Collection of Short Stories by Ernest Hemingway, and War and Peace.
Author Websites and Profiles
Matthew Staggs Website
Matthew Staggs Amazon Profile
Matthew Staggs’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile