According to his mother, Matthew Sullivan showed signs of creativity at a very early age. Of course, that might just be her polite way of saying he was a little weird.
After graduating from Johns Hopkins University, Matthew began working as an investment banker and was certain he had his whole life and career mapped out. He even had a twenty-year plan to prove it.
However, after a yearlong battle with cancer (he’s been cured for over twelve years now), Matthew realized that life isn’t meant to be planned — it’s meant to be lived. A few weeks later, he quit his job and began writing.
Since taking the leap, Matthew has written for film, television, and print, and he loves crafting stories for all mediums and audiences.
Matthew currently lives in Scottsdale, AZ with his amazing wife and daughters. Matthew and his wife all create animal children’s books. To see some of their work, check out the Writing Sullivans.
Q&A with Matthew
Q: When and where was Matthew Sullivan born?
A: That’s a great first question. I was born on April 8th, 1980 in Falls Church, Virginia.
Q: How tall are you?
A: I’m 6’3″ but my wife says that’s only when I stand up straight, which is almost never.
Q: What was it like being an only child?
A: I don’t know where you heard I was an only child, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m actually the second oldest of seven awesome siblings. Family is the most important thing in my life.
Q: That was a great picture and all, but it’s close to twenty-five years old. Do you have any more recent proof of your “real” family?
A: If you insist, here’s another picture taken at my wedding (11/15/14)…
Q: That is much better. Moving on, how did Matthew Sullivan decide to get into writing?
A: Serious question, serious answer… I fell in love with reading/writing at an early age, but I chose to set it free (like they say you should do with things you love) to focus more on math and science. I made the transition partly because math and science came easy to me, but also because I never thought writing could actually be a career option. It wasn’t until I had a year-long tussle with testicular cancer that I realized how unfulfilled I was in my job and decided that I needed to follow my own creative path. I quit my job as an investment banker and moved to LA, where I started performing stand up and writing screenplays. Over time, I gravitated back to my first love, novels. Since it came back to me after all those years, it just proves that it was meant to be.
Q: Who were Matthew Sullivan’s biggest influences?
A: Roald Dahl on the novel side. I read all of his books when I was a kid, and The Witches gave me nightmares well into my twenties. I’ve also been influenced by a lot of filmmakers. My big three are John Hughes, Tim Burton, and the Coen brothers.
Q: Is it true you really want to give away a million books?
A: No. I really want to give away more books than that. But I thought a million was a nice place to start. Basically, anyone who joins my Readers Group can get a free ebook copy of either Stealing Christmas or The Orphans.
Q: Where can people signup Matthew Sullivan’s Readers Group?
A: I have a signup form on the front page of my website. They can also click here to join.
Q: What does Matthew Sullivan do when he isn’t writing?
A: My favorite thing to do is spend time with my wife and family. I’m also a huge sports fan and fantasy sports champion (mostly baseball and football), and really enjoy making bread and pizza (I have a sourdough blog), meditation, and doing yoga. Why are you laughing? That wasn’t a joke.
Q: Oh. Sorry, Matthew Sullivan.
A: Why do you keep using my full name like that? It’s kinda weird.
Q: Have you ever heard of SEO?
A: Yeah.
Q: Well, there are a lot of Matthew Sullivans. Sometimes, you gotta do weird stuff to stand out.
A: Ah. I see. Good point. Well, I think that’s it.
Q: Me too, Matthew Sullivan.