I’m a New Zealand writer with over thirty years hands-on professional experience as a published author and in publishing. My main interests are in the sciences – physics, particularly, though I’m deeply curious about a lot of stuff, especially the human condition. I have qualifications in writing, music and anthropology among other fields, and hold multiple post-graduate degrees in history. I’m also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London. However, I don’t define myself as a historian and prefer not to be labelled as one. History is but one of the things I do. What’s more important to me is understanding people, whose story is told by history and by science, sociology and philosophy – aspects of which I learned post-grad under a former student of both Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Did I mention I also like science fiction? And fantasy? I’m a huge Tolkien fan. I write a lot – fiction (mostly fantasy and science-fiction) and non-fiction (well, yes, it’s mostly history, but I’ve done science and engineering too). My published writing, sold on merit, includes over 550 articles, academic papers, reviews, novellas and short stories, and over 50 books on topics ranging from travel guides to biography, engineering, military and social history. I’ve been published principally by Penguin Random House.
Does anybody remember Gerry Anderson’s Stingray – the marionette-and-sci-fi show that preceded Thunderbirds. It was a bit before my time, but I picked it up on TV repeats when I was a kid. I haven’t seen much of it since, but I remember it having the design and style of the James Bond movies of … More The awesome retro-future of… Stingray!
My new novella, ‘The Last Citadel of the Innocent’, is being unleashed on 8 July in the second Endless Worlds compilation – eight stories by established and new authors of dark faerie, fantasy and wonder. Click on the cover to pre-order. What’s more, the publishers – Brisbane-based Endless Worlds Publications – are offering a free … More Don’t forget to pre-order ‘Endless Worlds Volume 2’
It was the winter solstice in New Zealand this week, and from now on we’ll be getting longer days and lighter mornings. Except, for a couple of weeks, we won’t. It’ll get darker, later, for a while. So what gives? I mean, the solstice is meant to be the moment when it all turns around… … More Why mornings get darker after the winter solstice
This week’s obscure English word is onomastics. This is the term given to the study of proper names. Your challenge? Write a sentence (or two) in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2017
While trying to rescue his parents from the clutches of city Enforcers, a young soldier finds himself trapped in a war of ancient powers – and has to find the strength in himself to make a terrible choice. My new novella, ‘The Last Citadel of the Innocent’, is being published on 8 July in the … More Endless Worlds – Volume 2 – now on preorder
Over the years I’ve written a fair amount of stuff on my various interests – which range from the human condition to astrophysics to ship engineering and, inevitably, the people behind all those things. Normally such things disappear from view and that’s that, including blog posts – although it would be hard to beat the … More Dreadnoughts Unleashed – unleashed on Kindle!
Something struck me the other day about the nature of academic ethics in New Zealand and some of the people who flourish by exploiting the conceits of that subculture. Check out these two stories – both are true. 1. A few months ago a gang member arrived in a Blenheim KFC where he saw a … More How academics get away with bullying
