The Little Things by Matt Cost

The life of a writer can be a hard road to travel. Lonely isolation with your only company being your own reflection in the computer screen staring back at you. Taking and accepting the criticism of editorial feedback. The anxiety of waiting for early reviews. The sting of haters taking cheap shots at your book. Throwing your book into an ocean of other competing novels. Poor turnouts for speaking and signing events.

And then we do it all over again.

Why?

The love of creation, sure, but it is also the little things that can make all the difference.

 

Inspiration comes at odd times. For me, it is often on a dog walk in the woods. Just me and my editorial team of dog, Whimzi, Peanut, and Saint. This is where we brainstorm the next plot twist, the road to be taken, and where the characters will take us. And sometimes, just sometimes, that revelation is enormous and makes all my senses tingle in anticipation of getting back to my laptop to get it down on the proverbial paper.

The love of the writing community as a whole is no little thing. But when a fellow author such as Jule Selbo gives your book advance praise, it makes it all worthwhile. “The author weaves a slippery spiderweb of clues and connections for Creed as he plays an assumed role within a vast and dangerous criminal empire. Readers will root for Creed, for he refuses to accept that there is one set of laws for the ordinary people and another set for the ultra-rich scions of industry.”

It is also nice to open your email to see an advance teaser of an upcoming review by Midwest Book Review. “Not always merry but always delightfully unexpected, Max’s ability to confront a wide cast of characters is as astute as his ability to confront his own failings and responses.”

Lit Legend author friend reviews and fabled Midwest Book Reviews are wondrous but sometimes a review from a stranger in the wild is the spark that keeps the journey alive. “With razor-sharp wit and unflinching honesty, Cost crafts a narrative that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.” Thank you, Laura Jensen.

I recently did a COST TALK at the Skowhegan Public Library to a low turnout of people (who were a fantastic few by the way). The librarian made a point of telling me that my books are vastly popular and rarely stay on the shelf. She went so far as to show me that the library has all seventeen of my books and only three were currently in. That was uplifting and made a difference.

Of course, when the turnout is large, that is pretty dang nice as well.

Another library event on the sole sunny day in some time brought about the dreaded zero attendance. The young man who worked in the library told me that his high school English teacher assigned my first mystery, Mainely Power, to the class, and that they discussed and had to write an essay about the book. Wow. That made the drive and the empty seats all worthwhile.

When I arrived at the Barnes & Noble in South Portland set up by my author friend, Dale Phillips, there were two women who’d driven two hours from Belfast, Maine, because they’d seen that I was signing books that day. They each purchased and had me sign seven books. Nice. The rest of the signing was cake after that.

 

And most recently, I had a table at Brunswick 2nd Friday Art Walk next to author lit legends, Maine Literary Award winners for Crime Fiction—Kate Flora and Maureen Milliken. Friends stopped by to buy books and chat about this and that. Strangers became excited by my collection while others commented that they’d bought, read, and liked my books. One person breathlessly told me she was currently reading Mainely Fear and couldn’t believe she was meeting me.

In three words? All worth it.

 

About the Author

Matt Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries.

Cost has published six books in the Mainely Mystery series, starting with Mainely Power. He has also published five books in the Clay Wolfe Trap series, starting with Wolfe Trap. And finally, there are two books in the Brooklyn 8 Ballo series, starting with Velma Gone Awry. For historical novels, Cost has published At Every Hazard and its sequel, Love in a Time of Hate, as well as I am Cuba. The Not So Merry Adventures of Max Creed is his 17th published book.

Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. They have been replaced in the home with four dogs. Cost now spends his days at the computer, writing.