It's heartbreaking for me to learn that author, client, and friend Matt Fitzpatrick has died. Matt wanted to be a writer as much as anyone I've ever met, he became one, and it was an honor for me to watch and support that transformation. I know he had a lot of books left to write and I'm glad he was able to finish the ones he did and see them in print. Matt's legacy goes far beyond his books, though that's the story for someone else to tell. I knew Matt the crime novelist and I loved him, his energy, his drive, and his desire to write the words and stories in his head. If you want to check out just some of our conversations, you may do so here with this interview at LitReactor - "Cathartic Experience: A Conversation with Crime Writer Matt Fitzpatrick" - excerpt below, as well as his most recent appearance on This Podcast Will Change Your Life, which you can find here. Otherwise, please take care of yourselves, those you love, and please keep reading independent authors like Matt, it won't bring Matt back, it will keep his words alive.
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So many places to go next with this, though let's start with this idea of "reinvention." I know you've been engaged in an effort to reinvent yourself as an author, and I'd love you to comment on that process, as well as talk about what reinvention means to you as a human being and an author.
Man, you’re pushing introspection on this one. When I left the stockbroker/finance world after 25 years in order to become an author, I left a very social environment. It’s not a world quite as cliche as in the 80s movies like Wall Street, but it’s a world of “scotch & sirloin.” It’s a world of who can be the loudest at the table. In becoming an author, I had to learn to verbally and physically retract. To reinvent my life, I had to learn to embrace solitude and constant cogitation. Being an author can often be a lonely existence. I needed to learn to become one within my own skin and within my own thoughts. There was no more meeting the office crew for a drink at 5:30 every Thursday. It’s more about waking up and taking that extra thirty seconds to stare at the sun rising over the bay.
Reinventing as a human being, for me, really was about wrapping my arms around humility, an often quiet environment, and thoughts that are a lot more stark. In my previous world, the mechanics moved so fast, so I really never got to marry and parse a proper thought. As an author, the thoughts float by you like plankton, and I have the honor and luxury to be able to analyze each one. I guess overall, the biggest component to the reinvention is all about slowing down my thought process, my glances at the world around me, and the conversations that I get to have. In my old world, conversations were just mechanisms to get to the next angle that one sought. Now, conversations are actually “experiences.” Overall, it’s a slowing down of every aspect of your life, and letting each breath draw and end slower and deeper.