Matthew Arnold Stern
Matthew Arnold Stern is an award-winning public speaker and author of four novels, including Amiga and The Remainders. He earned awards for his writing and public speaking, including Distinguished Toastmaster and an Award of Excellence from the International Online Communications Competition. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from California State University, Northridge. His hometown of Reseda, California plays a prominent role in many of his works. He lives in Lake Forest, California with his wife of nearly 30 years. He has two children, a granddaughter, and lots of cats.
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Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
Whenever I write a novel, I create a playlist of music inspired by the story. I listen to a few songs on my playlist before starting a writing session. It gets me into the mood of the scenes I’m working on and helps me focus on the themes of the story. Each song plays an important role in the book. You can learn about the playlist for my current novel here.
What period of history do you wish you knew more about?
Not a specific period, but a specific group of people. I’m interested in the stories of those who don’t get recorded in history books. Plenty of ordinary people live, die, and are forgotten, but they all have fascinating stories to tell. What was it like for them growing up? What did they do for work? What did they eat? How did they handle everyday activities like using the toilet, washing their clothes, and keeping their house clean? How did they experience major historical events? Those stories need to be told.
Favorite non-reading activity?
Baseball. I grew up a Dodgers fan and started following the Angels when I moved to Orange County. When my son was in Little League, I managed his machine-pitch team, and I was league president for a couple of years. (The kids were great. Their parents were a different story.) We had a special moment a few weeks ago when we took our granddaughter to her first baseball game. I was happy to pass along my love for baseball to a new generation the way my mom passed her love to my brother and me. That’s why we call baseball an heirloom in our family.
What’s the difference (at least for you!) between being a writer and an author? How do you shift gears between the two?
I don’t think there is a difference, and I’m concerned that making those distinctions can discourage those who are starting out. It’s the same thing as the term “aspiring writer.” There’s no such thing. If you write, you’re a writer. And when you claim the title of writer or author for yourself, you will put in the effort to develop your skills and go through the inevitable rejections and setbacks until you reach whatever goals you’ve set. We shouldn’t use terms to gatekeep writers. We’re all on a journey to connect with our readers, and we should support each other.
What brings you great joy?
Connection. Whenever someone writes a review (regardless of the number of stars) or tells me in person how something I wrote affected them, it always makes my day. Connection got me into writing in high school. (You can read my story here. Readers can find answers to their problems the same way we found answers in writing our stories. When we write, we’re never alone.
