M. Matheson

Biography

"I find that good fiction brims with more reality than many other things claiming to be the truth. A good story will strip bare our heart, reveal the things that only God can see and move our soul." -M. Matheson

It is my sincere wish (leaving me only two) that you, the reader of these stories, will be moved in some way, be it small or large, and at the very least simply enjoy having read a good tale.

~~~~ Scroll down to my books and stories if you wish to skip the short long story of my existence ~~~~

M.(Mike) Matheson was born on an Army base in the middle of nowhere, Arizona. Dad was career military, and Mom stayed at home, the norm for the '50s. Mike's ultimate hero, his father, died suddenly and without warning.
Without his stabilizing strength, the family became a severed sparking wire searching for ground. The ensuing dysfunction and chaos proved, in later years, to make for great storytelling.

Mike has been blessed to take a wide bite out of life. From motorcycle outlaw to the pastor of a church and missionary evangelist. He has traveled a lot, seen a lot, and done many things; some he wished he'd never done, and others he can't wait to do again. Yet, each and every scrap of life has made a fantastic fabric from which to weave many grand tales.

Mike has written dozens of short stories. Flatline is Mike's second novel No More Mister Nice Guy was his first. 

Smashwords Interview

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
That question is as varied and many-faceted as a rough-cut diamond only not as shiny. The first 10 years were spent relatively stable and then my father died. After that, my life became a loose sparking wire dancing on the ground and just as wickedly dangerous. A succession of abusive stepfathers saw to it that I grew up mean and bitter. I attended nine different High Schools from Seattle, Washington, which was my favorite, to Phoenix and Buckeye, Arizona. The latter was my least favorite but most eventful. Orange County California is where that long crazy trip had begun and where I always considered home. I returned via a week long hitchhiking trip from Seattle and settled there before landing here in Sacramento, CA decades later.

You did ask how it influenced my writing didn't you?
After my father's death, my life was in such an upheaval of constant chaos and conflict that decades later I found the most painful things of that time made for great storytelling; the most glaring and horrific found their way into my stories especially No More Mister Nice Guy. Amidst all that trouble, there were many varied living experiences from hog farms in the Arizona desert to living as a teenager on my own in a rented house or infamous dive hotel in Seattle. I had been told to leave my family's home while I was still a teenager.
I'm a storyteller and found the things I've seen and done could be weaved into interesting tales. The fiction we read and write the good stuff is chock full of truth.
When did you first start writing?
During my teens, I was a voracious reader, and only dabbled in writing a story here and there. I read a lot of classics, Bradbury, Vonnegut and Tolkien, also some books with only cult followings. I didn't start to write full stories until I was in my late thirties. Before that, I remember writing an allegorical tale with the members of my immediate family, my four daughters mostly, cast into fictional roles. I built the characters from unmistakable traits they would all recognize and then sent us out on a comical quest; I updated the story every day on a web page. It took another ten years before I started writing more stories, poems etc. which I sent mostly to family members. About six years ago I began to devote more time to improving my craft and actually sending my tales out where other people could see them.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find M. Matheson online

Twitter: @NMMNG_Fiction
Facebook: Facebook profile

Books

Flatline
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 94,650. Language: English. Published: September 1, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Crime thriller, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Hard-Boiled
Flatline is a crime thriller brimming with guns, guts, modern-day outlaws, and just enough romance to keep a grin on your face. In the ancient tradition of Robin Hood, these American outlaws utilize their unique skill set of fearlessness, unwinking violence, and a hot pepper dose of vigilantism to fine-tune the scales of Right and Wrong, at least as they see it. The conclusion will rock your world
Requiem
Price: Free! Words: 5,580. Language: English. Published: March 15, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Horror » Weird fiction, Fiction » Adventure » General
Forty Winks for Jonah. The crowd, Twenty-Eight-Stories below, clamors for his death as he pens the story no one believes. It is showdown time for Jonah and the monster that has pursued him for the past eighteen years. From his fifth birthday on, things only got worse.
Moonlight
Price: Free! Words: 6,150. Language: English. Published: February 15, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Crime thriller
Are you stuck in a situation too prickly to take to law enforcement? Or, they've been no help at all. Switch sides. Call an outlaw... Troy Bittles, a retired Enforcer for the world's most notorious bike gang The Breakers, can help. Retirement is boring, and he's done a lot of bad. In an effort to balance the scale of justice Troy uses his special skill set to help his neighbors.
Taxman
Price: Free! Words: 6,570. Language: English. Published: April 10, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Humor & comedy » Parody, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » General
Watch out for Taxman a serial auditor and anti-hero. He may have you in his sights.
New Years Day
Price: Free! Words: 5,720. Language: English. Published: December 30, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Holiday » Adventure, Fiction » Inspirational
(4.50 from 2 reviews)
In this short story, a serendipitous encounter sends an overly typical guy and America's most beautiful young starlet on a life-changing journey in her Ferrari.
The Christmas Trust
Price: Free! Words: 7,920. Language: English. Published: November 29, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Holiday » Christmas, Fiction » Inspirational
(5.00 from 2 reviews)
Marvin Battles is the corporate big-shot and Scrooge. In a chance encounter with a panhandler, Joe Skives, his former boss fired for bribery and other crimes, Marvin’s bad holiday attitude gets turned on its head. A Christmas story that takes on the Corporate Monster and our ideas of true Christmas Spirit.
I Had The World By The Tail
Price: Free! Words: 2,730. Language: English. Published: October 5, 2014 . Categories: Nonfiction » Comics (nonfictional), Nonfiction » Transportation » Motorcycles
(5.00 from 1 review)
Comic Memoir, 98.5% true, of a motorcycle crash from my CRAZY BIKER days.
The Eagle Claw Hack
Price: Free! Words: 8,150. Language: American English. Published: September 23, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense, Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
(4.25 from 4 reviews)
A Short Story- A retired teacher and indie author enlists his former student, a teenage computer wunderkind in a wild scheme to exact revenge on unfaithful readers.
No More Mister Nice Guy
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 73,400. Language: English. Published: August 7, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Psychological thriller, Fiction » Christian » Suspense
No More Mister Nice Guy travels the highways familiar to fans of Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress or C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, yet comes steeped in a setting of bullets, blood, and modern warfare.
Lettered
Price: Free! Words: 2,510. Language: English. Published: July 13, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Psychological thriller
(4.00 from 1 review)
Trish had turned her back on the whole human race; they just weren't worth risking her affections for any longer.

M. Matheson's tag cloud

adventure    amazon    auditor    beautiful girl    best crime fiction    best thriller novels    biker action    biker bad boy    biker gangs    biker mc action    bitter experience    boredom busters    breakups    breakups and new beginnings    cartels of mexico    christmas    civil war    combat action    computer hacker    corporate environmental poisoning    crime    crime fiction    crime thriller    cs lewis    desert storm    eagle claw hack    ferrari cars    fiction    funeral    harley davidson motorcycles    harleys    helping homeless    homeless    horror    horror and suspense    horror psychological    horror short fiction    how to get away with murder    humorous irony    i had the world by the tail    i had the world by the tale    indie author    internal revenue service    irs    irs agent    jacksonville    knife crime    letter    m matheson    matheson    mens adventure    moonlight    motorcycle adventures    motorcycle gangs    new years day    no more mister nice guy    outlaw biker tale    parody    psychological thriller    psycological thriller    rehabilitation    requiem    restoration and healing    revenge comedy    run away    scrooge    short and funny stories    short horror    short horror fiction    short story    stephen king    suicide    suicide and mental health    supernatural adventure    suspense and humor    tax auditor    taxman    teacher and student    teenage action adventure    the christmas trust    thriller    thriller suspense    transformation    trust administration    usmc fiction    vietnam combat    vigilante justice    writer humor    writer jilted   

Smashwords book reviews by M. Matheson

  • Visitor on Feb. 17, 2015

    A fairly well told tale whose best attribute is its unique idea. Tension tension tension is missing. With such a brilliant idea and such a mystical way some conflict or tension would make it truly a FIVE STAR story. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the read.
  • The Basement Vault on Feb. 21, 2016

    The Basement Vault is well written, face paced and a great ride. Worth its weight in silver at least. The end is only slightly visible through the story. Great descriptions of surroundings, action, and characters. Keeps you engaged and on the run.