Matthew Wayne Selznick

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About Matthew Wayne Selznick

Matthew Wayne Selznick is an author, creator, and creative services provider living in Huntington Beach, California. He's the author of the Parsec Award nominated "Brave Men Run -- A Novel of the Sovereign Era," the follow-up, "Pilgrimage," as well as his latest novel, "Light of the Outsider," and a number of other titles set in a variety of storyworlds.

Matt's newest works are in his Shaper's World Cycle: the novel "Light of the Outsider," and the novelette "The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay," which serves as a bridge to the next novel, "Shadow of the Outsider," which is due in 2022.

Learn more about Matthew Wayne Selznick, read his articles on living a successful and healthy creative life, and hire him to help with your own creative works at https://www.mattselznick.com!

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Light of the Outsider: A Literary Low Fantasy Crime Thriller (The Shaper's World Cycle Book 1) Jun 18, 2020

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

( 10 )

$4.99

In this stand-alone character-driven fantasy thriller debuting a brand-new, original world, desperate people vie to find a kidnapped prince before magical and political pressures threaten the stability of the entire continent and millions of lives.

"The invitation was a trap..."

For menial palace servants Sot and Lama, the infant prince represents a means to finally escape their disappointing, stagnant lives... and each other.

The tavernkeep, Kug, is torn between duty to his family and the fate of the realm, not to mention the very real chance that all choices lead to personal ruin.

The sellsong, Talen, hides paralyzing survivor's guilt beneath brash exuberance. If he can rescue the infant prince, will he find the resolve to restore his family name and his own sense of worth?

Dennick, the sellsword with compromised loyalties, faces an impossible choice -- save the prince, or save the love of his life? Either way... will he lose everything that matters, not least himself?

Rajen is the gifted practitioner of a forbidden magickal art, forced to keep her true self hidden. The forking future holds many paths for her... will she follow the road to her future freedom, and at what cost?

And even if this disparate, desperate bunch achieve their objectives... Wresting their prize from the foul forces of a nefarious, reality-threatening plot and bringing him back alive are two different things...

In LIGHT OF THE OUTSIDER...

Is there magic? You bet!

Crime? The whole thing's set off by a vile act. A few, in fact.

Violence? Yes. Sudden, brutal, and final.

Intrigue? Sure! The fates of a child, a city, an empire, and maybe an entire world are at stake.

LIGHT OF THE OUTSIDER is a character-driven low fantasy with a touch of noir and just a hint of cosmic horror oozing between the cracks, as if George R. R. Martin ("Game of Thrones") and James Ellroy ("L. A. Confidential") had a literary love child and left the squawking sport on a filthy altar in the woods to be discovered... by you!

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

Indie Author Marketing Infrastructure: Three Things Every Independent Author Must Have for Self-Publishing Success (Indie Author Marketing Info) Aug 30, 2022

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

$4.99

Independent author, veteran self-publisher, and author services provider Matthew Wayne Selznick outlines the three essential elements all authors must establish before publishing your first book: your indie author infrastructure.

The Sovereign Era: Year One Apr 6, 2010

by Jared Axelrod, J. R. Blackwell, P. G. Holyfield, J. C. Hutchins, Mur Lafferty, Nathan Lowell, Matt Wallace, Matthew Wayne Selznick, Jeffrey Himmelman

( 11 )

$2.99

This seven-story anthology from creator Matthew Wayne Selznick is a glimpse into the first year of the Sovereign Era, that period in the late 20th century when the appearance of individuals with remarkable abilities rocked the delicate Cold War balance of power and forever altered the course of human destiny.

The Sovereign Era began in April of 1985 (as depicted in "Brave Men Run -- A Novel of the Sovereign Era"), when Dr. William Karl Donner revealed that super-powered metahumans existed, declared their autonomy, and demonstrated his ability to enforce that demand.

Arrangements between Donner and the government of the United States resulted in the establishment of the Donner Institute for Sovereign Studies, a compound in central Montana where the "Sovereigns" could find refuge and learn more about themselves.

Over the next twelve months, while the world struggled to deal with the political and social repercussions caused by the existence of the Sovereigns, the metahumans themselves mostly tried to find their place in the world.

That's what these stories are about.

Featuring...

Mur Lafferty (The Shambling Guide To New York City)
Jared Axelrod (The Battle of Blood and Ink)
Nathan Lowell (Solar Clipper Trader Tales)
P. G. Holyfield (Murder At Avedon Hill)
J. R. Blackwell (Shelter In Place)
Matt Wallace (The Failed Cities)
J. C. Hutchins (7th Son: Descent)

Cover art by A Song of Ice and Fire Role Playing Game artist Jeffery Himmelman.

30,400 words.

THE SOVEREIGN ERA READING ORDER:
1) Brave Men Run
2) The World Revolves Around You
3) The Sovereign Era: Year One
4) Canary In A Coal Mine
5) Pilgrimage
6) The News From Bewilder Pond

Other Formats: Paperback

Brave Men Run: A Novel of the Sovereign Era Jan 19, 2014

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

( 81 )

$4.99

April, 1985: superhumans exist! Do you know what your children are..?

"I was used to eating alone..."

High school sophomore Nate Charters is barely making it. His unusual appearance, hair-trigger nervous system, and over-active metabolism marked him as a target for the jocks and cool kids long ago, and it's not getting any better.

Then, on Declaration Day, Nate is astounded as anyone by the existence of metahumans, and their audacious demand for autonomy... but there's also the continued unwelcome attention of his most annoying rival to deal with... and is a self-assured older girl really interested in someone like him?

To top it off, who is the mysterious Dr. Brenhurst, and what's his connection with Nate's long-dead father?

Life just got insanely complicated.

It's time for Nate to solve the mystery of origins and find his place in a world of mounting uncertainty and peril. Is he part of a powerful new minority? Or just a misfit among misfits?

He'd better find his answers quickly. A shadowy organization seems to know more about him than he could ever imagine.

And they're closing in.

BRAVE MEN RUN is the Parsec Award nominated fan favorite that helped changed the indie publishing landscape. Find out why tens of thousands all over the world are Team Nate!

THE SOVEREIGN ERA READING ORDER:
0) Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: How It All Got Started (free online serial)
1) Brave Men Run
2) The World Revolves Around You
3) The Sovereign Era: Year One
4) Canary In A Coal Mine
5) Pilgrimage
6) The News From Bewilder Pond

ABOUT THE EXPANDED EDITION

This revised, expanded edition of BRAVE MEN RUN definitive. It replaces the "orange" edition and the Swarm Press "green" edition. Make sure you've got the right story!

About 65,000 words.

Other Formats: Paperback

The World Revolves Around You: A Tale of the Sovereign Era Jul 8, 2009

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

( 3 )

$0.99

Tony Fallow has a sticky problem… everything that isn’t bolted down wants to literally be near him! Fearing he must be one of the Sovereign, a remarkable new minority of super-powered people who recently revealed themselves, Tony travels to the Donner Institute for Sovereign Studies with hopes of being cured.

But as he tells his story to a human doctor working at the Institute, the boorish Tony soon finds his problem might be more complicated than he suspected, and bigger trouble than he could have imagined..!

Get a glimpse of the early days of the Sovereign era, an alternate history storyworld where the appearance of super-powered individuals disrupts the late twentieth century and forever alters human destiny, in this 3,180 word short story.

THE SOVEREIGN ERA READING ORDER:
1) Brave Men Run
2) The World Revolves Around You
3) The Sovereign Era: Year One
4) Canary In A Coal Mine
5) Pilgrimage
6) The News From Bewilder Pond

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook

Reading The Amazing Spider-Man Volume One: A Critical Review With Storytelling Lessons From A Writer's Perspective Mar 17, 2014

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

( 2 )

$2.99

Take a fun, critical, issue-by-issue tour of the first twelve issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, the comicbook that launched one of the most enduring characters in modern mythology. Along the way, learn valuable lessons about storytelling, storyworlds, and episodic fiction that will enhance the way you look at stories in all media... and change your perspective whether you're a writer, a comic book fan, or both!

The first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book hit news stands in December of 1962. A half-century later, Spider-Man is a cultural icon and a central figure in the pantheon of modern mythological figures. Spider-Man, in all his incarnations, is also one of the most enduring—and valuable—fictional characters ever created.

What’s… well, amazing… is that nearly every persistent element in the storyworld of The Amazing Spider-Man was established in the first twelve issues of the original comicbook!

In Reading The Amazing Spider-Man Volume One, the author of the popular, comicbook-flavored Sovereign Era storyworld examines the roots of the Spider-Man franchise with a critical (but light-hearted) review of each story in the first twelve issues while exploring the many lessons to be found in those first issues for writers and storytellers of all kinds interested in developing an enduring storyworld and creative franchise.

Along the way, you'll have a lot of fun Reading The Amazing Spider-Man!

Pilgrimage: A Novel of the Sovereign Era Jan 19, 2014

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

( 17 )

$4.99

The Charters Duology Concludes as the Sovereign Era Continues!

April, 1986 - On the eve of the first anniversary of the Donner Declaration, as tensions rise between humanity and the metahuman, super-powered Sovereigns, fathers and sons face desperate choices.

Nate Charters (Brave Men Run -- A Novel of the Sovereign Era) struggles with his increasingly tenuous control over his temper and his powers... while Andrew Charters hopes to suppress his own bestial nature to help his distant son.

Sovereign Byron Teslowski trains to join the Sovereign defense force, but a fiery new friend forces him to question his loyalties... and Marc Teslowski, desperate to bring his family back together, falls in with the charismatic leader of an anti-Sovereign militant group.

As Sovereigns the world over converge on the Donner Institute for Sovereign Studies, Nate, Andrew, Byron, and Marc find their paths lead there as well. Will the machinations of enemies and allies tear them violently apart on Declaration Day?

This book is part of the Sovereign Era storyworld, and part two of the Charters Duology. While it can be read on its own, readers may want to read Brave Men Run -- A Novel of the Sovereign Era first to get the whole story.

97,000 words.

THE SOVEREIGN ERA READING ORDER

Brave Men Run
The World Revolves Around You
The Sovereign Era: Year One
Canary In A Coal Mine
Pilgrimage
The News From Bewilder Pond

Other Formats: Paperback

The News From Bewilder Pond: A Tale of the Sovereign Era Dec 17, 2019

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

( 3 )

$0.99

It's the Sovereign Era, when the sudden appearance of men and women with remarkable powers -- Sovereigns -- changes the course of history and threatens the balance of power in the late 20th century... but not every incident involving metahumans has global significance. Some stories are more... homespun.

Harrison Wheeler's folksy "The News From Bewilder Pond" public radio show ran from 1974 until 1989 as a platform for Wheeler's stories of a fictional Nebraska town (based on the host's own boyhood Minnesota home). The broad cast of characters were as gently flawed as they were charmingly human. In 1987, Wheeler revealed that some residents of Bewilder Pond had been quietly... super-human... all along.

In this partial transcript from an episode that first aired on Sunday, October 4, 1987, Wheeler spins a tale of a father with a singular gift who is determined to impress his adult son's new super-powered girlfriend. Is acceptance in the cards?

"The News From Bewilder Pond" is a stand-alone short story set in Matthew Wayne Selznick's ongoing Sovereign Era cycle. You don't have to have read any other Sovereign Era works to enjoy it. But you should!
THE SOVEREIGN ERA is Matthew Wayne Selznick's ongoing alternate history series presenting a mosaic of novels and stories detailing how the presence of super-humans changed the last decades of the twentieth century and the future of humanity.

The Sovereign Era storyworld suggested reading order:
1) Brave Men Run
2) The World Revolves Around You
3) The Sovereign Era: Year One
4) Canary In A Coal Mine
5) Pilgrimage
6) The News From Bewilder Pond

Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators Volume One: Star, Planet, Moon Mar 3, 2012

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

( 4 )

$2.99

This concise first volume of Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators provides straightforward guidance on how to model the astronomical elements of an Earth-like planet for your storyworld setting.

Author and storyworld creator Matthew Wayne Selznick ("Brave Men Run -- A Novel of the Sovereign Era") explains the science and helps you through the (basic) math required to...

...Select an appropriate star
...Figure out the best distance for your planet to orbit that star
...Work out the details of gravity, day length, and atmosphere for the planet
...Determine when your planet's moon is full

...and much more... all with just a calculator. No advanced degree required!

"Worldbuilding For Writers, Gamers and Other Creators Volume One: Star, Planet, Moon" is approximately 8,000 words.

The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay: A Literary Romantic Low Fantasy Novelette (The Shaper's World Cycle) Apr 6, 2021

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

$2.99

In this literary fantasy novelette, three exiled travelers, Kug, Agane, and Dennick, have traveled across the continent of Kaebrith, far from the home from which they've been exiled, searching for the healer who can cure Agane of a devastating illness.

But an unexpected development forces difficult choices. Can they face the consequences of the past in order to have any kind of future?

THE PERFUMED AIR AT KWAANANTAG BAY is a character-driven, literary, low fantasy set in The Shaper's World, the original storyworld introduced in the novel LIGHT OF THE OUTSIDER. THE PERFUMED AIR AT KWAANANTAG BAY includes characters featured in LIGHT OF THE OUTSIDER, but you don't have to have read that novel to enjoy this novelette... although your experience may be enhanced if you have.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook

Four Stories Jun 20, 2014

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

( 1 )

$2.99

The first short story collection from Matthew Wayne Selznick focuses on revelations of clarity and epiphanies of character in the face of emotional challenges.

Also included are brief essays exploring the formative experiences and memories that inspired each short story, making this collection Matthew Wayne Selznick's most personal creative work to date.

The Stories:

The collection opens with “You Got Me,” wherein the way two people each deal with one particularly rough day might have a lot to do with how they spend their days to come.

Next, a musician struggles with expectations and understanding when he travels far from home with his new band for “Gig Number Two.”

In the third story, he says it’s “Not My Fault,” but his girlfriend is convinced his distractions will drive them apart. Then comes the most unexpected distraction of all...

The final story, “The Days of Wine and Roses by The Dream Syndicate,” provides a mental soundtrack for a reluctant walk through memory and pain on the way to save a troubled damsel in distress one last time.

Each of the "Four Stories" explore universal themes of responsibility, relationships, honesty, and how we define character.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook

The Charters Duology: Two Novels of the Sovereign Era Jan 18, 2014

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

$6.99

The complete Sovereign Era story of Nate Charters! 162,000 words, including "Brave Men Run -- A Novel of the Sovereign Era Revised and Expanded Edition" and "Pilgrimage -- A Novel of the Sovereign Era."

About The Books In This Omnibus Collection:

"Brave Men Run"
April 18, 1985 - A startling revelation shocks a world already wound tight by the desperate tensions of the Cold War: super-humans exist... and they demand autonomy.

Until that day, high school sophomore Nate Charters thought he was just an outsider and self-proclaimed freak. His unusual appearance, hair-trigger reflexes, and overactive metabolism could have made him something special, but his differences and low self-esteem marked him as a target for the jocks and popular kids long ago .

Now, just as his unique nature catches the eye of a self-assured older girl and the sinister attention of the enigmatic Dr. Brenhurst, Nate must solve the mystery of his origins and find his place in the world. Is he part of a remarkable, powerful new minority... or just a misfit among misfits?

He'd better find his answers quickly. A shadowy organization knows more about him than he could ever imagine. And they're closing in...

"Pilgrimage"
A year later, as the first anniversary of the Donner Declaration heightens the tensions between humanity and the Sovereigns, the fathers and sons from Brave Men Run must re-define who they are and who they will be as, all around, the machinations of allies and enemies reach the boiling point.

Nate Charters struggles with a troubling revelation about his girlfriend and his increasingly tenuous control over his temper and his powers... while his father Andrew hopes to suppress his own bestial nature so he can help his distant son.

Sovereign Byron Teslowski, sequestered with his people, trains to join the Sovereign defense force, but the influence of a fiery new friend forces him to question William Donner's motives... and Marc Teslowski, desperate to bring his family back together and restore his pride, falls in with the charismatic leader of an anti-Sovereign militant group.

As Sovereigns from all over the world converge on the Donner Institute for Sovereign Studies for sanctuary and safety, Nate, Andrew, Byron, and Marc find their paths lead there as well. Will the forces aligned against the Sovereigns tear fathers and sons violently apart on Declaration Day?
THE SOVEREIGN ERA is Matthew Wayne Selznick's ongoing alternate history series presenting a mosaic of novels and stories detailing how the presence of super-humans changed the last decades of the twentieth century and the future of humanity.

THE SOVEREIGN ERA READING ORDER:
1) Brave Men Run
2) The World Revolves Around You
3) The Sovereign Era: Year One
4) Canary In A Coal Mine
5) Pilgrimage
6) The News From Bewilder Pond

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Matthew Wayne Selznick

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Author Updates

Titles By Matthew Wayne Selznick

In LIGHT OF THE OUTSIDER...

The Charters Duology Concludes as the Sovereign Era Continues!

THE SOVEREIGN ERA READING ORDER

Brave Men Run

The World Revolves Around You

The Sovereign Era: Year One

Canary In A Coal Mine

Pilgrimage

The News From Bewilder Pond

More Information