Q&A with Larry Matthews

Larry Matthews is a former broadcast journalist whose 30+ years as a reporter, anchor, news director, producer and editor provide the background material for many of his books. “Brass Knuckles” is the second book in his Dave Haggard thriller series about a radio reporter with a taste for investigative journalism.  The series takes place in Washington, D.C., where Larry worked for major radio stations, ABC Radio, and National Public Radio. Larry is also the author of a memoir, “I Used To Be In Radio,” and two other books of fiction, “Healing Charles” and its sequel, “Saving Charles.” He lives in Gaithersburg.

What are the best books you’ve read recently?
“Trust Me I’m Lying” by Ryan Holiday. It’s a book about how information and “news” is manipulated on the Internet. “Escape from Camp 14” by Blaine Harden. This is a story about one man’s escape from a North Korean labor camp. “Sirocco” by D.L. Wilson, a bio-terror thriller. Wilson is a master at this genre.

What was your favorite book as a child?
My favorite book as a child was a novel about a boy playing baseball. Sadly, I don’t recall the title. I do recall that it was the first book that opened my mind to the world of books and stories. It launched me into a lifetime of reading.

What is the most difficult, or challenging, aspect of being a writer?
The most challenging aspect of being a writer is balancing creativity with the technical details of building a good story. I was a journalist for over three decades and spent those years writing about events of the day and certain investigative projects. I thought I had the writing thing pretty well figured out. I did not. Fiction writing is the only thing I’ve done that gets harder, not easier, the more I do it. There is a quote from W. Somerset Maugham that pretty well sums it up: “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”