Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Justin Matott. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Justin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

Being a natural storyteller and beginning my life adopted by two English professors set me up to have a stage for my storytelling talents. My mother was a real advocate of my storytelling abilities. She encouraged me to tell my stories to her friends a lot. She encouraged me to write my stories down, when in reality she was trying to get me to stop talking all the time. She would send me to my room to write down my stories and taught me the value in editing, rewriting and reworking my stories over and over to make them better. She was a great constructive critic. She would always let me know what she enjoyed most about my stories and what needed improvement. I think much of the reason I am an author is because of her constant encouragement to create my imaginative characters and story lines. Later, when I in earnest set out to write my first novel, Just a year out of college, my father became my constant editor. He was brutally honest and helped me learn to create three dimensional characters that sprang off the page. He was never afraid to tell me what wasn’t working, but always very liberal with his compliments on my strengths. The one thing my parents did right and thus taught me when I became a parent was to really support the natural inclinations of creativity and not try to get me to fit in a box that they desired. My father was a frustrated, unpublished novelist. He was a PhD English professor who wrote books that were too high brow intellectual for the regular reader and to regular for the academic reader. I have had the opportunity to read letters from very well known agents in NY that were very complimentary of his talents. I hope someday to be able to bring one of his four novels in to print. So, my biggest takeaway from the way I was parented was that my parents really encouraged me to dream big, go after my dreams and stay authentic to my own creative voice. I did so with my sons and they are very fulfilled in their occupations now.

Justin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been publishing since 1996. My career began as I was a Major Account Rep for a Fortune 500 company in telephony. My clients constantly encouraged me to follow my creative storytelling abilities. As I was working many hours every day, weekends included, I always carved out two hours a night to write. After my family was in bed I would sit in my office from ten to midnight banging out characters, places and plot lines. I had a goal. To be the next bestselling author in the US. The problem was I was basically imitating authors I was reading instead of writing my own authentic plot lines. Once I began to write what would be my first published book, I did so as therapy to help me get through the grief of losing my mom. I ended up writing basically journal entries that took on a life of their own with my for the first time totally authentic voice. That ended up being my first book, which I initially self-published and sold through almost five thousand copies in three weeks. Once that happened NY came calling. My book was all the buzz at the American Booksellers Association meeting. Soon I had an agent and was in NY being courted by 12 publishers who subsequently carried on a two day auction which enabled me to leave my corporate job and become a full time author/speaker. My career had grown in many different directions since, leading me to have a platform and a voice in literacy and what I’m most proud of an anti-bullying set of talks that is effective and life changing for many young people. Having visited over a thousand schools over the past twenty years, I have left a mark that would make those parents of mine very proud.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I have two very specific goals in mind with my writing and public speaking; The first is to reach the reluctant writer and reader and help them to find his or her way to the journey of storytelling and the wonder of reading a book that takes one on a journey. I have had numerous opportunities to meet adults who were once in my assemblies or creative writing workshops who have attributed much of their own personal and professional goals as a result of the encouragement they got when I visited their schools. Many have aspirations of writing and creating and have told me the way I brought the creativity to them back then inspired them to dream of their own lives creating story. The most gratifying is when several of them have told me my visit to their school helped them to overcome their own bullying situations. I have heard this both from people who were being bullied who chose to take back their power as well as people who were bullied who felt ashamed after hearing what I went through at the hands of some very mean bullies. To see a life change as a realist of what you are putting out there is one of my very favorite outcomes of being a creative. The ability to change the way a person sees himself or herself is very powerful. I always challenge students at the end of my assemblies to do one of two things: Go to three people they have been mean to and simply apologize and change their behavior. The other is to the bullied, to take back their own power and let the bullies know they will not have any further inroad with them. It sounds simplistic, but following the story I tell about being bullied as a child and bringing my own power to bear to stop it is very encouraging to them. Once again, I credit my parents for teaching me to stand up and use my sense of humor to combat the mean people who were trying to take my power away. To go back to a school and have what was once a big bully come up and tell me that he or she took my challenge and apologized and as a result now have more friends is an amazing thing. Also for bullies who took the opportunity to talk to the counselor and teacher they trusted and tell them what was creating their anger, helped them to release their anger and in a few cases to remove an abusive parent from their lives. THAT IS POWER!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I set out my writing career to do what some of the bestselling authors were doing. Having always been very competitive, I saw my job as doing what they were doing better than they were doing it. The problem was I was imitating their style, rather than creating my own. I would soon learn that I was much better off being authentic to my own style. I even made the mistake of sending letters to agents letting them know they they were being introduced to the world’s next John Grisham or Wilson Rawls. What a strange thing to boast about. To compare yourself, a complete unknown, to someone who has worked hard to earn his place in the literary community. I had one well-know agent respond with a single sentence: “What makes you think the world needs another John Grisham?” It was at that point I realized I didn’t have the stuff to make that kind of brag. What I need to do was write my own stories, with my own particular style. One of the agents I sent several attempts to always responded with “I really like the way you write. I just don’t think you’ve found your own story yet. When you do, I will be in line to represent you.” He ended up signing a deal with Random House for me once I wrote an authentic book. The takeaway from this is that I recommend anyone who desires to take his or her creativity and go from avocation to vocation is let your work brag for you, not you cover letter.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.justinmatott.com
• Instagram: JustinMatott and matottsbookshop
• Facebook: The Justin Matott Library

Image Credits
Justin Matott