First Chapter Published!

Dear England, I'm pleased to say that online publisher Word Riot has kindly published the first chapter of my novel, The Pride and the Sorrow, with a nice endorsement at this link...Very nicely laid out too. Word Riot currently have about 9000 hits a month, so it's definitely pleasing to be part of their venture!

You can also download the first chapter for free here at Bookhabit.com, the New Zealand company currently promoting my book through their website. If you really want to hear me talk nonsense about the book, there's also an interview directly accessible here and at Review Yak.

Word Riot - good writing. no remorse!

Thanks Word Riot!

Novel's first review - thanks Geoff!

Geoff Cush, a member of the judging panel, had this to say about THE PRIDE AND THE SORROW :


"What made Matt Fullerty's writing stand out, from the very first sentence, was an unusually strong and individual way with words. Taking us into the vanished world of old America and Europe he uses a highly textured language to give an almost physical experience of being in that place and time. Drawing subtle lines between a society top-heavy with leisure and the profligate genius it produced in Morphy, he holds back the historical and personal reckoning while letting it gather and brood like the storm that finally washes away New Orleans. In my view this makes THE PRIDE AND THE SORROW a stand-out all rounder in the craft of literary fiction."

This smart-looking chap is Paul Morphy. You can follow this link to find out more about his New Orleans family. And to learn more about his formidable chess opponents with slideshows of the players click here!

Adirondack Park, upstate New York

4 July (rebellion day!)

Australian Embassy evening

Last month I leanred about the "special relationship" not between the UK and the US, but between the US and Australia. In an evening visit to the Austalian Embassy I discovered the close ties between the two countires since the First World War that are very much alive in Washington, DC.

Of course, there was plenty of VB - Victoria Bitter - flowing freely. It's a drink with obvious connections to England, but one the Americans seems to have adopted as their own when they visit Down Under.

The evening was a celebration of the semester abroad a lot of Americans enjoy in Australia, in this instance the annual alumni of American students who were a part of the University of New South Wales, Sydney exchange!

You can just about make out the Ozzie flag in the background, and the Embassy has an interior ceiling lit up as the southern sky at night.

My niece, Beatrice Rose!

Red Bull Truck!

Say no more, England! Here's the Red Bull truck, coasting along in Georgetown, Washington, DC, a fancy neighborhood clearly in need of some late night drinks. And we all love our vodka red bulls!

I recently noticed the can size increasing - plus special editions. And of course the market is now flooded with a host of enrgydrinks, from Amp to Monster to Rock Star and the list goes on. Check out this link for a full list of the available drinks and their health and energy pros and cons!

Who's the odd one out?

Not Grover!

New York storm!

A few weeks ago I met some friends in New York, and though not international news, we got caught in a quite incredible rainshower, thunder, lightning the works - summer storms USA!


Paddy and me after the storm. Sir Pad is currently Lecturer in English at St. Hilda's, Oxford University, and keeps a firm hand on the Paddy Hayes Jazz Quartet. The man!

Voila the Brits in Central Park with token American! Say hello Ms. Willers!


Trying to flag down ubiqitous New York yellow cabs - ubiquitous except where we're standing.