April 21, 2022

Dear Reader,

I remain deeply moved by the response to the inaugural Monthly Personal Letter. The love and intimate sharing. The kind words and even prayers. The emails and texts and phone messages and letters sent to my P.O. Box. I try to read everything. And I'll do my best to respond collectively here—in one way or another—over time. Thanks also to everyone who shared the March 21 M.P.L. and helped our group to grow. That's greatly appreciated.

The other day I asked Alicia, "How many months did depression make it difficult for me to get out of bed in the morning? How long was it that I had a hard time being around anyone for more than an hour or so?"

She said it was two years and that those two years had been horrible. I asked her if I ever exaggerate now about how bad it was and she told me it was worse than I allow myself to remember.

Part of my struggle was the aftershock of sobriety, which I am going to discuss in May's letter. Part of it was writer's block, which I am going to cover in June's.

A few people refused to give up on me and helped get me through my dark period, but only one person really lived through it with me.

Lucky for me, she's the person I love most in the world.

Every night in bed as I—on the verge of another full-blown panic attack—worried about losing another eight-hour workday to writer's block, Alicia would say, "You're going to write another beautiful novel when you're ready. It WILL happen."

And every morning when I finally dragged myself out of bed, she'd greet me in the kitchen with a long oxytocin-releasing hug, which would give me just enough strength to face the blank page once more.

In this way, we muddled through for what felt like forever at the time.

Maybe there are creative types who do not at least privately struggle with the wild ups and downs of the writing life, but I do not know them.

We live in an an age where the appearance of extroverted confidence is highly rewarded, while introverted complications are too often treated like blemishes—something to paint over with social makeup. And yet it's almost always the hidden internal battles that fuel art, regardless of how conscious the artist is of the interior life. Whenever I have gotten to know a writer personally, eventually the mask drops and confessions begin. Some of my best and most cherished friendships have begun this way.

While it is very difficult to surf the huge emotional waves of the professional writing life and survive the inevitable crashes, it is often even more difficult to watch a loved one paddle out into monstrous professional-grade sets.

For the past ten years, Alicia has quietly been publishing beautiful poetry and writing novels. She has submitted her work to agents several times and has weathered many many rejections, as all writers do. It is extremely hard to spend years working on a project that ultimately gets shelved. For non-creative types, imagine the psychological strain of going to work every single day—putting in full weeks, months, even decades—and never getting paid.

The best part of my dark period—by far—was cheering on Alicia as she found her niche, an agent, and a publisher for her new wonderfully fun and OBX-set cozy mystery series. It's already been highly praised by several New York Times bestselling authors.

If you've been dreaming of maybe someday publishing a novel, take notes here.

Alicia tried out many genres and various styles. But one day we were talking and came to this conclusion: Alicia loves reading cozy mysteries. Alicia has read so many of them. Why doesn't Alicia write a cozy?

Then Alicia began devouring as many cozy mysteries as possible, studying the genre with a gleeful ferocity. She became a student of the craft. 24/7. Full-time for years. 

When she next put pen to paper, she wasn't writing from the standpoint of ego. Instead, she humbly began to serve the story, asking what needed to be done to acquire an agent, then an editor, so that she could ultimately deliver to cozy mystery readers exactly what they want. She edited her draft of Smile Beach Murder FOR YEARS!

This woman has worked. HARD.

Much great writing is born out of submission.

I've heard people say there is freedom in genre. I never really understood what that meant until I started reading Alicia's cozy mysteries. Yes, the plot revolves around solving a murder, which drives the narrative. But somehow following the rules of genre allowed Alicia to shine brighter on the page. Her wonderful poetic turns of phrases pop even harder on the sentence level. Her gentle way with the world and her love of quiet small details sparkle a little more vividly. And I found myself struggling to edit her work this time around because I was turning pages too quickly to write down suggestions for improvement. I wanted to know who committed the murder!

There is perhaps no greater joy than seeing someone who has put in the time, done the work, and paid her dues finally succeed.

I hope you will join our celebration. Please pre-order your copy of Smile Beach Murder today. It drops May 10, 2022.

Alicia will be doing several events this spring. I'll be live interviewing her on:

Wednesday May 11th at 6PM in Downtown Books - Manteo, NC (ticket required); 

Tuesday May 17th at 7PM at the Collingswood Public Library - NJ (registration required); 

and on Thursday May 19th at 6PM at the Gale Free Library - Holden, MA (registration required).

For info on all other Events, please go to aliciabessette.com. Hope to see you!

You also don't want to miss Bessette With Pets on Alicia's Instagram page. On Facebook too. She interviews writers about their pets. The pets are also interviewed. Seriously. It's a blast.

Alicia believing in me when I found it hard to believe in myself was a masterclass in love. 

See for yourself why I love the little woman with a big heart so much. Read Smile Beach Murder.

In other news, Justin Cronin—New York Times bestselling author of the Passage Trilogy—wrote some really kind words about We Are the Light. Hit this link to read what he has to say. You can also read endorsements from bestselling writers Nickolas Butler, Harlan Coben, and Kevin Wilson, as well as This Jungian Life podcast co-host Joseph Lee.

Before I go, may I ask that you share the M.P.L. and all of the above with friends, coworkers and family who might need and/or enjoy it? It would mean a lot to Alicia and me. And I'm always happy to welcome in new subscribers!

Speaking of new subscribers, let's give a warm welcome to the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth countries to join us here at the M.P.L.: Czech Republic, Ireland, and Finland.

Okay, friends.

Until the 21st of May 2022, please remember that wherever you are in the world, whatever your current battle may be, your man in Coastal NC is sending you good vibes. Always.

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MATTHEW

p.s.—If someone forwarded you this letter and you've enjoyed it, we can make it a regular thing. Subscribe here: Monthly Personal Letter.