Interview With Author Matthew Brewster
1. What inspired you to write this book? I honestly never intended to
be a writer at all, but my life had different plans for me. When I was 17, I
had a massive brain bleed from which I was not expected to survive. When I did
survive, I had fewer abilities than a newborn child. As a result, after five
months in the hospital, I spent most of the next 8 years in on and off again
therapy. Still today I am striving to re achieve some of those lost abilities.
When I first started writing this book, it was more of a frustrated journal for
me. I was just writing down what was going on while I tried and failed at many
of these tasks that were previously so easy. After literal years of this, it
became a book and I published it!
2. What exactly is it about and who is
it written for? When I published this book, I
wanted to reach out to those who had experienced brain trauma of any sort. It
did not take me long to realize that there are not many who have survived
similar injuries and setbacks. After publication in August of 2022, I cannot
count the number and variety of people who have reached out to me to share that
they were aided by my book. The most recent person was someone who was
suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's. They were inspired by the way
that I relearned how to remember things and were trying to regain their
own the same way!
3. What do you hope readers will get out of
reading your book? I hope that anyone who reads
my story will realize that the impossibilities in their own lives are not
actually impossible . In the introduction of my book, I do stress
that some things are just impossible, like flying without external aids. But we
can always strive to achieve things that are considered impossible, and I hope
that any reader of my book will feel that way!
4. How did you decide on your book’s title and
cover design? I decided on the title, Impossible? because that’s the sentiment that was expressed to me
frequently throughout my recovery. If you read my book, you can definitely tell
that many people felt that way about a variety of activities. The artwork, while amazing, is not
actually my own. My dad found an artist to do it for me, and I approved it!
5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow
writers – other than run!? For other writers I would just recommend not
stopping. I have a full-time job, and this book while short still took me
years to complete, but if I had just stopped, it would never have been
finished.
6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you
think the book publishing industry is heading? I see a trend towards more non-fiction books,
in comparison to when I was younger everything seemed to be science fiction and
fantasy. Granted, that could be because I was simply looking for those genres
versus where I am looking now.
7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that
came in handy when writing this book? The eight plus years of trying to achieve what
many deemed impossible is why I wrote this book. Consistently being a
contrarian and refusing to accept my own limitations is why I was able to
write this book in the first place!
8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or
books is your writing similar to? My writing style initially just started out as
an outlet, which developed into a diary, and finally with a lot more editing a
book!
9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? One challenge that very nearly stopped me
from writing this book was the first edit, which was actually done by my
mom. I don't have a degree in English and I've never really loved writing. As a
result, the book was a bit rough. Even though I did spend what seemed like an
enormous amount of time on the first draft. My mom pulled very few punches when
she edited the first chapter, and I can remember feeling pretty awful
after that first round.
10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why
should it be yours? There are so many reasons to would buy my
book, but I think the most concise reason is this is a book that will give you
hope. And it's all real - pure honest sharing of my journey. There are chapters
in there covering things I have not yet achieved, but each those have an upbeat
tone. I believe that there is so much negativity and bad news in world today,
and a story that shows that there is a reason to get up each day with hope
might be just what we need!
Though Matthew Brewster never
intended to be an author, his works are a great lesson for all of us. Reading
through the pages of his books gives all of us a chance to think about who we are
and who we want to be. See more information at: www.inspiration-everywhere.com
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About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter
@theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and
Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer
and IBPA’s The Independent. This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
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as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by
www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with
many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with
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Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C.
Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a
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His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal,
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