HUGHES, Matthew
Born in Liverpool, Matthew Hughes moved with his family to Canada when he was just five years old and in his own words “I’ve made my living as a writer all of my adult life, first as a journalist, then as a staff speechwriter to the Canadian Ministers of Justice and Environment, and — from 1979 until a few years back– as a freelance corporate and political speechwriter in British Columbia. I am a former director of the Federation of British Columbia Writers and I used to belong to Mensa Canada, but these days I’m conserving my energies to write fiction.“
Matt is the author of three Hengis Hapthorn novels (MAJESTRUM, THE SPIRAL LABYRINTH and HESPIRA) published recently in the United States by Nightshade Books. These novels – a massively enjoyable mix of P.G. Wodehouse, Sherlock Holmes and Jack Vance’s Dying Earth – have received wonderful reviews across the board.
Other works include other novels set in Hughes’ Archonate universe – FOOL’S ERRANT, FOOL ME TWICE (collected by the Science Fiction Book Club and released as GULLIBLE’S TRAVELS), BLACK BRILLION, THE COMMONS, TEMPLATE and the short fiction collection THE GIST HUNTER AND OTHER STORIES. Outside the Archonate world, Matt has written numerous short stories and a number of non-fiction works.
Most recently Zeno has negotiated a three book deal for Matt with Angry Robot, the first of which is tentatively titled TO HELL AND BACK and will be the first novel in The Actuary series. Look out for this in September 2010. Here’s what Angry Robot say about these books…
“‘[Matt]… brings us a trio of novels featuring mild-mannered actuary Chesney Anstruther. After he accidentally summons a demon (as you do), the canny Anstruther refuses to go ahead with any soul-selling, which leads through various confusions to, well, Hell going on strike. Which means that nothing bad ever happens in the world… with disastrous consequences. When Satan offers him his heart’s desire to sort the whole mess out, our hero seizes his chance, and becomes a caped crimefighter, with a very unwilling demon for a sidekick”