About
Matthew J. Metzger – or Matt, as he is more generally known – is as much a character as the people in his books. A front designed for a British author whose day-to-day life and distinctive surname renders a pseudonym necessary as opposed to nice, Matt is the vehicle through which a writing career has been launched.
With six books in two years – Our Last Summer (January 2013), Vivaldi in the Dark (December 2013), The Devil’s Trill Sonata (March 2014), Rhapsody on a Theme (May 2014), Enough (May 2014) and Some Mistakes (winter 2014) – Matt could be described as prolific. Or mad.
Matt currently writes predominantly gay fiction. Four of his first six novels are young adult books covering issues that may well be uncomfortable for some, but are facts of life for others: bullying, depression, domestic violence, dysfunctional families, and many others.
When he’s not writing…actually, no. Matt is always writing. However, the bits of life he squashes between books include a day-to-day job, a love of the wilder parts of English countryside, a desire to travel that simply isn’t affordable at the moment, and a love-hate relationship with his car.
Contact Matt at mattmetzger@hotmail.co.uk – but be prepared for a slow response. Invariably, he will be buried in a manuscript somewhere.
matthewjmetzger 
I just read the edit to your bio on the ksarchive site. I must say I’m very sad that you’ve distanced yourself from the ksarchive and from ks fanfic in general. You became one of my absolute favorite authors the very first time I read one of your fics… and never failed to entertain, captivate and/or wring an emotional response out of me.
But I do understand that you have to do what’s best for you.
I wish you long life and prosperity.
I have permanently distanced myself from the archive. Whether the distancing from KS fic in general is permanent remains to be seen; if I can relearn my appreciation for it, then maybe I’ll be back. Thank you for your wellwishes, and the same to you *bows*
Matt x
Against the Dying of the Light was an awesome story. I hope you’ll come back to K/S. Remember, bitches be crazy!
I need a happy ending to “On Any Given Day”,please.
You might be waiting awhile for that one! Not only am I not working on it at the moment (ironically, despite the attention it gets, I don’t much like that series myself) but I’m not working on much fanfiction at all thanks to my original works and real life. Sorry! 😦
I was reading your work on the Kirk/ Spock archive, and saw your profile.
So I felt like contacting you. For many reasons, I guess; you’re far from the only one to leave a fandom from being bullied, but I feel like that was this fandoms loss; you are one of the most brilliant Kirk/ Spock authors I’ve ever read. And talented in general; I seek out works by an author in other fandoms, but I enjoy your words enough to do so.
Bullies should, really, be banned from archives-but I guess that’s a lot for admins. Still, I’m sorry you were hurt.
Plus, I am from and going back to the steel city myself, if across the pond. That fact doubly amused me. (Hometown pride insists that OBVIOUSLY you know what city that is, but. Pittsburgh.)
Mostly, though? I wanted you to know your works are appreciated. And read and recced both, still.
Hope you’re well,
-K
Angered more than hurt. I’ve been in fandom too long, and have a skin too thick, to be hurt by fandom’s little wars these days. But it annoyed me, and I don’t particularly like myself when I’m angry, so I figured it was better to back out and dedicate my work to sites and fangroups I can at least have a civil conversation with!
Your hometown pride is well-placed: I did know the American steel city was Pittsburgh! Don’t know how I know that, but that goes for most of my knowledge.
Thank you for your message, and hopefully we shall speak again!
Matt x
Sorry to hear you got slimed by the K/S universe. In my view your best work was pithy and thought provoking. There is a time for fluffy stuff but good writing is about exploring the underbelly of world issues. They didn’t like the approach to safe sex that my first post took but I took the view that if you are not publishing commercial works you write for yourself and use the experience to explore various styles and forms as you develop ideas and skills as a weaver of tales. I especially liked your body image piece looking at relationship dynamics when appearance was destroyed. The themes of you covered in that piece were thought provoking. Certainly it influenced my decision to stick to exploring ideas and using the fic form and plot to say something. Will look at your site for inspiration.
I was just re-reading one of your stories on the KS Archive and read your profile. Definitely am sad and sorry to hear that you were bullied/harassed and decided to leave the fandom. I wish I could do something to battle out the people who were mean to you since I’m a firm believer that fandoms should unite people who love the same things. And that it is perhaps hypocritical of the ethos presented by ST.
I wanted to comment since your stories were some of the earliest K/S fics I had read. You’ve written some of the loveliest stories (and I really do enjoy your characterization of Jim) in the fandom and and it truly is our loss. While I’m a relative new to K/S, I completely understand where you are coming from. And for the sake of sounding cheesy, do what feels right 🙂 And if it means leaving the fandom, so be it. Best wishes with everything!
Hypocrisy was certainly the impression I got, yes. But wars fought over the internet never got anyone anywhere – far easier to back up and take another route! Thank you for your comments and support, and I hope I can live up to those expectations of yours 😉
Matt
Matt, I followed you here from your bio on the K/S archive. I have read every single work of yours, and I wanted to tell you that you are one of the best authors in the fandom. I’m really sorry that you have distanced yourself from the fandom, and I hope that you come back one day! I am really invested in Against the Dying of the Light and the Keeping Love and On any Given Day series. I hope that you will complete them one day so I can stop biting my nails from the suspense, lol. Anyway, much support to you in all of your endeavors.
~Janaya
I don’t like to leave work unfinished, and hopefully one day I will return and complete them. 🙂 I won’t, however, return to the archive to do it. All my works are elsewhere, so if I ever come back, I won’t be bothering to restart the whole messy affair with the archive.
Thank you for your comments,
Matt.
I also came from K/S, and I just wanted to say:
I don’t know what happened with the bullying from other members of the fandom, but I would like to say that, on the behalf of the rest of us who aren’t jerks, I’m really, profoundly sorry. That sort of thing should not happen in fandom and all too often does.
I would also like to say that your profile is the only one which I checked regularly for updates, and I’m really sad that your unfinished stories will never be finished. I’m sorry that a few bad apples drove you away from it, and while I understand why it may now leave a bad taste in your mouth, I would also say: Fuck them if they can’t take a joke, and Do what you love, cuz haters gonna hate.
Thanks for some awesome (well written, heart-rending, tear-jerking, fist-pumping, profoundly excellent) fiction. I hope one day you’ll be back, because I, for one, thought you were brilliant.
Hopefully one day I will finish the incompleted stories, but unfortunately I feel angry enough about it, and ostracised enough from the pairing, that I can no longer make the promises I would normally do regarding unfinished work. If I do finish it, it won’t be on the archive – I have no intention of delving back into those murky waters again.
Thank you for your comments and support, and I hope that my future and ongoing work can always live up to that description!
Matt
Hi!
As the majority of people who are writing to you I come from StarTrek fandom. I’m Russian, I’m totally new to the whole thing (less than a month in this particular fandom) but already pissed of by the lack of good stuff to read. When I stumbled on your “On any Given Day ” series, I was absolutely smashed up (not sure if this is the right word to use in such a situation). I was torn to pieces and that was the most fantastic thing I experienced in fanfiction for a long period of time. That story was just brilliant and I’m totally in love with you for it. Basically I wanted to say thanks to you for all those emotions – raw and ugly and, nevertheless, staggering and fabulous. I even felt inclined to translate it into Russian (if I got your permission) but as I see now the series isn’t complete, is it? It would be cruel to leave Russian readers with an uncertainty concerning Spock’s future. I understand and respect all your reasons for distancing yourself from the fandom and I certainly understand how it happens when it just loses the appeal cause I have abandoned a couple of fandoms myself. Still I hope for the muse to come back to you. Your fiction is really wonderful, you know it, surely. Wish you all the luck in the world 😉
Natalia
Aw, thank you! I’m glad you liked that series – ironically enough, I look back at that particular series and am not impressed, but given its popularity, I may eventually go back and rewrite it properly, as well as finish it off!
It would be fantastic, really!)
thank u anyway
Aloha!
as about the 100th person to say, I’ve come from the K/S fandom to land here on your blog~
Just wanted to say that while you may or may not continue those stories, I’ve learnt to love them all dearly (I do have to say that you are one of the few authors to concentrate on spock and how he feels, which I find something not many look at… so you’ve made me very very happy with those stories) and that you are very talented! ❤
I have way too many books and assignments waiting for me, but I do plan on reading your book (the summary made me curious to read it 😀 I'm looking forward to reading it when I'll finally have some time to do so~)
I myself would love to write fanfictions, but I'm too crappy at it (I prefer writing my own stories instead. not that they're any better, but there is something to be said about inventing own and original characters.
And I love learning languages just for fun~ it's awesome (I wish I had more time for more. And Chinese is a bitch if you've learnt Japanese first. I will never get those damn tones right.)
To get to the end… I want to thank you for all your intriguing works which I have enjoyed A LOT (many of them are in my all-time-fave-list) and wish you success in your future works (which I of course hope to read as well).
Greetings from Switzerland,
~ima
Aloha!
Well, play to strengths. There’s a reason I don’t write horror stories: I’m shite at it! I hope you enjoy the book (obviously) and as for future works – well, they’re coming 😉 Inventing your own is much more fun that fanworks, and I find I’m drifting away from fandom a little now. Too much to play with in my own head.
Regards from (right now) Oxford!
Matt x
PS – Learning Chinese is a bitch in any case! I can speak it alright, it’s the reading and writing that lets me down :S
(echoes what everyone else said about K/S Archive)
I want the rest of the “Keeping Love” series. Do you accept bribes?
I plan on buying your book. I just got my tablet, and I have to figure out how to get the Kindle book transferred to it. I bought Sam Taylor’s book too, so you know I’m not a total nutcase. (but I’m working on it, honestly)
~AKO
RE Keeping Love – if I come back to that, it will be alongside reworking it. It’s kind of raw, needs some polishing up. But I’m still pretty separated from KS fandom and in the wake of getting published, I doubt I’ll be back. So…I guess it remains unfinished? Sorry 😦
Regarding bribes: I bought your book, and I’ll buy the next one, too!
Regarding polish: I am a decent proofreader…ask Pam.
Keep writing, Matt. You’re good.
~AKO