Matthew Reilly
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2008) |
| Matthew Reilly | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 July 1974 |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Genres | Action/Thriller |
|
www.matthewreilly.com |
|
Matthew John Reilly (born 2 July 1974[1] in Sydney) is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
After graduating from Sydney's St Aloysius' College[2] in 1992,[3] Reilly studied Law at the University of New South Wales,[4] where he was also a contributor to the student law society publication "Poetic Justice".[citation needed] Reilly wrote his first book Contest while just 19 and self-published it in 1996.[1] It was rejected by every major publishing company in Sydney, leading Reilly to self-publish 1,000 copies using a bank loan. Reilly was discovered when a publisher from Pan Macmillan found a self-published copy of Contest in a bookstore. Reilly's second book, Ice Station was also written while he was a student at the University of NSW.[5] It was quickly picked up by publishers in the major markets of the US, the UK and Germany. He has since sold over 4 million copies of his books worldwide, in over 20 languages.[6]
Reilly owns several movie prop reproductions including a life-size statue of Han Solo frozen in carbonite (Star Wars), a golden idol (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and a working DeLorean DMC-12 (Back to the Future).[1] A big fan of hollywood blockbusters, Reilly hopes to direct one of his own books as movies some day.
Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves was the biggest-selling fiction title in Australia in 2011.[7] Two more of Reilly's books have been the biggest-selling Australian titles of their years of release: Seven Ancient Wonders (2005) and The Five Greatest Warriors (2009).[8]
In 2007, Reilly wrote a half-hour television script titled Literary Superstars. The script was picked up by Darren Star (Sex and the City) and bought by Sony Pictures for the ABC Network. Jenna Elfman signed on to play the lead role. The pilot episode was at the casting stage when the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike began, paralyzing Hollywood. The pilot was placed on indefinite hiatus before ultimately being dropped by ABC.[9]
On 2 January 2012, Reilly posted on his website and Facebook page that his wife Natalie had died in early December 2011. He cancelled the remaining book tours for Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves and announced his intention to take a break from online communications for a while. [10] [11]
[edit] Books
[edit] Stand-alone novels
- 1996 Contest (Self-published in 1996; published by Pan Macmillan in 2000)
- 1999 Temple (appears to be set in the same universe as the Shane Schofield series, is referred to in passing in Ice Station, Area 7 and Hell Island.)
[edit] The Shane Schofield series
- See Shane Schofield
- 1998 Ice Station
- 2001 Area 7
- 2003 Scarecrow
- 2005 Hell Island (Novella which was an Australian "Books Alive" exclusive; reworked version for people with reading difficulties, released for the "Quick Reads" program in UK)
- 2011 Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves (Scarecrow Returns US title)
[edit] The Jack West Jr series
See Jack West Jr
- 2005 Seven Ancient Wonders (Also known as Seven Deadly Wonders in the U.S.)
- 2007 The Six Sacred Stones
- 2009 The Five Greatest Warriors [12]
[edit] Hover Car Racer
- 2004 Hover Car Racer (released online at www.hovercarracer.com; published by Pan Mac same year)Printed version illustrated by Roy Govier
- 2005 Crash Course (US release only; 1st third of Hover Car Racer novel, illustrated by Pablo Raimondi)
- 2006 Full Throttle (US release only; 2nd third of Hover Car Racer novel, illustrated by Pablo Raimondi)
- 2007 Photo Finish (US release only; final third of Hover Car Racer novel, illustrated by Pablo Raimondi)
Matthew Reilly has also written many short novels and screenplays , all of which can be downloaded from his website.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "matthewreilly.com Author Biography". Retrieved 10 January 2009
- ^ "Author Profile: Matthew Reilly". Bookreporter.com. http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-reilly-matthew.asp. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
- ^ Contest - Reilly, Matthew - 2000 paper back edition - An interview with Matthew Reilly - pg 349 Retrieved 10 January 2009
- ^ Us.macmillan.com/temple - Biography. Macmillan. Retrieved 7 February 2009
- ^ Scarecrow - Reilly, Matthew - 2004 paper back edition - Biography - first page - Retrieved 10 January 2009
- ^ Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, author biography
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 January 2012
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 December 2005 and 2 January 2010
- ^ www.matthewreilly.com/filmtv.html
- ^ "Latest News". Matthew Reilly. http://www.matthewreilly.com/. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
- ^ "Official Matthew Reilly Facebook Page". http://www.facebook.com/OfficialMatthewReilly/. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
- ^ Reilly, Matthew (17 March 2009). "Five Greatest Warriors Release Date & Cover, Movies Books & TV". http://www.matthewreilly.com/rb_09-03-17_1.html. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- An interview of the author regarding HCR
- Official webpage at Simon & Schuster
- Works by Matthew Reilly on Open Library at the Internet Archive
|
|||||||||||
