Last updated at 14:19, Friday, 23 October 2009

I was born in Perthshire and we moved to Carlisle when I was a toddler. I grew up in a house on Raffles Avenue in a big family.

Matt Hilton

There were five boys so there was always a bit of rough and tumble going on, but we all got on and I’m still close to all my brothers.

It was at primary school I first got the bug for writing. I went to Newtown Primary School and one of my teachers, Mr Strong, really encouraged me. I always enjoyed creative subjects like English and art.

When I was nine I heard Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins and it struck a chord with me. I got totally engrossed in rock ’n’ roll and when I was about 13 started dressing like a rockabilly.

I went to Morton School and attracted like-minded friends. There was a gang of us and we’d have a little disco every dinner hour.

We were a little clique and to other people probably a bit laughable but we didn’t care.

At Morton one of my English teachers, Mr Norman, liked a story I’d written so much he read it to the class. He encouraged me to continue writing which was great because I can be my own worst critic.

I left school at 15 – my parents moved back to Perthshire and I went with them then returned to Cumbria when I was 17 – but I was there long enough to do my mock exams, so I left with all that knowledge. Through boxing and martial arts I’ve learned about other cultures and languages.

I worked as a security guard for 18 years and during that time set up the Carlisle radio link scheme and Carlisle Retailers Against Crime. That was a sense of achievement; the centre of Carlisle is now a much safer environment. In 2004 I left security and became a police officer, serving mainly Flimby and Maryport.

I’d always done writing as a hobby. I found it a good stress release and I’d been sending my work to publishers for years. I’ve had numerous rejections but also a few steps up the ladder which kept me going.

I had articles published in magazines and was shortlisted for competitions. I wrote the manuscript for Dead Men’s Dust in 2004, but left it and went on to write another book.

But my daughter Megan had read it and liked it. When she died [in 2006 aged 17] and I was off work grieving I thought of her encouragement.

The whole situation made me reassess what I was doing and I sent it off to an agent in London. In 2008 it was put up at an auction and Hodder & Stoughton bought the rights.

When my agent called the first thing he said was: “Are you sitting down?” He asked if I was prepared to give up the police force and it’s never stopped since.

My wife Denise now works as my assistant and we’ve been to America three times and all round the UK.

It hasn’t changed me as a person, but it’s given us financial security.

It’s also given us hope after losing our daughter and is something new to concentrate on.

My advice to aspiring writers would be: don’t expect to be an overnight success or to become rich and famous, but hold on to that dream. And never give up.

My story is proof that “ordinary” people can achieve their ambitions if they persist and put in the work.

Interview by Rosalind Gibb

First published at 11:19, Saturday, 17 October 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk