Matt Titus

Matt Titus grew up enjoying sports, hunting and fishing in the Lone Star State--when not hauled off to military schools or parachuted into remote summer camps in the north woods. Unable to shake either the military or the north, he soon found himself in New York as a West Point plebe.

Eventually, he was able to realize a lifelong passion (one he attributes to the epitome of American culture and education--network television--specifically, Kung Fu). He disappeared into greater China where he discovered that the TV show was not, in fact, a historical documentary. Undeterred, he learned Mandarin Chinese with a smattering of Cantonese and enough Taiwanese to get into fights with sailors. He also trained in a wide variety of martial arts and earned black belts in Shorin-ryu Karate (which came in useful during the aforementioned confrontations).

One surreal highlight of China occurred at the Taoist holy mountain of Wudang. He spent an afternoon during torrential rain and severe flooding having tea with the world's oldest Taoist nun. Over 100 years old at the time, she relayed stories of the Qing Dynasty and appeared interested in his views (or, perhaps, she was merely bewildered by his atrocious Mandarin). Titus later turned these experiences into a respectable, though utterly useless, Master's degree from Washington University which emphasized Asian history and culture.

After years of heat and humidity along the Gulf Coast and East Asia, a plane stop in Los Angeles was a life-changer. No rain for weeks on end was a welcome change (though, according to the California governor, months and years--not). Titus attended the writer's program at UCLA and wrote half a dozen thriller screen or teleplays before turning to historical fantasy novels. "I wanted to write the kind of book I would have read as a kid if some adult had bothered to take the time." He took the time.

Being in LaLa land, he caught the acting bug and studied the "method." He soon joined the Screen Actors Guild after working on a number of films and television shows. (Sadly Kung Fu was no longer on the air.) Most recently he performed a variety of roles in theatre. Where else can one be the most appallingly crass and cheesy "professional" one moment, a mercurial, violent thug the next, and then foreclose the farm on widows and children as a "suit"--and actually have people like you?

In his "free" time, Titus keeps his heart racing and mind reeling through derivatives speculation. "Just to keep things interesting." Should this prove too stimulating he can always turn to his current obsession with classic drinks. His pursuit of vintage cocktail recipes and authentic 19th century ingredients rivals InGen's hunt for dinosaur DNA.

For even more than you wanted to know go to:

www.I-Titus.com