Kilsyth's Matt got a write good deal

Journalist Matt Bendoris has seen his second career as an author move up a gear thanks to the timely intervention of Diana Gabaldon, the author who brought the Outlander phenomenon to life.

Diana provided a jacket quote for Matt’s latest novel ‘Wicked Leaks’ which was released in the United States yesterday (Tuesday).

And Diana’s endorsement where she praised the story for having “great characters – delightfully engaged” helped Matt secure a deal with New York-based Skyhorse Publishing.

Married dad-of-two Matt said: “I only ever had Twitter conversations with Diana, until out of the blue, she asked me for a copy of my book.

“I couldn’t believe it when a few weeks later she Tweeted such a ringing endorsement to her 216,000 social media followers. Her kind words actually helped me secure a deal with Skyhorse, so ‘The Outlander Effect’ is a very real thing as far as I’m concerned.”

That is the term for the tourist boom built on the back of the time travel drama with overseas fans of the series flocking to areas featured in the show.

And Matt only got to meet the multi-million selling writer from Arizona in May this year when she jetted in to see these for herself.

Matt said: “Diana is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. She is also very canny and told me she had sold 28 million books so I have quite a way to go before I catch up with her!”