R.Matthias
What is your latest release and what genre is it? Trials Elsewhere: Stories of life and Development in West Africa – Travel memoir
Quick description: In Trials Elsewhere, R. Matthias vividly describes his experiences as a 21st century traveler. Moving from Canada to Washington D.C. to take on the inner city, Matthias then finds himself invited to apply his skills and idealism in The Republic of the Gambia. Working first for a human rights NGO and then for a Gambian-owned Internet service provider, he begins to question his conceptions of how the world works — is the Western way of doing things viable in other parts of the world? Is the Western way of work even a good idea? Is there any real value in idealism as Westerners understand it? As he ponders these questions Matthias is cursed at a wedding, survives a coup d’état, avoids the state’s secret police, wanders for a year stateless without a passport or way home, and is sentenced by a tribal court. Matthias’s experience in West Africa increasingly becomes an unpredictable adventure.
R. Matthias is currently holding a Goodreads Giveaway for 10 copies of his print book, open to members from the US and Canada to enter until Jan. 31.
Brief biography:
Robin started his library career working at the Washington DC Public Library as Head of Intranet Development. Following that, he lived many years overseas, primarily in West Africa, building IT infrastructure in The Republic of the Gambia, Sierra Leon, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry. He also worked in Ethiopia and Uganda on a telehealth project on behalf of The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.
Links to buy R.Matthias’s book:
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
R.Matthias’s promo links:
Goodreads
What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a collection of short stories primarily concerning my life while I worked in Washington DC.
R.Matthias’s reading recommendation:
I’d strongly recommend Wallace Stegner’s Collected Stories. Each one is a wonderful insight into some aspect of the relationships young people are a part of.
Reading Recommendations 
Trials Elsewhere sounds fascinating! Thanks for the spotlight on R. Matthias. I’m going to check out his work.
Thank you for the interest! If you have any questions about me or my work, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.
R.M.
Reblogged this on Authors to Watch.
Thank you for this Tricia!