Matthew "Matt" Carson (born October 14, 1975) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Carson's recent works include ''The Attic, A Christmas Story'' and most recently ''On A Hill They Call Capital''. In 2009 he ran as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate for

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, 30th District seat, losing to the Republican incumbent.

Biography

Born in

Warrenton, Virginia Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, of which it is the seat of government. The population was 9,611 at the 2010 census, up from 6,670 at the 2000 census. The estimated population in 2019 was 10,027. It is at the junction of U.S. R ...

, Matt Carson is a graduate of

Fauquier High School Fauquier High School is a public high school in Warrenton, Virginia, United States. The school is part of Fauquier County Public Schools and is located at 705 Waterloo Road. History Fauquier opened in 1963 and is the oldest high school in Fauqui ...

and holds a degree in political science and history from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. As a student, he was the founder of the SRA (Student Rights Administration) in 1997, a group that gained national media attention by battling the then president of the University, David Hardesty, for his "dry fraternity" initiatives and for attempting to cut back on student tailgating at football games by instituting a "no keg" ruling. Carson was arrested by Morgantown police for some of his on-campus antics. Carson was also a writer for

The Daily Athenaeum ''The Daily Athenaeum'' is the official student newspaper at West Virginia University. Founded in 1887, the paper draws students from all disciplines to contribute original content for publication. It is editorially independent from the universit ...

at the time, the WVU student newspaper, and gained attention for his often hilarious pro-party rants and for citing his determination at restoring WVU as the "number one party school in the nation" as ranked by

Playboy Magazine ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

. After graduating, he worked at Oasis Winery with owner

Tareq Salahi Tareq Dirgham Salahi is an American vintner, International polo player, travel/tourism expert, television personality and winery owner. Salahi has appeared in two reality-television shows: ''Where the Elite Meet'', and NBC Universal/Bravo's '' ...

in an effort to learn the wine business. Carson was originally slated to write the Salahi story involving the winery family feud, the Virginia polo murder, and the rise of the Virginia wine business to be titled ''Wine, War, & Roses''. The Real Housewives of Washington, D.C. filmed a book meeting at Carson's Virginia home with the Salahis one week prior to the alleged White House Gatecrashing incident. Soon after the White House incident Carson walked away from the project. After Oasis, he founded SiteWhirks Inc., a multiple-awarded

Web development Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications ...

company in Warrenton and co-founded Bigteams. He has a wife and 3-year-old daughter. Carson was also featured in the infamous The Men of

Rappahannock County Rappahannock County is a county located in the northern Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, US, adjacent to Shenandoah National Park. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 7,348. Its county seat is Washington. The name "Rappaha ...

partially nude calendar that gained national attention as a fundraiser for a local high school track field. He appeared in the calendar along with

Ben L. Jones Benjamin Lewis Jones (born August 30, 1941) is an American actor, politician, playwright, and essayist, best known for his role as Cooter Davenport in ''The Dukes of Hazzard''. Jones also served for four years in the United States House of Repre ...

, aka, Cooter from the

Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...

television show.

On A Hill They Call Capital

The second literary work of Matt Carson, ''On A Hill They Call Capital: A Revolution Is Coming'', published on July 4, 2007, is the story of 8 Virginians in their late twenties who mount a revolution against the

U.S. Federal Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

out of frustration with the

Patriot Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropr ...

. These 8 Virginians call themselves the Grandsons of Liberty after the

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...

. The book has received praise from such sources as ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' journalist

Joel Garreau Joel Garreau (born 1948) is an American journalist, scholar, and author. In 1981, Garreau published ''The Nine Nations of North America''. In 1991, he published '' Edge City: Life on the New Frontier''. In 2005, he published ''Radical Evolutio ...

and Julie Failla Earhart of Armchair Interviews. The cast of characters and unique literary style blur the lines between fiction and non-fiction created a recurring discussion theme among critics and readers about whether the book is purely a work of fiction or a warning of a pending revolution. The book has been featured on

Military Times Sightline Media Group, formerly Gannett Government Media and Army Times Publishing Company, is a United States company that publishes newspapers, magazines, websites, and other publications about the U.S. and other militaries. The company's '' ...

' website for supposedly containing hidden codes and foreshadowing specific real events.

2009 Virginia elections candidacy

Matt Carson ran as an independent against the Republican incumbent Ed Scott in November’s race for the 30th District seat in the

. In his first campaign for public office he gained 25% of the vote, losing to the incumbent. The main points of his political campaign were the support for a Patriot Act free state, fiscal responsibility at state level, protection of inalienable rights of individuals, and an

environmentally friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...

approach.

Bibliography

*Matt Carson. (2007). ''On A Hill They Call Capital: A Revolution is Coming.'' *Matthew Amick (original penname of Matt Carson). (1999). ''The Attic: A Christmas Story.''

References

External links

Publisher's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Matt 1975 births Living people 20th-century American novelists Novelists from Virginia People from Warrenton, Virginia West Virginia University alumni 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Fauquier High School alumni 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers