<\/p>\n
\u201cWriting is good for my mental health. It\u2019s like making your own jigsaw puzzle.\u201d<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty\u00a0Images<\/cite><\/p>\n If you could travel back in a time machine and give a younger Matthew Reilly the sex education he deserved, what would you teach him? <\/strong>Don\u2019t get hung up on sex; society gets very hung up on sex. My books have all manner of outrageous violence and I\u2019ve never had a single complaint. As soon as I put a sex scene in a book [Scarecrow<\/em>, in 2003] there were complaints.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the secret to writing a good sex scene? <\/strong>Full disclosure: the sex scene in Scarecrow<\/em> was two lines. The Tournament<\/em> has very explicit sex scenes in it. When I wrote them, I didn\u2019t want them to be flowery; I wanted them to be clear. \u201cExplicit\u201d is probably the best word. Recently, all my buddies were sitting around at the golf club and one of them said, \u201cMatt, my favourite book of yours is The Tournament<\/em>.\u201d Another one said, \u201cYeah, me, too \u2013 the one with the sex in it. I loved that one!\u201d I should\u2019ve started writing sex scenes 20 books ago\u2006\u2026<\/p>\n You\u2019ve been candid before about losing your first wife, Natalie, to suicide [in 2011]. Do you have any advice for other people navigating sex and romance after a loss like that? <\/strong>When I was in the first few months of grieving, someone told me about a guy who\u2019d lost his wife, then found love again and remarried. At that point in my life, I thought it would be impossible; I thought it would never happen. But it did. And I have, 12 years later, remarried. You go through this horrific grieving process, but there can be light and love at the end of it. You never forget that first life partner you had, but you can find happiness again. There\u2019s a moment where you wake up one day and say to yourself, \u201cYou know, I wouldn\u2019t mind some companionship again.\u201d That took over a year or so for me.<\/p>\n What attracted you to your second wife, Kate, when you first met her? [The pair married six months ago.]<\/strong> She pulls no punches. She calls a spade a spade. She\u2019s a bright, joyful person \u2013 very intelligent and a good golfer, too.<\/p>\n Are you aware of what she finds attractive in you? <\/strong>No! [Laughs<\/em>] But I\u2019m a little different to most guys: I like to think that I\u2019m a considerate and empathetic person. And I want her to succeed in everything she wants to do.<\/p>\n What\u2019s sexy about your work and what\u2019s not sexy? <\/strong>Writing novels is strange. For 95 per cent of the time, I\u2019m in a room by myself tapping on a keyboard. Then, for five per cent of the time, I\u2019m expected to be very extroverted, do interviews, go on TV and give speeches in front of several thousand people. The non-sexy part of it, I suppose, is the dozen times I reread my new book. What\u2019s sexy is when you turn up for a book signing and there\u2019s What do you believe in? <\/strong>My father would be very disappointed as he\u2019s very Catholic, but I\u2019m not religious. My Jesuit educators were excellent \u2013 they really did teach honestly and openly about religion \u2013 but unfortunately for them, I went to a Catholic school \u2026 and it taught me not to be Catholic.<\/p>\n The opposite of faith is doubt. How do you overcome yours in the writing process? <\/strong>I overcame the doubt in writing quite a few years ago. More recent doubt came with the movie Interceptor<\/em>. When you write a screenplay, then direct the movie, there are countless times when you\u2019re saying to yourself, \u201cOh my god, am I the only one who thinks this is any good? Is this going to be a disaster?\u201d You think, \u201cWell, I wish I had another $10 million for this visual effect, but I don\u2019t. Are people gonna think my movie sucks?\u201d That doubt was ultimately assuaged when Netflix tested the movie with audiences and they said they loved it.<\/p>\n Who do you idolise? <\/strong>Michael Crichton, who wrote Jurassic Park<\/em>, wrote and directed Westworld<\/em> and The Great Train Robbery<\/em>, and created the TV show ER<\/em>. I want to write novels, write and direct feature films, and I\u2019d love to do TV as well. So Michael Crichton is the guy I idolise.<\/p>\n How is writing bad for your health? <\/strong>Once I went to the doctor and was told I had a vitamin D deficiency. Not enough sunlight. If I write for two days, I try to get out on the golf course. It\u2019s also sedentary, so I make sure I go to the gym.<\/p>\n How is writing good for your health? <\/strong>It is absolutely good for my mental health. It\u2019s like making your own jigsaw puzzle. There\u2019s no greater mental exercise than planning a novel and writing it, or writing a screenplay and directing it as a film. People like to do crosswords to keep themselves mentally sharp. I don\u2019t have that problem; every day is a puzzle of my own making that I\u2019m trying to solve.<\/p>\nSEX<\/h3>\n
a line that goes for 500 metres: you feel like a rock star.<\/p>\nRELIGION<\/h3>\n
BODIES<\/h3>\n