Matt had always wanted to become a novelist, but held off too concerned about the prospect of failure. After a meeting with author David Baldacci, Matt asked him at 39, if he was too old to write his first novel. David, stopped mid-signature, looked up and him and said, "Oh, hell no. The industry could use some good young writers!" Upon hearing those words, Matt didn't know if he should be more excited that he thought forty-years-old was still considered to be young or that this legendary man of the industry was telling him to go forth and his dream. He started the first draft of Surviving the Lion's Den, which was originally named The Iranian Plot, immediately after he got home.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.