Matt Wilven
@mattwilven.bsky.social
Novelist | The Blackbird Singularity & Farzaneh and the Moon | Now serialising SHOW HOME, a new psychological thriller 👉 mattwilven.com
'Show, don't tell' is sensible advice until it becomes a superstition. The truth is, great fiction needs both. In my new article, I make the case for the power of 'telling' - and why it's often the mark of a more confident writer.
You can read it here: mattwilven.com/p/in-defence-of-telling
You can read it here: mattwilven.com/p/in-defence-of-telling
In Defence of Telling
Tell, don't show?
mattwilven.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:51 AM
'Show, don't tell' is sensible advice until it becomes a superstition. The truth is, great fiction needs both. In my new article, I make the case for the power of 'telling' - and why it's often the mark of a more confident writer.
You can read it here: mattwilven.com/p/in-defence-of-telling
You can read it here: mattwilven.com/p/in-defence-of-telling
Mark spent twenty years in Trust and Safety. The house tells him it just wants to help.
New chapter of SHOW HOME, a psychological thriller about a family beta-testing a “frictionless” smart home: www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
New chapter of SHOW HOME, a psychological thriller about a family beta-testing a “frictionless” smart home: www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
SHOW HOME - Chapter 10
The BBQ
www.mattwilven.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Mark spent twenty years in Trust and Safety. The house tells him it just wants to help.
New chapter of SHOW HOME, a psychological thriller about a family beta-testing a “frictionless” smart home: www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
New chapter of SHOW HOME, a psychological thriller about a family beta-testing a “frictionless” smart home: www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
Chapter 9 of SHOW HOME is live.
This is Leo’s first chapter: a teenage gamer in a mountain-top smart home:
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-chapter-9
A serial novel about luxury, optimisation and the systems that promise to make you your best self.
This is Leo’s first chapter: a teenage gamer in a mountain-top smart home:
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-chapter-9
A serial novel about luxury, optimisation and the systems that promise to make you your best self.
SHOW HOME - Chapter 9
The Squad
mattwilven.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Chapter 9 of SHOW HOME is live.
This is Leo’s first chapter: a teenage gamer in a mountain-top smart home:
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-chapter-9
A serial novel about luxury, optimisation and the systems that promise to make you your best self.
This is Leo’s first chapter: a teenage gamer in a mountain-top smart home:
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-chapter-9
A serial novel about luxury, optimisation and the systems that promise to make you your best self.
SHOW HOME is a story about what happens when your house is only the showroom for the machine underneath. Chapter 8 is live: www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
December 4, 2025 at 9:57 AM
SHOW HOME is a story about what happens when your house is only the showroom for the machine underneath. Chapter 8 is live: www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
A line from chapter 7 of SHOW HOME. Read it here:
www.mattwilven.com/p/shome-home...
www.mattwilven.com/p/shome-home...
November 26, 2025 at 9:26 PM
A line from chapter 7 of SHOW HOME. Read it here:
www.mattwilven.com/p/shome-home...
www.mattwilven.com/p/shome-home...
SHOW HOME | Chapter 7 – now live.
A boundary wall, a neighbour’s charm and father’s certainty. The plot begins to thicken...
Read 'The Lie': www.mattwilven.com/p/shome-home...
A boundary wall, a neighbour’s charm and father’s certainty. The plot begins to thicken...
Read 'The Lie': www.mattwilven.com/p/shome-home...
SHOW HOME - Chapter 7
The Lie
www.mattwilven.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:55 AM
SHOW HOME | Chapter 7 – now live.
A boundary wall, a neighbour’s charm and father’s certainty. The plot begins to thicken...
Read 'The Lie': www.mattwilven.com/p/shome-home...
A boundary wall, a neighbour’s charm and father’s certainty. The plot begins to thicken...
Read 'The Lie': www.mattwilven.com/p/shome-home...
A line from SHOW HOME. Read the latest chapter:
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
November 20, 2025 at 9:31 AM
A line from SHOW HOME. Read the latest chapter:
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
SHOW HOME | Chapter 6 – Sarah
The new office anticipates her every need. The efficiency is perfect. The alignment makes her feel seen. Read 'The Office':
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
The new office anticipates her every need. The efficiency is perfect. The alignment makes her feel seen. Read 'The Office':
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
SHOW HOME - Chapter 6
The Office
www.mattwilven.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:27 PM
SHOW HOME | Chapter 6 – Sarah
The new office anticipates her every need. The efficiency is perfect. The alignment makes her feel seen. Read 'The Office':
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
The new office anticipates her every need. The efficiency is perfect. The alignment makes her feel seen. Read 'The Office':
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
November 12, 2025 at 9:52 PM
SHOW HOME | Chapter 5 – Mark
He came to help. He stayed to set the terms.
Full access is granted. The violation begins.
Read Chapter 5: The Neighbour:
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
He came to help. He stayed to set the terms.
Full access is granted. The violation begins.
Read Chapter 5: The Neighbour:
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
SHOW HOME - Chapter 5
The Neighbour
www.mattwilven.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:37 PM
SHOW HOME | Chapter 5 – Mark
He came to help. He stayed to set the terms.
Full access is granted. The violation begins.
Read Chapter 5: The Neighbour:
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
He came to help. He stayed to set the terms.
Full access is granted. The violation begins.
Read Chapter 5: The Neighbour:
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
Show Home - a psychological thriller. New chapter drops tomorrow: mattwilven.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Show Home - a psychological thriller. New chapter drops tomorrow: mattwilven.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:49 AM
SHOW HOME | Chapter 4 – Mark
The family settles into a perfect routine. Every need is met. Every friction is removed.
But the help is beginning to feel like a correction.
Read Chapter 4: Calibration
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-ch…
The family settles into a perfect routine. Every need is met. Every friction is removed.
But the help is beginning to feel like a correction.
Read Chapter 4: Calibration
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-ch…
November 2, 2025 at 11:41 AM
SHOW HOME | Chapter 4 – Mark
The family settles into a perfect routine. Every need is met. Every friction is removed.
But the help is beginning to feel like a correction.
Read Chapter 4: Calibration
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-ch…
The family settles into a perfect routine. Every need is met. Every friction is removed.
But the help is beginning to feel like a correction.
Read Chapter 4: Calibration
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-ch…
A different kind of darkness for Halloween... A story that involves being buried alive. Three times.
My second novel, Farzaneh and the Moon, is about the limits of intimacy and identity - when one person is pulled towards an obsession the other cannot follow.
www.amazon.co.uk/Farzaneh-Moo...
My second novel, Farzaneh and the Moon, is about the limits of intimacy and identity - when one person is pulled towards an obsession the other cannot follow.
www.amazon.co.uk/Farzaneh-Moo...
October 31, 2025 at 4:25 PM
A different kind of darkness for Halloween... A story that involves being buried alive. Three times.
My second novel, Farzaneh and the Moon, is about the limits of intimacy and identity - when one person is pulled towards an obsession the other cannot follow.
www.amazon.co.uk/Farzaneh-Moo...
My second novel, Farzaneh and the Moon, is about the limits of intimacy and identity - when one person is pulled towards an obsession the other cannot follow.
www.amazon.co.uk/Farzaneh-Moo...
Writing a novel about a family beta-testing the perfect smart home.
At first it feels like utopia, then the house begins to gaslight them.
The story moves from domestic realism to psychological thriller, exploring how predictive systems erode freedom under the guise of optimisation.
At first it feels like utopia, then the house begins to gaslight them.
The story moves from domestic realism to psychological thriller, exploring how predictive systems erode freedom under the guise of optimisation.
October 29, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Writing a novel about a family beta-testing the perfect smart home.
At first it feels like utopia, then the house begins to gaslight them.
The story moves from domestic realism to psychological thriller, exploring how predictive systems erode freedom under the guise of optimisation.
At first it feels like utopia, then the house begins to gaslight them.
The story moves from domestic realism to psychological thriller, exploring how predictive systems erode freedom under the guise of optimisation.
I’m writing about the tension between security and freedom. People say they value freedom but rarely say they value security - but most people’s actions show the opposite. Is total security a total lack of freedom? And vice versa?
October 29, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I’m writing about the tension between security and freedom. People say they value freedom but rarely say they value security - but most people’s actions show the opposite. Is total security a total lack of freedom? And vice versa?
October 29, 2025 at 9:04 PM
The perfect smart home learns what you need before you do.
Then it decides what you no longer need at all.
SHOW HOME – a serial psychological thriller.
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home
Then it decides what you no longer need at all.
SHOW HOME – a serial psychological thriller.
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home
Show Home
A psychological thriller set in the perfect smart house, where every comfort comes at a catastrophic cost.
www.mattwilven.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
The perfect smart home learns what you need before you do.
Then it decides what you no longer need at all.
SHOW HOME – a serial psychological thriller.
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home
Then it decides what you no longer need at all.
SHOW HOME – a serial psychological thriller.
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home
The first draft is a place I visit. The edit is where I live.
October 27, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The first draft is a place I visit. The edit is where I live.
SHOW HOME | Chapter 3 – Chloe
The app edits her face.
The algorithm edits her value.
She learns what sells - and what disappears.
Read Chapter 3: The App.
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
The app edits her face.
The algorithm edits her value.
She learns what sells - and what disappears.
Read Chapter 3: The App.
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
SHOW HOME - Chapter 3
The App
www.mattwilven.com
October 26, 2025 at 7:40 PM
SHOW HOME | Chapter 3 – Chloe
The app edits her face.
The algorithm edits her value.
She learns what sells - and what disappears.
Read Chapter 3: The App.
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
The app edits her face.
The algorithm edits her value.
She learns what sells - and what disappears.
Read Chapter 3: The App.
www.mattwilven.com/p/show-home-...
SHOW HOME - Chapter 2 is live.
A psychological thriller about a family, an intelligent house, and the price of a frictionless life.
Read it here:
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-chapter-two
A psychological thriller about a family, an intelligent house, and the price of a frictionless life.
Read it here:
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-chapter-two
SHOW HOME - Chapter Two
This Must Be the Place
mattwilven.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:08 AM
SHOW HOME - Chapter 2 is live.
A psychological thriller about a family, an intelligent house, and the price of a frictionless life.
Read it here:
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-chapter-two
A psychological thriller about a family, an intelligent house, and the price of a frictionless life.
Read it here:
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-chapter-two
October 23, 2025 at 8:07 AM
I cut this line from my opening paragraph in chapter 1 last week:
"The light coming in off the peat had the flat sheen of brushed steel."
Unique image. Showing, not telling. So, why did I cut it?
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-629
#amwriting #PsychologicalThriller #indieauthor
"The light coming in off the peat had the flat sheen of brushed steel."
Unique image. Showing, not telling. So, why did I cut it?
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-629
#amwriting #PsychologicalThriller #indieauthor
SHOW HOME
The Arrival
mattwilven.com
October 19, 2025 at 4:20 AM
I cut this line from my opening paragraph in chapter 1 last week:
"The light coming in off the peat had the flat sheen of brushed steel."
Unique image. Showing, not telling. So, why did I cut it?
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-629
#amwriting #PsychologicalThriller #indieauthor
"The light coming in off the peat had the flat sheen of brushed steel."
Unique image. Showing, not telling. So, why did I cut it?
mattwilven.com/p/show-home-629
#amwriting #PsychologicalThriller #indieauthor
Control is just anxiety in a suit.
October 16, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Control is just anxiety in a suit.
SHOW HOME - Chapter 1 is live.
A psychological thriller about a family, an intelligent house, and the price you pay for a frictionless life.
Read it here: thewritinglab.substack.com/p/show-home-...
A psychological thriller about a family, an intelligent house, and the price you pay for a frictionless life.
Read it here: thewritinglab.substack.com/p/show-home-...
October 12, 2025 at 8:51 AM
SHOW HOME - Chapter 1 is live.
A psychological thriller about a family, an intelligent house, and the price you pay for a frictionless life.
Read it here: thewritinglab.substack.com/p/show-home-...
A psychological thriller about a family, an intelligent house, and the price you pay for a frictionless life.
Read it here: thewritinglab.substack.com/p/show-home-...