The Official Author Matthew Tully Website

Matthew Tully was born in New York City. At age five, he and his family moved to Ireland where they lived until he was 13 years old. He completed his undergraduate degree at Seton Hall University in New Jersey and continued his graduate studies in Rome, Italy. He resides in New Jersey where he is a public school teacher and adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

"Newton High School alumnus finalist in national book competition"
By SETH AUGENSTEIN
NJ Herald, one of New Jersey's oldest published newspapers
STAFF WRITER

WHARTON — Matthew Tully has found the fountain of youth.

(Spoiler alert: It might be the quest in the 38-year-old’s debut novel).

The Newton High School alumnus and current Tenafly Middle School teacher has written “The Chimera Seed,” recently named a finalist in USA Book News’ 2009 National Best Books Award.

The book is a page-turning sci-fi thriller of a global struggle for a drug that holds the secret to conquering aging and mortality. “Immortality is possible, but the cost of eternal life is death,” is the tagline. However, the inevitable struggle between pharmaceutical companies, the hero and other interests, which includes violence and general mayhem, drives a quick read that has garnered comparisons to Dan Brown and Michael Crichton by Web reviewers.

Tully, a mathematics teacher by trade, is a philosopher of sorts who reflects on the book’s success — several thousand copies have sold around the world — by recounting its genesis. The seed of the plot sprouted from a jellyfish, Turritopsis nutricula, believed to be immortally swimming the world’s oceans. From there, the book’s 70 pages came, then some affirmation from colleagues, then a fast publishing deal from small independent Comfort Publishing, then word of the award.

“This was accidental,” he said from behind the pile of books and notes in his dining room, laughing.

Born in the Bronx, Tully moved with his family to Ireland until his early teen years. The clan moved back to the Bronx, and then shortly thereafter west to Sussex County’s seat.

The Newton grad worked for five years at Willow Glen Academy before heading off to Seton Hall University, where his degree was in philosophy. Graduate work in Rome was on the same subject. He still considers his first love and strength to be the ancient philosophers, most notably Aristotle and Plato. He consistently reads, re-reads and evaluates the classics, and still teaches a philosophy class at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“I’m one of the weird people who like to think about things,” he said.

But he also likes to laugh about things. Tully said he “didn’t want to look at another comma” after finishing The Chimera Seed. However, the publisher pushed for a sequel, at which he’s currently working. There’s also a philosophy book for adolescents in the hopper. However, there are many more clauses — and classes — to go before that happens. His ongoing sabbatical this year will be devoted to his books, as well as those by the ancients, but then it’s back to what he still considers the one thing that keeps him forever young.

“Teaching’s my first love,” he said.

"Philosopher’s inspiration is found in fiction"
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
BY RENATA MAGALHÃES
Neighbor News (Denville Edition)
STAFF WRITER

"The energy of the mind is the essence of life." Aristotle


After graduating with a degree in philosophy, Matthew Tully never really imagined himself as a writer, an award finalist at that.

"I was like, OK, this is a ‘somewhat useless’ degree," he said ridiculing himself when first asked about his background in philosophy.

Settling in Wharton, because of what he says just happened to be a neighborhood he liked and a house at the right price, Tully, 38, would find work as a mathematics teacher at Tenafly Middle School, and then as an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Tully had until then lived a somewhat nomadic life – born in New York City, moved to the lush lands of Ireland at the age of 5, back to the U.S. at 13, to Rome, Italy, for graduate school and finally landing back in New Jersey.

"Living in Ireland … I really had no choice, that’s where the food was," he remarked. "It was a good childhood. I still keep in touch with people there."

With his philosophy background, the general or critical analysis of matters like values, reason, mind and/​or language, Tully would move on to explore other ventures, putting what he called "useless information" in his head to some actual good use.

"It started with my philosophy classes (at Fairleigh). We were studying Aristotle," he said. His interests in the human state and the idea of immortality sparked Tully to start writing.

In what has become his first published work, "The Chimera Seed," Tully explores the human condition and rationality — physical and emotional, morality and humanity — all in a twisted tale about a man, Dr. Michael Tiernan, who becomes the heir to Oisin Pharmaceuticals and his father’s secret – the key to the fountain of youth.

"I started the prologue with the ancient Irish fable "The Legend of Tír ne nÓg" because I was always astonished by the fable," he commented. "It’s a story about a faraway place … folklore of warriors of Ireland … I have always been interested in it since a young age."

And it just so happens to very well deal with the concept of immortality and the book’s moral analysis.

"I just started writing. I was just suspended. Then I took it (about 150 pages) to a colleague in the English department, because I wanted to know what I had before I embarrassed myself and I didn’t mind embarrassing myself with her." (Versus dealing with a big publishing company as a first-time writer, he explained.)

"She was like ‘this is pretty graphic,’" he said, "And by that she meant all the information I had in the book. Then I went to Borders and bought a book, "Writer’s Market," and sent it out. Three companies responded, saying they were interested. I went with the smaller one (Comfort Publishing) because I thought I would be able to get more individual attention."

But "The Chimera Seed" isn’t just an average science fiction book to Tully.

"I wanted the science to be accurate," he said.

The science Tully wanted to get so right was the idea of how people (and animals) could possibly live longer, maybe become immortal, the concept of the fountain of youth and the research individuals have put into it for many years, like that of the research done on jellyfish that seem to regenerate its own cells, he explained.

To help him understand the science behind the living longer, Tully enlisted the help of the well-published Aubrey de Grey, an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the chief officer of the SENS Foundation. The research took Tully "several months." He also researched the inner working of the pharmaceutical companies to make sure his character was correctly depicted.

"I reach a saturation point. After hours of work I would just have to walk away; can’t look at another comma," he remarked. "Then the publisher wanted me to change some things; that took about three months."

Since "The Chimera Seed" hit the shelves earlier this year, it has received glowing reviews from many in the publishing world, with words like "hypnotic" and "energetic thriller" being used to describe Tully’s work.

Most recently at the USA Book News awards, Tully was listed as the winning finalist in the general fiction category.

"The publisher entered it," he said. "It was a shock (making it as a finalist). Now it gets a big sticker on the cover." Which Tully admitted can be great for advertising and marketing.

From here Tully says the company will enter the USA Book News international competition and see where it goes.

But international success has already been reached, with newspapers as far as Ireland writing features about his book and people asking where they can get a copy.

"All my students have bought it. And graduates have even requested it, even as far as Israel, Ireland and Italy," he remarked.

Tully, however, isn’t taking things lightly now that he has become a published author. He’s already working on a follow-up, "The Chimera Spawn" where he has enlisted the help of a retired Dover Police sergeant and should be released sometime next year.

"I’ve been working on it since the summer, but I don’t have to do as much research for this one," he said.

As for other sources of inspiration, Tully looks towards another science fiction writer, Mary Doria Russell, and her novel "The Sparrow."

Tully is also toying with the idea of writing a book about philosophy and children.

"I’m not quite sure if I want to write for children and/​or adults," he said. "I want to write about the importance of teaching philosophy … middle school logic and deep thought. I think in the school system kids are just becoming good test takers. They take the test and that’s it; it’s like a mental flush. They need to think critically and be able to back it up. Deep philosophical thought forces people to think ‘how would I react’ and the dichotomy of the two natures."

Tully will also be working with students in Greece in a study abroad program, which is also being filmed for NJEA’s "Classroom Close-up."