Entrepreneur - Novelist - Tokyo Resident
Author Bio
From white papers to ghost stories — a winding path from
San Diego to Lake Tahoe to Tokyo, and the books that came out of it.
Author Bio
MATTHEW O'CONNELL — TOKYO JAPAN
CURRENTLY BASED
Living in Tokyo with his wife, their dog, and their cat — the city that inspired Spirit of the Fox and continues to shape everything he writes.
Matthew O'Connell writes fiction at the intersection of mystery, folklore, and the uncanny — stories set where the rational world begins to blur.
Matthew O'Connell is an American novelist living in Japan. A former psychologist and entrepreneur, he writes novels that blend mystery, history, and the supernatural with emotionally resonant characters. His novels include The Painter of Time, Spirit of the Fox, The House on Tyner, and The Park (January 2027). All proceeds from his books are donated to animal welfare and conservation organizations.
Becoming a Novelist
Before I started writing fiction, I was a psychologist, an industrial/organizational psychologist to be specific. I co-founded a company in 1993 called Select International, which developed selection and assessment systems that many of the world’s top companies used to hire their employees. I was in charge of research & development for over 20 years and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did applied research with colleagues both within Select and at various universities. I wrote hundreds of white papers and professional journal articles. I knew that growing consolidation in our industry would lead us to sell Select at some point. It was then that I started thinking about what I wanted to do – in my next life – so to speak.
I’d always been an avid reader of fiction. I started reading when I was about ten and I don’t think there has been a period in my life since then that I haven’t been engrossed in a novel. When I thought about what I was already doing, namely, writing professional research articles, and my love of fiction, I decided to give fiction writing a try. Scientific writing is very structured, and in some ways limiting.
When I turned to fiction I came face-to-face with the proverbial blank page. There were very few rules and even then, if you were clever, you could break them. While that freedom was liberating it was also intimidating. What should I write about? How should I write it? What story should I tell and from who’s perspective should I tell it? But I had an idea that intrigued me and I started learning about how to write fiction. My first novel, The Painter of Time, dealt with art conservation and pre-Renaissance art. I knew almost nothing about either of these areas. But that’s part of what excited me. In many ways, doing research is a treasure hunt. Fortunately, when I started writing Painter in 2008, most of the research could be done over the internet. A lot of the research I did for Painter never ended up in the book. But I never minded it nor thought that it was wasted time. I was learning, both about the specialty areas for the novel but also about writing itself.
One of the things that I found most challenging in writing fiction was getting the point of view (POV) correct. It seems quite straightforward, but for me at least, it was challenging.
My first two novels were written in third person limited. For The House on Tyner and my most recent novel, The Park (due out in January 2027), I chose first person because I wanted a more intimate connection between narrator and reader.
In writing The Park, I was greatly influenced by Japanese authors that I love. Yasunari Kawabata has an ethereal beauty to his writing. It’s poetic and yet understated. Yukio Mishima paints images that are beautiful and haunting. Haruki Murakami can make you care about the most mundane of protagonists. The Park is not a mystery like my other books. It is literary fiction. I think it may be the most beautiful story I've written.
Japan
When I was in college you were required to take a language. I’m assuming that’s the same at a lot of liberal arts schools. I studied German for four years in high school, but was an admittedly poor, unmotivated student. I was ready to try something different. Fortunately, the school I attended, Earlham College, offered Japanese as an option. I met a beautiful Japanese girl and decided that Japanese was the language I should study, despite the fact that her English was excellent. I finished the required courses my junior year and then spent my senior year at Waseda University in Tokyo. It was an amazing experience. Interestingly, it also afforded me the opportunity to read a ton of fiction. I had a one-hour commute by train every day – two hours round trip. During that year I read so many books - Japanese fiction, Russian literature, anything and everything. That was where my love for Japan, and Japanese culture was born. That beautiful Japanese girl is still my wife forty years later.
Mari and I decided to move to Japan in 2020. We’d always wanted to live in Tokyo, and it was a now or never opportunity. We still have a place in San Diego, which we both love, but plan on living most of our lives in Japan. I love the people, the culture, the food, and the geography. We split our time between an apartment in the center of Tokyo and a house in the mountains of Karuizawa. For me, it’s a perfect combination.
Screenplays & Sequels
I sent my third novel, The House on Tyner, to a Hollywood screenwriter named Dode Levenson. A lot of people told me that Tyner would make a good movie and I agreed. The problem was that I’d never written a screenplay before. I asked Dode his thoughts. He read the book and loved it. We spent nearly a year adapting it together. That screenplay is currently being shopped. We’re also working on a completely new project that we hope will turn into a series.
I never set out to write a series of any type. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that The Painter of Time might make a wonderful trilogy. My next project, The Painter Returns, is the second book in that trilogy. As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m neither a fast reader nor a fast writer. I’m a plodder. I love to savor the moments. But I do believe that The Painter’s story is not finished.
Whether writing about Renaissance painters, haunted houses, or ordinary people trying to do the right thing, I'm ultimately interested in the same question: how our choices—and our relationships—shape the lives we leave behind.
A Lasting Legacy
Mari and I have been very fortunate, in so many ways. We would like to leave a legacy of compassion and love that lives long after us. To that end, all proceeds from my novels are donated to organizations dedicated to animal welfare, rescue, and conservation.
Thank you for reading and for your support.
Media & Awards
Interview · HubPages
A conversation on folklore, fiction, and a decade in Tokyo
An in-depth interview covering the origins of Spirit of the Fox, the research behind The Painter of Time, and how a move to Japan reshaped the way I write about place and character.
Press · The House on Tyner
"Eerie, surprising, and profoundly emotional"
Self-Publishing Review called The House on Tyner a beautifully written ghost story with the structure of a mystery, praising its atmosphere and its questioning of where the rational world ends.
Press · The Painter of Time
An Amazon #1 Best Seller in historical mystery
Readers' Favorite called it a brilliant, carefully researched narrative, while Foreword Reviews compared the experience to a private tour of the Uffizi — the artists brought to life as flesh and blood, not just famous names.
Awards & Recognition
01
Top 5 Mystery Fiction Book of 2018
Write-Read-Life · Spirit of the Fox
02
Amazon #1 Best Seller
The Painter of Time
03
Amazon #1 Best Seller
Spirit of the Fox
04
Author of Hiring Great People
200+ White Papers, Journal Articles & Book Chapters