About

What is this website?: Purple Prose is a blog for me to publish my short stories without going through a vendor such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It is also a way for me to build my online presence and move toward my ultimate goal of being able to work as a writer full-time. As a result, while the stories on here are free to read, I have ads enabled on the front page to earn a bit of revenue. In addition to writing stories for this site, I write novels that I release on more traditional platforms, my first series being Phenotype, which I have some information about on this site.

Why the name? (Purple Prose Pub): Purple Prose is a term used to refer to writing that is considered too wordy or ornate. I’ve had my writing called purple prose in the past, so I thought it would be a catchy, half-ironic name for this site. In seriousness, I don’t think my writing is too purple; I wouldn’t publish it if I thought it was. However, I acknowledge that my style is more verbose than some people prefer, and I try to keep that in mind as I write. The “Pub” part is just short for publisher.

Who am I?: My name is Matthew Cammarano. I am an independent author in addition to being an undergraduate English Major. My primary interest in writing is to be as creative as I can manage while writing about themes that interest me, which is why my stories’ settings/premises are often pretty weird. My primary genres are science fiction and fantasy. Even in my modern day stories, there is usually going to be some kind of supernatural element.

Who and what has inspired my writing?: A lot of different stuff from conflicting genres. If I were to list some significant examples of authors and my favorite works of theirs, I’d pick George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice & Fire), Haruko Ichikawa (Land of the Lustrous), Thomas Harris (The Hannibal Lecter series), Kinoko Nasu (Fate/stay night), Andrzej Sapkowski (The Witcher series), Ralph Ellison (Invisible Man), NisiOisiN (Monogatari series), Kore Yamazaki (The Ancient Magus’ Bride), Akihito Tsukushi (Made in Abyss), and Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird).

How can people interact with this site?: There are comment sections and other ways of posting feedback at the bottom of each story page. Criticism is always welcome as I always want to improve as a writer. I may remove comments that are either spam or outright offensive, but other than that, I will strive to keep everything as is. If something in my stories comes across as problematic or blatantly offensive, you can either leave a comment about it or email me directly at mcammbooks@gmail.com. I will try to address your concerns as best I can. Even if I disagree with the issues taken with my writing, I will try to reply to you in order to explain what my position is.

How will this site change in the future?: The short answer is: I’m not entirely sure. I am not an expert in blogging by any means, so I am learning what works as I go. This site will gain more content over time. I am committed to writing sequel stories for “An Errant Shape” and finishing the Phenotype trilogy. I may branch out into other forms of blogging in the future, such as writing reviews and analyses of the media I consume. If you have suggestions for the kinds of stories or plots I write going forward, I encourage you to reach out via mcammbooks@gmail.com.