People's Choice
Book Talks with Author Matthew Paris “A Confrontation of Souls & Words”
Matthew Paris’s latest book of poems, “A Confrontation of Souls & Words,” is a testament to his remarkable ability to capture the complexity of human emotions. His work draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including literature, music, and art, and his words resonate with readers on a deep level.
In this interview with CarryOnHarry, Paris will discuss his creative process and the emotional themes behind his work. He believes that writing is a tool for self-discovery and personal growth, and his work is not just about entertaining readers, but about inspiring them to look inward and connect with their deepest emotions. Paris’s approach to writing is refreshing and inspiring, and his words are an inspiration to us all.
About You and Your background ?
I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Growing up, writing was something I never really thought about. As I got older, I discovered I was pretty good at it. I grew up playing sports, but my favorite subject in school was English Literature. It was my sophomore year of high school and my English teacher told me I was doing really well in the class. I didn’t get serious about it until college.
I attended Texas Tech University where I majored in English Literature. There I really learned about the form and storytelling. After I graduated, I began coaching youth athletes and started writing screenplays. I’ve written three short films at the time. The first one, “Crisis” won many accolades and was sold for television distribution. It played on AT&T U-VERSE and DirecTV. It played in the United States, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
The second short film I wrote and directed was “The Last Catch.” It also won many accolades including the Silver Remi Award from Worldfest-Houston, and the California Film Award for best produced screenplay. The film was sold for television distribution and shown in the United States, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
My first book was “Preparing Athletes For The Future” and is available on Amazon and other retailers worldwide. My latest book is my book of poems. “A Confrontation of Souls & Words” available worldwide on Amazon and Barnes & Noble online.

Matthew Paris Introduces Latest Book of Poems, ‘A Confrontation of Souls & Words
Title Of Your New Release
How much does your life reflects in your poetry ?
Some of my poems are very abstract, but I’ll pull from past events from my life. How it affected me. Through poems I like to give my thoughts of what’s around me, but maybe something I’ve learned from someone or just observed.
What is the central Emotional theme of your poetry book ?
Time and the earth. What kind of emotions are we feeling? How does it affect us in life.
Any personal expressions of life behind the book ? Someone/Something that inspired
I’m inspired by a lot of things in life. I wanted to talk about the emotions that we all feel and how do we deal with obstacles in our everyday life. I pull inspiration from a lot of different directions. If you look closely inspiration is everywhere.
Have you already started working on next book ? What is on your mind for it ?
I have started working on my next book. It deals with everyday life and how do we overcome obstacles and problems we face. It could be problems at work, in the family, or just everyday life. The important aspect is that you move forward.
Some Bits from book chapter you would like to share as curtain raiser for reader to know about what they are going to get from it ?
The first poem is about life and how do we find our love in life. Maybe are significant other is closer than you think.
How did you hear about CarryOnHarry ? Any message for Studio ?
Through research and Google. You guys do a great job and it’s a fun and informational website.
Editor's Choice
Audiences Are Rating ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and ‘Resident Evil’ Among 2026’s Hottest Films
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Two 2026 releases, "Resident Evil" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," are tied at the top of Rotten Tomatoes’ running Verified Hot list, each pulling in more than 5,000 Verified ratings from ticket-buying audiences, according to the site’s latest update.
Just as Certified Fresh represents critics’ consensus via the Tomatometer, Verified Hot is its audience equivalent, requiring a minimum 90% score on the Popcornmeter using ratings exclusively from Fandango ticket buyers, according to the guide. Rotten Tomatoes introduced the badge to give paying audiences their own equivalent stamp of approval, separate from critical consensus.
Behind the two leaders in the largest-sample tier, "The Odyssey" ranks second with over 5,000 Verified ratings, followed by "Project Hail Mary," "Obsession," "Hoppers" and "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie." Several of these titles also turn up on other year-end and mid-year lists tracking 2026’s most-discussed films, including "The Odyssey," "Project Hail Mary" and "Obsession" among the movies cited as generating the most audience conversation this year.
In the next tier, covering films with 1,000 to 5,000 Verified ratings, "Avengers: Endgame," "Heart of the Beast," "Forgotten Island" and "Practical Magic 2" share the top spot, with "Coyote vs. Acme," "The Invite," a musical performance film featuring Stray Kids and others filling out the rest of the ranking. Rotten Tomatoes notes a third, smaller tier of 250 to 999 ratings exists for titles still building an audience track record, which it describes as newer and more niche releases.
New films earning a 90% Popcornmeter score are added weekly, with placement within each tier based on cumulative Verified rating volume.
Studio CarryOnHarry will be watching whether films lower in the 1,000-to-5,000 tier gain enough ratings to crack the top bracket as the list updates through the rest of 2026.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
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Editor's Choice
Revisiting Octavia Butler’s “Wild Seed,” the 1980 novel that opens her Patternist series
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Octavia E. Butler’s "Wild Seed," released in 1980, remains one of the author’s most widely read novels decades after its release. It opens Butler’s five-book Patternist cycle, a five-book speculative fiction cycle, and continues to draw new readers and critical attention.
Butler, who died in 2006, is widely regarded as one of the first Black women to gain major recognition in American science fiction, a genre that offered her few peers when she began publishing in the 1970s. Her work is frequently cited within Afrofuturism, the broader cultural movement that uses speculative fiction, technology, and alternate histories to explore the experiences of the African diaspora and to imagine Black futures beyond the constraints of the present.
"Wild Seed" is addresses themes of gender, healing roles, and the experiences of Black women, reflecting the novel’s focus on characters navigating power, transformation, and survival across generations. Readers and reviewers have consistently described it as a character-driven work rather than a plot-heavy one, with its two central figures carrying the novel through sustained psychological and emotional depth. The book is the first in the five-volume Patternist series and has drawn an active readership on platforms like Goodreads, where it holds a strong average rating from tens of thousands of readers.
The novel has also found renewed life in reading groups and community discussions in recent years, often paired with other Afrofuturist or speculative work, a sign of Butler’s lasting pull on readers well outside the genre’s traditional audience.
Studio CarryOnHarry sees "Wild Seed" as a useful entry point for readers curious about Butler’s influence on contemporary speculative fiction, and worth a look for anyone building out an Afrofuturism reading list.
About the Author: An American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field.
[Comment by Tricia Sullivan, on The Guardian][1]:
Octavia E Butler (1947–2006)
> I was teaching in New York when I came across Octavia E Butler’s Kindred in a secondary-school catalogue of novels recommended to support diversity. It caught my attention because Butler was described as a science-fiction writer. I thought I was familiar with science fiction, but I’d never heard of her – nor have a great many other readers, I suspect. For many years, Butler was the sole African-Ameri
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
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Harry Johal — Entertainment Editor
Harry Johal is the Entertainment Editor at Studio CarryOnHarry, overseeing the newsroom's day-to-day coverage.
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