Matt Query

Matt was born and raised in Boulder where he stayed through his graduation from CU. He then traveled and worked through New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Patagonia, eventually finding himself on a fishing boat in Alaska.

It was on the deck of that fishing boat at the end of a 40-hour shift when Matt decided to apply to Lewis & Clark law school in Oregon, dreaming of a career in environmental litigation. Despite the distractions of fly fishing for steelhead, and training a hunting dog, he actually did graduate on time.

Matt spent the next five years working for a litigation firm specializing in natural resource issues, handling cases in state and federal courts related to agriculture, timber, mining, public lands, tribal law, fisheries, wildlife management, and most importantly, water. During this same span of time, Matt and his wife Sonya bought a small ranch in southern Oregon where they kept sheep, cattle, horses, chickens, bees, and did endless fence work and wildfire mitigation.

Matt is a prolific reader who dabbled in creative writing over the years. In 2021, Matt sold a short story to Netflix, which turned into a screenplay, in addition to a separate novel deal with Hachette Book Group. Matt and Sonya recently sold their ranch in Oregon and moved back to Boulder to be closer to their families, and had their first child, Clark.

Last year Matt’s first novel ‘Old Country’ was released, allowing him to sign two more book deals with Simon & Schuster publishing house, and sold the cinematic rights for the first of those two books to Paramount Studios. Matt finished both the book and screenplay early this year, working on both books at Highland City Club.

Matt spends his free time with his wife and son, gardening, fly fishing, mountaineering, planning the next season’s archery elk hunt, or chasing grouse and pheasant with his best friend and hunting dog, Thibodaux.