Matthew Todd Veibell attended college at Brigham Young University, majoring in Mathematics and minoring in Actuarial Science. After graduating from BYU, Matthew started working as an Actuarial Analyst for USAA (an insurance company catering to the military community) and has been there ever since. Soon after starting his job at USAA, Matthew met Natalie Atkinson through a church class. He remembers noticing her picture on a Facebook group beforehand and thinking “now, that’s a cute girl”. As fate would have it, she was in the same church class that he was. He then got to know her, dated her, and (according to her) took too long to propose. But he did, she said “yes”, and they were married in July 2011. Matthew and Natalie have four amazing children: Two boys (ages ~5 and ~8), a baby girl born in 2023, and another girl, who passed away in 2015 after only living for a few months with an unrepairable congenital heart defect. One of Matthew’s books tells that story ("Kare for Kinley"). Matthew started writing children’s stories in January 2023; the first story that got him into this passion hobby was his older son’s recent diagnosis for ADHD. He had read articles about how an alternative perspective is that ADHD gives you superpowers despite other challenges it brings. He thought “Why isn’t that a children’s story?” and decided to make it happen himself. That story is called “Tommy Stahr: A Superkid Powered by ADHD” and released November 2023. Matthew’s younger son and his vibrant imagination is the inspiration for his book “Benny and the Wolves”, which released 5/24/2023. As it may be obvious by now, Matthew draws much of his inspiration for children’s books from his kids: What they imagine, what obstacles they go through, etc. He enjoys including them in getting ideas for what to write about and, now, reading finished books to them at bedtime which were written by Matthew and inspired by the kids he is reading to.

Publisher: IAPC Books
Author: Matthew T. Veibell
Illustrator: Maggie Lightheart
ISBN: 979-8218357290
Size (H x W): 9.25x9.25
Weight: 11.8 ounces
Cover Type: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 36
Language: English
Date Published: 2024-06-01