Mattie Storin, in her proper form, was created by Michael Dobbs, in his novel House of Cards (available through Amazon UK). Johanna Mead - the player of this particular variant of Mattie - would like to thank him for creating such a compelling character.
Significant credit is also owed to Susannah Harker, who played Mattie in the BBC adaption of House of Cards. Ms. Harker gave a memorable performance and whenever I play 'my' Mattie, I will be in Ms. Harker's shadow.
Here are some pictures of Mattie Storin (Susannah Harker) and Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson) from the BBC Production.
This is another fine picture of Ms. Harker, featured in the Irish Times in October, 1998.