[close] Greetings! Welcome to my little corner of the world.

My name is Matthew Dicks. I am a writer.

In the spring of 2008, under the guidance of my remarkable agent, Taryn Fagerness (now of The Taryn Fagerness Agency), I sold my first novel, SOMETHING MISSING, to Broadway Books, an imprint of Doubleday, and thus made one of my childhood dreams come true.

Released on July 14 of this year, I thought that a blog like this would be a good opportunity to connect with readers and writers, in order to discuss the writing process, the publishing process, my experience in the world of literary agents and editors, and answer any questions that people may have about the book, my life as a reader and a writer, my latest projects, and anything else that my come to mind.

I finished my second novel, UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO in February of 2009 and have begun my third immediately thereafter. In addition to fiction, I write poetry, essays and opinion pieces and have published in major newspapers, poetry journals, and educational journals throughout the United States.

If you have a question or would like me to write on a specific topic, please feel free to email me or leave a comment in any of the coming posts.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts, my experiences, and my ideas with you!

A little bit more about me:

I grew up in the small town of Blackstone, Massachusetts with two siblings, two lost step-siblings, a loving mother, and an evil step-father. I was a Boy Scout, a pole-vaulter, a flutist and bassoonist, and a proud member of my school’s drum corps. I also have the distinction of having died twice by the age of eighteen before being revived by paramedics both times.

Sorry. No white light.

I left home at eighteen and worked in a variety of dead-end jobs for the next five years until I was robbed at gunpoint at the age of twenty-three. This brush with death finally convinced me to get off my ass, propelling me to college in Connecticut shortly thereafter. I worked my way through school, graduating from Manchester Community College in 1996 and Trinity College with an English degree and Saint Joseph’s College with a teaching degree in 1999.

Following graduation, I went to work as an elementary school teacher and have been teaching ever since. In 2005 I was named West Hartford’s Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year.

In addition to my teaching career, I also own and operate a DJ company that performs weddings throughout Connecticut.

In 2006 I married my wife and colleague, Elysha Green, after proposing to her in front of friends and family on the main landing of Grand Central Station in New York. We live in Newington, CT with our daughter, Clara (born on January 25 of this year), our Lhasa Apso, Kaleigh, and our enormous, slightly insane house cat named Owen.

When not teaching or writing or holding Clara, I spend my free time listening to music and dodging phone calls. I'm an avid, albeit awful, golfer and a much better basketball and poker player. I enjoy attending Patriot and Yankee games whenever possible, and I would like to play more football if my fragile friends were more willing. I read a great deal, listen to audio books, and listen to about three dozen podcasts on a daily and weekly basis. My interests include technology, sports, and current events.

I also run a bi-annual race about Connecticut modeled after CBS's The Amazing Race called The A-Mattzing Race, and this keeps me busy planning and coordinating the next event.

I recently completed a Master’s degree in Educational Technology at American Intercontinental University and am working on a Master’s in English at my alma mater, Trinity College.

I don't sleep much. [close]