Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 205
March 12, 2019
The Other Mother: Another cover reveal!
Just last week, I revealed the cover to my next novel, Twenty-one Truths About Love, which publishes in October.
But that wasn’t entirely correct.
My actual next novel is titled The Other Mother, and it will publish in the UK and Australia in June of this year and will publish in the United States sometime in 2020.
In truth, I wrote The Other Mother first, and it was supposed to be my next book published in the United States, too, but then my new editor had the chance to read the first half of Twenty-one Truths About Love, and she and my publisher decided to reverse the order of publication, forcing me to finish Twenty-one Truths About Love early.
If you noticed that I was a little harried last year, now you know why.
But I was thrilled. They were so excited about the book and its potential that they wanted it on store shelves as soon as possible.
So today I’m revealing the cover of The Other Mother, which will grace the UK and Australian editions of the novel. When it finally lands in the United States late next year, the cover will almost assuredly be different.
The name, for example, will definitely be different. My pen name in the UK is Matthew Green after it was determined that my actual last name might offend British sensibilities.
Green is Elysha’s maiden name.
But I like this cover a a lot. I hope you do, too, particularly if you’re living in the UK or Australia.
March 11, 2019
Speak Up Storytelling: John Smith-Horn
On episode #40 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks talk storytelling.
In our followup segment, we announce our first LIVE PODCAST RECORDING!
May 18: CT Historical Society. Tickets just $5. All proceeds go to the CT Historical Society.
Purchase here: https://chs.org/event/speak-up-podcast-live
ALSO, UPCOMING SHOWS:
March 16: “Exposed: Lies, Secrets, and Indiscretions Revealed” at Space Ballroom
March 30: "Courage" at Real Art Ways
We also discuss a listener's suggestion regarding pausing at the very end of a story (as well as some of our strategies to get yourself ready to tell your story) and another listener's suggestion of the Day One app for Homework for Life:
In our Homework for Life segment, we talk about the need for storytellers to keep their eyes opened for moments of transformation and realization in their own lives (however small they may seem) in order to find new stories to tell.
Next we listen to John Smith-Horn's story about making cookies.
After listening, we discuss:
The components of a perfect beginning to a story
The power of effective vocal modulation
Telling the story from the perspective (and maintaining that perspective) of your former self
The way that small stories that say many things (and important, meaningful things)
Revealing the secrets and suspense in a story by spooling out the moment and allowing the audience to bear witness to the unveiling
Next, we answer questions about finding themes in storytelling, maintaining audience interest in less formal storytelling settings, and the struggle to find stories on every single day of your life.
Finally, we each offer a recommendation.
LINKS
Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne
Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com
Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks
Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's weekly newsletter:
http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicks-subscribe
Subscribe to the Speak Up newsletter:
http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-speak-up
STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS 2019
STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS 2019
May 4: Storytelling workshop (beginner), CT Historical Society
May 18: Storytelling workshop (advanced), CT Historical Society
June 1: Storytelling workshop (master class), CT Historical Society
July 29-August 2: Storytelling bootcamp, CT Historical Society
August 17: Storytelling workshop, Taproot Theater, Seattle, WA
October 25-27: Storytelling workshop, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Heath
December 6-8: Storytelling workshop, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health
RECOMMEDATIONS
Elysha:
Hallmark's Recordable StoryBooks
Matt:
Conversations with the disabled
March 10, 2019
When everyone is you, it's not good.
According to a new poll from The Public Religion Research Institute is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization:
62 percent of Americans said they interact with people who didn’t share their race or ethnicity at least once a week, while 21 percent said that happened seldom or never.
21 percent? I understand that there are areas of the country that are racially homogeneous, but nearly one-quarter of all Americans don’t encounter racial diversity of any kind at the workplace or in their social circles?
Perhaps it’s simply a factor of where folks live, but I find this surprising.
Even more surprising:
22 percent said they seldom or never interacted with people outside of their religion. This means that almost one-quarter of Americans only associate with people who share their own religious beliefs.
Every single family member, friend, and colleague share your religion?
How is this even possible?
But here’s the strangest of all:
31 percent of Americans said they seldom or never interacted with people who did not share their sexual orientation.
This means that almost one-third of Americans don’t realize that at least some of their family members, coworkers, and friends are gay, either because:
They are utterly obtuse
They are so bigoted that their friends, coworkers, and family members are forced to conceal their sexual orientation from them.
The place where you live might be racially homogeneous (too bad for you), and it might even be religiously homogeneous (hard to imagine but also too bad for you), but there are absolutely, positively some gay people living amongst you, no matter what you may think or are being told.
Getting to know those people would be very good for you.
March 9, 2019
The “Let's do it” button
I worry that human beings, adults and children alike, are spending too much time staring at screens and not enough time communicating face-to-face.
Rather than engaging in the messiness of human interaction, people simply send text messages.
Rather than speaking directly to a colleague who has upset you, a scathing (and oftentimes cowardly) email is written and sent instead.
Rather than telling the person that you’re dating that it’s over, it’s become perfectly acceptable to ghost that person.
Just imagine: You have dinner with someone on Monday, have sex with that same person on Tuesday, visit the farmer’s market together on Thursday, and then just stop answering their text messages and phone calls forever.
This was not the way we did things back in the day. Break ups were never fun, but the expectation was always that it would be done face-to-face. Breaking up over the phone was the coward’s way out.
Now the coward’s way out it to simply disappear.
We’ve devolved quite a bit in the last decade.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, it did.
Introducing LoveSync, a two-button system where you and your partner each place a button on your respective bedside tables. If you’re hoping to have sex that evening, you push the button.
“Anonymously push the button,” according to the Kickstarter video, which is bizarre, since theoretically there is nothing anonymous about the person sleeping alongside you.
If your partner has also tapped the button, your respective buttons will both light up.
It’s time for sex. The buttons said so.
If only one of you has tapped, no light notification, and therefore, no sex for you.
The draw here, according to LoveSync’s description, is that you won’t feel the sting of rejection or embarrassment should only one of you want to have sex.
The truth is that communication between you and someone you theoretically love (or at least like a lot) is sanitized and depersonalized. Rather than suggesting sex or enticing your partner into sex or putting on some Barry White and hoping for the best, simply press a button and wait for the light.
Hope for the light. Pray for the light.
I know what you’re thinking:
Who would buy something as stupid as this?
So far, 428 people, who have invested more than $20,000 on Love Sync’s Kickstarter campaign.
Not an enormous number, thank goodness, but about 428 people too many.
856 if you count their their presumably agreeable partners.
March 8, 2019
My daughter's issues with Title IX. Kind of.
Clara, age 10, is sitting in the backseat of my car, reading a book. She says, “Dad, this book has it all wrong!”
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“The girl in this book started playing football on the boy’s team in 1974 because of Title 9.”
“You know what Title 9 is?” I asked.
“Of course I do,” she says, sounding quite annoyed. When I ask her how she knows about Title 9, she says, “I read a book. Except in the book, they called it Title IX.”
She pronounced the Roman numeral 9 in letter-form. It was cute.
“Okay,” I said. “So what’s the problem? Title 9 allows girls to play the same sports as boys. What’s wrong with this girl playing football?
“Dad,” she said, sounding even more annoyed. “Title 9 became a law in 1972. This girl started playing football in 1974.”
I was going to ask how she knew that Title 9 passed in 1972 but stopped myself. I knew what she would say, and I kew she’d be annoyed for being questioned about her knowledge of the matter.
I tried to explain how Title 9 still gives women equal access to collegiate sports today and that 1974 was no different. “It’s a law that started in ‘72 (something I didn’t know until she told me) but it’s still the law today.”
Clara wasn’t having any of it. “I don’t want to hear about a girl who waited two years to play. I want to hear about the first girl who started playing with the boys.”
I had more to say on the matter - maybe the girl had no desire to play football in 1972, or maybe she was too young to play football in 1972, or even though she played two years after the law passed, it was probably just as difficult and courageous to do so -but I instead allowed Clara to return to the book.
Sometimes, it’s better not to poke the beast.
March 7, 2019
“Star Wars Always” saves the day
The last Star Wars film really depressed me.
I loved the original three films. I watched the first one - my first film ever - while sitting in the aisle with dozens of other children at The Stadium in Woonsocket, RI.
I also liked the prequels. I know there were serious issues with those movies, but I always remind myself that I saw the first three Star Wars films when I was a child and teenager. In the eyes of children the same age, those prequels were excellent. And for me, they were good. Not expertly made, but not damaging to the Star Wars story.
Then The Force Awakens came out, and honestly, I liked it very much. Yes, in many ways, it was a simple rehashing of the plot of A New Hope, but I still enjoyed it a great deal.
Then I saw Rouge One, and I liked it, too. I may have liked it a lot.
Then I saw Solo, and while there were issues with that film, I liked it enough. Again, it wasn’t ruinous to the Star Wars universe.
But the last Star Wars film - The Last Jedi - hurt me deeply. Simple plot stupidity and some unforgettably stupid moments made me wonder if this film was made by someone who misunderstood not only the Star Wars universe but basic logic.
It was an atrocity of the film. Entire swaths of that film make no sense. It is unforgivable.
I was depressed. Hurt. Angry, even.
Then I saw this incredibly ambitious trailer, made for all of the Star Wars films released to date. Titled “Star Wars Always,” it seeks to bring all of the Star Wars film together into one cohesive story, and I’ll be damned… it does so brilliant.y
It hasn’t taken away the sting of The Last Jedi, but it’s helped me to remember that this story is so much larger than a single movie. This adventure, which began when I was six years-old, is an epic tale that has becomes engrained in my heart and mind.
Yes, The Last Jedi sucked. Yes, I want to throttle Ryan Johnson for ruining that film. And yes, I sincerely want the movie re- made or at least re-edited to correct its worst parts, but despite all of this, the Star Wars story remains great.
“Star Wars Always” reminded me of this.
March 6, 2019
Standing up in defense of comedy instead of decency
I was standing in the checkout line at Stop & Shop on Sunday, which was a mistake. A snow storm was coming, threatening to dump half a foot of snow on the ground, so the crazy people were out in force, stocking up on food and drink in case of …
I have no idea. The roads were clear by 9:00 AM the next day, like they always are.
The cashier, a young man in his late teens or early twenties, was running my items through the scanner, and a young woman, about the same age, was bagging. The man had just started scanning my items when he turned to the bagger and said, “Can you believe how dumb that old lady was?”
The old lady that her was referring to was the customer in front of me who had just departed. For some reason, this elderly woman had a difficult time using her credit card. Rather than inserting it into the chip slot, she first tried to hand the card to the cashier, and when he pointed at the machine, she tried to swipe the card repeatedly. Ultimately, the cashier had to show the woman how to insert her card into the chip slot and help her through the prompts.
I saw all this happen, and foolishly, I thought the cashier was being patient and kind.
Turns out not so much.
Hearing the cashier insult the elderly customer, the bagger replied, “You’re so mean!” But not in a serious or scolding way, but in a smiling, flirty way. She giggled as she said it.
“I’m not mean,” the cashier protested. “She was a real idiot.” He went on, explaining how “stupid” she was through each step of the payment process.
The cashier giggled some more.
I stood there. listening to this, and my first thought was how unprofessional this behavior was. As a former manager of a restaurant for years, I can’t stand when employees act like this in front of customers. The manager inside me seethed. These two were speaking as if I wasn’t even there. Had I been their manager, I would’ve been so angry.
But I said nothing. I wasn’t their manager.
Then something inside me shifted. I thought, “Wait. This cashier sucks. And so does this bagger. They’re just terrible people.”
Still, I said nothing. Given another moment or two, I might’ve finally spoken up, but before I could even make that decision, a third thought struck me.
“This kid thinks he’s funny. He’s trying to make this bagger laugh. And she is. She’s laughing. They think this is funny.”
That was it.
The former manager in me had remained silent.
The decent human being in me hadn’t said a word.
But the person who strives to be funny on both the page and on the stage couldn’t stand it anymore. I was so offended by this rotten, lazy, legitimately unfunny attempt to be funny that I finally spoke up.
“You know,” I said. “It’s pretty terrible to talk about people behind their back like you’re doing. It’s awful, really.”
“No,” the cashier said and attempted to launch into an excuse.
I cut him right off. “No,” I sad. “It’s terrible. And cowardly. And you think you’re funny. You’re not. You’re not even close to being funny. You’re just being terrible to someone who doesn’t deserve it and isn’t here. You’re not funny at all.”
The cashier broke eye contact and became exceptionally focused on scanning my remaining items. I turned to the bagger, and she was now looking down, treating the bagging of my groceries like the defusing of a ticking time bomb.
Anything to avoid eye contact.
They may have thought I was a crazy person. Or maybe they were worried that I would report their behavior to their manager. Or maybe they just wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible without creating any more of a scene.
Maybe all three.
But in less than a minute, I was rolling away with my groceries.
I thought for a moment about stopping at the customer service counter on the way out to ask some inane question just to put the fear of reporting and termination in their minds, but honestly, I wasn’t feeling as good about myself as I usually do in situations like these.
I’m oftentimes elated after one of those encounters.
Maybe I would’ve spoken up when I shifted from manager-mode to decent-person mode, but I’m not sure. I certainly didn’t speak up immediately. It wasn’t until I became angry with them on behalf of comedy that I finally spoke up, and for that, I was feeling a little lousy about my reaction.
That elderly woman deserved to have someone stand up for her for better reasons than comedy.
March 5, 2019
Twenty-one Truths About Love: Cover reveal!
It’s here!
Not the actual book, which publishes in October, but the cover of my next novel, Twenty-one Truths About Love. This is the first in many baby steps to be taken before the book can finally land on store shelves.
What do you think?
The book is a bit unusual. Unconventional, you might say.
It’s a novel written entirely in lists:
_____________________________________
From the beloved author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend comes a wonderful new novel about a struggling man, written entirely in lists.
1. Daniel Mayrock loves his wife Jill…more than anything.
2. Dan quit his job and opened a bookshop.
3. Jill is ready to have a baby.
4. Dan is scared; the bookshop isn’t doing well. Financial crisis is imminent.
5. Dan hasn’t told Jill about their financial trouble. He’s ashamed.
6. Then Jill gets pregnant.
This heartfelt story is about the lengths one man will go to and the risks he will take to save his family. But Dan doesn’t just want to save his failing bookstore and his family’s finances―he wants to become someone.
1. Dan wants to do something special.
2. He’s a man who is tired of feeling ordinary.
3. He’s sick of feeling like a failure.
4. Of living in the shadow of his wife’s deceased first husband.
Dan is also an obsessive list maker, and his story unfolds entirely in his lists, which are brimming with Dan’s hilarious sense of humor, unique world-view, and deeply personal thoughts. When read in full, his lists paint a picture of a man struggling to be a man, a man who has reached a point where he’s willing to anything for the love (and soon-to-be new love) of his life.
_____________________________________
In preparation for publication, we’re going to have some contests in which you can contribute to readers’ versions or create your own versions of some of the lists in the book, including the eponymous one.
And if you’re so inclined, preordering the book is ENORMOUSLY helpful to authors. Not only does it increase the book’s chances of landing on bestselling lists, but preorders will increase the initial print run of a book, guaranteeing more copies on bookstore shelves.
You can preorder at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, or best of all, at your local bookstore.
Thanks!
March 4, 2019
Speak Up Storytelling #29: Matthew Dicks
On episode #39 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew Dicks talks storytelling!
With report cards and parent-teacher conferences filling Elysha's week, she takes some time off from the podcast, shifting our format again. I'm going it alone this week. Rather than posting a re-run, we have some exciting new content for you.
Hope you enjoy!
In our follow up segment, Elysha and I talk about the cover release of my new novel Twenty-one Truths About Love, which you can see in the show notes.
Then, instead of listening and critiquing a new story, I play three of my stories (chosen for a specific reason) with some commentary about the crafting of each.
After listening, I discuss:
The variety of chronological formats available to storytellers
When to choose a specific chronological format for a story
The strategies used to preserve and enhance surprise in a story
LINKS
http://speakupstorytelling.libsyn.com...
Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com
Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks
Subscribe to Matthew Dicks's weekly newsletter:
http://www.matthewdicks.com/matthewdicks-subscribe
Subscribe to the Speak Up newsletter:
http://www.matthewdicks.com/subscribe-speak-up
Speak Up at Space Ballroom on March 16:
Exposed: Lies, Secrets, and Indiscretions Revealed
STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS 2019
May 4: Storytelling workshop (beginner), CT Historical Society
May 18: Storytelling workshop (advanced), CT Historical Society
June 1: Storytelling workshop (master class), CT Historical Society
July 29-August 2: Storytelling bootcamp, CT Historical Society
August 17: Storytelling workshop, Taproot Theater, Seattle, WA
October 25-27: Storytelling workshop, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Heath
December 6-8: Storytelling workshop, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health
March 3, 2019
You might be sick, but count your blessings
Charlie’s tummy was not feeling so good earlier this week. He looked into my eyes and said:
“Dad… diarrhea is the worst.”
Then he paused for a moment, looked down at his feet, and then returned his gaze to me and added, “Though I have to say, the Black Death is actually worse.”
To his credit, the boy has perspective even at the tender age of six.
Unfortunately, this comment was followed by a series of questions about the Black Death, an explanation of the lyrics in “Ring Around the Rosy,” a review of the symptoms that lead to the Plague, and some serious concern that the patch of dry skin on his leg might be a precursor to his own, oncoming battle with this deadly disease.
A few anxious hours, to be sure, but still… perspective.
