Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 715
January 22, 2010
Getting the word out
It's been a good week in terms of getting my name out. An article that was written about me by Janet Cyr, a college student, has now run in three different Connecticut papers, including the Journal Inquirer and the West Hartford News, a hometown paper of sorts for me.
She's really making the most of her assignment, both for her and for me.
Sadly, neither paper provides links to the article.
Yesterday the blog Coffee with a Canine, written by Marshal Zeringue, featured a post about...
January 21, 2010
Dagger in the heart
On the day that I sent the manuscript for UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO off to my editor for the last time, proofread and edited, praying that it's ready, Audible sends me this email:
Matthew,
It has been said that every writer has only one good book in them, and it's usually their first. Literature is filled with spectacular first acts and lukewarm follow-ups.
Fortunately, this is not always the case. Audrey Niffenegger, Khaled Hosseini, Jeannette Walls, and Greg Mortenson—to name just a...
January 20, 2010
Death of the American newspaper
Is there a person alive who doesn't lament the possible death of the American newspaper?
If so, then why is the American newspaper dying?
If we are all so concerned with the loss of the hometown newspaper, why aren't people actually purchasing the newspaper? This reminds me of our shabby treatment of the independent bookstore.
Universally revered and essentially ignored by the masses.
Jason Kottke points to a Harper's Magazine article Final Edition: The Twilight of the American...
What gives, ladies?
Nicholas Kristof recently wrote an Op-Ed in the NY Times about women and religion, illustrating the oppressive nature that religion continues to exert upon women, excluding them from hierarchies and rituals and failing to denounce blatantly sexist and oppressive practices and passages in their primary source documents.
In fact, one could effectively argue that religion has been more universally damaging to women's rights than any other institution.
Jimmy Carter, working with religious...
Why use Twitter?
In the future, when I am asked why I use Twitter, I will reference this article by Howard Rheingold.
I'll then add that I have made friends (some of whom I have subsequently met in real life), garnered readers, communicated with fans, established strong contacts in the bookselling and publishing industry, and received a good deal of my daily news through Twitter.
And I've laughed a lot. Sarah Silverman, Jordan Rueben, Neil Patrick Harris and Justin, the guy who posts the things his...
If more Republicans were like this Yikes.
On the day that the Democrats lost a Senate seat once held for forty years by Ted Kennedy, I thought it was worth mentioning that although I tend to lean left on most things, not all conservatives subscribe to the intolerance of the right wing of the Republican Party.
If conservatives like Theodore Olson, the Solicitor General under George Bush and frequently mentioned by Republicans and Democrats as a possible Supreme Court nominee were running the Republican Party, as opposed to the...
January 19, 2010
If I ruled the world
If I were ruler of the world, I would immediately enact the following laws in order to improve the quality of life for all of mankind:
1. Drivers who pull alongside one another on the road in order to chat without leaving their cars (thus blocking the road for sane people like me) shall have their licenses revoked for a period of no less than 5 years. Get out of the damn car if you wish to speak to someone.
2. If a public building has two or more exterior doors, all such doors shall be...
Thick skin
In the last month, the following has been said to me by some of my closest friends:
This would be much easier to solve if I didn't have to worry about you using your powers for evil and self interest.
You are potentially the most offensive person I know.
Your happiness is like balancing an equation. For each unit of happiness you achieve, someone else suffers.
Your protagonist isn't very likeable. Maybe he's too much like you.
I'm sorry, but you you usually make a terrible first...
January 18, 2010
Frightened
I'm currently proofreading UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO. This is my last chance to make changes, and they cannot be big ones. A word here or a word there at most. Everything else is pretty much set in stone.
It's an unnerving process for me. Walt Whitman once famously said that a poem isn't finished until the poet is dead, but once my book is proofread, it's done, whether I like it or not.
No going back.
On page two, I found the the following descriptor:
"…sweating uncontrollably"
Really...
Separate but equal still alive in Hollywood
My wife and I caught about ten minutes of the Golden Globe Awards last night, and I came away wondering:
Why are the best acting awards divided along gender lines?
While there are competitive endeavors in which the division of the sexes seems reasonable (basketball, soccer, and similar athletic events, at least for now), there is no discernable reason why actors and actresses cannot compete against one another, and I can't imagine why they would not want to vie for the same award.
...
