Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 723
December 8, 2009
Tortured soul. Thankfully not me.
Thankfully, I have never been forced to endure this kind of angst in the process of editing my books.
December 7, 2009
Broken eggs are always funny
I went to a place called Kidcity Children's Museum with my wife and daughter this weekend. It's a giant indoor play area for kids, with rooms designed around certain themes like a sailing ship, an undersea world, and a fishery (magnet fish running throughout the room on conveyor belts!).
One of the rooms is designed to look like a farm, and among the many activities in the room is one involving eggs that are surprisingly life-like.
As I watched my daughter play with them, I...
December 6, 2009
Bad Santa
Have you ever noticed that if a department store Santa Claus is not spot-on perfect, with a round belly, a perfectly tailored suit, rosy cheeks and a twinkle in his eye, he looks drunk?
Santa is not something that can be done half-heartedly. It must be done all the way or not at all.
A war of words inside my head
Another gem from Nathan Bransford in regards to responding to a manuscript critique:
"If you find yourself getting mad it's probably because your editor/critique partner is right."
Thankfully, the editorial process for my first two books was relatively simple. Both were "light edits" (my editor's words) and I adored the person with whom I was working. But it's the process that I go through with my agent (which most assuredly makes the editorial process easier) that can give rise to the...
December 5, 2009
Available for pre-order
Amazon is now listing UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO, my second novel, which will be released on August 3 of next year.
This release date was actually news to me, but I assume the good people at Amazon have it correct.
Place your pre-orders now!
Potato chips, dead people and armed barbers
CHICKEN SHACK, the working title of the book that I am currently writing, features a combination funeral home and friend chicken restaurant. The idea came to me while driving through my hometown of Blackstone, Massachusetts one day with my wife.
Blackstone, a tiny town on the border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, had a population of about 5,000 people when I was growing up in the 1980s, and the only thing that the town was known for was their potato chips:
...December 4, 2009
Overconfidence
Last month Nathan Bransford wrote a post centering on five lessons that he has learned about writing from watching reality television. It's an amusing and insightful piece, and I thought his first lesson was the most pertinent:
"Overconfidence is your greatest adversary."
As a published author, I have received many requests from fledgling writers asking for help in the publishing world. I often find this shocking considering how much I still need to learn and how relatively...
December 3, 2009
Resolution update: November 2009
In January of this year, I established a list of twelve New Year's resolutions. At the end of each month, I report on my progress as a means of holding myself accountable.
1. Finish my second novel before my birthday in mid February.
Done since mid-February, sold in June, and revisions completed in September. I have since returned my attention to book #3, which I would like to have finished in 2009.
2. Live a healthier lifestyle. Specifically:
· At least thirty minutes of aerobic...
December 2, 2009
You can put lipstick on a pig
A couple years ago, I wrote about my distrust of flowery, ostentatious names, as well as any name that attempts to make something sound more cosmopolitan or international than it actually is. At the time, my issue was with the Chilean sea bass:
I wrote:
__________
In this spirit of distrust, I questioned the authenticity of the Chilean sea bass a couple of nights ago at dinner.
"That name sounds like total marketing to me. How can a sea bass even hail from Chili? What if it is caught...
