Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 727

Great literary opportunities tomorrow!

I will be appearing at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Blueback Square in West Hartford, CT on Saturday at 4:00 for anyone interested in attending. 

My wife, the amateur publicist, actually set up this event without even telling me, and she also managed to get it mentioned in the Hartford Courant.

It's good to have people working for you.  

Unfortunately, the appearance was mentioned in a section of the paper which also noted the University of Connecticut's 18th Annual Connecticut...

Strange things afoot at the Circle K

Photographer and artist Paho Mann has photographed almost two dozen re-inhabited Circle K convenience stores in the Phoenix, New Mexico area.  As the company began moving its stores to more profitable locations in the 1990s, "the shells left by this migration were filled by small businesses, each inhabiting an architecturally identical structure. The new occupants painted, put up a new signs, and modified windows and doors."

The result is a fascinating look at the creativity and...

Death #2

The author bio in SOMETHING MISSING states that I died twice before the age of eighteen and was brought back to life by paramedics both times. I get asked about this a lot, through email communications with readers as well as at bookstore and library appearances.

In response to popular demand, here is an account of my second, and hopefully last, near-death experience.

____________________

On December 23, 1988, I was driving home from a day of Christmas shopping in order to pick up my...

Old fashioned book burning: Follow-up

The North Carolinian book burning went off last week without a hitch, and I have yet to hear back from minister to whom I sent a copy of SOMETHING MISSING for review.

Did it go up in flames along such heretical texts as modern translations of the Bible and books by Mother Teresa?

Was it well received and placed along side the King James Bible, the only true Bible according to these book-burning religious fanatics?

Or was it simply ignored, recognized for the bit of authorial amusement...

Death #1

The author bio in SOMETHING MISSING states that I died twice before the age of eighteen and was brought back to life by paramedics both times. I get asked about this a lot, through email communications with readers as well as at bookstore and library appearances.

In response to popular demand, here is an account of my first near-death experience.  I will post an account of the second later this week.

When I was about 12-years old, my friend, Peter Archambault and I were riding our bikes...

Dedication for UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO

I've been pondering the dedication to my new book for about a month now, and just yesterday, I came up with an idea.  My wife doesn't like it, and her instincts are usually correct, but I thought I'd see what others thought. 

It would read:

For me, damn it.

Thoughts?

On good authority, I havent changed a bit

During my appearance at Renaissance Books on Saturday, I was asked to explain the reasoning behind choosing the section of SOMETHING MISSING that I read aloud to audiences.

Personally, I find the actual reading of the book to be the most boring part of any author's appearance, my own included. I would much prefer to plug my iPhone into a docking station and play a portion of the audio book, read by the talented Jefferson Mayes, instead. As an audience member and an author, I much prefer the...

Hometown appearance

I spent Saturday in my hometown of Blackstone, MA, speaking about SOMETHING MISSING to audiences in the Blackstone Public Library and then down the road at Renaissance Books in Uxbridge, MA.  There were great turnouts for both events, thanks in part to Stacy Juba, a local author who arranged the appearances, promoted them aggressively, and spoke alongside me.

Oddly enough, the library stands on the former site of my middle school, and before that, my father's high school.  It was quite...

We cant possibly be this desperate for ideas

Out of all the possible movies that could be made, based upon any number of books, musicals, plays, television series or even (God forbid) original concepts , do we really need film based upon the board game Risk?

Last time I checked, Risk has no characters, no plot, and no compelling hook.

What's next? 

A movie based upon Boggle?

Hungry Hungry Hippos?

Uno?

Brutal

This is the meanest girl I've ever seen. 

She is the kind of character who I would like to write about someday.  Not an easy character to like, but that's what I think would make it interesting.

As despicable as this woman might be, I can't help but respect her a tiny bit as well.  One hell of a competitor.