Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 732

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. 

My hometown

Tomorrow I will be heading to my hometown of Blackstone, MA to join local author Stacy Juba in a joint appearance at the Blackstone Public Library and Renaissance Books in Uxbridge, MA.

If you'd like to stop by, we'll be at the Blackstone Public Library from 12:30-2:00, speaking, reading, answering questions, and signing books.  Then we'll be down the road in Uxbridge at 3:00 for another appearance at the local bookstore.  

My sister lives one town over from our hometown, so I...

Editor at all hours

I know I've said it before, but after working on copy edits and report cards until after midnight and then writing a quick post for this blog, it's remarkably reassuring knowing that there is someone in Europe, still awake, ready to read, and willing to send me an email in the middle of the night highlighting the two typos in the post. 

I've made some very good friends since publishing my book.

Admitting my failure

I've been reviewing the copy edits to UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO this week, and as I reach the halfway point in the manuscript, allow me to share some of my more frequent mistakes have been brought to light thanks to this process. The list so far includes:

1. A failure to realize that there are two different spelling for the words vice and vise, depending on the meaning. I always thought that vice was the only correct spelling for both definitions. I didn't even know that vise existed as a...