Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 735
October 23, 2009
Martins eBay expertise garners some attention
SOMETHING MISSING protagonist Martin Railsback poses as eBay power seller Barbara Teal, an empty nester with a love for high end fashion and a flair for the dramatic. Martin uses eBay as a means of fencing some of his more valuable acquisitions.
The muse for Martin's alter-ego was my mother-in-law, Barbara Green, who is also an eBay power seller, specializing in high-end women's fashion. Almost all of Martin's skill and understanding with eBay comes from the experience of the real-life...
Worth paying a second college tuition
In the debate over whether or not to have a second child, my wife might just win the argument by agreeing to purchase and wear these tee-shorts with some frequency.
October 22, 2009
If only
In the spirit of the new film adaptation of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE comes the Mo Willems classic:
Borders Books in Farmington, CT
On Sunday I made an appearance at Borders Books and Music right down the road from my school. As always, I spoke for a while, read a little bit from SOMETHING MISSING, took some questions from the audience, recommended a few books, and finished off with a brief signing.
This was my most local appearance so far, just ten minutes from my home, so my wife and daughter were able to attend as well. I can't tell you how fun it is to see my daughter sitting in the audience, listening to me share...
MUST LISTEN
I can't recommend WNYC's RadioLab podcast enough. Fascinating, science-based stories that are brilliantly produced. I have recommended this podcast to many friends, and every one, without exception, has thanked me later for it.
However, if you can only listen to one RadioLab story for your entire life (a tragedy, indeed), find twenty minutes and click on this story about Stu Rasmussen of Silverton Oregon. It's just terrific, and the ending is fantastic.
October 21, 2009
Vying for a spot on The Moth
The Moth is a not-for-profit storytelling organization which features true stories told live on stage without notes. I've been listening to their weekly podcasts for a long time and attended a live performance earlier this year. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Looking for an opportunity to tell me own stories, I flirted with the idea of creating a Connecticut version of The Moth, which currently is based in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit and Chicago. But then Moth organizers...
October 20, 2009
Writers Read
Writer-producer Marshal Zeringue invited me to post on his Writers Read blog, where I had the opportunity to write about the books that I am currently reading.
The same post appears on The Campaign for the American Reader blog, also hosted by Zeringue.
Enjoy!
Tears and snots for just one book so far
The Books on the Nightstand blog recently featured a post asking about the books that cause readers to cry. I am not one to cry while reading a book, with one notable exception.
LOVE THAT DOG, by Sharon Creech, is a children's book about a boy named Jack and his dog, Sky, and just thinking about the story gets me a little weepy. It's a book that's written in journal form and can be read by an adult in less than an hour, and it's simply brilliant. The book tells the story of Jack as he...
Life magazine for free!
Life magazine, 1935-1972, is now available online through Google Books.
It joins Life magazine's photo archive, also available courtesy of Google.
I just spent an hour reading through issues from the 1940s and found the advertising to be most interesting. Sexist, straight-forward, scantily-clad, and almost always sentimental, it's hard to imagine a time when magazine advertisements such as these were effective.
October 19, 2009
This artificially-flavored book is not dedicated to you.
Sandra Boynton has become my favorite children's author. Nothing makes me happier than reading one of her Pookie books to my daughter.
One of our new favorites is her non-Pookie board book, BUT NOT THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.
I think the story and illustrations are incredibly cute, and Clara seems to be enjoying the taste of the book a great deal, which led me to this thought:
Artificially-flavored board books. Awesome… right?
I'll have to see what my agent thinks.
My favorite part about BUT...
