Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 748

Least favorite words

The Guardian recently reported on words most hated by a selection of English poets. These included redacted, pulchritude, and appall.

My wife's least favorite word is moist. It literally grosses her out to say the word in her presence.

Words that make me wince include:

Got: I just can't find a way of using this word without sounding guttural and stupid. The words have or received are almost always suitable replacements.

Shortened words: It annoys me to hear someone use the word delish in pla

One day to go

SOMETHING MISSING was reviewed by the Free Lance Star in Fredericksburg, VA today, and in very glowing terms. I'm so pleased to find out that so many people have enjoyed the book so far. More than 75% of the readers in Amazon's Vine program have given the book four or five stars, and Booklist, Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly all came out with very positive reviews.

This whole process has truly been a dream come true, and we still have 24-hours before SOMETHING MISSING hits the stores.

Actually,

SOMETHING MISSING in the Boston Globe!

It's just two days away from the release of SOMETHING MISSING, and this morning the book received positive mention in Jan Gardner's Shelf Life column in the Boston Globe. Having grown up in Massachusetts, just thirty minutes from Boston, the Globe was the first paper that I spent any time reading, so to see my book and name in this paper this morning was thrilling beyond imagination.

And in some odd twist of universal irony, SOMETHING MISSING is mentioned immediately after a nonfiction book abo

Guest review of SOMETHING MISSING

A big thank you to Alan Bradley, author of THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE, who was kind enough to write a guest review SOMETHING MISSING for Amazon. His book is quite popular right now, filling prominent tables and shelves in many of the independent bookstores that I have been visiting recently, and I couldn't be more thrilled to have such a well-loved and respected author reviewing my book.

Frankly, I'm honored whenever someone takes the time to read the book, so to then take the time

Star Trek: Coincidentally flawed

In 1997 I sent a letter to Steven Spielberg suggesting that he hire me as the Common Sense Director for his movies. I explained that my role would be to point out the silly, avoidable flaws that seem to plague so many films, his included. It was probably in reference to Jurassic Park, a film that he directed and was seriously flawed.

For example, why breed dangerous velociraptors if their enclosure provides no possible view of the animal to the public? In fact, why not just breed plant-eating d

SOMETHING MISSING making a name for itself

I found a few tidbits of good news regarding SOMETHING MISSING as I surfed the web and combed through my email today:

First, SOMETHING MISSING was listed in Goodreads' July newsletter under their Movers and Shakers heading.  A very positive reader's review of the book was quoted in the newsletter in addition to a brief synopsis of the book.

If you'd like to become a friend or a fan of my work on Goodreads, you can check out my profile here. 

Next, SOMETHING MISSING was named as a New Atlant

Group descriptors

A murder of crows.

A pride of lions.

A gaggle of geese.

All great ways of describing a group of animals.

I recently heard a new one that I liked a lot: a gossip of women.

A little sexist, I know, but there's research to suggest that women who gossip are happier and healthier than their more discreet counterparts, so the descriptor is not entirely unfounded.

But it's great.  Right?

I feel awful because I can't remember where I read it (Stephen King's Insomnia, Zadie Smith's White Teeth or

Literary love connections

The Guardian recently published a piece on Border's new dating site for bibliophiles in the UK, which promises to bring together singletons based upon their unique literary interests.

"Unlike other dating services, Borders dating is a great place to meet fellow book-lovers. In all the best fairytales, girl meets boy and frog turns into prince. If only real life was so simple! Sometimes fate needs a nudge in the right direction."

The Guardian is quite skeptical of this new service, as am I. Tho

Book covers

Designer Chip Kidd posted a gallery of some of his favorite book covers since 2000.  Some excellent choices.

I've come to like the cover of SOMETHING MISSING a lot as well, and I have heard great things about it from friends and booksellers.  I initially thought the multiple fonts were too busy, but I've come to adore it just the way it is.

To my uneducated and undiscerning eye, here are a few of my other favorites from recent years:

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UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO: A synopsis

Since I posted about the sale of my next book, I've received several requests for a synopsis of the book, from booksellers, friends, relatives and a few complete strangers. 

I adore my agent, Taryn, for many reasons, including her honesty, her unwavering support, her extensive expertise, and her friendship, but I also love the way that she can summarize my books.  When asked to do so myself, I sound like a blithering idiot, unable to condense 100,000 words into a couple meaningful paragraphs.