Matthew Arnold Stern's Blog, page 28
February 29, 2020
When you’ve dropped 50 pounds
I hit a major milestone on my path towards health. I’ve dropped 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms) since I started on WW (formerly Weight Watchers) in October. This is not the first time I’ve dropped this much weight before. I’ve struggled with my weight my entire adult life. I’ve been as high as 266 pounds (120.7 […]
February 16, 2020
“How has your writing changed in the past 15 years?”
At a recent panel discussion, “Writing that First Book” at the Anaheim Central Library, I talked about my first novel Offline and how my writing has changed since then. Afterwards, an audience member asked me for specifics. What have I learned since I published Offline in 2005 that I put into my novel Amiga from last […]
February 5, 2020
“What if it’s different this time?”
My novel Amiga is about a character who must look to her past to solve problems in her present. But she finds herself confronted with the question, “What if it’s different this time?” We face problems that look familiar, so we think we can take the same actions and wind up with the same solutions. That […]
January 21, 2020
Cars and fiction
In fiction, we want to readers to build a complete picture of our characters in their minds. We do this through a character’s appearance, clothing, and possessions. Often, this includes the character’s vehicle. Vehicles have become characters in their own right, like the Millennium Falcon and the Starship Enterprise. But if we’re talking about contemporary […]
January 4, 2020
Fight or flight
Here’s another entry in the “life imitating art” file. I finished one of my Fun A Day projects, an outline for a new book series. (You can read it on Google Drive and give your feedback to it by posting comments below.) I then saw a mournful tweet from a fellow writer that ties to […]
December 27, 2019
Fun A Day Reseda – My 2020 projects
Fun A Day Reseda is an annual event where we spend each day in January working on a creative project. This year, I have several! As I mentioned in “What’s next?,” I’m working on revisions of The Remainders, and I’ll be giving a presentation on impromptu public speaking at the Anaheim Central Library on January 29. Of […]
December 11, 2019
What I learned in 2019
This continues a series I started in 2018 of lessons I learned during the past year. We’re not just at the end of a year; we’re at the end of a decade. And I can distill every life lesson from the 2010s into a single sentence: We always have a choice. I know this sounds glib and […]
December 3, 2019
What’s next?
Amiga has been released. Now the real work begins. The challenge is to convince readers to buy and read it. (It also helps to find supportive fans who can convince others to buy and read it as well.) I realize that people aren’t lining up to buy a Matthew Arnold Stern novel because hardly anyone knows […]
November 27, 2019
Amiga is here!
Amiga has gone live, and it is ready for you to purchase in print and eBook. Here is everything for you to know. Where to buy You can find Amiga wherever you buy books. Look for special Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals from your retailer! Here are some direct links: Publisher Black Rose Writing Online […]
November 19, 2019
Gratitude for the chance to do more
My novel Amiga will be released by Black Rose Writing on November 27, 2019. I have been describing my publishing journey in a series of posts. This is the twelfth and final installment of this series as well as my annual Thanksgiving post. Over the seven months since Amiga was accepted for publication, I’ve had a lot to […]
