Matthew Arnold Stern's Blog, page 32
March 4, 2019
Art and connection
At Fun A Day Reseda, I gave readings from two of my recent novels: my work-in-progress Snow in Los Angeles and my 2016 Fun A Day project, The Remainders. I also used the opportunity to talk about art, and the most important thing it offers, connection. Connection is why I got started in writing. As a student …
February 18, 2019
Dressing like a “loser”
My wife suggested that I get a souvenir to celebrate the Rams making it to Super Bowl LIII. I told her I would wait until after the game since I already had Rams shirts to wear. I figured if the Rams won, I would rather get the World Champions gear. If they lost, I could …
February 4, 2019
You can’t kill love
My family is preparing for Valentine’s Day. My granddaughter has her L.O.L. Surprise valentines ready to hand out to her classmates. I’m sure our children are planning romantic evenings for their significant others. My wife and I will do something special. And we all look forward to February 15 when Valentine’s Day candy is on …
January 28, 2019
The value of work (and writing about it)
During Fun A Day Reseda 2019, I’ll take breaks from writing my new novel, Snow in Los Angeles, to share with you themes and other insights from writing this book. I consider myself a cubicle author because work plays a role in every novel I’ve written. The same is true for Snow in Los Angeles, although …
January 18, 2019
Is there a right way to write a novel?
During Fun A Day Reseda 2019, I’ll take breaks from writing my new novel, Snow in Los Angeles, to share with you themes and other insights from writing this book. A question that often comes up among new writers on Twitter is, “Is there a right way to write a novel? Is it better to …
January 6, 2019
My mom’s world
During Fun A Day Reseda 2019, I’ll take breaks from writing my new novel, Snow in Los Angeles, to share with you themes and other insights from writing this book. My mom would have turned 90 on Thursday. She was a teenager during World War II. She told me stories about what it was like …
January 1, 2019
Using the past to understand the present
Fun A Day Reseda 2019 has begun! My project is a new novel, Snow in Los Angeles. During January, I’ll take breaks from writing to share with you themes and other insights from writing the book. It seems like a strange choice to write a novel set in the winter of 1948-1949 when there are more …
December 26, 2018
1979 and 2019
As I look ahead to 2019, I also have to look back 40 years to 1979. That year started magically. My mom turned 50, I went to my prom, I was showered with awards by my high school, graduated as a valedictorian, and looked forward to going to UCLA. Then things took a horrible turn. …
December 16, 2018
Technology that changed my life
This month marks two pieces of technology that changed my life: the word processor and my first computer. Evelyn Berezin passed away earlier this month at age 93. She invented the first word processor, a massive and expensive machine that evolved into the Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and other programs you carry around on your laptop …
December 8, 2018
What I learned in 2018
I’ve enjoyed writing parodies for years, but 2018 isn’t a year for levity and snark. It was a year when we faced many hard questions. Since this site is about learning and sharing insights, I’m starting a new annual feature, “What I learned.” Here are five things I learned in 2018. President Trump didn’t change …
