Curtiss Ann Matlock's Blog, page 20

The Story-Teller’s Desire

I believe, my dears, that I am the proudest story-teller that ever lived…To have pleased you, to have interested you, to have won your friendship, and perhaps your love, through my stories, is to my mind as great an achievement as to become President of the United States. ~ L. Frank Baum, author of the novel that we all know and love as The Wizard of OZ

Such has been my aim in writing, too– to bring as much comfort and joy through my writing as I have received from the stories of countless wo...

Yes, Dear Hearts, There is Good News

It is easy to get all caught up in the sadness of the violence of the past days, the Dallas shootings, and before that shootings in cities across our nation–I’m sorry, I do not keep up and don’t even know how this big wave of outrage and killing got started, whose to blame, what needs to be done. But one thing I do know: There is nothing new under the sun. Waves of violence have swept our country, and the world, before, and sadly, likely will again. Start studying the history of this country....

Free Books, and Reconsidering My Stance

If Wishes Were Horses, Part 1 will again go Free on Amazon Kindle, July 8th & 9th, and Part 3, the final episode of the series, will be Free on July 10th.
I have recently reconsidered my stance on “Free” books. Previously I had, in the main, been against the practice. I was in the camp of thought that a writer is worth his hire and deserves to be paid for hard work and talent. That a writer should be paid for her work was firm principle when I attended the OU Professional Writing program. A...

If Wishes Were Horses

Dear Ones, I’m so excited! The project is completed. IF WISHES WERE HORSES PART 1, PART 2, AND PART 3 have gone live on Amazon Kindle! Check them out.

Only available now at Amazon Kindle

I’ll be creating a page for the books soon. Right now I’m just so happy to have finished the project and getting on with working on a new book. Up-coming sales are scheduled. Join the Newsletter to be first to find out the dates— click on the link to the right or tab at the top.

Have a blessed Saturday,
Curt...

“You Got to Please Yourself…dat, da, da, da…”

I just now looked over at the original cover of If Wishes Were Horses, and lyrics to Garden Party by Ricky Nelson popped into my head. It is true, you can’t please everyone, but you do, first and foremost in any art, have to please yourself.

If Wishes Were Horses was published in 1998 by Avon Books in mass market paperback. The low-quality paper is now yellowed. The book was more or less tossed thoughtlessly into the huge sea of pulp mid-list fiction. It was the final book I did for Avon, and...

Giveaway!

Hurry to be entered for the drawing for 2 free books.
Deadline for registering is Sunday, April 3rd, midnight CST!

The winner of an autographed trade paper copy of Love in a Small Town and a digital copy of The Loves of Ruby Dee will be randomly chosen from subscribers to my newsletter. If you are already a subscriber to my newsletter, you are automatically entered in the drawing. If not subscribed to the newsletter, sign up today! Click here.

I’m sorry but the trade paper copy of Love in a...

Entertain Great Hopes

This quote came in my email this morning:
I looked at those words a long time, and then I played around to make an image while I thought about them.

I do often have great hopes. Hey, I got out of bed this morning, and only on hope. We can mix in a lot of duty, but hope in seeing a beautiful morning and for a good cup of tea got me up.

But do I entertain hopes?

Went to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary site to get clear on the word entertain. I learned that a basic meaning of the word entertain i...

What is Your Theme?

“A wonderful antidote to glitz romance. Ruby Dee is so sweet, so loving, so wise, that you know she’ll get it right in the end, and you stay with her all the way to make sure she does.” —Detroit Free Press

I just read, and re-read, Steven Pressfield’s latest post, The Difference Between Subject and Theme. I urge you to pop over and read it. It has proven a good reminder to me for my present novel in progress, as well as for looking at books I’ve written.

My subject for The Loves of Ruby Dee i...

Book Recommendation: A Star for Mrs. Blake

What drew me to this book was the subject matter–the Gold Star Mothers from World War I. I remember my mother talking about Great-Grandmother Geneva being a ‘Gold Star Mother’, which meant she had gone on the government funded trip to France to see where her eldest son had died and was buried. The U.S. government funded these trips for nearly 8,000 women, mothers and wives. When you consider that the total U.S. deaths from that War, all on foreign soil, were 116,000, those women were but a fr...

My Divine Method and Madness of Writing

I’ve taken a look at my writing method lately. I write and edit as I go. Everyone says this is madness, that I ‘should’ not do this. I’ve tried not to do it, but I still do. This is one of those things that cannot be changed, so must be accepted, and once accepted, I can work with it. Or at least I don’t expend my energy on the useless endeavor of fighting this method.

For my current writing project, I’ve restarted it and restarted it. I’ve shifted this plot, this setting, these people, and r...