Matthew Dicks, author of Something Missing (August 17-28)
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1ablachly
Please welcome Matthew Dicks, author of Something Missing. Matthew will be chatting on LibraryThing until August 28th.
2sunny
Hello Matthew, good to see you here :-)
I liked 'Something missing' a lot - I'd never have Martin's patience!
It is your first published book - were you nervous when it came out? Or were you confident that Martin and his story would be special and funny enough to find an audience?
When you are writing, are you thinking of the audience? Or does the story have its own motor and how the readers will react to it only matters after it is finished?
3MatthewDicks
Hello all,
Sorry for the delay in posting today. I've got a 6-month old daughter with a bit of a cold and was not very cooperative today!
A little bit about myself:
I grew up in the small town of Blackstone, Massachusetts with two siblings, two lost step-siblings, a loving mother, and an evil step-father. I was a Boy Scout, a pole-vaulter, a flutist and bassoonist, and a proud member of my school’s drum corps. I also have the distinction of having died twice by the age of eighteen before being revived by paramedics both times.
Sorry. No white light.
I left home at eighteen and worked in a variety of dead-end jobs for the next five years until I was robbed at gunpoint at the age of twenty-three. This brush with death finally convinced me to get off my ass, propelling me to college in Connecticut shortly thereafter. I worked my way through school, graduating from Manchester Community College in 1996 and Trinity College with an English degree and Saint Joseph’s College with a teaching degree in 1999.
Following graduation, I went to work as an elementary school teacher and have been teaching ever since. In 2005 I was named West Hartford’s Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year.
In addition to my teaching career, I also own and operate a DJ company that performs weddings throughout Connecticut.
In 2006 I married my wife and colleague, Elysha Green, after proposing to her in front of friends and family on the main landing of Grand Central Station in New York. We live in Newington, CT with our daughter, Clara (born on January 25 of this year), our Lhasa Apso, Kaleigh, and our enormous, slightly insane house cat named Owen.
When not teaching or writing or holding Clara, I spend my free time listening to music and dodging phone calls. I'm an avid, albeit awful, golfer and a much better basketball and poker player. I enjoy attending Patriot and Yankee games whenever possible, and I would like to play more football if my fragile friends were more willing. I read a great deal, listen to audio books, and listen to about three dozen podcasts on a daily and weekly basis. My interests include technology, sports, and current events.
I also run a bi-annual race about Connecticut modeled after CBS's The Amazing Race called The A-Mattzing Race, and this keeps me busy planning and coordinating the next event.
I recently completed a Master’s degree in Educational Technology at American Intercontinental University and am working on a Master’s in English at my alma mater, Trinity College.
I don't sleep much.
I look forward to chatting with you over the next couple weeks!
Sorry for the delay in posting today. I've got a 6-month old daughter with a bit of a cold and was not very cooperative today!
A little bit about myself:
I grew up in the small town of Blackstone, Massachusetts with two siblings, two lost step-siblings, a loving mother, and an evil step-father. I was a Boy Scout, a pole-vaulter, a flutist and bassoonist, and a proud member of my school’s drum corps. I also have the distinction of having died twice by the age of eighteen before being revived by paramedics both times.
Sorry. No white light.
I left home at eighteen and worked in a variety of dead-end jobs for the next five years until I was robbed at gunpoint at the age of twenty-three. This brush with death finally convinced me to get off my ass, propelling me to college in Connecticut shortly thereafter. I worked my way through school, graduating from Manchester Community College in 1996 and Trinity College with an English degree and Saint Joseph’s College with a teaching degree in 1999.
Following graduation, I went to work as an elementary school teacher and have been teaching ever since. In 2005 I was named West Hartford’s Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year.
In addition to my teaching career, I also own and operate a DJ company that performs weddings throughout Connecticut.
In 2006 I married my wife and colleague, Elysha Green, after proposing to her in front of friends and family on the main landing of Grand Central Station in New York. We live in Newington, CT with our daughter, Clara (born on January 25 of this year), our Lhasa Apso, Kaleigh, and our enormous, slightly insane house cat named Owen.
When not teaching or writing or holding Clara, I spend my free time listening to music and dodging phone calls. I'm an avid, albeit awful, golfer and a much better basketball and poker player. I enjoy attending Patriot and Yankee games whenever possible, and I would like to play more football if my fragile friends were more willing. I read a great deal, listen to audio books, and listen to about three dozen podcasts on a daily and weekly basis. My interests include technology, sports, and current events.
I also run a bi-annual race about Connecticut modeled after CBS's The Amazing Race called The A-Mattzing Race, and this keeps me busy planning and coordinating the next event.
I recently completed a Master’s degree in Educational Technology at American Intercontinental University and am working on a Master’s in English at my alma mater, Trinity College.
I don't sleep much.
I look forward to chatting with you over the next couple weeks!
4MatthewDicks
Hi Sunny,
So happy to hear you enjoyed the book. In answer to a couple of your questions:
This is my first novel, but I was more excited about the publishing of the book rather than nervous. After waiting a full year for the book to finally appear in stores, I was ready to see it in print, and every time I see SOMETHING MISSING on a shelf in a bookstore, my heart skips a beat. I'm hoping this reaction never stops.
As for the book being funny, it's odd, but I never thought that it was very funny as I wrote it. When people began telling me how much they laughed at the story, or when I see it listed in a comic or humor section in a book store or on Amazon, I'm always a little surprised. The humor in the book was very natural, I guess, and never intentional. I thought I was writing serious prose, but it turns out that Martin's life is just flat out funny in some ways, even if I didn't see it.
As for the audience, I don't think of them when writing, at least not during the writing of SOMETHING MISSING or my next novel, which should be out next summer. But in the writing of these two books, I've learned that readers aren't as patient as I want them to be, so I'm thinking about them much more as I write my third book. Ideally, I would have my novels start at a slow and leisurely pace, exploring characters and setting before launching into the main plot, but I've come to realize that in today's world, things need to happen faster than what I think is ideal, and all things should ultimately serve plot. So although the stories tend to come from the ether, with little planning on my part, I am more cognizant of when a story might be getting sidetracked or dragged down and am more likely to self-edit as I go along.
Does this answer your question? Hopefully it does! And please keep those questions coming!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the book. In answer to a couple of your questions:
This is my first novel, but I was more excited about the publishing of the book rather than nervous. After waiting a full year for the book to finally appear in stores, I was ready to see it in print, and every time I see SOMETHING MISSING on a shelf in a bookstore, my heart skips a beat. I'm hoping this reaction never stops.
As for the book being funny, it's odd, but I never thought that it was very funny as I wrote it. When people began telling me how much they laughed at the story, or when I see it listed in a comic or humor section in a book store or on Amazon, I'm always a little surprised. The humor in the book was very natural, I guess, and never intentional. I thought I was writing serious prose, but it turns out that Martin's life is just flat out funny in some ways, even if I didn't see it.
As for the audience, I don't think of them when writing, at least not during the writing of SOMETHING MISSING or my next novel, which should be out next summer. But in the writing of these two books, I've learned that readers aren't as patient as I want them to be, so I'm thinking about them much more as I write my third book. Ideally, I would have my novels start at a slow and leisurely pace, exploring characters and setting before launching into the main plot, but I've come to realize that in today's world, things need to happen faster than what I think is ideal, and all things should ultimately serve plot. So although the stories tend to come from the ether, with little planning on my part, I am more cognizant of when a story might be getting sidetracked or dragged down and am more likely to self-edit as I go along.
Does this answer your question? Hopefully it does! And please keep those questions coming!
5sunny
Maybe funny isn't right on the spot, amusing might be a better word. I was smiling after the first few sentences I read in the bookshop, which is what made me buy the book.
You are certainly not making fun of Martin, but describe him in a respectful way. It is great to see how he turns his limitations into strentghs. His meticulous attention to detail, for example.
It's true that Something missing chances pace around the middle of the book and gets faster. But somehow I thought this reflected Martin's life well: he likes his days planned with no risk of getting discovered and can keep them that way for years - but suddenly he gets caught into a lot of action.
In your blog (I think) you wrote that your wive described your writing like this: you put your characters into impossible situations and then have to find a way to get them out again. I like that.
Will your next books have that element in them, too?
You are certainly not making fun of Martin, but describe him in a respectful way. It is great to see how he turns his limitations into strentghs. His meticulous attention to detail, for example.
It's true that Something missing chances pace around the middle of the book and gets faster. But somehow I thought this reflected Martin's life well: he likes his days planned with no risk of getting discovered and can keep them that way for years - but suddenly he gets caught into a lot of action.
In your blog (I think) you wrote that your wive described your writing like this: you put your characters into impossible situations and then have to find a way to get them out again. I like that.
Will your next books have that element in them, too?
6sunny
On your blog you ask if direct communication with readers is appreciated. It sure is. And if it someday gets to the point where it takes too much of your time and energy it will be early enough to readjust.
7MatthewDicks
Yes, my next book contains many of those moments in which my character is placed in difficult situations, and I am forced to find a way to solve the problem. In fact, she made the comment in reference to my second book, though it certainly applies to SOMETHING MISSING.
9CDWall
Hello, Matthew!
Carolyn Wall, author of Sweeping Up Glass, here. Good to talk to you. Today I saw your book featured on Tulsa Talk, on our OETA channel in OKC, as mine was last week. I am also on Author Chat/Library Thing and enjoying it thoroughly.
Just want you to know I'm glad to see and hear about your book, and that I plan to get my hands on a copy and read this week.
Best wishes,
Carolyn Wall
Carolyn Wall, author of Sweeping Up Glass, here. Good to talk to you. Today I saw your book featured on Tulsa Talk, on our OETA channel in OKC, as mine was last week. I am also on Author Chat/Library Thing and enjoying it thoroughly.
Just want you to know I'm glad to see and hear about your book, and that I plan to get my hands on a copy and read this week.
Best wishes,
Carolyn Wall
10MatthewDicks
Thanks so much, Carolyn! One of the benefits of publishing my first novel has been all the newfound interaction with authors that I've had, people who I once saw as visionaries on an impossibly high platform, and in many ways still do! I hope you enjoy the book and I'll be sure to check yours out as well! I took at peek at the plot summary and reviews online and it seems to be doing very well. I placed my order this morning! Congratulations on your success!
Warmly,
Matt
Warmly,
Matt
11aardvark2
I am reading your book now and enjoying it very much. After reading your biography, I am wondering how much of your book is autobiographical--Martin's family and job history, at least as far as I've gotten in the book, sounds eerily similar. (And I thought I'd had more toilet paper under the sink--have you ever lived in the Chicago area??? )
When can we expect your next book to be published?
Debbie
When can we expect your next book to be published?
Debbie
12MatthewDicks
Hi Debbie,
Sorry. Never lived outside of New England, so someone else is taking the toilet paper!
As for your other question, it turns out that the book is more biographical than I ever thought.
For example, Martin's name has an interesting story behind it.
As I was writing the book, I was in therapy for post traumatic stress disorder, the result of a violent robbery from about ten years prior, and in discussing the book with my therapist, he asked how I decided upon the name Martin. I told him that "it just popped out. No thought at all.” And that was true. The first word of the first sentence of the book is Martin, and that sentence, like most, just eased its way onto the page without much thought on my part.
My therapist then pointed out that Martin's name couldn't have been any closer to my own name without actually being my name, and that Martin's penchant for careful planning and obsession for detail were also coping mechanisms that I have developed over the years to deal with my PTSD. Fire extinguishers on every floor of my home, first aid kits in my car, detailed plans on how to deal with an intruder if one ever entered our house at night. My planning was obsessive. I would run through conversations in my head prior to speaking. Whenever I entered a restaurant, auditorium, or similar public space, I would immediately take note of all the possible exits and would then place myself in a position to face the main door, in order to monitor all who entered.
In short, it turns out that I as writing about myself more than I ever realized. I even had an evil step-father and a real father who I had not seen for about twenty years until last week, when the book, in part, finally brought us back together.
But again, I was too stupid to notice these parallels as well.
So yes, there is some biography in the book, though oddly enough, most of it was unintentional.
As for my next book, it will be out in the summer of 2010. I'm wrapping up revisions on it this week and sending it back to my editor.
Sorry. Never lived outside of New England, so someone else is taking the toilet paper!
As for your other question, it turns out that the book is more biographical than I ever thought.
For example, Martin's name has an interesting story behind it.
As I was writing the book, I was in therapy for post traumatic stress disorder, the result of a violent robbery from about ten years prior, and in discussing the book with my therapist, he asked how I decided upon the name Martin. I told him that "it just popped out. No thought at all.” And that was true. The first word of the first sentence of the book is Martin, and that sentence, like most, just eased its way onto the page without much thought on my part.
My therapist then pointed out that Martin's name couldn't have been any closer to my own name without actually being my name, and that Martin's penchant for careful planning and obsession for detail were also coping mechanisms that I have developed over the years to deal with my PTSD. Fire extinguishers on every floor of my home, first aid kits in my car, detailed plans on how to deal with an intruder if one ever entered our house at night. My planning was obsessive. I would run through conversations in my head prior to speaking. Whenever I entered a restaurant, auditorium, or similar public space, I would immediately take note of all the possible exits and would then place myself in a position to face the main door, in order to monitor all who entered.
In short, it turns out that I as writing about myself more than I ever realized. I even had an evil step-father and a real father who I had not seen for about twenty years until last week, when the book, in part, finally brought us back together.
But again, I was too stupid to notice these parallels as well.
So yes, there is some biography in the book, though oddly enough, most of it was unintentional.
As for my next book, it will be out in the summer of 2010. I'm wrapping up revisions on it this week and sending it back to my editor.
13shortyman333
Just finished reading SOMETHING MISSING about 10 minutes ago, stayed up almost all night trying to finish the book. Had about 2 chapters left when I finally put it down and went to bed. Picked it back up after lunch and finished reading. Hands down the best book I've read all year, and definitely in my Top 5 of all time.
One question, Any plans on making a sequel? You left the end open ended, which was great, leaving me with many questions on how the conversation with Laura would go. But I would also like to see how things turn out for the rest of Martin's life.
One question, Any plans on making a sequel? You left the end open ended, which was great, leaving me with many questions on how the conversation with Laura would go. But I would also like to see how things turn out for the rest of Martin's life.
14MatthewDicks
So happy to hear that you enjoyed the book so much. You jut made my day. I'm be playing golf with some friends this afternoon to end my summer, and when I start shanking or hooking or slicing my shots, which I will do often, I'll think about your post and smile.
As for the sequel, I never had any intention of writing a sequel but so many people have asked about it that I may consider it. I thought I was done with Martin's story, but perhaps not. I have ideas for at least three more novels after the one I'm currently writing, and I love a couple of the ideas a bunch, so it might be a while before I actually get around to Martin's sequel, but you never know. Perhaps someone will make an offer that I can't refuse!
Thanks again. So pleased to hear that you found the book to be so good.
Warmly,
Matt
As for the sequel, I never had any intention of writing a sequel but so many people have asked about it that I may consider it. I thought I was done with Martin's story, but perhaps not. I have ideas for at least three more novels after the one I'm currently writing, and I love a couple of the ideas a bunch, so it might be a while before I actually get around to Martin's sequel, but you never know. Perhaps someone will make an offer that I can't refuse!
Thanks again. So pleased to hear that you found the book to be so good.
Warmly,
Matt
