Archive for May 2022

The next time a know-nothing lawmaker like Ted Cruz argues that the solution to school shootings – which only happen in the United States with this level of frequency and lethality – is to harden the schools with locked doors, single entrances, trip wires (a real Republican suggestion) and armed guards (always described as volunteer…

Clara was not pleased. We had finished reading the Harry Potter series and had decided to move onto “The Hobbit” and eventually The Lord of the Rings trilogy. She was having none of it. She had gone online, read a review from some obvious moron, and decided that “The Hobbit” wasn’t for her. A girl…

Brilliant idea from Elysha: Last week she used Google Earth to take Charlie on a tour of all of the places where she has lived throughout her life, complete with descriptions of each locale and stories about each location. What a wonderful thing to share with your child, particularly if you’ve lived in a variety…

Exciting news! I’m rich! The website allfamousbirthday.com has a page dedicated to me, and the information listed is quite surprising. The website accurately lists my educational background, birthday, place of birth, and all eight books that I’ve published, but it also says: “Matthew Dicks is one of the richest American novelists & listed on most popular…

On the heels of realizing that my mother never sent my letter offering film critique to Steven Spielberg (because how could she in 1981?) came this other realization: My parents probably never requested my Eagle Scout extension either. By the time I was 15 years old I had more than enough merit badges to become…

If you’re a filmmaker, the list of movies that you’ve made is called your filmography. If you’re a musician, the list of albums that you’ve made is called your discography. But if you’re an author? The opinions vary. Some say it’s called a bibliography, which is a stupid choice because: A bibliography is also the…

There will come a day when enough children are murdered for our nation to finally move forward with sensible, reasonable, meaningful gun reform.   There is no question of this.   Murder enough little kids and legislation will eventually follow.   For Australia, it was the 1996 massacre of 35 people in Tasmania. In response,…

I’m often asked – yesterday, in fact – about what I do when I’m consulting with a corporation, an advertising agency, or a business owner. More specifically, how can a storyteller like me help a Fortune 100 company? It’s a hard question to answer because there are so many answers, and none of them are…

When I was 11 or 12 years old, I saw ET the Extraterrestrial  in The Stadium in Woonsocket, RI. Like every other human being on the planet, I loved it. But despite my love, I also despised the scene in which Elliot releases the frogs from his science class. Unlike the rest of the film,…

Charlie’s baseball team – and therefore Charlie – won yesterday with a game-winning walk with the bases loaded. Final score 8-7. Charlie walked twice, scored twice, and hit the cutoff man with a throw from the outfield. All of this might not seem like much except that Charlie last won a baseball game in May…