grin and bare it
A blog by Matthew Dicks
My actual office
Having mentioned that I have an office that I retreat to on occasion, I thought I’d give you a peek at what it looked like. Surrounded on three sides by five ancient, drafty windows, the…
Read MoreJohn Updike, 1932-2009
In case you didn’t hear, we lost John Updike this week. I haven’t read much of his work in years, and regrettably, I have yet to read any of his Rabbit books, but I read…
Read MoreClara Susan Dicks and a couple pages too
Stephen King has written about the importance of a supportive spouse to a writer, and I couldn’t agree more. While on our honeymoon two years ago, I spent hours by the pool working on Something…
Read MoreKind words
My editor sent me the first blurb about Something Missing, written by M. Ann Jacoby, author of Life After Genius. She writes: “A quirky and endearing first novel that makes you wonder if that misplaced…
Read MoreThe end is in sight
Exciting news. I discovered how my latest book will end. I haven’t reached the last chapter yet, but in wrapping up a crucial chapter late last night, I caught a glimpse of how things might…
Read MorePieces of me
Nicholson Baker has a new book, a non-fiction piece about World War II entitled Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization. I heard him speak about it and other topics on…
Read MorePunctuation matters
It’s always so lovely to find someone who shares the same pet peeves as me. This is why I was thrilled to find the “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks, a site dedicated to the world’s…
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