BASEBALL SEASON DREAMS!

IF I COULD

If I could pitch a ball,
and strike out every guy,
I’d throw the ball so hard,
you couldn‘t see it fly!

I’d shut out all the players
when they addressed the plate.
I’d pitch and pitch and pitch and pitch!
Someday I’d be so great!

And then when I stepped up,
right behind home plate
to hit the ball out there,
that would seal my fate!

I’d swing and hit the ball.
It’d fly over the big fence.
The folks would stand and cheer,
and my baseball fame commence.

Upcoming book SUMMER 2012!

http://www.justinmatott.com/JUSTIN_MATOTT_AUTHOR/COMING_SOON%21.html

Just announced on my website, my new book due out this summer! 


The GP series is in FULL swing, books 1-3 illustrated and designed by David Schiedt and I am DONE writing book FOUR!  


Looking forward to the entire six book series!


What would YOU like to see happen in books five and six?

There are Gargoyles among us...

Meet Roderick, the main character of my present writerly obsession.

I am busy working on a book which I am targeting at the Middle Grade audience, but I hope will be full of enough "good stuff" that it will find an adult audience the way other "kid's books" have.

My book (presently in the manuscript stage) is full of fantasy, historical fiction, present day adventures, and incorporates unlikely subjects including; crime fighting, Guinness World Book Record type of activities, Parisian nights, Malibu days, underworld Basque conspiracies, extreme underwater swimming speed battles, a bumbling news reporter, La Costa Nostra and other crime elements, epic battles, surfing and surfers, Laguna Beach, California, exclusive yacht clubs and snooty people, a touch of romance, an ancient curse which must be broken, secret detectives, the search for Gargoylian Kryptonite, magic, a priest with an ancient text about Gargoylian lore, nocturnal carnivorous feasting, Grotesques and Chimeras who battle the Gargoyles for supremacy, California Coast Cruising (an extreme water sport few know about), some Red Hot Chili Peppers music, texting, social networking, video blogs and tons of mystery.

So much packed into one book and thus far this book has been tons of fun to write, but the hard work of editing, cutting, adding, refining, redesigning and restructuring is about to begin.

With all of the swirling elements it remains primarily about one subject; the Notre Dame Gargoyles, which have intrigued me for years, since seeing them on a trip to Paris, and I hope my book will intrigue readers as well.

While researching this current book project and scouring the world for examples of these creatures (my book is about Gargoyle Superheroes) I discovered one protecting the baggage area at DIA! He is sitting inside a suitcase.

Now how cool is that?

Do you know anyone who would want to read about gargoyle adventures?

I need some "fantasy"readers to critique several chapters to see if this new genre for me will work for you.

If you are interested in reading a bit of it and chiming in, please email me at justin@justinmatott.com I am looking for critique, not compliments (though they are welcomed too). I am hoping those who enjoy this style of book will give constructive criticism which would help guide me to a better book in the end.


PROCESS:

Trying to "zero in" on what is important in story, incorporating the outline devised for it. The structure of character development (WHO), describing settings which details place and time (WHERE AND WHEN) for the characters to dwell in, while identifying and sticking with a main idea and/or author's purpose (WHY) and ultimately delivering active plot lines which will keep the pages turning. (WHAT HAPPENS). Once those goals are articulated within the pages of the manuscript, I must determine if my reader can SEE, HEAR, TASTE, SMELL AND FEEL THE STORY I have designed for them.

GO ASK MOM IS COMING OUT AGAIN VERY SOON...

SIX PHOTOS FOR A WORTHY CAUSE!

When I first was acquainted with the wonderful and delightful Steckels; Richard and Michele, who have put together so many wonderful photographic displays (you have seen them in airports all over the world) I was delighted to be considered for their Milestones Project book http://www.amazon.com/Milestones-Project-Celebrating-Childhood-Around/dp/1582462283/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315604123&sr=1-1 that would be published with the express intent to bring down color, racial, religious, nationalistic and other barriers. With delight I submitted my story, a story about my first pair of glasses, which the editor LOVED and told me would be included in the book. Within a month she called me to tell me my story wouldn't be used after all. I asked why since she had been so profuse about how much she like my story. She replied "Well, we received a piece from JK Rowling and that is what she chose to write about." "WOW, I thought, I have been bumped by the one and only J. K. Rowling, what a claim to fame!" Then she told me she still wanted to include me if I were willing to write on another subject important to childhood. I wrote a piece about my first puppy and it was included. Imagine my delight when I saw the assemblage of people in the table of contents.


Now, the Steckels have asked me to contribute to a wonderful online assemblage of original photographs to feed the hungry and to promote other goodwill, which simply is what they do so beautifully! I am so excited to see who will be included in this wonderful display and see how many people it will help. When Richard called he listed off some whos whos and I felt simply humbled to be included. So, why me? Here is why. Richard and Michele have a delightful daughter who had a delightful daughter who is a fan of my books. SHE told them about me and told them they HAD to include me. Now, how do you like them apples. A little girl who saw me in her school got me in a book with the likes of Eric Carle, J K Rowling, Walter Cronkite and many other much more famous people. Thank you Sutton, you are a doll!

So, here are the photos I chose after looking at thousands and even posting twenty of my favorites on my fan page at Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Works-of-Justin-Matott/213624096290 to get other people's impressions and limit it to six. If you were one who chimed in, thank you!

These are some boys my brother and I met in a small village in the Dominican Republic as he, my brother, took be to the villages he had installed fresh water systems in.








This is a homeless man in Dublin, Ireland who was preparing to feed the pigeons in a churchyard on a bench he sat on daily. When I asked him why, he told me that God feeds the lowliest birds, so imagine how he loves us. Quite sure I have read that in the GOOD BOOK.






In one of the villages in the DR, it wasn't unusual to see industrious people carrying water and other income sources on bikes and motorbikes. This one was just too good!










This bloke was a glass worker in the Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford, Ireland. Now, THAT is a character!












This pretty young lass was hamming it up for us in Sammy Sosa's hometown in the Dominican Republic. The people there were friendly and very family oriented.














These two sisters came and talked with my brother and me in the most beautiful spot on earth. We were enjoying some freshly caught fish and a local brew. They were delightful and delighted!

When Mom's Out of Town

From my upcoming book NITWITTLES. Please click on the text to read it, thank you!

Ice cream, pizza, cheeseburgers... I swear man (or woman) could live on these alone...

OH BROTHER!

MY BROTHER, OH BOTHER!

A brother is a bother,
just take out one small “r”.
He bugs me in the bathroom!
He bugs me in the car!
Without the “r” in brother,
the word describes him clearly.
I’d like to try a different bro,
I think I’d like that dearly!

The one I have is older
and thinks it’s really great
to hold me down and torment me,
and sneak things onto my plate.
At dinner he takes vegetables
he doesn’t want to eat,
and puts them at my place,
and kicks me on my feet.

He whispers if I tell my mom,
he’ll pound me in our room.
So all those vegetables of his
I’ve no choice but to consume.
Bring me a new brother,
and make it really quick!
This one I have right now,
makes me mad and makes me sick!

This is another poem in my newest collection, Nitwittles, due out soon!

Aliens All Mixed Up and Cowboys and Aliens All Mixed Up on iTunes!

Aliens All Mixed Up is available on itunes now for only $2.99. This week Cowboys and Aliens All Mixed Up will be coming out for only $2.99. That is 1728 different combinations in each book. That is only $.000173032 per alien!

aliensallmixedup.com IS COMING TO YOUR IPAD/IPHONE!

Hi, my blog is being neglected because of some very exciting things I am working on presently! My new agent is getting a lot of WORDS to sell presently and I am caught up in creating a BRAND NEW CHARACTER and STORY for the world! THEN, there is this new website with my books going electronic! AND, I am recording some of my books presently in my den!

SO, please keep reading my books, blogs and please, please, please help me forward my words out into the world! My new website will be up very soon, please come see us! aliensallmixedup.com

FLUSH, THE FISH

When I was a boy, I was very industrious.

I tried my hand at many sales and marketing jobs (sold all things door to door and in my "snack shack" which I built out of pilfered wood from the housing construction sites near my house, tsk tsk.... I found enough nails left in the dirt outside the sites to put together a pretty impressive shack (all featured in my GP saga).


One thing I tried my hand at was a goldfish farm. I planned to sell them along with all of the candy, gum and other treats in my snack shack to my friends.

I bought some twenty goldfish bowls, calculated that each bowl would supply around fifty newbies and I would continue to build my farm. I supplied each with "verified" male and female fish and waited for them to make me UBER RICH!

One by one they all turned belly up and so did my fish industry (which happened to be in the basement next to the bathroom providing an easy burial.





To distance myself from the ever dying fishies emotionally, I didn't name the first two thousand* but then came upon a clever enough name. Every goldfish I owned from that point on, as well as the other varieties we would get when my own boys owned them were named FLUSH.


From these experiences has come a new picture book that is working its way from my brain to paper. It is called Flush, The Fish, which takes on two meanings depending on how you say that sentence.

Flush is a little albino fish (or the more politically correct way to say it is that he is actually pigmentally impaired) who prefers the backstroke to any other. This unusual fish is mistaken for any number of belly up fish who have somehow leached out their color into the still somewhat clear waters of their bowl, so the little fish farmer gives him his proper burial in the nearby commode. Flush goes whirling down into the underworld, underwater domain and the adventure begins...

NO, it is nothing like Finding Nemo!

Now back to the book!

*hyperbole

CATCH THE READING BUG!

THIS IS A READING BUG! I'LL EXPLAIN...

So, I was having a meeting at The Tattered Cover and as I prepared my stuff, in my overstuffed vehicle, one of my new books hurtled to the ground. I had to put a bunch of stuff together so I just left it sitting there on the ground (actually three moms and four reading age kiddoes were heading down the sidewalk right toward the book and I thought, "Hmmm subtle marketing technique! They will see it, pick it up and realize I dropped it!", since it looks just like the case full that was sitting still opened up in my car trunk and maybe ask why I had so many of the same book."

I continued to ready myself for the meeting, pulling things together when one of the kids yelled, "WOW, HOW COOL!!"



I started to smile and my eyebrows wiggled up and down as if to say, "OH YEAH, THE NEW BOOK'S A HIT!" I closed my car door and said, "Pretty cool cover huh?" The four kids looked at me like I had two heads. "LOOK MOM!" The sole girl pointed down at a Praying Mantis slowly walking across the sidewalk. Soon it was walking right over my book, seemingly pausing to admire the artwork by the stellar David Schiedt!

I wanted to say, "Well, the bug IS cool, but check out the book!" But I didn't. No, instead I whipped out my iPhone in modern fashion and started to snap pics of the beautiful bug and the beautiful book. The green beauty held my attention long after the kids walked off far enough now behind their moms not to worry that I overheard, "Jeez, you'd think that dude'd never seen a bug before."


Well, at least my initial reader paused long enough to see the cover. After the Mantis' long journey, it, he, she, headed toward the parking lot. I picked it up and carried it to a nearby grassy knoll, thinking it would have taken it the rest of the day across the hot, busy parking lot and set it on a nice clump of flowers. I walked back to my car where the book was still sitting squarely in the middle of the sidewalk and people were just walking around it, not really giving it much of a look... I shrugged my shoulders and went into the great coffee shop at my neighborhood Tattered Cover and had a great meeting. I kind of forgot the whole incident until I plugged my phone into my computer and the photos uploaded.







That very night as I came home in the twilight after a nice evening walk with Andy and Tootsie, right next to my front door was this dude. Apparently the Praying Mantis had spread the word and the other eager readers were trying to get a glimpse of my new book. At least someone had caught the reading bug!

THIS IS A READING BUG.

What are you reading?

THE BIG QUESTION!

I have heard the BIG question posed at EVERY writer's conference I have been to that included picture books.

I have been asked the BIG question numerous times by many aspiring authors and illustrators and never really had a good answer because it is subjective and depends on the editor in question.

I have however answered it before after hearing an agent say, "It is much easier for an editor to dismiss the work if they like the illustration but not the story or vice-versa. It is just simply easier to reject it and move on to the other thousand submissions. Poor pity for the really awesome story that never gets a chance because the illustration just isn't up to snuff..." I even heard an editor say, "How does one accept you and reject your spouse or best friend? Just easier not to hassle with it. There are too many people competing for the same prize. Sometimes it is much easier to find what should be rejected than what I am going to spend the next two years trying to sell."

Okay, that makes a lot of sense, "BUT MY PROJECT IS UNIQUE AND DIFFERENT! SURELY THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO ME?!"

Thursday night, the best answer in my estimation to the BIG question was given by an editor who really, really, really knows her stuff. After all, she is largely responsible for the other two guests joining a very enviable and elusive club of people: those who have won the coveted Newbury and Caldecott. Dinah Stevenson, VP and Publisher of Clarion Books, a division of Houghton Mifflin, was asked the BIG question after Linda Sue Parks and David Weisner gave excellent presentations about the process of taking their ideas through many drafts, false starts and successes to becoming very enjoyable, readable, interesting and exciting books (see Weisner's video below and get yourself a signed copy of his new book ART AND MAX at The Tattered Cover! It is an awesome book and will surely secure Weisner the fourth Caldecott, you heard it here first!)

SO, at the Tattered Cover near my home twenty three of us (three of us being Tattered Cover employees) sat listening to a Newbury winner, a three time, record setting Caldecott winner and Dinah Stevenson, editor for both of them. HOW FORTUNATE FOR THE FEW OF US WITHIN SPITTING DISTANCE TO GET TO ASK MORE THAN ONE QUESTION AND HAVE PERSONAL INTERACTION WITH THESE THREE GIANTS OF OUR WRITING COMMUNITY.

(Now, allow me a slight aside)
MY BIG QUESTION THAT NIGHT WAS; "My gosh, where is everyone?" I mean if an Oscar or Emmy winner was there FOR FREE to mingle with, the place would be packed and jammed tight. Here we were truly in the presence of a sort of genius in all three panel members and it was largely ignored? Well, as my mother used to say when I turned up my nose to something I now would give my eye teeth to have for dinner, "Oh well, good, there is just more for the rest of us!"

(Even though I was taking notes on my ipad during the night, I did not transcribe the specific conversation, therefore allow for the fact that what I say was said, just not exact. I am not in the business of putting words into other's mouths... wait, that is my business, but only in my fiction...)
When asked the inevitable BIG question, "Is it a good idea for an author to send his or her manuscript with illustrations?" Dinah, David and Linda Sue Parks glanced at each other with a look of knowing. Dinah said, "No! One of the biggest thrills I get as an editor is marrying my image of who would best represent the author on paper, and the discovery process is what I love. It is FUN to watch the process..." The persistent person with the question (with an obvious agenda, in that she probably already had her sister-in-law, colleague or someone else take a stab at illustration or had done it herself) asked again, "What if the author illustrates it?" Dinah said something like, "Well if one has the talent to do both, then of course, but if it isn't the author's illustration I DO NOT recommend sending it with illustration." with a shrug of her shoulder Dinah was ready to move on to the next question.

SO, WAIT, THE EDITOR CONSIDERS IT A LARGE PART OF HER JOB TO BRING NEW VISION TO THE WRITER'S WORDS AND THAT IS WHAT BRINGS HER FUN???? THEN WHY, OH WHY, WOULD I DREAM OF ROBBING HER OF HAVING FUN? AFTER ALL, FUN IS WHY I WRITE! AND FUN IS WHAT I INTEND FOR MY READERS TO READ. WHAT FUN IT IS GOING TO BE WHEN DINAH DISCOVERS THE PICTURE BOOK MANUSCRIPT I'M STUFFING IN AN ENVELOPE ON HER DESK SOON!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuIsAIKiNgY

By the way, for those of you who are aspiring authors for children's picture books as well as chapter books, here is a nugget of GOLD for you. Dinah Stevenson answered another question posed and her answer brings hope. The question was, "Do you read unsolicited manuscripts?" Dinah said, "Clarion is one of the very few publishers who read EVERY manuscript sent in. Linda Sue Park was plucked from the slush pile!" Did I mention Linda Sue Park won the NEWBURY???? I am sending Dinah a manuscript on Monday...

What will you do next?

RAP IT UP!

Sometimes poetry comes "rapped" in a package with a good disguise. Often when I visit schools I hear the kiddoes saying things like, "I don't like poems!" "Poetry is boring!" and other such things.

I have them do an exercise: Take your favorite song and write out the lyrics. Or tell us several lines from a song you like. Suddenly as they begin to recite the lyrics from a song it becomes apparent that they are rhyming and basically speaking a poem... Ah, the light goes on.

Most music is nothing more than rhyming lines or quadrants set to a beat. Then the assignment is to write a song rather than a poem and the stigma disappears...

Gabe rides again!

The Gabriel Book of World Records is on its way! First signing, Tattered Cover... stay tuned!

Poem from upcoming Nitwittles - SHADOWS

I WILL BE POSTING MY POETRY RANDOMLY OVER THE SUMMER TO INTRODUCE THE NEXT INSTALLMENT, TITLED 'NITWITTLES' WHICH IS BEING RECORDED, EBOOKED AND PUBLISHED.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ACTUALLY READ THE POEM. TECHNICALLY DEFICIENT AUTHOR AT WORK!

Is it just me, or was that cloud looking back at me?

Last night, while working at my desk (pushed up to a window in my office) and writing about two boys in my Go Ask Mom series, lying on their backs talking about what they see in the clouds, I looked out to see this awesome sunset tinged cloud. I saw a face, do you?

Thank you to my helpers on my new picture book!

Lately in my school visits I have been telling stories about a cat I once had when I was a boy. I get tons of letters, drawings and comments about how funny and interesting he is. Yesterday a friend from Dolores, Colorado wrote to tell me that "I don't even like cats, but I L! O! V! E! FLOP!!!! I just read about him in Go Ask Mom and it totally cracked me up, just like when you were in our gym!"

Flop was an unusual cat, thus a funny, unusual story has come. Flop had a condition that caused him to do front flips right off of our refrigerator, mom's piano and the upper bunk in my bedroom (fortunately those places had pillows ready to cushion his fall).

His condition being narcolepsy and narcolepsy being a word few youngsters have every heard, I set out to find a way to title my picture book that would intrigue a young reader enough to pick it up, without the confusion of a big word. I awakened after contemplating many of your suggestions with a title from a dream. I am going with it for now and would like to hear from you with your opinion. My new working title of the picture book about a huge, narcoleptic, hilarious cat is FRONT FLIP FLOP!

Please let me know what you think!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS IMAGE FOR THE COVER....

of my book for Halloween and all year round, titled Skeleton BOB. See post below for more information about the actual book.

I would love to know what you think of this image.

Thanks, Justin Matott

www.justinmatott.com