THE SUMMER OF MYSTERY - COMING VERY SOON!

The other day I was a judge in a poetry slam at a Middle School. A great experience, but the icing on the cake for me was when a seventh grade boy approached me afterwards to tell me how much he enjoyed my GP series and couldn't wait for the next book to come out. When I told him the next book was coming within the next month he started gyrating and jumping around like it was Christmas! Man Oh Man did that make my day, week and month. I cannot wait to hear from him after he has read the next book!

SO, I am TOTALLY excited to tell you about my new book coming within the next month! I think you will be too! Each chapter begins with a WANTED poster, featuring the main theme of the chapter, brilliantly rendered by my great friend and awesome illustrator David Schiedt!

Kids at the schools I visit always ask me what my favorite of all the books I have published are. I have to say THIS BOOK is my favorite for many reasons: Mystery, Summer, Buddies and THE MOST WANTED POSTERS are just a few of the reasons for me. I had as much fun writing this book as I think my readers will have reading it!

I finally wrote THE BOOK that I would have wanted to read badly as a boy!

SO. If you haven't read the first three in the series, it's time to catch up!

There is an awesome deal at my website right now - BUY 3 BOOKS - GET A 4th FOR FREE! www.justinmatott.com 

Simply add a note if you want the books signed and or personalized for the reader who will receive them.

With book four coming what could be a better way to go? Not just that, but I will make sure you get a 4th book signed by myself AND David Scheidt, the illustrator!

What a way to start your readers out for the summer. The new book is titled THE SUMMER OF MYSTERY - Book 4 in the GP series.

Here is a sample chapter (click on the image to make it larger). Mr. Lattimore was a villian in book three and he will make another appearance in book four as Gabe and his gang try to unravel the mystery behind him. Many other mysteries need to be solved and they are up to the task.

Under a full moon, around a fire where s'mores are being built Mr. Patchett will divulge many answers to the mysteries you've read about in the past. Revealing the back story to many of the mysteries surrounding the neighborhood, those mysteries that comprise the majority of questions I get from the readers of books 1-3.

 

watch a hero in action

Hi, this fall has been a really busy one for me and I have neglected this blog.

It took the enclosed video to get me back to blogging.

I am incensed at times by bullies.  The kind of bully who treats animals in a way that is cruel and inhumane makes me want to SCREAM and is the most cowardly of all!  After all, they have total disregard for the feelings of a living being and that is deplorable!

HOW can anyone be so callous?  This story is really about a hero.  A man who walks the walk.  Who helps the helpless.  This is a tough video, but watch the whole thing. The wonderful thing about a story well told is a happy ending.  This one has a wonderful ending.  But there are literally hundreds of thousands of BILLYS out there waiting for a hero to rescue him or her. 

  http://chill.com/Ronda_Bertey/post/b17192342339415e891b2d8a27446151/heartwarming-rescue-video-will-make-you-cry-meet-billy-rescued-from-a-puppy-mill

Please consider an end of year donation to help these animals who have no voice. Seriously, ten dollars feeds a dog or cat that has been abused, think what you could do to bring some light to a little defenseless life. 

Please hug your mom!

Today was my mom's birthday.  I say was because I don't think birthdays are a big thing in heaven because everyday is like a celebrated birthday there!

This was my status update on Facebook this morning:

Today, I lift a glass to toast my mom. She has been gone since I was in my twenties, but she is so ever present in my heart and my personality. She (and dad) adopted me when I was a baby, but she never let me forget that "she worked damn hard" to get me. Today was her official birthday, but true to form for my mom and her unique style, she wouldn't celebrate her birthday on the same day as D-Day, so she unofficially changed it. Here's to a wonderful mom, who is so often missed!

Immediately my friends started LIKING the status.  This tells me two things, I have thoughtful friends and MOMS are popular!

My mom was an unpretentious scholar.  She was very loved by students and staff at the university she spent most of her career at.  My mom was a tough as nails first generation immigrant. She was a no BS'r and taught me there is no room for excuses.  The last thing my mom said in the ICU was to a nurse, "My son is a Vice President!"  Mom was very proud of my accomplishment in the business world.  My goal had been to hold the title of Vice President by thirty and I beat it by a few years, just in time for my mom to see "her boy had made something of himself".

Then my mom died. I was heartbroken and lost in many ways.  I tried to make sense of it all. I had two young sons and she needed to stay to be their grandma.  She needed to stay because I needed her.  She needed to stay because she was AWESOME!  I loved and liked my mom with an intensity that could only come from the fact that we had three years of battling and sadly a year like the cold war, where we both simply avoided each other.  Then I called her after listening to a friend tell me how much he hated his mom and I watched as his hatred was all consuming.  I realized in that moment that I had a chance to do the right thing, so I called her and told her, no matter what has happened between us, no matter who is to blame, I AM SORRY.  Please forgive me.  I miss you.  Mom cried and asked me to forgive her too.  That was about five years before she died, so I had five years of an adult to adult relationship with one of the most fascinating, wonderful individuals I have EVER met; my own mom. 

My biggest regret is that my scholarly mom, my English teaching mom, my great listener mom, my champion of anything I endeavored mom, my rock mom, my wonderful, complicated, crazy mom never saw me published.  I can think of nothing my mom would have loved more than to see her son in print. 

My biggest irony as a published author was that my first book; My Garden Visits, was about her and the eternal imprint that she left.  That all moms leave.

I wrote of experiences I thought would be universally comforting to those whose moms had left their earthly bodies and it worked! It works! My book is now out of print, but just yesterday a woman who read it for her book club ten years ago approached me to tell me how the book touched her heart.

So, PLEASE hug your mom today!  Call her if a hug isn't possible.  Tell your mom specifically what she means to you.  I would give a lot to sit with my mom and have one more lunch.  I played a game recently where you decide what three people in history that are no longer alive would you most want to have lunch with.  Of everyone I could choose my mom was one of them.  Seriously, to sit with her for a few hours, physically face to face is one of my biggest wishes.  If you still can do so and aren't, please do.

  

*

Though the book I wrote about my mom is out of print, you can get it for a few cents on amazon.com.  I do plan to see the book uploaded for the Kindle and other eReaders soon. 


http://www.amazon.com/My-Garden-Visits-Justin-Matott/dp/0345412516/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344274444&sr=8-1&keywords=my+garden+visits

Of all human creations, a garden comes nearest to heaven. In Justin Matott's garden, sweet peas, larkspur, peppermint, peas, corn, tomatoes, and a hundred other sweetly-scented and delicious things bloom and ripen daily -- gifts of earth's bounty.

One day in that garden a very special miracle occurred. Justin felt the loving presence of his mother, who had left this earth five years before. Why had she come? What could her invisible but palpable presence mean?

As he sowed, weeded, and harvested, he listened to his visitor's silent communications and felt the movement of change and growth within himself. In the forget-me-not, he was reminded of the precious uniqueness of his mother -- and every other part of creation. Along with crocuses and daffodil, memories of childhood blossomed. The cycle of garden life impressed upon him the eternal flow of beginning, renewal, loss, and new beginning.

At first, Justin hesitated to mention these mysterious, wordless colloquies, but when he did, family and friends urged him to write about them. So now we have this wonderful book, which invites us into the author's beautiful garden to share the love and wisdom that flowered among poppies and bean poles.

Denver Chalk Art Festival

It rained on Saturday, but that didn't bother most of the chalk artists in downtown Denver. They went back at it to reconstruct their "temporary" works of art.  A hazard of this type of endeavor, to be sure.  

http://www.denverchalkart.org/festival_info/index.php

 

It was fun to see the original artwork on an 8 x 12 piece of paper being transformed into a much larger piece that brought smiles, curious looks and general fun to the crowd gathered on Market Street.  From the classic portrait style that you might otherwise find in an art gallery to sublime pieces  nods to Star Trek, the Avengers and much more.

 

 I've stood in the Louvre looking at the original, but this version put a bigger smile on my face and was a lot bigger than the famous Mona Lisa!

    More than any other, we wanted to see the finished piece, after all it was Where's Waldo and they hadn't put him in when we were there.   

 

 

 This was my favorite.  I got the artist's card after she told me illustrating children's books is her dream.  She went on to tell me "words don't matter, it is the images"... careful now... if we end up working together we might have to happily disagree.

Some seemed to have simply walked away, leaving smeared squares of chalk, but many were at work in the evening bringing their previous day's work back to life.  


Others covered it up to ensure the hours and hours and hours of work were protected and the detail in this one was literally spectacular.  I wanted to talk to her, but the line was too long.  Simply artistic genius!

My party agreed this wonderful blue fox was an overall favorite. 

     I really wanted to stary to see how this would turn out.  The use  of black and white was awesome!

         

Mother Mary 

holding baby John Elway? 

    

I was disappointed to have missed seeing the Gargoyle my latest novel is based on washed out.  I'd really like to see what he looked like before the rain took him. 

     Best story of the night.  This man was recreating a picture of his grandfather during WW1, with his head coming out of the airplane he flew in the war.  A picture was found in an attic that told the story he grandfather never spoke of.  A true American hero.  The artist bragged, "His friends called him Curly. I have his curly hair!"  A huge smile crossed his face and ours too!.  Thank you for your service Curly!

Now that is an awesome dude announcing my visit!

Reading specialist Reva Lobatos and son, Reva responsible for EVERYTHING you see on this blog, see below for a link to the last school I went to that Reva organized.  CLONE HER!

I wanted to say THANK YOU to ALL of the wonderful hosts this VERY busy Spring 2012 School Visit season.  I have been welcomed graciously and the excitement for reading, writing and anti-bullying was increased this year due to you wonderful educators who provide your students with an extra boost!  

My last school visit of the spring was a spectacular display of preparation, anticipation and excitement for students, staff and yours truly. 

I have always loved calling attention to excellence and so this blog is my hat off to one very special educator who simply goes WAY beyond the call of duty!  First of all, in these tight economic times a grant had to be written to provide this author visit.  The grant was turned down, but that didn't stop this 'steamroller of excellence'.  She went back to the grant committee and asked what needed to be done to modify her proposal to get approval.  They told her.  SHE DID IT, THAT DAY.  It was approved!  AWESOME STICK-TO-IT-NESS!

The walls were lined with covers, announcements.  

Fun assemblies and a very well attended family night at Henderson Elementary in Cheyenne, WY was a great way to close out the spring of 2012! 

Example of what it takes to get the kids pumped for an author visit!

So, here is my HUGE shout out to Reva Lobatos!  This is the second school and second school visit Reva has put together with me and this wonderful lady should be put in charge of the NATIONAL HOW TO DO IT RIGHT FOR KIDS committee!  

Representative Ken A. Esquibel, myself, Senator Floyd A. Esquibel, now that is some representation 
of Gov't in a school!

In attendance during the day was the Superintendent of schools, the school's district representative at the Capitol and a State Senator!  The most amazing thing to me is that this is just seems to be "standard procedure" for this excellent educator.  

I watched this cool dad reading with his son and talked to him about his involvement in his son's lives as it relates to reading.  He reads with his boys every night and it shows.  Talking to those young men was a true pleasure and hearing them talk about reading was music to my ears, WAY TO GO MR. LOBATOS!.  
No wonder those boys love a good story AND love to read!

CHECK OUT this link to an earlier blog entry I did to showcase what Reva did to prepare for my last visit.  http://justinmatott-snickers.blogspot.com/2008/12/books-are-door-to-head-and-heart.html  (By the way, not only did she provide her school with something different, fun and educational, she went home between the school day and the evening event and brought her own boys back to experience a night of storytelling, so not only an awesome educator, but an awesome mom.) 

There was no way ANYONE didn't know we had something special coming!

Talk about making a guy feel welcome!  Reva asked what my favorite things are and then filled a basket with them!  That is really going beyond the call, but SO appreciated!


I can't wait to see what she does next time!  Oh, there will be an next time!

http://www.readtomelv.com/current-books/when-i-was-a-girl-i-dreamed/

This is very cool.  Rising pop star; Jordan Pruitt reads When I Was A Girl... I Dreamed!

THIS IS BETTER THAN A GROUPON!

Please pass this article on to your teacher friends, your eager readers and mostly your reluctant readers.  

I have tried to pack my poetry books full of subject matter which will get the most reluctant reader chuckling, engaged and on the road to enjoying more and more reading and poetry!

http://highlandsranch.macaronikid.com/article/273139/book-review-theres-a-fly-on-my-toast

It is officially National Poetry Month and there is a new review and a great book deal associated with it.  Three books and a performed CD of poetry to enjoy in the car for the low price of two books, a whopping discount and a money back guarantee that your reader/listener will enjoy what he or she hears.  

ALSO, if you indicate on your order to whom they should be signed, I will gladly do that.  

http://justinmatott.com/JUSTIN_MATOTT_AUTHOR/MACARONI_KID.html

Water from the hose...

From Spring 2010, just a reminder of a favorite spring and a favorite little buddy.  Might be time to start thinking about a new addition to the family again...

"We have had a cold, rainy, snowy, blowy spring here in Colorado which has made everything lush and green and the trees have been flowering powerfully and then suddenly the past two days have reached into the eighties. It feels like Summer! I spent much of the day planting my veggies and herbs. My favorite basil and cilantro will be great in recipes this summer! We got four heirloom tomato plants which are going to respectively produce black, yellow, green with yellow stripes and red with orange stripes. We were going to opt for the white tomatoes, but were just having a hard time imagining them in a salad. I am pretty sure I am going back to get them this week. My curiosity is peaked and there are still some sunny spots out there.

As I work in my gardens and yard, it is often that I am shadowed by either my Italian Greyhound (Toots aka Batman) or my little Tonkinese Manx cat (Pwowie and the fact that she is a manx is why she has just a tuft where most cats have tails). Toots will generally recline within feet of where I work if there is a nice, shady tree to spend time under, but Pwowie is fairly insistent about remaining under foot and exploring and examining the slightest changes in her territory. She has a large rock in my front garden that is her outpost, where she watches the world go by, called Pride Rock, but if I'm working in the yard, she simply must come and oversee.

After working in the vegetable garden it was time to pot some flowers in the front pots to adorn our wonderful front porch, where we like to sit and take in evening and is my outside writing office often during the day. My mind drifted as I listened to Hall & Oates covers on my iphone (by THE BIRD AND THE BEE, which I highly recommend) and watched my cat following me from place to place as though she were really doing something to assist rather than just sniffing everything and looking at me curiously. After potting several pots and making a wonderful mess on the porch, I hosed it off and filled the watering cans getting ready to tackle my next project.

As I came around the corner, back up onto the porch I caught my little buddy Pwowie in the act of taking a cooling summer drink off the freshly filled watering can and I was suddenly reminded of two things; illustrations in Beatrix Potter's wonderful Peter Rabbit books and those long ago days as a boy when "stolen" drinks from the hoses connected to houses up and down the street was simply the premium refreshment, even rivaling many a mom's lemonade or Kool-aid (though for me, NOTHING rivaled grape Kool-aid!)

I remember summer days when we came home so hot from our adventures in the fields, at the fishing holes or riding in our gang on our stingrays when we felt like we were somewhere near Hades. The August sun baked the skin a dark brown and parched the throat so dry. The water that ran in the ditches was cool on our feet and fun to play in with hours of digging out holes where crawdads backed in trying to get away from a bunch of rascals or having water skipper races, where we each picked ours and tracked it up or down the ditch as it skittered across the top of the water either going with the flow or racing upstream against it. But somehow we all knew the chocolate milk looking water wasn't water we needed to quench our unbearable thirst. So we would hustle to one of our houses and turn the water on at the spigot and wait until it ran all the sun-heated water out of the hose and went cool to cold. Then we would drink so deeply that our stomachs would bloat, impatiently pushing each other aside to get a drink and invariably turning it into a cooling water fight, with the lucky one in control of the hose tethered to the house and hose as we scrambled to find other sources to drench him or her and steal away the hose. There simply has never been a more refreshing drink of water in my life that those. The water flowing out of that hose was like nectar.

So, this summer as I toil in the gardens, I will make sure there is plenty of cool water for my little buddy in the watering can and I will be drinking from the hose. Now I am off to my favorite gardening center to pick up some white tomatoes and I just thought of a place where I could put a catnip plant for Pwowie."

Signs of SPRING!

It is cold, snowy and blowy outside.  

For the past week, this little ladybug has been hanging around the kitchen.  She caught a ride on my sleeve for about an hour before I noticed her and returned her to the windowsill.  

Suddenly it occurred to me that she might be thirsty, so I gave her a droplet of water.  She stayed next to it sipping for a long, long time.

  NOW, here is my question; WHY do I assume it is a SHE?  Because it is a Ladybug!  

BUT, there have to be HE Ladybugs too... 

Anyway, just seeing this beautiful little creature is a reminder that spring is around the corner, and maybe even as important, we might have aphids!

THEAC.ORG

My son, Ethan and his 'brothers' Doug and Ryan Wekenman did some fantastic work in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and now are in Belize working with a youth group from California on an orphanage.  Please check out their website www.theac.org and please help spread the word of what these fine young men are doing to make this world a more loving and great place!

Facebookers, please join their Facebook group for updates and information https://www.facebook.com/groups/122104614558045/

My books are now available for your eReader...

http://www.justinmatott.com/JUSTIN_MATOTT_AUTHOR/books.html --- click to see my books on your eReader!

The car replaced the horse and buggy.  People protested and said they weren't going to change with the times, but when was the last time you saw one of these going down the highway (with the exception of you in the Amish Country)?

We are still somewhat in that age when it comes to reading.  Still my iPad is a novelty enough when I am at the gym that people say on a fairly frequent basis: "Oh, yeah, I know people use those, but I haven't seen one up close before."

Times, they are a changin'! Let's change with them...

THAT WAS THEN

THIS IS NOW

I like horses A LOT, but the horses under the hood of this baby, I like even more!

So, all this is to say, we need to change with the times.  We need to read that book under a lamp when cozy at night with a steaming cup of tea and we need to read on our eReaders when sitting in an airport or other more "non cozy" environments with the back lighting, ability to switch between umpteen titles and allow for the fact that they are here to stay.

I went on a live aboard dive trip for eight days last spring and took three books, thinking that would certainly be enough with all the scuba diving we were doing.  The problem is, I took the wrong three books.  I wasn't in the mood for any of them when I got to the Bahamas.  IF I had taken my iPad, I literally would have had hundreds of downloadable choices at my fingertips.  As a result of my  stubbornness I actually borrowed and reread a book.

What I hear from many people about ebooks is:

"I like to hold a book in my hands and the electronic version is never as good." 

or

"It is so nice to have a book on my Kindle/iPad/Nook, because with the technology it is so easy for my kids to read..."  

or

"I will NEVER read a book on 'one of those things'!"  

or

"This way, we can select from so many different books..." or...  

I remember being one who said I didn't think I would want to read a book on "one of those things..." and then I started using my iPad at the gym.  No longer was my book falling out of the book rack when lunging up the Stairmaster or being the "too thick and heavy to read when working out."

Today my first two books have launched onto ebooks and within a week two more will join them.  On these first two books I am reading along with you (though you can turn me off easily)  http://www.mytabletbooks.com/Index.aspx?merid=44

Please join me in welcoming my books to the wireless world we live in!

The AC Project is underway!

Be encouraged! The youth surrounding us are doing some pretty terrific things to change the world!

I spoke to Powell Middle Schoolers this morning about heroism, character and making a difference in the world. Several of them suggested I blog about my son's journey, because they were impressed with the idea of young men traveling the world to make a positive change, so here it is!

We talked about how you can make a positive change on the street corners of Denver (or any city, town or hamlet), by handing out sweaters, coats, gloves and food to the folks who are down on their luck. No reason to wait!

The morning at Powell Middle School was made possible by one student, LUCY, who is already a hero, a champion of others, a student of the NON MEism movement. A girl who puts her faith into action! A girl who already knows she wants to go to Africa to make a difference for orphaned children! I am very proud to know her and after meeting her parents realized the "apple didn't fall far from the tree". It was exciting to see how her desire to change the world infected the others to want to do something similar. WAY TO GO LUCY!

Ethan Matott, Doug and Ryan Wekenman left LAX this week and landed safely in Haiti where they will start this year long mission trip. There is a facebook page set up to follow them as well as their website: http://theac.org/ Matt Fons will join them in June when he is done at with his last semester in college and then the four of them will continue on the trip.

Take some time to read about what four guys who met at Colorado University in Boulder are doing to make this a better world. When they get back they will be showing their video journalism and setting up the foundation where other people can get involved and make a difference too. It is also exciting for me to think that Matt Fons, the WRITER, will be possibly bringing out a book about their travels.

Watch THE AC PROJECT in 90 SECONDS
http://vimeo.com/31881334

If you are on twitter, please follow their twitter feed for more information. https://twitter.com/?iid=am-114225476113257957525153798&nid=23+sender&uid=23076800&utm_content=profile#!/The_AC_Project


If you are on facebook, please LIKE their facebook page for more information.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/122104614558045/

The words and pictures from an "Optimist"

"The Northwest Denver Optimists were privileged to sponsor local author, poet and storyteller Justin Matott at Trevista at Horace Mann.







He is a dynamic speaker. I wish you all could have heard his message. Below are photos of him during the three assemblies.

The students were not disappointed.

After lunch Justin held two workshops in the library.
This is the time the students learned how, as an author, he organizes his thoughts, his ideas and how he writes, rewrites and rewrites some more.

















At the end of each workshop the kids gave Justin the workings for a story. Then while the students worked on their "verb boxes", he wrote poetry. You will see the ideas and the start of a story/poem below. It was amazing. Again, thanks to everyone who supports the Optimists with their time, talents and monies. Because of YOU, these kids were winners today."

My thanks to the wonderful people in The Optimist Club of Northwest Denver, who care so much about their community. I had the wonderful opportunity to have lunch with the librarian, Cat, who is one cool cat for sure and Trish, who's life is seriously one of a hero. It is SO wonderful to spend time with people who have such rich, full hearts for children! I love my "job"!