Matthew Dicks Livres

A five-time Moth GrandSLAM winner and bestselling novelist shows how to tell a great story — and why doing so matters. Whether we realize it or not, we are always telling stories. On a first date or job interview, at a sales presentation or therapy appointment, with family or friends, we are constantly narrating events and interpreting emotions and actions. In this compelling book, storyteller extraordinaire Matthew Dicks presents wonderfully straightforward and engaging tips and techniques for constructing, telling, and polishing stories that will hold the attention of your audience (no matter how big or small). He shows that anyone can learn to be an appealing storyteller, that everyone has something "story worthy" to express, and, perhaps most important, that the act of creating and telling a tale is a powerful way of understanding and enhancing your own life.

I am not imaginary... Budo is lucky as imaginary friends go. He's been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends. But Budo feels his age and thinks constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him. When that happens, Budo will disappear. Max is different from other children. Some people say he has Asperger's, but most just say he's "on the spectrum." None of this matters to Budo, who loves Max unconditionally and is charged with protecting him from the class bully, from awkward situations in the cafeteria, and even in the bathroom stalls. But he can't protect Max from Mrs. Patterson, a teacher in the Learning Center who believes that she alone is qualified to care for this young boy. When Mrs. Patterson does the unthinkable, it is up to Budo and a team of imaginary friends to save Max—and Budo must ultimately decide which is more important: Max's happiness or his own existence. Matthew Dicks' Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is a triumph of courage and imagination that touches on the truths of life, love, and friendship as it races to a heartwarming . . . and heartbreaking conclusion.

REALIZE YOUR CREATIVE DREAMS — STARTING TODAY Are you good at dreaming about what you’re going to accomplish “someday” but not good at finding the time and getting started? How will you actually make that decision and do it? The answer is this book, which offers proven, practical, and simple ways to turn random minutes throughout your days into pockets of productivity, and dreams into accomplishments. In addition to presenting his own winning strategies for getting from dreaming to doing, Matthew Dicks offers insights from a wide range of creative people — writers, editors, performers, artists, and even magicians — on how to augment inspiration with motivation. His actionable steps will help you: • silence negative messages from family, friends, and teachers • eliminate time-sucking activities (and people) • be willing to make terrible things • find supporters here, there, and everywhere • cultivate optimism in the face of negativity and obstacles Each strategy is accompanied by amusing and inspiring personal and professional anecdotes and a clear plan of action. Someday Is Today will give you every tool to get started and finish that _________ [fill in the blank].

A career criminal with OCD tendencies and a savant-like genius for bringing order to his crime scenes, Martin considers himself one of the best in the business. Of course, he only takes items that will go unnoticed by the homeowners. Even though he has never met these homewoners, he's spent hours in their houses, looking through their photo albums and reading their journals. He's developed a friendship of sorts with them, and accordingly he decides to intervene though it means breaking many of his twitchy, neurotic rules

From the beloved author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend comes a wonderful new novel about a struggling man, written entirely in lists. Daniel Mayrock's life is at a crossroads. He knows the following to be true: 1. He loves his wife Jill... more than anything. 2. He only regrets quitting his job and opening a bookshop a little (maybe more than a little) 3. Jill is ready to have a baby. 4. The bookshop isn’t doing well. Financial crisis is imminent. Dan doesn't know how to fix it. 5. Dan hasn’t told Jill about their financial trouble. 6. Then Jill gets pregnant. This heartfelt story is about the lengths one man will go to and the risks he will take to save his family. But Dan doesn’t just want to save his failing bookstore and his family’s finances: 1. Dan wants to do something special. 2. He’s a man who is tired of feeling ordinary. 3. He’s sick of feeling like a failure. 4. He doesn't want to live in the shadow of his wife’s deceased first husband. Dan is also an obsessive list maker; his story unfolds entirely in his lists, which are brimming with Dan’s hilarious sense of humor, unique world-view, and deeply personal thoughts. When read in full, his lists paint a picture of a man struggling to be a man, a man who has reached a point where he’s willing to do anything for the love (and soon-to-be new love) of his life.

From Matthew Dicks, the beloved author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, comes The Other Mother, a novel about a teenage boy coping with the rupture of his family by viewing his mother in an unusual light. The one he loves most, is the one he knows least. Thirteen-year-old Michael Parsons is dealing with a lot. His father's sudden death; his mother's new husband, Glen, who he loathes; his two younger siblings, who he looks after more and more now that his mother works extra shifts. And then one day, Michael wakes up and his mother is gone. In her place is an exact, duplicate mother. The 'other mother'. No one else seems to notice the real version is missing. His brother, his sister, and even Glen act as if everything's normal. But Michael knows in his heart that this mother is not his. And he begins to panic. What follows is a big-hearted coming-of-age story of a boy struggling with an unusual disorder that poses unparalleled challenges--but also, as he discovers, offers him unique opportunities.

Knihkupec Dan Mayrock je sympatický neurotik, jehož život je poznamenán vnitřními nejistotami. Na radu psychologa si začal organizovat svět do seznamů, což mu pomáhá čelit obavám, jako je strach, že ho jeho žena Jill přestane mít ráda, klesající rodinné úspory a selhání jako živitel rodiny. Seznamy zahrnují i paniku z bigotní zaměstnankyně a absurdní dotazy zákazníků. Autor ukazuje, že seznam jako románová forma může být překvapivě účinná. Po pár stránkách se z organizovaných sloupečků formuje vtipný a dojemný příběh o knihkupci, který miluje svou ženu, čelí bankrotu a snaží se zachránit rostoucí rodinu, přičemž se objevují jeho sebedestruktivní sklony. Kniha osloví fanoušky hrdinů jako Adrian Mole a Bridget Jones. Matthew Dicks, americký spisovatel a učitel, žije v Newingtonu se svou rodinou a jeho dětské knihy byly přeloženy do více než 25 jazyků. Jeho román Paměti imaginárního kamaráda vyšel v češtině v roce 2014. Příběh je upřímný, křehký a komický, ukazující široké možnosti románové tvorby.

Per Max vivere è una faccenda piuttosto complicata: va in tilt se deve scegliere tra due colori, non sopporta il minimo cambio di programma, detesta essere toccato, persino da sua madre che vorrebbe abbracciarlo molto di più. Del resto ha nove anni ed è un bambino autistico. Per fortuna c'è Budo, il suo invisibile e meraviglioso amico immaginario che non lo abbandona mai e da molto vicino ci racconta la sua storia. Finché un giorno accade qualcosa di terribile: Budo vede Max uscire nel cortile della scuola e sparire nell'auto della signora Patterson, la maestra di sostegno. Da quel momento, di Max non si hanno più notizie. E quando a scuola arriva la polizia per interrogare gli insegnanti, Budo è l'unico a sapere con certezza che la signora Patterson non sta dicendo la verità.