matthewarnoldstern
Matthew Arnold Stern, Writer and Speaker
A novelist and award-winning public speaker and technical writer.
576 posts
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Last Seen Blogs
toberuyume
On These Dreams We Fly
bambooloading335
bambooloading
arc-carnes
arc
androgynousduckkryptonite12-blog
미프프렉스복용법
nireasorgvideo-blog
nireasorgvideo
Text
Writing for yourself is writing for others
What can Taylor Swift and The Tortured Poets Department teach us about being personal in our writing?
A question writers face is, “Should I write for others, or should I write for myself? Is it better to write to fit a marketable genre, or should I write whatever moves me?” As Steven Barnes pointed out at a Loscon panel in 2022, there’s an overlap between what you want to write about and what will sell. Those are the things we should write about.
And then there’s Taylor Swift.
Like almost…
View On WordPress
1 note
·
View note
Text
The end of foolishness?
How can you have April Fool's Day in a world where reality defies the most outrageous of pranks? Here's why humor is necessary today.
I used to love April Fool’s Day. In high school, we had an annual April Fool’s Day edition of our newspaper that we called the Reject Review. We had plenty of fun (and occasionally got in trouble) for the humorous stories and cartoons we put in that issue.
It’s hard to come up with that type of humor in 2024. Reality comes up with outrageous stories that defy the most inventive comedian. Doors…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
Wonka vs Wonka and the problem with overly likable characters
The recent Wonka movie shows a trap many writers fall into—making characters too likable. The 1971 movie shows what to do instead.
I watched Timothée Chalamet’s recent turn with Willy Wonka. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. It wasn’t as good as Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka in the 1971 film or the one in Roald Dahl’s original book we read in my sixth-grade class. The reason is a mistake writers make—creating a protagonist who is too likable.
There’s a reason Wilder’s Wonka has been used in that famous sarcastic meme you see in…
View On WordPress
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
How to deal with being overwhelmed
Feel overwhelmed? Here are some tips on what to do.
Let me tell you what my next four weeks will look like. I’m getting ready for my book signing event on Saturday. And I’m doing taxes for everyone in my family because I was a bookkeeper and volunteer tax preparer in a past life. And I’m judging a book contest. And I have a busy schedule with multiple deadlines at work. And I have dental and doctor appointments. And I have all the odds and ends…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
The last time
When was the last time you did a certain thing? In the aftermath of the pandemic, those last things teach us valuable lessons about appreciation.
When was the last time you did a certain thing?
For example, when was the last time you used a camera that wasn’t a part of a phone? For me, it was Christmas 2013. I got my first iPhone, a 5s, a few months earlier. I was still switching between the Canon PowerShot that I used to take our first pictures of our new granddaughter. By Christmas, we were taking all our photos on our phone. You can…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
Apocalypse reconsidered
In the post-apocalyptic novel I'm writing, I question tropes in this genre and show how the end of the world can be the beginning of something better.
If you read my latest newsletter, you know that I’m working on a post-apocalyptic novel. (To receive future issues, use the signup form on this page.)
I’m racing to finish it before we have an actual apocalypse, which can come from several sources (including the one I write about in my book). As I write, I’m questioning many beliefs people have about what an apocalypse would be like. Many of our…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
How AI can help writers
Does AI have any use for a writer besides being an antagonist in a dystopian novel? Here are some ways I'm using generative AI to enhance my productivity and creativity. This includes examples from Microsoft Copilot.
AI. Does it have any use for a writer besides being the antagonist for a dystopian sci-fi novel? Many of us have concerns about AI stealing jobs and copyrighted material. We’ve had plenty of controversies about AI’s use in cover art, audiobook narration, and the generation of entire books and videos. But does AI have any beneficial use for writers?
As someone who has been using technology for…
View On WordPress
1 note
·
View note
Text
Learning from other authors
Gail Dwyer's novel The Roof Above shows how reading books in your genre can inspire and motivate you, and why authors aren't each other's competition.
As writers, we are not each other’s competition. We can learn from each other as we see how other authors take on the same creative challenges.
I recently read an advance copy of Gail Dwyer’s new novel, The Roof Above, which is coming out February 15, 2024 from our mutual publisher, Black Rose Writing. I enjoyed this book tremendously. (You can read my five-star review on Barnes and Noble.) Gail…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, and high school
By now, everyone has given their two cents about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Instead, I want to talk about high school. The unhinged reaction to their relationship may be in part because of teenage attitudes some haven't shaken off.
By now, everyone has given their two cents about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Instead, I want to talk about high school.
I write a lot about high school because that’s where I think most Americans are still emotionally stuck. We have been told that high school is The Best Years of Our Lives, which makes sense when you’re 17 or 18. But if you’re 45, and you still believe high school is the best…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
The best cars I've ever own
In honor of my brother Randy's 60th birthday, here's a list of the best cars I've ever owned. It features vehicles from Honda, Toyota, and Chevrolet.
My brother is turning 60 next month. Cars have always been an important part of his life. When we were kids, we spent every September visiting the car dealers on Reseda Boulevard collecting brochures for all the new year’s models. He turned his passion into a career. His website and YouTube channel is named Victory & Reseda after the neighborhood where we grew up and the gas stations on the…
View On WordPress
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Your identity, your self
Our company's recent name change got me thinking about identity and how it shapes who we are. These lessons apply to our personal lives as well as institutions.
Every employer I’ve worked at since college has changed its identity at least once. Companies do this for a lot of reasons. Usually, it’s because of mergers and acquisitions. Or the old identity has gotten dated and no longer fits. At a couple of places where I worked, it was because of a lawsuit from another company that has the same or a similar name. At one company, we even had to change the…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
You have the right to be sad
What the loss of our cat taught us about the importance of expressing our sadness.
It wasn’t a happy holiday for us. One of our cats died on Christmas Day. We had our orange tabby Oscar for over 15 years. Around ten in the morning, he wandered into the bathroom, a place he doesn’t normally go into, and rested on his side gasping for air. I tried helping him up, but he fell back down. With a final gurgle, he went still. Our son and granddaughter started sobbing. My wife fell…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
What to read between writing projects
Writers write, but we also read. And periods between writing projects are great times to catch up with reading. Here are four books I've been reading and what I got from them.
Writers write, but we also read. And periods between writing projects are great times to catch up with reading. The four books I chose are all outside my typical genres, and that’s why I wanted to read them. Here’s why I chose each of these books and what I got from them.
Bulletproof: What works for screenplays also works for novels
I’ve tried writing screenplays a few times, but they didn’t go…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
Lessons from 2023: Level up
This was a year of advancement, but also one with horrible events and threatening times ahead. This is why the phrase I'm bringing into 2024 is "level up." I'm leveling up because I can, and there is a need.
Brian Fitzpatrick, one of my writer friends, asked what word or phrase we wanted to bring into 2024. I answered, “Level up.” After the past four years, when I’ve had two novels published by Black Rose Writing, brought my weight down to a healthy level, lived through a pandemic, and adapted to working from home, I was now ready to move to the next step.
In some ways, 2023 felt like a year of…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
40 things I learned in 40 years about technology
Forty years ago this month, I started my first job in the computer industry. Here are 40 things I've learned about technology since then.
Forty years ago this month, I started my first job in the computer industry. I got an internship with EnTech, a small Commodore 64 software company in the San Fernando Valley. I’ve been working in the computer industry ever since. (A couple of my novels, Offline and Amiga. are set in that industry.) Like other milestone anniversaries, I put together a list of what I’ve learned from working in…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
Black Friday Sale!
Black Friday sale on now on my Black Rose Writing titles. Get Amiga on Kindle for 99¢/99p and Black Rose Writing paperbacks for 30% off. Through 11/27/23.
After years of lining up in front of stores to get Black Friday deals (which includes an overnight stay in front of Best Buy to get a PS3), I finally have a Black Friday sale. And you don’t have to drive to the mall to take advantage of it.
My publisher Black Rose Writing has offers on Amiga and The Remainders, as well as other Black Rose Writing titles. Starting at 7:00 am US Central Standard…
View On WordPress
0 notes
Text
Readers, why you should go to author events
Why author events are like auto shows and why you, as readers, should want to go to them. Includes a reading from my novel The Remainders.
Suppose you’re looking for new books to read. You could get Fourth Wing or another Colleen Hoover book, but you want something different. Something outside your typical genre. Something from an author you never heard of before. But Amazon has millions of titles, your local bookstore has shelves stuffed with used and new books, and Costco has just one table with one half children’s books and the…
View On WordPress
0 notes