Review of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend + Q&A w/author Matthew Dicks

To contact us Click HERE

NewRelease Feature Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Plus Q&A w/ Matthew Dicks
It is my pleasure to announce that Matthew has agreed to bemy featured author in June of 2013 when the General Fiction Forum reads thisincredible novel together.
Debbie - MatthewWelcome to the General Fiction book club forum at B&N.comFor those of you who don’t know Memoirs of an ImaginaryFriend is narrated by Budo who is the imaginary friend of an autistic boy namedMax.Matthew I have to admit that the premise of this novelgrabbed me, can you tell me where the idea came from and tell us a bit aboutthe novel too.Matthew - The ideafor the book originates back in in childhood.When I was about tenyears old, I was speaking to my mother about a trip that we had made to RogerWilliam’s Park in Providence, Rhode Island.  I was reminding her of an afternoon spent in the JapaneseGardens, and how Johnson Johnson and I played tag on the connecting islands inthe middle pond.“Matt,” shesaid.  “You know Johnson Johnsonwasn’t real.  Right?”“Huh?”“You know JohnsonJohnson was your imaginary friend. Right?”“No,” I said,thinking my mother was crazy. “Johnson Johnson.  The boywho lived with us for a while.”“Matt, there was noJohnson Johnson.  He wasimaginary.”“No. Johnson Johnson.  The boy who lived with us.  Like Jessica.”  Jessica was a fosterchild who had come to live with my family for about six weeks, and she was oneof several children who my parents would take in from time to time when I wasyoung.  In my mind, Johnson Johnsonhad been just another one of these kids. The first of them.But it turns out thatJohnson Johnson was not real.  Ihad made him up.  Even with abrother and a sister, I had somehow needed someone else to keep me company, andso I invented Johnson Johnson, who my mother had always assumed was named afterJohnson & Johnson’s baby powder. I couldn’t believeit.  Years later I would watch thefilm Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a story about technology thatallows people to erase unwanted sections of their lives, and I instantlyunderstood the concept and sympathized with the characters.  In a single stroke, hundreds ofmemories of my childhood had been altered forever.  The boy who I thought had accompanied me to all of myearly  adventures had suddenly beenerased, and for weeks afterward, I would find my mind stumbling upon memoriesin which Johnson Johnson still existed. Memories in need of erasing. I mentioned this to afellow teacher a couple years ago, and she said it would make the basis for anexcellent book. I thought she was crazy, but my agent and wife agreed, so Ibegan writing. I have learned to always listen to my wife and agent. What I ended up withis a story told by Budo, the imaginary friend to a boy named Max. Max is anunusual child who is operating somewhere along the autistic spectrum, and hehas come to rely on his imaginary friend for many things. But Budo has his ownlife as well, separate from Max, in which he meets and befriends otherimaginary friends, navigates the world of humanpersons and worries about his continued existence in the very tenuous lifeof an imaginary friend. When Max finds himself in great peril, only Budo cansave him. In doing so, however, Budo must risk his own existence as well. It’sa story about friendship, courage, love and the power of imagination.
This is your third novel, did this release feel as excitingas the first?Every release isthrilling, and it is my most sincere hope that they never begin to feel likeold hat. I am continually stunned by the idea that something I made up in myhead can take on a tangible form and ultimately end up in the hands of readersaround the world. While this release is a little less nerve-wracking than thefirst because I know what to expect now, it is just as exciting as thefirst. 
What are you working on nowI have a few projectsin the works. I’m in the process of finishing my next novel, and I am alsoworking on several children’s book and a memoir. I’ve also partnered with amusician to write a rock opera that was recently picked up by a Hartfordplayhouse for a two week run, so we are busy getting that script into shape aswell. I have many irons in the fire at the moment, and I wouldn’t have it anyother way.
When you research for your novels do you do it from a deskor do you go out in the field as well.Most of my researchtakes place at the dining room table, which is where I do the majority of mywriting. My process is to write first and repair later, so when research isrequired, I tend to make an educated guess rather than stopping the flow of thestory in order to ensure that my facts are correct. I would much rather get thestory on the page first before worrying about what details are in need tochanging. The exception to thisrule has been my memoir. In writing it, I have begun investigating aspects ofmy own life to ensure that memory and reality are simpatico. It’s been an interestingprocess. I have found myself treating my former self as an entity separate fromthe current version of myself, and when I question old friends, relatives and formercoworkers about my past, I speak about myself as someone other than me, whichhas brought about a number of odd stares.
Your bio says that you’re an active teacher, a publishedauthor of not just fiction, an owner of a DJ company, a husband and father andsoon to be father again –congratulations, plus more. That’s a very activeschedule, how do you fit it all inI am not picky aboutthe way in which I get things done. I like to tell people that I write in thespaces of my life. If my daughter is taking a bath and I have fifteen minutesto myself, I will try to write six good sentences in that time. I think thatpeople are far too precious with their time, insisting on the right atmosphere,music, or beverage in order to write or accomplish a similar goal. I writewhenever I can. Having the summer free from my teaching job helps, of course,but I have not missed a day of writing in at least seven years, whether that isten minutes with a scrap of paper or eight hours at the laptop.It also helps that Idon’t sleep much. When you can feel good after just four or five hours ofsleep, you have a serious leg up on a lot of people who require more time inbed.
It also says you’re a reader but doesn’t list your genre(s)of choice, so what kind of reading to you enjoy, do you have any favoriteauthors.I read from almostevery genre except romance, and I may give that a try at some point. I split myreading almost evenly between fiction and nonfiction. My favorite author of alltime is Kurt Vonnegut, but some of my other favorites include Bill Bryson,Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Nicholson Baker, David Sedaris, Nora Ephron and(of course) William Shakespeare.
You said that you narrowly avoided dying twice by the age of18, did these events change the way you live, the way you look at life ingeneral, does it enter into your writing at all.My two near-deathexperiences, in addition to surviving an armed robbery, have greatly dictatedthe way in which I live my life. Like it or not, there is not a day, andoftentimes not an hour that goes by that the thought of my mortality does notenter my mind. It is this mindset that propels me from bed before sunrise everymorning wanting to make the most of my day, whether that is making time to playwith my kids to working hard to teach my students, write my books, improve mygolf game or grow my business. The awareness of time passing and the fragilityof life are ever-present with me in a way that is difficult for most people toimagine, and for good or ill, this is the reason I manage to get so much done. In terms of mywriting, I think that Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend marks the first time thatthese experiences have impacted my fiction. It wasn’t planned when I beganwriting, but I quickly came to know Budo as a character who was just asconcerned about his continued existence as I am, and for even greater reason.The lifespan of your average imaginary friend is frighteningly short, and Budoknows this. Many of the fears and anxieties over my own mortality are reflectedin the way in which Budo feels about his own mortality.   
Now for something unrelated to writing, what’s at the top ofyour bucket listI’ve been fortunate inknocking off a few of those things recently, including becoming involved in thelive storytelling circuit in New York City, primarily through The Moth. My goalwas to someday tell a story for a Moth audience, and I was fortunate enough towin on my first try. Since then I have won twice more and competed in two GrandSLAMchampionship events, but I have yet to win one. That remains a goal.I’d also like to givea TED Talk someday, and publishing a children’s book has also been goal for along time. I’d like to write something that my three year old daughter can readsometime before she is a teenager. She is decidedly unimpressed with my booksso far. I’d also like to find my way to teaching writing on the college levelsomeday, though leaving my fifth graders behind is hard to imagine. 
Matthew I know after reading your blog and website that Iwould love to meet you in person, do you tour with your books and do you haveany specific B&N events or signings planned. My book release willactually be taking place at the Barnes & Noble in West Hartford, CT, whichis the town where I teach. They have always been great to me, and I am thrilledto be able to kick things off there. We are in the process of planning the restof the tour, and I hope to include other Barnes & Noble stores as well.
 Matthew thankyou so much for taking the time out of your incredibly busy schedule to answermy questions and good luck with the sale of the book. I look forward to thenext one too.

I urge my readers here to check out Matthew’s wonderful website, it’s an eclectic grouping ofinformation that is fun, interesting and educational and his piece about thisrelease day is especially poignant and a tribute to his wife.
And here is the address of the Barnes & Noble where Matthew’s book kick offwill take placeBarnes & NobleBlue Back Square
60 Isham Road
West Hartford, CT 06107
860-236-9900

Here is the code to listen to a sample of the audio book http://media.us.macmillan.com/video/olmk/macmillanaudio/MemoirsOfAnImaginaryFriend.mp3
 My Review of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Matthew Dicks
St. Martin’s Press
ISBN13: 9781250006219
320 pages
Budo and Max are best friends, Max created Budo from hisimagination. Budo is Max’s imaginary friend. Budo is different from otherimaginary friends, he’s been alive for longer than any imaginary friend heknows and he looks more human than a lot of imaginary friends do, that’sbecause Max is different than most boys his age. Max lives inside himself alot, he doesn’t like to be touched and sometimes he get’s “stuck” insidehimself too, this makes him a target for bullies and the other kids don’t knowhow to act around him so they mostly avoid him. Imaginary friends can see otherimaginary friends even though they are only visible to the friend that createdthem and Budo has befriended and lost many imaginary friends since he’s beenalive. Budo loves Max’s mom and dad, he loves Max’s school and most of histeachers, but not all of them. Budo also hopes that since Max is different thatmeans that he won’t “disappear” like other imaginary friends have done, maybeMax will need him forever or at least a long, long time, because the one thingthat scares Budo is disappearing.
I have to admit that several things caught my attentionabout this novel, first the title and second the premise, so after being reeledin by those things I was totally hooked when I started reading the book.
The narrative is intelligent, witty, innocent and adult. The story is told byBudo the imaginary friend of an 8 year old suspected autistic boy named Max, wefollow Max and Budo through their very interesting life and the lives of thepeople and imaginary friends around them, and then something happens whichgives the novel a very different feel as they get caught up in a dangeroussituation and how they go about getting out of it. It’s about life, it’s aboutdeath, it’s about being brave, being scared and doing the right thing even atthe cost of your own survival to help those you love, it’s a journey intounknown danger and how to persevere. And if you’re anything like me by the endof the read you’ll have been dragged through the gauntlet of emotions and wishyou had a friend like Budo too.
Thank you Mr. Dicks for this very impressive novel and I can’t wait until youjoin us for the month next June and I’m also looking forward to journey withyou as I read another of your novels.


Matthew's other novels         

Buy the book(s) here visit the author's website here