Letter to the Great Pumpkin

Have you written your letter to the Great Pumpkin this year? He only visits one sincere pumpkin patch each Halloween, so you better put your pen to paper soon, if you haven’t already.

Here’s mine.

The letter reads:

Dear Great Pumpkin,

I want to tell you about my friends Charlie and Linus. Not that Charlie and Linus. Mine are cats, and they do not hang out in pumpkin patches. They probably don’t even like pumpkins. So, I’m asking that you do not visit them on Halloween. You should visit the other Charlie and Linus. They would appreciate seeing you—at least Linus would, but probably Charlie too. I know aloof cats can be irresistible, but they won’t care if you stop by—unless you bring food.

Happy Halloween!

Matt

P.S. The aloof cats.

A Starry—Or Not So Starry—Nonfiction Article

It’s been hectic, to say the least. Life in general has been. I’ll add more color to that claim later, but most of my sabbatical goals have been thrown for a loop. Disappointing, but it’s not all bad news around these parts.

The good news is that Smashing Magazine published my nonfiction article, Rethinking Star Ratings for Readers. The piece discusses some of the ways star ratings fail readers, and the write-up offers an alternative solution—with pretty pictures designed by me!—to review literature and better connect people.

The idea struck me a few years ago, and when it wouldn’t leave me alone, I finally decided to get it out of my head onto paper and pixels. I thought I would toss the finished product on this Journal and forget it, but as I wrapped up, I wondered if a publisher might be interested. And someone was. Just goes to show that you never know until you ask.

Big thanks to Smashing Magazine for sharing the piece and helping with edits, and to my friends who gave thoughtful feedback on earlier drafts.

One of the alternative solution designs that you can learn more about in the article.