Musings on Writing

This past week my book, The IT Career Builder’s Toolkit, was covered in the Midwest Book Review.

“A ‘must’ for any serious IT pro.” – Midwest Book Review

Here’s the entire review:

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The IT Career Builder's Toolkit
Matthew Moran
Cisco Press
800 East 96th St., Indianapolis, IN 46240
1587131560 $29.95 ciscopress.com

Matthew Moran's The IT Career Builder's Toolkit could also have been reviewed in our 'business' section for job-seekers, but is featured here because so many IT employees are seeking work, and so many college students aspire to enter the field. This is career prep with no holds barred: Matthew Moran profiles solid, market-based skills and proven methods to advance an IT career or reach a goal. Newcomers in particular receive explicit advice on how to present technical skills value in a tough job market, how to become an essential commodity in an overwhelmed market, and how to gain meaningful professional contacts. A 'must' for any serious IT pro.
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Earlier, at UnixReview
"…the only problem with the book that I can see is that I wish I had written it."
http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=9602/ur0503e/


I spend a lot of time goofing off on this blog but I am deeply honored and very excited about these reviews. They are on one hand humbling and on the other validating. While I and the team at Cisco Press worked hard to make the text readable and the content valuable, I do not take lightly such reviews.

I’ve been writing and using word (over-using words if you ask my mom) since I was very young. Writing is an often agonizing endeavor. Not in the difficulty of the words – God knows I’ve never had a problem producing words – but in the mental/psychological banter you put yourself through.

At times, you read what you write and think, “That’s good!” But much of the time, the words that you have produced – to you – seem average at best. I believe this may be true with any artist or craftsman. Because you form the basis of your own normalcy, what you produce is always average, if only your average.

When an industry peer recognizes your work, it brings a sigh of relief and some pride. It feels good!

Fortunately, this has occurred on a few occasions with this project. When Chris Cleveland at Cisco called me and said, “You’re a good writer,” it meant something. When Karen Gill, the freelance proofreader and copyeditor for my book wrote me an email extolling both the writing and the content of my book, it meant something.

And on numerous occasions, my editor, Mary Beth Ray, at Cisco Press provided encouragement that has been life-changing.

When I say life-changing, I do not mean that lightly. Mary Beth read some of my articles and purchased a self-published copy of my book. I had no idea who she was – just another customer. I sent her a copy of my book and moved on to other projects.

Two weeks later, she contacted me. We had a phone conversation that I consider to be one of the most significant of my life. Being contacted by an editor at a major publisher who wants to publish your book is an amazing life event.

It gave me both a belief and provided a flame of desire to make a concerted effort to make writer my vocation. Now we are working on a new project with Mary Beth and have an agent ready to look at Laughter & Tears In A Hyperactive Home.

Next step: Get my self-published, If Mom Were President off the blocks.