The Dance
Only Love Can Break A Heart
by Joe Matlock
ISBN: 0595140467
Publisher: iUniverse.com, Incorporated
Pub. Date: October 2000
As I began reading The Dance, Joe Matlock's new novel, it slowly dawned on me that what made the book such a compelling read was the subtle interweaving of disparate elements. Romance rides alongside a gentle, downhome humor. The suspense and adventure segments quickly become a natural part of the story in a surprising and subtle way that lifts The Dance from genre fiction into a mainstream story that ultimately adds up to far more than the sum of its parts.
Beset with difficulties from moment they meet, Sharon Hollingsworth and Toby Eisler both live in California, but there the similarities between them end. Sharon is a sophisticated Southern California heiress immersed in a life of music, social responsibilities and indulgence of a domineering father. Toby is a Coast Guard pilot from rural Texas, flying search and rescue missions in a Northern California that is a few hundred miles away and a world apart. Add to these obstacles her excessively protective father and troublesome ex-boyfriend, Toby's misgivings with the socioeconomic imbalance -- not to mention Sharon's secret that could dwarf all other problems -- and you have more than most relationships can withstand.
But this is no ordinary relationship. Through the extraordinary ability of Matlock to paint vivid detail and evoke powerful emotion, the story unfolds to its conclusion in a way that will keep you turning pages long into the night.
It isn't unusual for fiction authors to draw from their own life experiences in their work. That Matlock writes The Dance from a personal stance is quite clear from the photographs provided for his readers of rescue mission adventures he's experienced (visit his website for these and more author remarks.)
But one only need read The Dance, with its achingly accurate recall and lovingly-rendered detail of every single moment of this profound experience in his life, to know that this is a story written out of exceedingly personal need. The Dance is no less than Matlock's homage to the great love of his life, and it is shared with moving humility and gratitude for his luck. Perhaps it is this quality in the author that raises this book from just another romance to a poignant human story, one that just maybe could happen to any one of us.
Joe Matlock's initial experiences as a writer came while he served in the military, when he submitted safety articles written from a humorous angle to magazines such as Commander's Bulletin and Navy Times. He recalls that while he really enjoyed writing, he never thought of himself as an author. Then in 1994, he was solicited by Rosen Publishing Group to write Living in a Foster Home for Rosen's "Everything You Need To Know" series for teenagers.
Thoughts on the self-publishing experience
The Dance is a Writer's Showcase publication under the iUniverse.com, Inc. imprint. The self-publishing/self-promotion venture for Matlock came about, in part, because of the "romantic" nature of his book, which basically locked him out of traditional publishing avenues, even though his next book was slated to be publisher-accepted.
Matlock is a commercial pilot in Texas. He holds a master scuba-diver's certificate and a Tech-plus Ham radio license. Other hobbies include horses, ice-skating, gourmet cooking, oil painting, traveling, restoring and flying antique aircraft.
Asked how he sees his work as a writer, Matlock replied, "It is my responsibility as an author to entertain my audience while feeding their souls. I can't promise a happy ending every time because life is not fair, but I can share with my readers surviving the unfairness of life." It seems that Joe Matlock is a new author on the way up, with a bright future ahead of him - and that is great news for his many fans.
Spare in its ambitions, this is the story of one of those rarest of relationships: true love between two people who recognize the specialness of what they have -- and who know all too well the fragile nature of their gift.
From a recent talk with Joe Matlock:
"If knowledge is power, then understanding is freedom. Good reading can set you free by giving you a clearer understanding of the world around you. Most of the ills in the world today are caused by a lack of understanding, and people fear what they don't understand." -- Joe Matlock
With encouragement from the editor on that project to continue his writing, Matlock turned his thoughts to what he might want to write, and said recently in an interview with BookSlave, "I realized that human beings have many unique gifts and the greatest of these is the ability to love. Like a mirror, animals only reflect love they receive, but humans have the gift of love, and are capable of cherishing love forever. I decided then that my writing would be about the most powerful force on earth."
Having experienced the powerful force of love personally, he wrote The Dance out of a need for closure with his past. Since then, it's been full steam ahead, with work progressing on his present novel, Twilight of Fury, a story that explores how relationships and events radically change a person's values.
Of the e-publishing experience, Matlock says, "The agents were right. Every bookstore I walked into slapped me in the face with the iUniverse label, and one even bluntly called it 'vanity publishing'."
Matlock persisted, however, and with the all-important editorial review process of Writer's Showcase Press, a few doors finally opened.
"E-publishing is here to stay. I can think of so many uses that have yet to be explored", says Matlock. "On the other hand, I'd like to see better focus on how submission acceptances are handled by e-publishers. Manuscripts that don't go through editorial review hurt the rest of us."
