Deleted Scenes 3: Six Innings
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 Posted in Six Innings, the writing process | No Comments »I've got about 10,000 words sitting in a scrap heap, savagely cut from Six Innings during the revision process. Here's one little scene -- a conversation, really -- that didn't make the book. For two reasons: 1) It's a scene ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #26
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones | No Comments »Sound the trumpets, roast a fatted calf! It's Fan Mail Wednesday! Here's a nice letter from Jake, and my reply, and Jake's mom's reply, and my reply to that . . . Dear Mr. Preller, My name is Jake and I am ...
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bullying
Monday, January 19th, 2009 Posted in Bystander, Current Events, Greatest Hits | No Comments »When I was working on Bystander (Fall, 2009), a book that centers on bullying, I kept running across different quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. He would often express the same idea in subtle variations. In essence, Dr. King issued ...
Our Scarecrow Tradition: Photograph, 1973
Friday, January 16th, 2009 Posted in Family | No Comments »Some of you among my Nation of Readers may recall this post from October 30th, and the wonderful snaps contained therein, about the time-honored Preller tradition of building a Halloween scarecrow. Here's a handy visual reminder of said scarecrow, circa 2008: Well. ...
Writing Mighty Casey
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 Posted in Mighty Casey, the writing process | 3 Comments »Everybody is familiar with the classic poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, "Casey at the Bat," first published in 1888 in the San Francisco Examiner. That's 120 years ago. According to Wikipedia, Thayer was "so embarrassed by what he considered to ...
White House Dog: Obama Narrows Choice
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 Posted in Current Events | 15 Comments »NOTE: Since I began this blog in May of 2008, one post has driven the highest readership by far: "An Open Letter to President-elect Obama." Unfortunately, it was written by my dog, a precocious Goldendoodle. As a professional writer, ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #25
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 Posted in Fan Mail, Six Innings | No Comments »Stand back, people. Everybody stand back! It's Fan Mail Wednesday . . . Dear Mr. Preller, I just finished reading your book, Six Innings, and thought it was awesome. I am doing a book report on it. My favorite part was at ...
Snow Blow Love: Winter Reflections
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 Posted in Family, Greatest Hits | 6 Comments »Last winter, we finally caved and bought a snowblower. Up until that moment, I had only disdain for those mechanical menaces. They were for the weak, the pampered. No, I preferred the exercise of shoveling -- the peace after a storm, ...
James Preller Interviews . . . Jack Rightmyer, author of A Funny Thing About Teaching
Sunday, January 11th, 2009 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations | 4 Comments »I recently picked up Jack Rightmyer’s book, A Funny Thing About Teaching. The subhead/tagline reads: Connecting with Kids Through Laughter . . . and Other Pointers for New Teachers. A secondary teacher since 1980, Jack currently teaches seventh grade English at ...
Butterfly . . . Passing Through
Friday, January 9th, 2009 Posted in Around the Web | 2 Comments »Julie Fortenberry of Children's Illustration (although I'm confused, I thought it was "Picture Book Illustration" and typed it that way on my blogroll -- help!) was kind enough to pass along to me the Butterfly Award. Thanks, Julie. Boy, this ...