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Hey, look here, a bunch of letters from Alabama! Let me reach my hand into the big barrel and pull out a sample.
It’s from Patrick:
I replied (because I usually do!):
Dear Patrick,
Thank you for your letter. Writing can be lonely work. For example, right this minute I am alone in a room in an empty house, plucking away at the computer keyboard. Just me, by my lonesome, trying to write.
Letters like yours make me smile, and make me feel connected to my readers. I write a book . . . and somebody out there . . . a boy named Patrick . . . reads it. The job wouldn’t be nearly as fun without you. So, again, truly and sincerely: thank you.
I suppose, yes, that Jigsaw is a little like me. We are both the youngest in large families (I am the youngest of seven), and we share the same sense of humor. I was never a detective, however; though I did love to spy on my brothers and sisters. I was sneaky.
You are lucky about the uniforms. I wore a uniform in Catholic school when I was a kid. Purple polka-dotted pants, striped shirt, red suspenders and a big yellow bow tie.
No, just kidding. Green pants, white shirt, green tie. Day after day, week after week, year after year. Sigh.
I just wrote a new “Jigsaw Jones” titled The Case from Outer Space. It will be out in the Spring of 2017. I hope you check it out –- there’s some really funny parts. And since you mentioned ghosts, you might enjoy my “Scary Tales” books. They aren’t hard to read, but they will make your heart go thump, thump, thump.
Stay cool and have a great summer!
Your friend,
James Preller
I would love to use copies of your fan mail and replies on my blog when I write about snail mail. I would provide links and attribution if you permit the use of these wonderful letters.
Jen, please write to me at jamespreller@aol.com and you can give me a clearer idea of what you are asking. I don’t imagine a problem, as I always try to conceal the identity of the letter-writer.