Here’s a short one from Helin — who thinks I am James Preller! — along with my saggy reply.
Hello! My name is Helin. I think you are James Preller. I read “The Case Of The Disappearing Dinosaur” book for my English project. I understood it very well and I liked it. I got the beginning, middle and end very well. I think it was fun and enjoyable. I am glad to read this book.
My response . . .
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Helin!
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Thank you for your kind note. I’m thrilled that you enjoyed The Case of the Disappearing Dinosaur.
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Beginnings are hard: that blank page staring back at me, waiting, as if to say, “Yeah, so what?”
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Middles tend to sag. I work hard at middles, because nobody wants a saggy middle. I try to keep the plot/mystery zipping along, cutting away the lazy bits.
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And endings, well, a book has to have a satisfying ending. That’s the part everyone remembers, the last pages they read. If the ending fizzles, the whole thing is a fizzled book.
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Nobody wants to read a fizzled book.
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I’ve written all types of books over my long career. I published my first book in 1986, at age 25: that makes me something like 136 years old! Go ahead, do the math. The trick with mysteries is that you pretty much have to know the ending before you can begin! Other books you can sort of meander there like a stream and gradually work your way to the ending, a discovery. For mysteries, I start with “the crime” and figure out what happened, who did what. Until I know that, I can’t begin.
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That’s a pro tip right there, free of charge.
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Thanks so much for writing to me.
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I hope this letter wasn’t too very weird.
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Did it sag in the middle?
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James Preller
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