Fan Mail Wednesday #82-83
Thursday, March 18th, 2010 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones, Six Innings | 1 Comment »I'm running a day late again, and falling behind on everything. So let's hop to it! Letter #82: I replied: JonJon, Thanks for the letter and the book report. I'm glad you connected with Six Innings. I'm a big reader of baseball books myself; ...
The Great Comedy Albums of My Youth: “March Comes In Like A Lion . . . and Out Like a Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse”
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 Posted in Family, Interviews & Appreciations, Jigsaw Jones | 3 Comments »"Now look, pal! I know a country where March comes in like an emu and goes out like a tapir. And they don't even know what it means!" -- John Belushi Do you remember listening to comedy albums? I sure do. ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #78-80 (Thursday Edition)
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 Posted in Family, Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones, Uncategorized | No Comments »My apologies -- bloggy weirdness going on with my typeface below, but I've already spent too much time trying to fix it. The truth is, I'm not good at letting these things go (I like my i's dotted and my ...
Overheard: “Mom, I Can’t Say THAT!” Subtitle: Gavin and Valentine’s Day
Friday, February 12th, 2010 Posted in Current Events, Family, Jigsaw Jones | No Comments »Ah, Valentine's Day. What torture. And when did it become almost exclusively about candy? I'm reminded of one of my favorite comments made by Jigsaw Jones eleven years ago in The Case of the Secret Valentine. Jigsaw has just made an unnerving ...
Stories Behind the Story: The Case of the Class Clown
Sunday, February 7th, 2010 Posted in Jigsaw Jones, the writing process | No Comments »A while back, I got a surprising phone call about this book: a group (legitimate, apparently) named Arts Power wanted to turn it into a musical. Okay, great. And so they have. I have not seen it, though I did have ...
Stories Behind the Story: The Case of the Snowboarding Superstar
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 Posted in Jigsaw Jones, the writing process | No Comments »As part of a continuing (read: sporadic) series of posts, I take a look back at old Jigsaw Jones titles with the intention of providing my Nation of Readers with more "extra juicy" background info. If you are like me, you ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #72 (Monday Edition)
Monday, January 18th, 2010 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones, the writing process | 1 Comment »Forgive my sporadic postings of late, it's been a hectic time, and deadlines loom. This week I'll be away for three full days on school visits. Always a positive experience that definitely helps keep the wolf from the door, but ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #69
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones | 1 Comment »Yikes, I'm getting behind on my fan mail -- I can only marvel at how Santa must feel! How in the North Pole does he keep up with it? I know! Santa has those eager little helpers. I've got to get me ...
Stories Behind the Story: The Case of the Runaway Dog
Friday, November 20th, 2009 Posted in Family, Jigsaw Jones, the writing process | No Comments »As we close in on Thanksgiving, and turkeys grow nervous, I thought I'd take a look at Jigsaw Jones #7: The Case of the Runaway Dog, since it features a Thanksgiving subplot. The book opens with Ralphie and Jigsaw discussing the ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #68
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones | No Comments »I'm sure that any reasonable reader of "Fan Mail Wednesday" will remember Jack from Golden, CO. I answered his letter last week. Well, here's a nice follow-up note: Dear Mr. Preller, Thanks for your awesome answers to my questions. I cleaned Mrs. ...