Tag Archive for Bystander

FAN MAIL WEDNESDAY #332: Carli Didn’t Dig the Ending

I received two quick emails from Carli . . . 

Hi James prellee I read your book bystander and I don’t really like how you ended it you should have ended it with more conflict but over all I really liked it and is there a second book

And what I really did like about the book I like that there was a lot of conflict and I like how Mary was a good friend to Eric and was introduced herself to Eric when he first arrived 

I replied . . . 
Carli!
Sorry it’s taken me a couple of weeks to get back to you. I blame the turkey!
You sent two brief emails and I’ll try to answer them both here, toggling back and forth.
Let’s see: the ending.
Ah, the ending.
I know, I know. It doesn’t wrap things up in a tidy bow and it doesn’t conclude with a dramatic flourish. In many respects, you are not wrong to wish for those things. I usually do, too. But in this story, I wanted it to be as true to life as I could make it. So I sort of sidestepped “drama” in favor of “truth.” For better and for worse! I actually did write a more dramatic and “satisfying” ending w/ Eric helping to get Griffin caught for stealing bicycles, but it felt false (and forced) to me, so I ditched it.
I think in real life we kind of endure these things. We move past them over time. That annoying kid in 7th grade moves on, time passes, and we realize it’s behind us at a certain point. There’s no tidy resolution. In terms of artifice, of a fictional story, maybe that’s not the most satisfying way to go. But, hey, to be honest, I like the open-ended nature of the book. That these characters live on in our imagination, and that it’s up to individual readers to speculate about where things will go after that. I do leave a number of hints along the way.
Yes, I love Mary, too. She’s a minor but crucial character in Bystander. And one that was, I think, underwritten. My primary focus was on Eric’s experience. But Mary has guts, stands up to her friends, suffers the consequences of that decision, and undergoes the greatest change in the novel. I liked her so much, in fact, I made her the main character in my recent book, Upstander, a prequel/sequel to Bystander. The book follows Mary closely, some time before the timeline of Bystander begins. We see her meet and become friends with Griffin. We learn about her troubled home life. We learn more about her uneasy friendship with Chantel. And halfway through the book, we pick up on meeting Eric on that basketball court (chapter one of Bystander) — this time told from Mary’s point of view. We also see that horrendous, painful moment with David and the ketchup.
Everyone has a story. And if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s to withhold our judgment on other people. We just don’t know what’s going on in their lives. For Upstander, I wanted to pull back the curtain and get to know Mary much, much better.
I hope you read it. There’s also an excellent audiobook available, if you prefer to read with your ears. 
My best,
James Preller

Fan Mail Wednesday #174: My Busted Baseball Career, The Next Book, and “Bullying” the Verb

Here’s one from Stephen with a “ph!”

Dear Mr.Preller,

My 7 grade English class is reading your hit book Bystander, and I love it. There are allot of cliff hangers for sure, and that is why i love it so much. I would like to read some more of your books like 6 Innings and more. I would like to ask you some questions about your life. Why didn’t you follow your dream to play for the Mets like you wanted to? I am sure you would have been as good playing as you are a writer. I would also like to know if you are publishing any books soon? If you are, I am sure they will be very interesting?

I replied:

Hey, Stephen. I would have loved to follow my dream as a baseball player, but I wasn’t any good! It was a little boy dream, really, nothing that concrete.

I’ve been putting out a series of books lately, SCARY TALES. There are three out so far: Home Sweet Horror; I Scream, You Scream; and Goodnight, Zombie.

I have another Young Adult novel, titled BEFORE YOU GO.

In addition, I just finished the first draft of a new hardcover book that can be seen as a companion to BYSTANDER, in that it explores many of the same themes and ideas, but is told in the first-person from the bully’s point of view. The characters and setting are different, so it’s not a sequel, strictly speaking. My working title is KINDER, TOMORROW, but we’ll see how that goes.

Actually, I have to say that I don’t like using the word “bully,” because it labels (and limits) a person. I think of bullying — the verb — as a behavior. Something that somebody does, rather than as a noun, “the bully.” In a lot of ways, that basic distinction was one of the primary inspirations behind this new book.

Peace out,

JP

BEA 2013: “James Preller: Pursuing a New Direction” (and a Photo Op with R.L. Stine)

Just passing along an article by the very kind Sally Lodge, who phoned me a couple of weeks back. We chatted for a while and the result of that conversation was this article that appeared in a special edition of Publishers Weekly for Book Expo America (BEA).

And yes, while I was in NYC, I stood next to R.L. Stine and tried to hug him. Thanks to Kathryn Little for the snap!

He might not have loved it, hard to say. But actually, we spoke amiably in front of a video camera, so maybe a cool clip will come of it at some point down the road. But I digress!

Here’s the article:

The author of the Jigsaw Jones Mysteries ventures onto chilling turf in his latest series, Scary Tales, which premieres in July with Home Sweet Horror. James Preller calls the project, published by Feiwel and Friends, a “massive departure for me. I’ve always really adhered to realistic fiction. If someone had said that I would be writing a novel about zombies outside of a school—that happens in the third book—I would have said, ‘That’s ridiculous!’ But what’s interesting to me is how the other characters, ordinary people, respond to and interact with those zombies. With this series, I’m giving myself new freedom, and I’m really having fun with it.”

Preller’s inspiration for Scary Tales had several sources. His most recent fiction has been geared to older readers, including middle-grade novels Six Innings and Bystander, and Before You Go, his debut YA. “I hadn’t written anything for the second- and third-grade audience for a while, and I wanted to get back to that,” he says. “I hear from teachers and librarians that kids love scary books and that there isn’t much that is fresh and new in that area.”

The author’s fondness for old Twilight Zone episodes also fueled his imagination. “I love that the show spans a number of genres, from science fiction to gangster stories,” he says. “I want to do something similar with Scary Tales. I see these books existing on a broader canvas than just being scary. The series is not going to be just one ghost story after another. Each will be different, though all will have an intellectual twist at the end that will blow readers’ minds a little.”

Preller is hopeful that Scary Tales will provide kids with “a positive, fun reading experience” and will snare reluctant readers. “To attract reluctant readers who might need an easier read, a book can’t look babyish,” he observes. “But if it looks cool, they’ll pick it up. I am hoping the series will reach those readers, especially boys. That is a very important readership for me — reaching them is something I feel passionate about.”

Notes to Myself: Writing BYSTANDER

I’d guess that all writers do it, but I can only speak for myself. During the course of brainstorming for a book, which for me usually involves a composition notebook and random observations, snatches of dialogue, character traits, ideas for scenes, etc., I’ll often write brief notes to myself. These notes that I’m referring to are general guidelines for the book I’m writing — about tone, intention, theme. They serve as signposts, clarifying my intent for that specific book. I’m not talking about notes to address specific scenes in the story, but more global thoughts about the book I’m hoping to write, what I’m trying to achieve.

Below, here’s a few notes taken from a larger notebook that I filled during the research phase for my middle grade novel, Bystander. This might come across as naval gazing, I suppose, but I hope the notes shed light on my writing process and in doing so help readers and writers with their own creative work.

Don’t worry, I’ll translate these into English for those unfamiliar with the dialect of Southpaw Scrawl: “Do not like the books that ‘solve’ the problem, as in, do this and the problem goes away: not so simple.”

“Sometimes people who bully are popular w/ teachers and peers (Bundy)

Important to shatter the stereotypical views of what a bully ‘looks like.'”

“It becomes important to realize/understand what real friendship means.”

“Clique is ‘exclusive club’ not real friendship. ‘Cool’ members must conform & follow rules of group.

Real friends don’t require each other to be something they are not.”

“Children go to great lengths to hide the fact that they are victims of a bully.”

“Bully/victim is more dangerous, because acts out of anger, revenge.”

The Soft Pretzel Bacon Burger . . . Just Seems Wrong

No one goes to Friendly’s anymore. Honestly, I don’t know how they stay in business.

No. One. Goes. There.

But still, you see the restaurants all over the place, parking lots empty except for a few battered Fords and some wind-blown litter, slatternly waitresses hanging out by the back door smoking cigarettes, a few families ducking in for their Fribble fix.

So they tinker with the menu, in the hope of finding some magical new combination that will bring the franchise back to relevancy.

Witness: The Soft Pretzel Bacon Burger. That’s right, they’ve done away with the bun and replaced it with . . . a very soft, pillowy even, pretzel.

Bon appetite!

As it turns out, I immortalized Friendly’s in Bystander. Go ahead, turn to page 44. Eric is out with his mother and younger brother, Rudy.

They are eating lunch at Friendly’s.

“How come the pictures on the menu look so much better than the real food?” Rudy wondered.

“It’s called advertising,” Eric told his little brother. “They try to trick you into buying the frozen clams casino. You’d be better off sucking on the menu.”

——-

Of course, I wrote that scene before the innovation of the new Soft Pretzel Bacon Burger. Or else it would have been an entirely different book. Sort of like, I don’t know, imagine The Phantom Tollbooth in the age of cell phones. Different, right?