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My “Fan Mail” game just got upgraded.
Check out these snazzy new stamps I picked up at the Post Office today!
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Here’s a recent email that touches on a painful subject. So I set aside for a couple of weeks before answering.
Dear Sir,
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What a nice surprise to receive a letter and a drawing from Amber in Illinois, who named Wake Me In Spring her favorite book. Illustrator Jeffrey Scherer and I published that one back in 1994 and it’s still one of my favorites, too.
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Amber also included this fabulous drawing . . .
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I replied . . .
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Dear Amber,
Did you write that letter all by yourself? My goodness, you must be doing great in school. Keep up the good work!
I’m very glad to hear that you loved Wake Me In Spring. I’ve written many books in my career —- after all, I am as old as dust! —- but Wake Me In Spring, illustrated by Jeffrey Scherer, written 31 years ago, remains one of my favorites. It’s just so nice, that friendship between Bear and Mouse, don’t you think?
When I visit schools, I still love to share that story with young readers. I also love to read my new book, Two Birds and a Moose! You might like it, too. I have another one coming out this summer: Two Ballerinas and a Moose! Ha, ha, ha.
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Thank you, especially, for the fantastic, amazing, stupendous drawing you sent along with the letter. Wow, Amber! You have a ton of talent. Maybe one day I’ll be reading one of your books! That is, I hope you are making up your own stories at home. And if you are not, well, you should!
Happy reading, happy summer, happy birds, happy clouds, happy knees, happy toes, happy bananas, happy everything!
James Preller
P.S. Your real letter is on the way!
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Back in February of 2018, I received a piece of fan mail from Jaquan. It was partly in braille, a first for me. And it would become the first of many, many missives we’ve passed along over the years. You see, Jaquan is a dedicated, passionate writer. He’s been sending me stories all this time. There have been lags and spurts, but I’ve tried to keep up. Mostly with encouragement and enthusiasm. And every once in a while I’ll stick in a Pro Tip!
That first envelope looked like this:
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A closer look . . .
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For me, receiving a letter from a reader is a privilege, an honor, and an obligation. There was a time, when my Jigsaw Jones mystery series was at its peak, with new titles appearing on Scholastic Book Clubs four times a year, I got a lot of letters. It was almost a problem. I’d get overwhelmed. I tried creating a small brochure, and then postcards, but they made me feel like a robot. For the most part, I’ve made the effort to write authentic responses to each and every letter. That’s partly why I’ve been sharing a sampling of letters-and-responses on this blog since 2008.
Fortunately, I don’t get nearly as many letters as I used to.
Wait, fortunately?
Oh, well!
(Aside: I also suspect that “letters to an author” is not quite the thing it used to be in schools. Particularly snail mail. It’s too bad.)
The writing life has its ebbs and flows, and I’ve been doing it for the past 39 years. Still hanging in there.
And for the past 7+ years, I’ve been hearing from Jaquan. Recently, I received this one, which was a little different from the rest:
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Dear Mr Preller, I hope your doing well i’m a huge fan of your jigsaw Jones series it inspired me to make A series of my own A little while ago I sent books of my of my own for you to check out like my dog detective series I really appreciate the influence you have on your writers like me Young writers like me I know you’re super busy and I just want to say thank you for the inspiration lots of good ideas and thank you again when you get a chance to read them, please give me your honest opinion on my work warm regards Jaquan J, your author Friend ps, thank you again JJ
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Here’s my reply:
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On a recent school visit to Ichabod Crane Middle School — grades 4 & 5, oddly enough — or is it Intermediate? — I get so confused — anyway, moving right along — I noticed a bulletin board welcoming me to the school. Always a thoughtful touch. And there was a portrait of yours truly, based on a photo that still floats around the internet, long after I lost the hat I was wearing, along with a degree of youthfulness.
Later in the day, I had a chance to meet the artist, Jeffrey Dedrick, and asked for a photo. He obliged. For a young rapscallion, Jeffrey sure has talent. He made me look good! Jeffrey even managed to capture my lopsided, lazy right eye.
How did he know?
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