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Jane Is the Best
Category: Around the Web / Tags: "We have the choice to use the gift of our life", Jane Goodall quote
FAN MAIL WEDNESDAY #330: All the Way from Kalamazoo!
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Camden wrote . . .
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I replied . . .
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Dear Camden,
What a kind and generous letter! Thank you. And all the way from Kalamazoo, too! That’s one of my favorite place names in the world. It’s right up there with Timbuktu and Oshkosh! I live in Delmar and that name just doesn’t have the same snazzy ring to it. Rats!
Just wondering: Have you ever played a kazoo in Kalamazoo? Or talked to a cow who said “Moo” in Kalamazoo?
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What would you do
If the grass was blue
And the birds said “Moo!”
In Kalamazoo?
Would you move to Timbuktu?
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(I’m sorry, I just made that up. Silly me. What other rhyming words can you think of? Canoe! Kazoo! Cockatoo! Purple?)
Anyway! I’m so glad that you read The Case from Outer Space. That’s one of the newest Jigsaw Jones titles and I’m especially fond of it. There’s humor and Little Free Libraries (which I love) and, I think, a pretty satisfying mystery, too. I hope the ending surprised you.
When I was a little boy, my grandmother moved in with us because she was getting old and needed more help. That’s where I got the idea for Jigsaw’s grandmother to be living with his family -— it came directly from my own life. When I look at that illustration by R. W. Alley at the end of the book, with Jigsaw and his father and grandmother gazing at the night stars, well, it stirs my heart.
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You asked some questions. What inspired me to start writing? I could give you a lot of different answers to that question. But mostly, I think I have a “creative bone” in my body. Some inner desire to make things. To draw pictures or put words on a page. To somehow take whatever is INSIDE of me . . . and try you put it OUTSIDE into the world. To share it. To express myself. Maybe’s it just a way of saying, “Hey, World! Here I am! Look at me!”
I have written many books over the years (I don’t have an exact number). There are 42 Jigsaw Jones titles in all, though right now there are 14 that have been revised and updated and currently in print 
(meaning: that you can buy them in stores or online). Of those, I’m especially fond of The Case of the Bicycle Bandit and The Case of the Buried Treasure. The most recent title is The Case of the Hat Burglar, which was inspired by the “Lost and Found” tables that I see on school visits. What if, I asked myself, someone was stealing items from the “Lost and Found”?
That’s the question that writers always ask: WHAT IF?
Who would do it? But more importantly —- and here comes a Pro Tip, Cameron — the better question might be, “Why would someone do it?”
If you can answer WHY, it will often lead a good detective to WHO.
What do you think, Cameron? Why might someone take all the hats -— and then all the gloves -— from the school’s Lost & Found?
Happy reading!
Your friend,
James Preller
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5 QUESTIONS with Jay Cooper, author/illustrator of the “Bots” Series, “The Last Kids On Earth” Graphic Novel, and the New “Styx and Scones” Books!
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Jay Cooper is just another one of those young, vibrant, obnoxiously talented people that I’ve learned to despise with every fiber of my being.
Wait, did I say that out loud?
I mean: Jay is a great guy, full of kindness and warmth and vast enthusiasms. I take pleasure in watching his career lift off into the stratosphere. Terrific things are happening. And a big part of Jay’s success — besides the fact that the man works damn hard — is that he has a gift for connecting with young readers. The sensibilities align. It’s a tired cliche to say that it’s because Jay’s a kid himself. This is a grown actual man with a job and a wife and children and a house. I’m pretty sure he pays federal income tax. But you get the sense that Jay still gets jelly smeared on the sofa cushions and sometimes forgets to flush the toilet and lines up hours in advance for Marvel movies and roots like a kid, with pure innocent glee, for his/our beloved New York Mets. Every pitch, every game. He’s that kind of guy.
Let’s say hello.
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1) Welcome to James Preller Dot Com, Jay Cooper. Grab a milk crate and have a seat. I sometimes puzzle over the question: Why do I like Jay Cooper so freaking much? And I’ve settled on this: It’s because you have so many passions and enthusiasms. You look at this crazy, mixed-up world of ours and respond with optimism and good cheer. So Jay, without giving this any deep thought — since I know that’s difficult for most illustrators — please name 10 random things that you are loving right now. You’ve got 30 seconds . . .
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This is starting out like a game show, and I’M HERE FOR IT. (Rubs hands…sets timer… GO!)
- Only Murders in the Building
- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie: stylistic, cool, and crunchy
- Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway
- Cross-hatching
- School visits (Man, I missed getting in front of a crowd over the last couple years.)
- The Maurice Sendak-themed vintage leather jacket I just painted for a gala
- Wednesday (The Addams Family themed show… not the day of the week.)
- Old school comic books
- Svengoolie monster movies on Saturday night
- Running in the morning (I need to do more)
DING!
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Hold on. What jacket? Show us, please.
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2)Ah, thanks. It reminds me a little of Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” album photo — but for book nerds. Question: Who or what or when were the big influences on your art work? What feeds it?
Wow, that is such a gigantic question.
Sorry!
I’d say my primary source of inspiration since the beginning has been Graphic with a capital “G”: It started with Sendak and Seuss at 4, web-slung straight into Marvel comics at age 6 via Stan the Man, John Buscema, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, George Perez then went SPLOINK into Mad Magazine and the humorists around age 9 or 10 with Sergio Aragones’s Groo, Spy Vs. Spy, Don Martin… And afterwards, of course, Edward Gorey, Charles Addams and Neil Gaiman filled in the grave in my teens. And this is of course the tip of the iceberg… so very, very many more have inspired me over the years.
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3) It’s hard to answer this question, but it’s something that many kids find mysterious and otherworldly, so please give it a try: Where do your ideas come from? I mean, here you are, bursting with books, making it all look easy. Perhaps you could answer in terms of this new series, Styx and Scones.
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The short, cryptic answer is: ideas come from everywhere, anywhere and nowhere.
Now for the long answer: the germ of an idea is still just the germ—you have to give it soil and space to grow into something special and strong. Styx and Scones is a great example: that dog and cat have been in my head for 9 years now and are finally becoming a book this June. Styx was originally created for an unpublished board book, Ciao Meow. She rode a Vespa and wore Penelope Pitstop helmet. For my first school visit presentation, I dropped the Vespa, reimagined her as “Words” and teamed her up with a dog “Pictures” to demonstrate to children how pictures and words are often not expected to 
interact in literature. My agent suggested using them for a book, but some essential element was missing. Two years ago, I drew a witchy cat flying and out-of-control broom with an assortment of other witchy pets for an agency calendar, and I knew that was the world this pair should live in. Once I added some magic, a couple of old witches and mashed up the world of the Smurfs with some Gorey cross-hatching goodness it all made sense: a pink witchy cat named Styx, and her best friend, a witchy dog named Scones. That’s a roundabout way to say that inspiration is quite often a long, multi-step process. Sometimes you gotta stir the risotto a long time.
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Not really a question: Who wins more games this season for the New York Mets, Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander? (We should start a message thread with children’s book people who are also Mets fans. Paging Alan Katz! I think that’s everyone.)
Scherzer. But only because he’s got two different colored eyes, and he’s such a character. I’m always drawn to characters. I still miss Justin Turner as a Met. He wasn’t great on the team per se, but I loved that red hair and beard. I used to shout out a John Sciezka title whenever he came to bat: “Viking It and Liking It!”
Wait. Did I mention John Sciezka earlier as an influence? Lane Smith? Those guys were BIG inspirations right after college.
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4) Do you ever consider writing a book with more text, more serious topics? How are you going to surprise us in the future? Any ideas on the back burner?
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Oooo! GOOD QUESTION, Jimmy! I do have an idea for a middle grade novel. But (see above) it’s still only a germ. So not sure how long it needs to cook. And I think it needs a co-writer. I’m big on teams. My favorite books are collaborations. (Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett is my favorite book going on thirty years!)
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5) I remember first meeting you at the Warwick Children’s Book Festival. You came up to me and said hello. A young guy with a fabulous waxed mustache (at the time), relatively new to the business. I’ve been rooting for you ever since. I see that you’ve started to do some school visits. How has that experience gone for you, walking through those doors, speaking to all those kids? They must love you. Do you have a message or a main idea that you are trying to get across?
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Mister, I’d never have talked to you if you didn’t just radiate goodness. I knew literally no one. I think that was my second festival? (I’m still a bit shy around other creators.) Kids, however, are a different animal entirely. I LOVE getting in front of them and just cutting loose: funny stories, drawing exercises… I think I sweat off a few pounds each time I present.
And I do have a message. A few, actually.
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The first is that reading what you love makes you a strong reader. Don’t listen to any noise about what you read being too goofy, silly, violent, poopy, whatever. I’m the person I am because I fell head over heels for comic books and humor magazines. Comics boosted my vocabulary, they taught me grammar, and narrative structure. Positively reinforced reading leads to more. I’m living proof that Spider-Man leads to loving Shakespeare, and Mad Magazine to Maya Angelou.
The second is it took three failed books for one to succeed. That process was necessary. And learning from mistakes and not giving up is key (that’s one for all the aspiring writers/illustrators out there!)
The third is just built-in to the presentation. Growing up in Dover, Delaware in the 70s and 80s, I never met a person who worked as a creative professional (aside from my art teachers, who I adored). Books felt like they were handed down from the gods atop Mt. Olympus. When I moved to NYC and met people who were creative for a living my whole perception of the world shifted. The impossible was suddenly tangible and quite possible, if I was determined to put the work in.
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I feel like I should ask you a question, Jimmy.
Oh, wow, yeah. Normally I’d be happy to loan you money, Jay, but you see —
No, I’m not asking for money.
Okay, fire away.
I’m seeing some awesome school visits you’ve been on recently. You radiate calm, cool and collected. I am an energetic mess. Any tips how I can pace myself? Second question: how do you balance the content to make it more about the students and less about yourself? That’s one thing I’m trying to tweak.
Okay, briefly: In terms of pacing, I used to ask that, too. How do teachers do it? This is exhausting! I quickly realized that I’m not a jugular, I’m not a magician. So I’ve tried to calm down and just be authentic, honest, and respectful. I’m not here to razzle-dazzle anyone. Sure, we try to laugh, too. And I work hard. But ultimately, you can only be yourself.
And regarding the second part, it’s a good sign that you even ask that question. If you love the kids, and I know you do, then it will flow out of you naturally and everyone in the audience will see it, and feel it, and know in their hearts that you are there for them. We’re just vehicles given the amazing opportunity to try to inspire readers, writers, compassionate thinkers. It is 100% for them and about them. Far bigger than you or me.
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JAMES PRELLER is the author of a wide range of books, including the popular Jigsaw Jones series. He has also written middle-grade and YA novels: Bystander, Upstander, Blood Mountain, The Courage Test, The Fall, and more. Look for the first book in his strange & mysterious EXIT 13 series for readers ages 8-12: The Whispering Pines. Book 2 comes out in August — so save up!–
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Category: 5 Questions / Tags: 5 Questions interview series, About Jay Cooper, Children's Authors who are Mets fans, Illustrator Last Comics on Earth, James Preller interviews Jay Cooper, James Preller school visits, Last Kids on Earth Graphic Novel, Styx and Scones, The Bots Books, Warwick Children's Book Festival
FAN MAIL WEDNESDAY: #329: Kindness from Natalee
So nice to get a handwritten letter from a satisfied customer! Here’s Natalee — who read and enjoyed the first book in my new series, Exit 13: The Whispering Pines.
I replied . . .
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Natalee,
What a nice surprise to find your note in my mailbox. Yes, I remember visiting your school when the book was included in the Scholastic Book Fairs. That was a fun day for me. It is always humbling to see a line of readers waiting for a signed copy of a book. Times like those, I wish I had fancier handwriting instead of my crummy lefty scrawl.
You mentioned that you enjoyed how Ash and Willow try to figure out the mysteries of the Whispering Pines. As a writer, I felt the same way — as if I was exploring the creepy, exciting world of Exit 13 right along with them. What happens if they go deeper into the woods? What’s going on with that wolf? What’s the deal with Kristoff, could he really be hundreds of years old? What’s going on in the room behind the Unnumbered Door? And will they ever get home again?
Honestly, I’m still trying to figure some of that stuff out myself. But you will 
find answers to many of those questions in the next book, The Space In Between, coming out this August 1st.
Thank you for your letter. It means a lot to me. Good luck in middle school next year. It’s exciting: new teachers, new classes, new friends. You’ll kill it!
Your friend,
James Preller
ONE-EYED DOLL Published In Persian, Featured in the “Tehran Times”
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Take a minute, study hard, and tell me if you can notice any subtle differences in the covers . . .
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Yes, okay, correct: one is red and the other is orange. And yes again. The image of the doll has been reversed! Very good. Now look closer at the words. That’s right! The book on top was published in Persian. How cool is that?
Thanks to Google Alerts, I found this article from the Tehran Times yesterday:
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TEHRAN – “One-Eyed Doll” by American children’s book writer James Preller has been published in Persian.
Cheshmeh is the publisher of the book translated into Persian by Maedeh Mortazavi.
Welcome. Have a seat. The doll will move if you ask nicely. She’s got a story to tell. But be warned. One-Eyed Doll isn’t just any tale. This is a scary tale.
Meet Malick Rice and his sister, Tiana, two kids who love to hunt for hidden treasure and are about to make their biggest find yet: a small box, tightly locked, buried behind a deserted house; a box meant to stay buried forever… in this bone-chilling tale from James Preller and Iacopo Bruno.
Preller is the author of the popular “Jigsaw Jones” mystery books.
He has also written widely for young readers of all ages, from picture books to young adult novels. Some middle-grade titles include “Blood Mountain”, “Bystander”, named a 2009 Junior Library Guild Selection; “Six Innings”, an ALA Notable Book; “The Courage Test”, a 2016 Junior Library Guild Selection; “The Fall”, a YALSA award-winner; “Better Off Undead”; and, “Before You Go” — as well as the “Scary Tales” and the “Big Idea Gang” series.
Younger readers might enjoy his pirate-themed books (“A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade”) and an upcoming picture book of haiku, “All Welcome Here”.
He lives in Delmar, New York, and gratefully visits schools around the country.
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Anyway, just sharing. Once you put a book out into the world, there’s no telling where it might end up!
And while it’s unlikely that Maedeh will find this blog post, thank you, Maedeh Mortazavi, for translating my English into Persian. I hope you enjoyed the experience.
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