Archive for Fan Mail

FAN MAIL WEDNESDAY #333: Pamir Writes, Jimmy Remembers

 

 

 

 

 

I have friends in Istanbul. One particular school, in fact, that reads my Jigsaw Jones books — even ones that are long out-of-print.

It’s the story of my career at this point. More books that are out-of-print than there are available. 

Oh well!

The price of hanging around in this business for nearly 4 decades. 

Here we go. 

A reader writes . . . 

Dear Mr. Preller,

My name is Pamir. I am 12 years old and I like to play games and I also like to read books. I live in Istanbul and I am studying in Hisar schools .I read your book “THE CASE OF THE DETECTIVE IN DISGUISE” two weeks ago. It was beautiful and I’m writing this email because I wanted to tell you why I liked your book. In your book my favourite character is Mike because he wants to find the secret and become a detective. My favourite part is the first part because it was a funny part. They went to the attic and found detective clothes. I think that part 10 because It was less exciting but still good. 

Make more books like this and don’t forget to come to visit Turkey.

Goodbye,

Pamir

I replied . . . 

Pamir,
Thanks for the invitation to visit Turkey. Boy, that would surely be an amazing adventure for me. 
I wrote that book so long ago it took me a few minutes to remember it all. When I wrote that story, I had a small office above a cozy sandwich shop called The Yogurt Shop, owned and operated by Mike & Mary. They made the best chicken salad sandwich I’ve ever eaten — and wonderful cookies, too. In the afternoons, I’d often go down there to get a cup of coffee and chat with them. Sometimes Mike would even help me with ideas. So when it came time to write The Detective in Disguise, I decided to weave me friends into the story. 
Since that time, I’m sorry to report that Mike and Mary got divorced. She moved to Cape Cod. Mike is still around but I don’t see him much anymore. But pulling that book off the shelf helped me remember those happy times we shared together. Isn’t that amazing? I think it’s one of the best parts about writing. When we make art, we can store those memories forever.
I’m so glad you reminded me!
Your friend,
James Preller

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 #331: “Maxx Trax” Remembered, 37 Years Later

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been randomly sharing samples of Fan Mail & my responses on this site since 2008. However, I haven’t posted as much Fan Mail the past couple of years, largely because I haven’t gotten as much. The pandemic shut it down — publishers don’t seem to forward mail the way they once did — and who knows. Maybe schools aren’t focusing on that kind of thing as much anymore. Everyone’s exhausted. Maybe it’s my own fading star. The ebbs and flows of a long career. I don’t know. 

But look at this: an email from a reader who remembers a beloved book that I published in 1986, my first book ever, Maxx Trax: Avalanche Rescue!

Pretty amazing, huh? 

What a gift to receive such a message. 

 

Dear Mr. Preller,

I was reading Maxx Trax to my daughter and decided to look you up.  I am happy to see that you continue to write children books.
Thank you so very much.  Your book has been in my life since 1986.  When I chose it out of a school book fair.  You’ll have to thank the artist as to a kid the picture on the cover caught my eye.
This book has traveled with me to Japan back to the US and again Japan.   I’m not military so that says something about the books importance while moving.
My son has a special place on his shelf.
I just wanted to let you know all these years later it is still one of my favorite books.
Keep up the fantastic work.
Jeremy
I replied . . .
Dear Jeremy,
Wow, what a great letter. Thank you so much.
The Irish have an expression, “Flowers for the living.”
We don’t have to wait for someone to die before saying something nice to them.
You did just that and I appreciate it.
Yes, yes, yes, that was my first book, written at age 25 in 1986 and, I think, a story that stands up today. Long out of print, of course. I wrote a sequel but for insane reasons (money, I suppose), Scholastic changed illustrators and went an entirely different direction. A total failure and the end of that.
The first book, your book, sold more than a million copies out of the gate. I was a junior copywriter at the time and I people were pretty surprised. However, I doubt there are many copies left in the world today. Hold onto your beloved, ragged copy.
Gratefully yours,
James Preller
P.S. You might enjoy more background info about my very first book by clicking here!

A Jigsaw Jones Imposter!

I received a sweet email from Texas yesterday. This is Jake, a 1st grader, obviously very strong, holding his Jigsaw Jones halloween pumpkin.

Jake got a lot of details just right. Jigsaw never goes anywhere without his detective journal and pencil. Even when he doesn’t, you know, have arms. We know from history that Abe Lincoln sometimes carried important papers under his hat. Jigsaw carries them on his hat. Different strokes, different folks. The note itself is taken directly from The Case of the Christmas Snowman. An out-of-print classic.

 

Alert readers may recognize that Jake has cleverly employed a coded message on the back of his pumpkin. Hmmm. It appears to be an Upside Down Backwards Code, if I’m not mistaken. 

 

Thank you, Jake. You’ve warmed my heart!

FAN MAIL WEDNESDAY #330: All the Way from Kalamazoo!

 

 

 

 

 

Camden wrote . . . 

I replied . . . 

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? 

What would you do

If the grass was blue

And the birds said “Moo!”

In Kalamazoo? 

Would you move to Timbuktu?

(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. 

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