Archive for Fan Mail

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

December 6, 2023 / / One comment
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

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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 

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I replied . . . 
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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
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Category: Bystander, Fan Mail, Upstander / Tags: , , ,

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

December 1, 2023 / / No comments

 

 

 

 

 

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!

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Pretty amazing, huh? 

What a gift to receive such a message. 

 

Dear Mr. Preller,

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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.
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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.
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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.
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My son has a special place on his shelf.
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I just wanted to let you know all these years later it is still one of my favorite books.
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Keep up the fantastic work.
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Jeremy
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I replied . . .
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Dear Jeremy,
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Wow, what a great letter. Thank you so much.
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The Irish have an expression, “Flowers for the living.”
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We don’t have to wait for someone to die before saying something nice to them.
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You did just that and I appreciate it.
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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.
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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.
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Gratefully yours,
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James Preller
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P.S. You might enjoy more background info about my very first book by clicking here!
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Category: Fan Mail / Tags: , , ,

A Jigsaw Jones Imposter!

October 28, 2023 / / No comments

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

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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.

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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. 

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

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Category: Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones / Tags: , , ,

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

May 12, 2023 / / No comments

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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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Category: Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones / Tags: , , ,

FAN MAIL WEDNESDAY: #329: Kindness from Natalee

May 2, 2023 / / No comments

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

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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

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Category: EXIT 13, Fan Mail / Tags: , ,
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