Photos & Captions from a Recent School Visit

I’ve been visiting schools lately as a guest author. Here’s some photos from a particularly enjoyable visit to an elementary school in New Jersey. 

I always say the same line: Authors don’t do school visits; schools do author visits. The big variable is what happens in the school before I get there, the sense of preparedness and anticipation, the excitement or the obliviousness; whether the principal arrives to shake my hand, desires to introduce me before every presentation (sending a powerful signal to staff and students alike), or the principal I never meet, too busy administrating. A hundred variables effect the impact of a visit, whereas for the most part, I’m the constant. I do what I do to the best of my ability, and try in my heart to leave that school just a tiny bit better than when I arrived. The students and teachers more excited about books, and writing, and kindness, and (hopefully) about the infinite possibilities inside their very own selves. 

Anyway, I promised photos . . .

The day started off with a small, young group. What I’ve learned over the years is to stay calm and cozy with the youngest audiences. I sit at the beginning, keep in relaxed and gentle. It’s nice when these sessions can be done in a library, but every school has its own unique facilities and demands. 

 

Whoa, standing! We always end with questions — which, at that age, are often comments. “I have a dog, too!”

More students, older ones. The content of my presentation shifts dramatically. Time to stand up and bring more energy.

I had about 90 minutes to inscribe and sign more than 150 books. To me, that helps complete the circle: a child returns home, excited to read a book.

Sometimes I’ll be invited to eat lunch with students, in this case a group of 5th graders. I have mixed feelings about this, mostly because I never get to eat. I’ve come to prefer a shorter “cookies & conversation” session — usually for those kids who’d rather chat books with an author than run around at recess. 

Ah, the kids who linger after the presentation is over and everyone starts filtering out of the room. They want a moment with me: to ask a question, share a fact, or just be seen. It’s always a nice moment there at the end, those kids who want to stick around for me. But no, I do not sign foreheads (I’ve been asked, many times).

 

Thank you, Margaret (ace organizer and photographer!), and everyone else (too many to name) at Merritt Memorial in Cresskill, New Jersey. It was a privilege spending time with your students. 

TOGETHER WE MADE A PRETTY GOOD TEAM!

5 Questions with Martha Brockenbrough, Author of TO CATCH A THIEF

Martha Brockenbrough occupies a lot of different places in children’s literature, fiction and nonfiction, picture books to chapter books to young adult novels. Martha’s newest book comes out this April and it’s her first middle-grade title — just right for mystery lovers (and if you like dogs, all the better!). Let’s get to know her a little bit. 

 

 

1. We’ve never met, so let’s start at the beginning. Were you one of those kids who knew from an early age that you wanted to be an author? 

I loved books before I knew it was possible to be an author. I had it in my head that the world already had all the books it needed—and I was so happy to learn in third grade that I could be an author. I’d considered being a veterinarian, but my aversion to blood and suffering means author is the far better career choice. As a kid, I read everything I could. Fiction, nonfiction. Stuff for kids. Stuff for grownups. If it was in print, I was curious. I was pretty darned shy as a child, and inside the covers of a book, I had all the company I ever wanted—with none of the forced Free to Be You and Me singalongs.

Martha: “I’m the one with the short dark hair. This is me in middle school. YIKES!”

2) You’ve written a somewhat dizzying range of titles and genre — from adult titles all the way up to picture books  — but To Catch a Thief is your first middle-grade novel. How and why did that come about for you and, tacking on to that, what if any new challenges did the middle-grade novel present?

I’ve written many different types of books for the same reason I read many formats. I love it. To understand a category well enough to write it is, for me, how I express that love. It’s been a really fun career, and even though I completely ignored the 2009-era advice to “have a brand,” I’ve truly built a life around story. Middle grade might just be my favorite thing to read, but it was kind of a tough nut for crack. There are so many ways to do it, and I had to discover my way. When I was that age of reader, I loved mysteries. I fancied myself a detective or a spy. I even made my younger sisters and me secret dossier folders out of envelopes and I felt extremely cool doing that. Encyclopedia Brown, the Three Investigators, Agatha Christie—I loved it all (and read Agatha Christie instead of doing Calculus. No regrets.).

 

   

3) Let’s talk about the setting for To Catch a Thief. It is this very quaint, benign little seaside town where everybody knows your name. I’m almost hesitant to say this, but I was reminded of the old Boxcar Children in terms of the warm and cozy and convivial vibe. Was that intentional from the get-go?

I was coming off writing a biography of Donald Trump and an extremely gory YA retelling subverting a dozen or so fairytales. I wanted something comforting. I wanted tomato soup and grilled cheese. So I wrote everything I love, loosely basing the setting in a community called Seabrook on the Washington Coast. I did make everything about 37 percent more disheveled. I’m one of five kids, though, so I know what it’s like to grow up in a crowded house with a leaky roof, and I really know what it’s like to want a dog for a pet.

4) Well, yes. Indeed a lost dog plays a prominent role in this story — along with a child’s desperate longing to own that dog. 

When I was nine, a chocolate brown toy poodle followed me home from school. My mom checked his tag—his name was Randy—and made me return him to the address on the tag. When I knocked on the door, the woman who answered offered me the dog. I told her I’d have to ask permission. I wore my mom down a day or so later and was so excited that I told my friends at school I was getting a dog. I stopped at his house to pick him up. The woman opened the door and told me she’d already gotten rid of him. Not long after, though, my parents brought home a puppy. A golden retriever. And in the 42 years since, I’ve had five of my own (along with several cats). At the moment, I have two goldens, Dottie and Millie. They are my ladies, and they keep me company as I write and they demand I take breaks. They help me cook, they shed on my friends, and they teach me lessons about joy, devotion, and forgiveness every single day.

Martha’s ladies.

 

5) As the author of Unpresidented, you did an enormous amount of research and spent a lot of time living in the mind of Donald Trump. That seems like trauma to me. “Post-Trump Stress Disorder.” How did you recover from that experience? In some respects, it feels like writing Catch was a healthy antidote. A spiritual cleanse. So what’s your coping strategy for the 2024 election? Seriously, help me. I’m dreading it.

This book definitely helped, as did my early chapter book series, which launches its second title this year—Frank and the Masked Cat. (Yes, there’s also a dog in it. OF COURSE.) It was extremely traumatic to do the Trump book. When you really dig deep into that stuff and see the patterns, it’s not hard to predict what will happen. “Anything to win” was the thesis of that book, and it bore tragic fruit on January 6, 2020. One of the most traumatic parts, I think, is having a bit of the Cassandra syndrome. That book is entirely factual and so many people don’t believe it. It’s because they don’t want to, and because we’ve been conditioned to think that “both sides” are to blame. Sometimes that’s true. It’s not here.

Anyway.

The midterm election should give all of us heart. But I hope it doesn’t make us complacent. Democracy is hard work. We are the people, and we owe our nation our best efforts. Children’s books are now in the crosshairs of the liars and the bigots—words I do not regret using and will not apologize for. There is no pornography in children’s books. None. Zero. There are many beautiful stories that embrace the diversity of all of our lived experience. All people are equal. All lives are equal. Everyone has the right to their body and especially to their hearts. There is no negotiating or discussion on that point for me, and it’s really not complicated.

The miserable fringe wants to keep young people from recognizing the humanity in all of us. Once kids have internalized that value, the bigots lose forever. So we have work to do as writers, as artists, and as citizens. And look, I know people say, “Oh, we have to meet them halfway. Name calling never helps.” Other people can take that approach, and I encourage them. I prefer to deal in unvarnished truths, and my concern at this moment is not for the feelings of the fever-dreamers. It’s for the people they’re threatening.

To end this on a positive note, though: the generation of young people fills me with hope. They are just. They are committed. They care about the planet. They’re savvy when it comes to the nuances of identity. It’s a fantastic challenge and a privilege to be able to write for such extraordinary humans.

JAMES PRELLER is the author of a wide range of books, including the popular Jigsaw Jones mystery series. An author of picture books and easy-to-reads, he has also written middle-grade and YA novels: Bystander, Upstander, Blood Mountain, Better Off Undead, 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 in the series, The Spaces In Between, comes out in August. Can’t wait, won’t wait!

 





A Little Advice for Aspiring Writers

Stephanie Affinito — lover of books, writing, teaching, journals, podcasts, and long walks on the beach — asked me five questions after our podcast interview. (For that, just bounce on this link, and the miracle of the interwebs will take you there.)

Stephanie asked: 

Where do you do your best writing?
What are your favorite writing tools? (pens, notebook, software, etc.)
Do you have any special writing routines or rituals?
What inspires your writing?
What advice do you give to others who hope to one day write something of their own?

Here’s how I answered: 


I suppose it’s my disposition to remove any of the preciousness or magic out of the writing process. For me, it’s been called “going to work” since I went freelance in 1990. Let me back up. The important thing, regardless of your physical surroundings, is to get yourself in the proper headspace to write. The right frame of mind (and the time required to produce anything of length). Now, granted, everyone is different and there may well be various rituals or strategies to help you get there, in place, so to write. It might be an office, a chair, a particular pen, a bottle of gin. We can scribble on napkins or jab sentences into the “Notes” feature of our phones. But to write at length requires, simply, a place where you can be free from distractions. Focus is everything. Concentration is king. And at every turn the world conspires against those things. To write well, I think you need to turn the world off and allow yourself the time and space to go deep inside your head. What inspires my writing? Oh, gosh. Everything and anything. But I do seem to need to be inspired — moved to write — — in order to get anything worthwhile done. I’ve never been very good at cranking out 1,000 words on any given afternoon. Whereas for others, that’s exactly the process. They write by writing. And I’ve gone through all the self-loathing that comes with falling short at the job. What I’ve learned — and this translates into my advice for any writer — is to read widely with care & attention and to write often. The obvious stuff. But after a while, you will begin to learn about yourself, the things that work for you. We are all different. For example, I’ve come to accept that I seem to need a lot of time percolating. Ruminating. Dithering might be another word for it. Working things out in my head over time. And it’s as if a certain kind of creative pressure slowly builds and builds until, one day, it’s time. I’m ready to write. As a writer, you might be completely different. You might be analytical, methodical. You might like to write out extended character profiles, elaborate backstories, fill pages and pages in notebooks. But ultimately, the task comes down to just you and a blank page. Nothing gets written until you sit down in front of that blank page. You need to get yourself there on a regular basis, one way or other. What else? Oh, please, forgive yourself. Be patient with yourself. Try your best. Work hard, but also take time off. Exercise. Enjoy walks. Read books. Meet with friends. Fill yourself up. And always return to that blank page. Just you & the silence of your thoughts, your feelings, and the time & space to think & feel them. Good luck.

 

Addendum: I did not write this in my original answer to Stephanie, but all my references to the “blank page” reminded me of a tip that I actually practice. At the end of the day, around the time you are ready to push away from the desk, leave a little something unwritten. That is, don’t finish the chapter. Don’t end the scene. Leave it off in the middle if possible, maybe with a few clear notes. Then the next day, you can pick right up where you left off — i.e., it’s not a blank page! — rather than having to start all over again at the bottom of the hill. 

 

                .    .    .   

 

Etcetera, etcetera . . .

The Author Considers His First Draft

The author considers his first draft.

Don’t worry, soon we’ll have robots doing it for us. I do see that coming in the very new future, authors proudly co-writing books with the latest text-generating software programs. We’ll see something along those lines very soon on the bestseller list. Probably with James Patterson’s name sharing the billing and taking all the royalties. 

PODCAST: I Was the Special Guest on the “Get Lit” Podcast. Come Listen as We Talk About Books & Writing & Other Difficulties

Celebrating Children’s Literature with James Preller

 

Yes, as the headline states, I was the special guest on Stephanie Affinito’s book-centric “Get Lit” podcast. We recorded it last week and had a pretty wide-ranging conversation. If you happen to be interested in far, far too much Jimmy, stomp the link — scroll a tiny bit, and listen to us talk books, and Exit 13, and writing, along with various other topics. Thank you, Stephanie Affinito, for inviting me to celebrate children’s literature with you!