Tag Archive for Fan Mail Guidelines

Fan Mail Wednesday #74-75

I’m feeling pushed these days — mostly in a good way — so it’s hard to get to these letters. The demands of standard mail can be time-consuming and expensive. I’ll admit it: sometimes I get behind and never catch up on my replies. Then I feel awful about myself and vow never to fall behind again. Rinse, repeat.

And so it goes.

Like I’ve said before: I really appreciate letters that come with Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelopes.

I heated up my trusty, dusty scanner for these two. First, I received a lovely drawing from a girl named Lindsey:

I replied:

Dear Lindsey,

Thank you so much for your kind letter. It is not everyday that I receive such beautiful, creative artwork in the mail. I especially liked your idea for the book tree (not shown in the scan above) — I wish books really did grow on trees! Then I could go out and play instead of sitting here alone at my desk trying to think up new ideas.

I taped your picture on the wall in my office, so I can look over at it each day for inspiration. I’ll think of you and smile.

Thank you for that gift!

JP

Letter #75:

This also came in the mail (I scanned only the front page; it goes on, and on, a bit longer, but you get the idea):

I replied:

Dear Mukul,

Thanks for your letter. I need all the ideas I can get, so thanks for including a few spare ones of your own. I wish that I had so many ideas that I could give them away for free.

Um, they were free, weren’t they?

I don’t, like, owe you any money, do I?

I love traveling. Sadly, we haven’t been able to do much of it in the past several years. We’re working hard to pay our bills and save our money; we’re not in spending mode these days. But a dream that I’ve had for a long time is to bring my family to Ireland. I’ve been there several times on my own, but not in many years. I have roots there, since my grandmother was born in Ireland. She came to this country as an immigrant. In a way I can’t fully explain, I’ve always felt welcome and at home whenever I’ve visited that country. It’s as if there’s a part of me still there, almost magically, and I reconnect to it when I step on those shores. I wish I could live in Ireland for half the year — maybe someday. But mostly I’d love for my children to experience it, to feel just a little bit of what I’ve felt.

There are so many, many places I’d love to visit. Vietnam and India, Australia and Denmark, Costa Rica and New Jersey! The list goes on and on. Hopefully some of those dreams will come true.

Thanks for writing to me.

JP