Are you ready? Because here we go . . . the 200th letter to young readers I’ve shared here on James Preller Dot Com Incorporated & Associates!
Hold on a second. That seems to deserve some kind of elaborate, expensive celebration.
Too much?
Think I went overboard with it?
Moving right along, a 3rd-grader with burning inquisitiveness writes:
I replied:
Dear Seth,
Okay, you asked a lot of questions, let’s see if I’ve got any answers.
I’ll look under the couch cushions first, there’s usually something under there. Hmmmm: a half-eaten Pop Tart (delicious), 37 cents, and my car keys! But no answers.
I’ve written so many books that I’ve lost count. More than 80. I don’t have a single favorite, but I really enjoy the books in my SCARY TALES series, since they are recent and were so much fun to write. A little creepy, so maybe not for everybody, but I love them.
Ideas come from being alive in the world, open and receptive to the things around me. I often look back on my life, and my family, and find ideas that way.
You know what, let me turn that around a little. I don’t look for “ideas” so much as I look for “feelings.” I can’t write very well unless I feel something: I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m excited, scared, proud, etc. Those things that make me feel –- that touch my heart -– are often the best source of ideas.
Pets? Two black cats, one dog, two teenagers.
Wait, what?
My best,
James Preller
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