53 New Fan Letters

On February 9th, I did my first school reading at Redding Elementary in San Francisco. It was funny going into it, because I was a little nervous. I've done dozens of speaking engagements in seven different countries for my real job, some in front of hundreds of people, but the prospect of speaking to twenty kids in my own town about my book somehow got me more jumpy. I guess when speaking to adults, I generally know what to expect, but it's been about twenty years since I've been in a classroom speaking to Fifth Graders.

After all the build-up though, the day seemed to go really well. I spoke with three classes, and each really seemed to enjoy my talk. I described what inspired me to write my book, how long it took, what skills I learned in school that helped, and finished with a reading of the Prologue. Throughout the process, I showed the students pictures of my book as it evolved from manuscript, to 2,500 edits, to advance review copy, to final book. I also showed them how the artwork in the book evolved from drafts to finished material. The students at Redding were very engaging and asked great questions.

My favorite part was at the end of the second and third classes. At the end of the second, right when I finished my reading, one of the girls in the back of the class pushed her chair back, threw her arms in the air, and exclaimed, "THAT WAS SO SWEET!" It made me laugh because her reaction was so genuine. At the end of the third class, one boy raised his hand and waved it in the air frantically until I called on him. Then he said, "Mr. Mahoney, that is the BEST book I have ever read!" Hahaha. What great kids. They kept me smiling and helped stoke the excitement I feel finally being on the "speaking circuit".

A couple of weeks later, I returned home to find a package stuffed in my mailbox from one of the classes. In it was a wire-bound book of 53 letters from the kids. This gesture was so touching and while I'd love to display all of the wonderful letters, I had to select just a few that I could fit here.

To Mr. Toy's class: thank you! You are a wonderful, insightful, and genuinely intelligent class. I appreciate your letters!

Kalamazoo!



Christopher

My Letter Back to My Recent New Fans

So, as noted in my previous entry, "Great Letters from Recent Fans" I have gotten a bunch of letters from a 4th grade class in New York about my book. They were very considerate to write me and tell me what they thought of my book, and I thought I'd share with everyone here my appreciative response.

Mr. Titus’ Class
Sherman Elementary School
50 Author’s Avenue
Henrietta, NY 14467

Tuesday, December 2, 2008


Dear Mr. Titus and class,

Wow! Thank you for your letters! I very much enjoyed reading your thoughts on my book, The Incredible Origins of the Onyx Sun. I enjoyed each of your letters and shared them with my friends and family. Everyone commented on how well written each letter is and how insightful your feedback is. As an author, nothing makes me happier than hearing from readers like you. Your feedback about what you like and don’t like gives me just the insight I need to perfect the final book and to write even better sequels!

Many of you asked if the book will be made into a movie. I hope so one day! Between us, I always had George Clooney in mind when I wrote the Commander Chase character. Wouldn’t it be great to see him in an Onyx Sun movie! Professor Goodspeed, Zack, and the other characters were more a mixture of different people I know or characters I have read in other books. I even took a bit of Grandfather’s wackiness from Doctor Brown in the movie Back to the Future. Do you guys know that movie? That’s the funny thing about being an author: as you write, movies, books, and even real people you know find their way into your story. In some ways, Zack is actually me when I was about your age. I always wanted to find a spaceship hidden in my backyard. Who do you guy find interesting from books, or movies, or your own life? How would you put them in a story? What would those characters do? Would they be weird, or funny, or sad, or athletic? What unique traits would they have? The number one thing people like to read about are people that interest them. That’s why I was so happy you liked the strange, funny, adventurous characters I created!

Several of you also mentioned that you enjoyed the Mech battles. Those were fun chapters for me to write. I’m not sure where I got the idea for gigantic robots, but I know a few video games I’ve played in the past had similar robots. I took that idea and changed it to make it unique and reflect ideas I had. It’s funny when you write that often you don’t know how things will turn out as you are writing. I generally have a broad outline beforehand, but often ideas pop onto the page as I am writing! That is a fun experience because then I surprise myself and get to live the adventure too as I am creating it!

A couple of you mentioned that I should put more pictures in the book. I agree! When the final version of my book comes out this February, it will have thirty-six original drawings: one for each chapter and a special, large picture of the Citadel Spire on the title page. The final book will also have an epilogue called The Dawn of War, which previews the action coming in the sequel. So far, I have only written seventy pages of the sequel, The Wicked Adversaries of the Onyx Sun, but I spend time each day working on it. For now, I have included in this letter a sneak preview of some of the pictures that will come out this winter with the final publication of my first book. The included pages are called “folios” since they are loose drafts of the final pages of my book. Right now, I am reviewing these folios and finalizing the images and text. Since many of you seemed to enjoy the Mech battles, Moon scenes, and struggles with Machvel, I picked folios that match your interest. You can see more on my web site at www.onyxsun.com.

I notice your school is on Author’s Avenue. That seems like a quite a coincidence for a class that is clearly talented in reading and writing! I hope you enjoy the enclosed materials, and we can keep in touch about your future readings and writings. Thank you again for your wonderful letters.

Kalamazoo!



Christopher