Welcome to the Guestbook!
I’m always eager to read your comments about my books and stories, so please feel free to pitch in. Here are a few things for you to know:
1) I answer the messages here personally.
2) No message shows up here until I actually answer it to prevent spam and other inappropriate postings. So there will sometimes be a delay before your message posts, especially if I am traveling.
3) Teachers, a gentle request: Please do not have multiple children send me variants of the same message. A group email is much easier to respond to and not such a drain on my time. My thanks in advance for being alert to this.
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Dear Bruce Coville,
My name is Paige, and I am 11 years old. I have read your magic shop books, your Unicorn Chronicles (except the short stories), The monsters of Morley manor,and my teacher is an alien. Those are the only ones I can find. I was wondering where you got inspiration for them. Please write back!
My name is Paige, and I am 11 years old. I have read your magic shop books, your Unicorn Chronicles (except the short stories), The monsters of Morley manor,and my teacher is an alien. Those are the only ones I can find. I was wondering where you got inspiration for them. Please write back!
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Paige -
Thanks for this lovely message! I've published over a hundred books, and you've managed to pick out some of my top favorites from among them!
As to inspiration, it comes from all kinds of places . . . everything you do, everything you see, everyone you meet can spark a story. The thing to remember is that there is rarely only one inspiration for a book. You need many, many elements to make it work.
For example, the basic inspiration for the Magic Shop books is that I always wanted to find a real magic shop when I was a kid. (I never did, so I wrote about it instead.) But in each of the five books, I need to find an inspiration or model or idea for the magical item, for the main character, for the character's most important problem. Many inspirations! The trick is to keep your eyes and ears open, and save things in your heart.
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season.
BC
Thanks for this lovely message! I've published over a hundred books, and you've managed to pick out some of my top favorites from among them!
As to inspiration, it comes from all kinds of places . . . everything you do, everything you see, everyone you meet can spark a story. The thing to remember is that there is rarely only one inspiration for a book. You need many, many elements to make it work.
For example, the basic inspiration for the Magic Shop books is that I always wanted to find a real magic shop when I was a kid. (I never did, so I wrote about it instead.) But in each of the five books, I need to find an inspiration or model or idea for the magical item, for the main character, for the character's most important problem. Many inspirations! The trick is to keep your eyes and ears open, and save things in your heart.
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season.
BC