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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937 entries.
Christina Scalzo from Syracuse, ny USA wrote on April 28, 2013
Dear Bruce Coville,
I am doing a project on the book "Aliens Ate my Homework" and I have to write a brochure about a setting. What would be the setting in the book. The book was awesome. I loved it. I also like the unicorn chronicles
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Christina -

Um . . . I don't understand. If you've read the book then you must know the setting - it's where the story takes place, Rod's home, the area behind it, the school, etc.

Glad you loved the book!

BC
Sophia Luo from Toronto, Ontario Canada wrote on April 26, 2013
Hello Mr. Coville! I just wanted to say that I'm almost twenty now and I remember back when I was just turning ten and totally enthralled with your Unicorn Chronicles. Thank you for writing with such passion and having so many wonderful writing tips on your website. Please know that your children's stories really have inspired a lot of kids like me (despite me not quite qualifying to be a kid any more!) and that anybody who's read your writing has seriously been touched!
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Sophia -

Many thanks for this lovely message. I mostly work in isolation, so it always means a lot when a reader such as you takes the time to say that the books meant something, and even more that you still remember them ten years later. That's the kind of response a writer dreams of!

Good luck with your own creative endeavors. I looked at some of your art - you've got talent!

BC
pwyll dementia from USA wrote on April 22, 2013
As soon as I hoped onto your homepage it answered my question. So ignore what I asked. Might I suggest going by book series. My wife and I loved the monster shop books (I loved most of them, A.I. gang, Space Brat, Aliens ate my homework.) we were hoping to share them with my daughter. (bet she would dig the Space Brat) keep up the great work.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Pwyll -

Simon & Schuster controls the SPACE BRAT series and the ALIENS ATE series. We recently signed an agreement for them to bring about thirty of my books into the ebook platforms. But what pace they will make them available is out of my hands.

BC
pwyll dementia from USA wrote on April 22, 2013
Good sir, have you ever thought of making your books available in e-print? Or did you write them and give them to a broker? considering some schools hand out e-readers for homework or what have you, this would be a wise move. this would also bring your out of print books back into circulation.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Dear Pwyll -

You can find eversions of 7 or 8 of my books, and well over a dozen short stories, on either Kindle (where they are available in only that format), or Smashwords, which makes them available in all formats. The ones that have cover images also appear on B&N, and other sites.

The two newest books - ALWAYS OCTOBER and AMBER BROWN IS TICKLED PINK are available, as is JEREMY THATCHER, DRAGON HATCHER. I have personally posted several of the out of print titles, including all three titles in the AI GANG series.

All best,

BC
Cami from Syracuse, NY USA wrote on April 18, 2013
Hi Bruce!
I just wanted to thank you for coming to SCT last weekend! It was really nice of you to give us advice (considering you did write the book!) I enjoyed having you there to watch us and can't wait for you to see the show!!
Thanks,
Cami (or should I say Princess Willie!) 🙂
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Cami -

Oh, I loved having the chance to visit. I would have been there before now if I hadn't been on the road so much over the last few months. I am rarely as happy as when I see kids rehearsing this show. It holds my whole heart. You're gonna be great!

Bruce
Tabitha Sucu from Parma, Ohio USA wrote on April 16, 2013
Hi Mr. Coville,
My name is Tabitha and I wanted to thank you for all your books. I have read all your older books when I was younger and now that I have kids im reading your books to them. I own a few of your books but go to book sales to find the rest. Thanks again.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Tabitha -

Thanks for this message. I love being what I call a "second generation author" - that is, knowing that one of my original readers wants to share me with her or his children. It makes me feel a little old, of course . But it's very satisfying nonetheless. I hope you and your children will find much joy in the stories.

All best,

BC
Louis A. Gale Jr. from Columbia, South Carolina USA wrote on April 16, 2013
I remember purchasing a few of your books from a used book shop a few years ago (I declared it a rescue since it was stuck in the discount bin) and loving the short story collections in particular since they could usually be finished after an afternoon or two of steady reading. After several sudden moves, I ended up losing the books (they're either stuck in a box somewhere or completely gone) and I couldn't remember what the title of the books were until today. I'm planning on purchasing the books again for nostalgia's sake and I just wanted to say "thanks".
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Louis -

Thanks for "rescuing" those books! Glad you enjoyed the short story collections. Though I find short stories difficult - I seem to be more of a long form writer - for some reason I think they are where I've done some of my best writing. Go figure . . .

Hope you'll enjoy whichever books you get next.

All best,

BC
Taylor from USA wrote on April 16, 2013
Hello Mr. Coville,
I absolutely adore The Unicorn Chronicles. I fist started reading them when I was ten and now at twenty I still find myself picking them up and reading them over. They are brilliant little reads and I do wish that you would write something else along the same route.I've been a huge fan of your work since I was little and was wondering, were there any people in your life that inspired some of the characters of Luster?
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Taylor -

Thanks for this lovely message. I'm wondering if you managed to find all four of the books in the series, since the last one hardly qualifies as "little" Heck, you could probably knock a person out with it! ;>

I did indeed draw on people in my life for some of the characters. Rajiv is based on a street boy I met while traveling in India, and Feng Yuan was inspired by a guide I had in Gui Lin, China. But the biggest inspiration was my daughter, Cara. You can probably guess which character is modeled on her! ;>

BC
Megan from Coshocton, Ohio, Ohio USA wrote on April 16, 2013
Yeah...that's kinda hard to do considering the fact that I get pushed around by other students who don't know how to act their age and other stuff like that....they always seem to some how ruin my day....plus today the people pushed me into my best friend and laughed about it and made her cry. Good thing that was taken care of...maybe I need to learn how to make my own sunshine. Thank-you for taking the time to read this message.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Megan -

Oh, this makes me so angry! There are few things that I hate as much as bullying. No one has a right to push you around. No one has a right to make you feel bad about yourself! I am glad to know that the one situation was taken care of!

BC
Lynn Baker from Citrus Heights, California USA wrote on April 15, 2013
Mr. E. Lives on Cambridge Heights, California! With the library at the center of the school, I often hear what goes on in the surrounding classrooms. My ears perked up when I heard the word "Crannaker" from the third grade teacher who was reading aloud! All the great memories of your visit to our school two years filled my mind. You have left your legacy not only on the Fiction "C" shelf, but in the hearts and minds of students and staff lucky enough to have been here that April day in 2011!
Warm regards,
~ Lynn
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Lynn -

How lovely to hear from you! I still retain very fond memories of my visit to Cambridge Heights. It delights me to know that I am still remembered there. "hearts and minds" indeed - what more could an author ask for?

Many thanks for this,

Bruce