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.
Jerri Fitch from Warsaw, Oh USA wrote on March 21, 2013
Do have any books that have been made into a movie?
Jerri
Reply by Bruce Coville
No movies, but the "I Was a Sixth Grade Alien" books were turned into a TV series that ran for two years on Fox Family.

BC
Jerri Fitch from Warsaw, Oh USA wrote on March 21, 2013
Is there a movie to the book"My Teacher Is an Alien"?
Jerri Fitch
Reply by Bruce Coville
Nope - and, sadly, there probably never will be. The rights are locked up in a very bad deal. Sigh.

BC
Josephine Fusco from Middlesex, NJ USA wrote on March 20, 2013
Dear Mr. Coville,
We had a wonderful time when you visited us here at Mauger School. You are a fun and lively speaker. Thank you so much for taking all the pictures with my class.
Sincerely,
Ms. J. Fusco
Mauger Middle School
Reply by Bruce Coville
Dear Ms. Fusco -

Many thanks for the kind words. I had a terrific time at your school - great kids, great teachers, great librarian! What more could an author want?

BC
Carla from USA wrote on March 18, 2013
Sorry it says mr.d i was having trouble and i originally wrote mr coville but i guess some wierd thing happened when i was typing and it ended up saying mr d
Sorry
Reply by Bruce Coville
No problem . . . lord knows I make enough typos!

BC
Carla from USA wrote on March 18, 2013
Hi,
Mr. D, what is your favorite book you have written? How long did it take you to write the monsters ring? Do you ever wish you could have added some little detail that was important in your book? Have you ever tried writing nonfiction?
Sincerley,
Carla
Reply by Bruce Coville
Asking my favorite book is like asking which of my children I love the most!

As to THE MONSTER'S RING . . . well, I wrote the first version of the story in 1977 - but the book was not published until 1982! I did not work on it every day of those five years, of course. The first full draft probably took three or four months. (Hard to remember now . . . that was over 30 years ago!)

As to non-fiction, I've written for magazines and newspapers, and published on non-fiction book for kids called PREHISTORIC PEOPLE.

All best,

BC
jake from plano, texas USA wrote on March 17, 2013
I am writing a biography on you for my school project and i would like to know what the biggest accomplishment in your life was. thank you.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Jake -

Though I am very proud of my writing and the books that I have published, I would have to say that my biggest accomplishment was raising my three children. Family is very important to me.

All best,

BC
Byron Lee from Skaneateles, New York USA wrote on March 16, 2013
hey Bruce! Byron Lee again!
due to your advice, i did research the ranks of the navy as you advised. i confirmed with some of the research that Grand Admiral was the same as Fleet Admiral. but the rank was used in Germany, instead of the United States. despite the differences, i'm going to use both ranks and have Grand Admiral be highest rank in the Welterr Navy.
i did remember something that i wanted to ask. i listened to the audio-book of Into the Land of the Unicorns, and i heard one character mention something about the Delver King being "smarter than he is wise, may the rocks not crush my feet." i think that was said by Nebzik. (sorry if i spelled the name wrong.)
do you believe that there is a difference between being smart, and being wise? if so, what do you think is the difference?
thanks for all your advice so far! Byron Lee
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Byron -

Glad you did the research. It should help you be more confident about what you're writing.

Yes, the line you quote was from Nedzik - and, yes, I do believe there is a difference between being smart and being wise. I would say that all wise people are smart, but not all smart people are wise. You can have a head full of facts and be blazingly smart, yet still not understand people and how they work, or how to move gracefully through the world, trying in all ways to make things better.

All best,

BC
? from Bville, 29 USA wrote on March 16, 2013
BRUCE,
what wee you a student of?how old were you?
Reply by Bruce Coville
I am a student of humanity. But if you are wondering about college, my degree is in elementary education.

BC
Samantha Young from Ontario Canada wrote on March 13, 2013
Hello Mr. Coville!
My name's Samantha Young, and I'm seventeen years old. I read in your biography that you started working seriously to become a writer when you were my age, and I've just started to become serious about it myself. As a kid, I LOVED your books. Two of the first books my mum read to me, before I could read myself, were 'The Dragonslayers' and 'The World's Worst Fairy Godmother.' I even remember a time as a kid when I thought my teacher was an alien! I really believe your books were a large part of keeping my imagination alive; I was bullied a lot when I was younger, and if I hadn't read so much, I probably would have lost my love of fantasy and the bizarre. Reading your books was a prominent part of my childhood that I still remember today, and they were some of my best friends growing up. So...thank you, seriously. Hopefully you'll be hearing from me in the future! 🙂
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Samantha -

Many thanks for this lovely message! It delights me no end to know that my books meant so much to you. The idea that they were "some of your best friends" is especially lovely.

I hope you will find much joy and success with your own writing, Samantha. I'll look forward to hearing from you again - and seeing your name on a book!!

BC
? from Bville, 29 USA wrote on March 13, 2013
Bruce,
Were you a teacher when you married Katherine?
What year was it?
Reply by Bruce Coville
No, I was still a student when Kathy and got married. It was in 1969.

BC