Thursday, July 5, 2012

Fan Mail




Sometimes mail becomes stuck in the cogs
of the mighty publishing wheel.
Sometimes it falls off a desk
or sticks to someone else's mail.
Sometimes the handwriting on the envelope
is illegible
and it has to wait for a code-breaker to decipher it:
Is this for Ms. Cleary or Ms. Cushman or Ms. Creech?

How else to explain that the most recent box of mail
forwarded from the publisher
(a small portion of which is shown above)
contains letters written as far back as 
September, 2011?

Ack!
I feel badly that readers have had to wait so long for a reply.

I need fortification as I tackle the pile:



This batch comes from these countries:

USA, Belgium, Canada, England, Israel, Japan, Taiwan

and 38 states 
from Alabama to West Virginia

and from towns with such great names as
Big Spring, Eagle, Minnetonka, Washougal, White Salmon
 Little Chalfont, Brussels, Coquitlam, Taipei

and these streets
King Albert Avenue, Cokes Lane, Ivy Flower Loop
Grassy Lick Road, St. Pippin Road, Sugar Avenue

In my next post, I'll treat you to
wonderful names
of readers 
a beautiful
collection
of
beautiful
names.

xx








11 comments:

  1. I hate it when readers' letters are delayed like that. I picture a disappointed child who loves your work and wants to hear from you.

    But, hey, at least you're catching up! You go!

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  2. Love it! So many fans including me and all our grandchildren.

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  3. How exciting it will be for them to receive a letter from you when they won't be expecting it! And how thoughtful and kind of you to write back no matter how long it's been since your fans wrote you. These are the kind of things I love to see from my favorite authors!

    Those street names are awesome. I like Ivy Flower Loop and Grassy Lick Road and Sugar Avenue! Streets should always be named something that jiggles the imagination. :)

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  4. Just those names and places ring like poetic phrasing. You've got your work cut out for you on your trip to Maine.

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  5. I can't even imagine what it must be like to get 'fan' mail. How cool is that!
    I think I'm not going to pick up my mail for about a week, and then get all the 'crap' mail all at once and pretend it's fan mail. Then I'll pretend that the flyer from Disney Cruises is a letter from Johnny Depp. Ahh.
    (I haven't even had Birdman's Mojito for the day, yet!)

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  6. How wonderful to have fan mail! How wonderful to touch people from far and wide so much so that they want to contact you. I love that you've shared the places and names--they sound like fodder for a good novel ;)

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  7. I love the street names! You are so clever when choosing names for the places your characters live. I especially liked how the place names are related in THE GREAT UNEXPECTED.

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  8. oh, dear. those children would have given up on hearing from you by now...and then, out of the blue, a note from the amazing Sharon Creech arriving in their mailboxes...or their school's mailbox...and the sun comes out from behind the clouds and the angels sing. beautiful beautiful words you've shared with us in this post. thank you.

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  9. Sad they have to wait for a reply, but wonderful that they wrote! :)

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  10. I think it is wonderful that you do reply.

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