from the heart

I love it when students write me letters, even if they’re forced into it by their teacher or principal. I got a ton of letters today from the Bronx school I visited a couple of weeks ago…Fredrick wrote, “I can really relate to some of the situations that you provided for us. Continue to do your best & teach us what you’re destined to do.” Another student wrote, “Your books will make it far because kids like us will want to read them. You write about what’s real to us.” Asia admitted, “I liked your book a lot especially because I’m the type of person who doesn’t enjoy books.  It grabbed my interest and kept me thinking.”  Joel let me know the prom invitation is still open!  I managed to scan a few more…

I love how she calls her older sister “over sister”…kinda like “overseer”…LOL

I don’t know if Alyssa will ever read this, but my advice to an aspiring writer is to develop discipline by writing *something* every day…a blog or diary, emails to friends, but not just the usual chit chat—try to develop your powers of observation; sit still, be quiet, and listen to those around you, watch how people interact, try to guess what’s going on in someone’s mind.  Write about your own reactions to different events, be as honest as possible, and try to understand your motivations—why do you do what you do?  And lastly, know where you come from…gather together stories and names and pictures of those who came before you; that’s your guide to the future…