Letter enclosed with a signed copy of the first Gustav Gloom novel sent to a young fan who had a slow start reading but was able to claim that book as the first… novel she had ever finished and loved.
Dear ___________:
Your teacher has told me that you loved the first Gustav Gloom book and that it is the first book you have ever read. She tells me that you have read it several times and that you tell others what it has meant to you.
In return, I want you know what hearing this means to me.
Writing books is a great job that I wouldn’t trade for anything. But this is what it’s like. I spend a lot of hours, every day, in a room by myself, figuring out what words to use and what’s going to happen next. It can take months and months to finish even a short book. It’s fun work, a little like spending all day at the amusement park. But it can also be lonely work, because I don’t see the people I’m sharing my stories with. For me it’s like spending all that time talking to people I don’t know, and not hearing what they might want to say back.
Hearing that one of my books touched you is not a small thing to me. It’s everything in the world to me.
My greatest wish for you is that this is just the beginning. I of course want you to read the rest of Gustav’s story, as it appears in all the books that come afterward, and I naturally hope to hear that you enjoyed them. But that’s not all. There are so many other great books out there, so many great adventures and characters you have not discovered yet. Tom Sawyer’s still ahead of you, Sherlock Holmes is still ahead of you, the Three Musketeers and Inigo Montoya are still ahead of you. How lucky that makes you! I envy you the thrill of encountering all of that for the first time, the joys of finding your way to treasures I have not named, and some that have yet to be written. I am dazzled by the years of magic and wonder you have yet to uncover.
________, you have given me a wonderful gift today. I consider myself honored that Gustav Gloom was the special doorway you used on your first step into what I believe you’ll continue to find a rich and magical country.
Enjoy the journey,
Adam-Troy Castro
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