I finished reading Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children yesterday, and needed something else to read before I lost momentum (since I’m not going to write a review of it until next Monday). My e-reader suggested Apathy and Other Small Victories by Paul Neilan. It is so far excellent. I decided to write the writer an e-mail. This is only the second time I’ve ever written to a writer.
Sorry if this bugs you. I shouldn’t apologize to people I’ve never met, but then I’m asking you to do me a favor so we should start off on the right foot. I mean I should. Damn it, this is going horribly already.
Hi, writer! I’m halfway through your book. It is excellent. I wish I could show you my expert credentials, so you’d find my praise meaningful. How about this: I’m enjoying it so much, I actually feel like the audacity to write to you this overly familiar message is allowable.
Sometimes I get overwhelmed with how good something is and I have to go to the internet and research stuff. Your blog has not been updated in 4 years. You bastard.
Sorry, sorry. I’m confusing the writer with the narrator again, which is not nice. Not nice at all. But you see, I’m trying to learn humility. It helps me overcome inertia, and vote in elections. Something to do with Newton and calculus, I’m not really sure, but somehow it means I’m contributing. So. Please add my tiny voice to all the others asking you to write more.
And if you can’t write more, or won’t, or if you have but it’s not for me to enjoy, well. Okay. Fine. Whatever. I only read your book because my Barnes & Noble e-reader suggested it. No, that’s a lie. I only started reading it because of that. You know why I kept reading. You know.
I’m going to go finish reading your book now. You know how it ends, so I guess you know if I’m going to write another letter, later, asking you delete this one.
If nothing else: thanks. Sincerely.
–Jason Edwards
Funny letter — I really enjoyed the book as well. Did he ever write back?
I don’t recall. I think he did. Or that might have been someone else. Once I wrote to this guy who did a lampoon of those cartoon learn-about-stuff books, and he wrote back. I may be confusing the two.
#@#$%^&*. Now I have to go try and find those cartoon learn-about-stuff books.
Which e-reader do you use?
Nook!
My friends and I just finished reading his book for our book club. I was surprised to find out that he never wrote a 2nd book (though I have read that he was almost done with a book in 2008/2009). I would love to know what he is doing now! If you have any idea, please pass it on!
Has Paul Neilan surfaced anywhere in the past few years? I loved the book and the guy just seemed to walk off the face of the Earth. As Jeff said there were rumours of a follow up 7 or 8 years ago does anyone know anything?