A David Kelly: Interview, Skype Tour, and Giveaway

One of my favorite things about this time of year is attending baseball games. In fact, as soon as I finish this blog post I’m headed to my brother’s junior varsity game.

I really wish that books like David Kelly’s Ballpark Mysteries series existed when I was a kid. Way back when I was a kid Matt Christopher was the only author that wrote sports fiction that I knew.

I’m excited to be able to feature David on my blog today. He informed me that he wanted to get into some classrooms, via Skype, and talk with kids. If you are interested in his free Skype tour, please fill out the form below. I’ll be sure to get your information to David. Chances are you have some version of the type of kid that I was as a kid: sports, sports, and more sports. I’m sure that kid would love you forever if you let him and his classmates Skype with David.

Anyone that signs up to Skype with David will be entered in a drawing to win a complete set of David’s Ballpark Mystery series (9 books!) provided by Random House.

The Skype Tour sign up will close no later than May 20th.

Now it’s time for the interview. Today’s interview with David will be a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Interview.

INTERVIEW

Can you tell us a little bit about the Ballpark Mystery Series? (2)
The Ballpark Mysteries are mystery/adventure books set in baseball stadiums. Each Ballpark Mysteries book is set in a different major league ballpark and while it usually involves a baseball game, baseball is more of a backdrop to the action, adventure, and mystery that drive each story forward.

What is your favorite thing about being a writer?  (3)

Having readers, like six-year-old Jack, write fan letters to me about the books or my main characters, Mike and Kate. Jack wanted to know if Mike and Kate were real, and if so, could they come to his birthday party. He said if they could come, they wouldn’t even have to bring a present!

What’s the hardest thing about being a writer? (1)

Coming up with a good plot.

If you could spend one day inside the world of any book which book would you pick?  (5)
That’s easy. I’d spend a day with Jeff Crocker, Henry Mulligan and the rest of the Mad Scientist Club of Mammoth Falls, making a fake sea monster to sail on Strawberry Lake, racing in a hot air balloon race, restoring a mini-submarine, or just hanging out in their old-barn clubhouse. The club (and books) had a compelling mixture of technology, small-town life, and adventure that always drew me in. On the long, hot days of summer, after I finished cutting the grass, I’d reward myself with a glass of Hawaiian Punch and a chapter from one of the Mad Scientist Club books. It was easy to get lost imagining myself as part of their club, using science and the latest (back then) technologies like ham radios or remote controls to dream up nifty experiments, funny practical jokes, or cleaver solutions to problems.

What advice do you have for the young writers in my classroom?  (4)
Start at the end or middle of the story, if you need to, because it can be hard to start a story. Sometimes I start writing the first scene in a story that comes to mind, or I jump ahead to another chapter or part of the book if I get stuck. Once I have something written, I feel better and I can always come back and move parts of the story around or figure out how to fill in what I’m missing. The point is not to get stuck because you don’t know where to start.

Be sure to check out the official Ballpark Mysteries website.