Welcome to the Guestbook!

I’m always eager to read your comments about my books and stories, so please feel free to pitch in. Here are a few things for you to know:

1) I answer the messages here personally.

2) No message shows up here until I actually answer it to prevent spam and other inappropriate postings. So there will sometimes be a delay before your message posts, especially if I am traveling.

3) Teachers, a gentle request: Please do not have multiple children send me variants of the same message. A group email is much easier to respond to and not such a drain on my time. My thanks in advance for being alert to this.

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937 entries.
Kyle from Calgary, AB wrote on July 25, 2023
Hi Bruce,
In 1994 (I was in Grade 3) I bought a copy of My Teacher is an Alien at my school's used book sale for something like fifty cents. I read it twice or three times that year, I loved it so much. I remember being so enthralled with the concept you explored in that series that I read the sequels immediately, taking them out from the library as soon as they were available. At some point my parents must have bought me copies, because I just found them on a shelf at home and was flooded with wonderful childhood memories.
So now I'm reading them to my eight-year-old son, who is a total space and sci-fi junkie and is absolutely loving them! Thanks so much for giving the world this terrific and imaginative series, challenging us all to look to the stars and then look back at ourselves from an outside perspective. I'm certain your books helped shape the child I was to become the man and father I am today.
Many warm regards,

Kyle
Reply by Bruce Coville
Kyle -

Many thanks for this message. It delights me more than I can say to know you're sharing these books with your son. One of the best things about being around as long as I have is becoming a "two-generation writer"!

Reading to my kids was one of my favorite things to do when I was a young dad, so it absolutely delights me when I learn that some other dad is now doing that with my own books!

It also delights me to know that the books continued to hold such a place of fondness in your own memories! This: "challenging us all to look to the stars and then look back at ourselves from an outside perspective" is one of my favorite descriptions ever of what the series does!

All good wishes
Bruce Coville
Russ wrote on April 14, 2023
I've been re-reading some of your works, and I have to ask, given its use of the name "Nilbog" and the presence of a goblin seer named Flegmire... is the short story "The Stinky Princess" meant to be a prequel to "Goblins in the Castle" and "Goblins on the Prowl"?

Thanks in advance!
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Russ -
Thanks for the questions. I wasn't thinking in terms of a prequel when I wrote "The Stinky Princess," just that it was a story set in the same world as GOBLINS IN THE CASTLE. But now that you mention it, the story is definitely a prequel.
I have to say that it was one of the most fun stories to write that I have done!

All best
BC
Bill wrote on February 22, 2023
I remember reading a book or short story that I don't recall the title to. There was a witch granting a wish and and one of those wishes involved an unlimited credit card and a space adventure.

I think it was a sequel to another book or story.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Sorry, that doesn't ring a bell with me. It's certainly not one that I wrote! It is possible it was in one of the "Bruce Coville's Book of anthologies that I compiled back in the 1990's. But that was nearly thirty years ago and we used nearly 150 stories, so I don't have a solid recollection of all of them!
Lisa N from Vancouver, BC wrote on February 8, 2023
Dear Bruce,

I am one of the "OG" readers of your Unicorn Chronicles. I was 9 yrs old when the first book came out in 1994 and I was immediately captivated, re-reading it many times in the years that followed. I've written in your guestbook before and was so excited when you announced you finally had the rights to re-publish the books (since I never got a chance to read the 4th book due to Scholastic never publishing in paperback and letting the hardback go out of print). Though I am 37 yrs old now, I was so enchanted by my first and subsequent visits to Luster, that over the last few decades I would once in a while check on the status of this series. So today, I happened to check on whether the final books had been published, and - hooray!! What a treat to discover book 7 was published just in December! Now I suppose I'll wait for a box set or something, but I'm just so happy to finally be able to own the full series, and to finally read the ending of the saga (books 5-7 I believe, in the new split).

I'm sure it's apparent how much this series has meant to me. Thank you Bruce, for persevering through all these years, all the challenges of finishing the series, re-arranging them, and re-publishing! It is so worth it!

Much love, from your longtime fan,
Lisa N
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Lisa -
Thanks for this lovely message! Getting the whole series out in this new incarnation has been vastly more work than I anticipated . . . but it is also more satisfying to have the whole series finally available to everyone than I can express. It's lifted my heart to be discovering how many people still harbor a love for the Unicorns of Luster!

All good wishes,
BC
Christopher Sanders from Blue Ridge Summit, PA wrote on December 4, 2022
Mr. Coville,
I wanted to drop a note to thank you for sparking a generational love of dragons and goblins and mystery. I found your work long ago and it opened so much to me that I wouldn't be who I am today without. Many years later I've spent a few years reading those same gifts to my kids and watched them overjoyed with possibility. I've watched Igor live again and heard the snap of dragon wings. No reply necessary, just a quiet 'Thank you', Sir.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Christopher -
Ah, many thanks for this. I know you said "No reply necessary" but, really, this so delighted me that I had to take a moment to say Thanks!

BC
Ms. B's Third Grade from Los Angeles wrote on October 27, 2022
Dear Bruce Coville,

Our 3rd Grade Class read Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher and enjoyed it very much. We think that other kids will like it, too. Our class found it interesting that Tiamat and Jeremy had the same feelings at the same time because they were connected through pictures and thoughts.

And here are some of our favorite parts:

- We thought the poem in the dragon hatching instruction sheet was catchy. It was fascinating and heartwarming. We like how Tiamat and Jeremy were reconnected on All Hallow’s Eve.
- The scene where Tiamat messed up the dinner table was hilarious. We laughed when Mr.Thatcher got knocked head first into the mashed potato bowl.
- We also thought it was really funny when Tiamat gave Mr. Kravitz a hot foot.

We have a few questions for you:

- Are you planning to work on a Jeremy Thatcher series?
- Which book did you enjoy writing the most?
- What is your favorite part of writing a book?

Thank you for making awesome books for us to read!

Sincerely,
Ms. B’s 3rd Grade Class
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hello Ms. B and Class -

Thanks for your message. I'm delighted to know how much you enjoyed JEREMY THATCHER. To be honest, I wish I could write another book (and I've written over a hundred!) that would come together as beautifully as JEREMY did.

I do not have any plans to write a sequel - I think it's a book that should stand on it's own. However there IS a series about the Magic Shop itself. What makes it unusual is that each book is about a different kid.

As to which book I enjoyed writing the most . . . well, every book has times when it's flowing smoothly and fun to do, and other times when I feel like I am beating my head against a brick wall. Probably the one that was most fun all the way through was GOBLINS IN THE CASTLE.

My favorite part of writing a book is when the story really starts to come alive . . . sometimes it feels like instead of me writing the book I'm just writing down what happened, almost as if it's real. It's great when that happens!

Happy Reading . . . and Happy Halloween!

Your pal,
Bruce Coville
Karman from Seoul wrote on October 25, 2022
Hello Mr. Coville!
I've been such a huge fan since grade school. I remember reading your books and not wanting to put them down! Knowing we were in the same city was also a cool bonus (I currently live in Seoul, but was born and raised in Syracuse). I've been reading your books to my own kids now, and they love them just as much as I did back in the day. I used to purchase your books for my students as well. Reading your books was always a fun assignment. Just wanted to say hello and thank you for being such a big inspiration. Your books are one of the reasons I pursued teaching and writing as a career. Thank you!
Reply by Bruce Coville
Dear Karman -

Many thanks for this message all the way from Seoul. I had the good fortune to visit your city about a decade ago and found it fascinating.

I really love knowing that you are sharing my books with your kids. When I was a young father myself (a long time ago!) one of my greatest joys was reading to my kids. Knowing that now other fathers are using my books in the same way truly delights me. Please tell your kids I said hello!

All good wishes,
BC
Betsey S from Andover, MA (formerly Liverpool, NY) wrote on October 3, 2022
Hi, Mr Coville, Years ago my daughter enjoyed reading your books! Now that her kids are older (2nd, 1st & pre-school) we would like to introduce your books to them! One particular book was a mystery, which took place around attractions in Syracuse; i.e. Landmark Theatre, civic center & Hotel Syracuse. I’ve been trying to find the title but cannot think of it! My daughter was an 80’s child so I’m guessing the book might have been published late 80’s or early 90’s! Thank you in advance for your assistance & I’m looking forward to introduce your work to my grandchildren! Much appreciated.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Betsey -
The book you have in mind is THE GHOST IN THE THIRD ROW, the first of the three Nina Tanleven ghost mysteries. I have republished all three of them, and you can find them here on the website in both paperback and hardcover. We also recently did a full cast recording of the first book that is a lot of fun to listen to.
Delighted to know that you will be introducing the books to a new generation!

BC
Amanda from Rochester, NY wrote on September 29, 2022
Hi, Mr. Coville!

Back in the day (the 90s in this case) I read my copy of Into the Land of the Unicorns so much it eventually went to pieces. Never forgot the series and tracked down each of the new books as they came out to happily lose myself in Luster all over again. Glad to see that the reworked series includes ebooks so I can have my nostalgia reads in a less tangible but possibly more durable form. Can't replicate that Scholastic paper smell though.

You're one of the reasons I'm still into fantasy as a genre and always keep an eye out books with unicorns (or karkadann and qilin). I'm a bookseller now and every so often I field questions from teachers looking for your books to tempt their students into reading (or to read to them). Usually they read The Magic Shop books as kids and want to share the joy - Jennifer Murdley's Toad and Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher are the most frequently requested. The latter was also a book I read until the pages fell out and one of the reasons most of my childhood drawings were dragons.

Any plans to reprint Bruce Coville's Book of...Aliens, Ghosts, Magic, Monsters, Nightmares, Spine Tinglers, and their respective sequels? Thank Scholastic book fairs for all those being part of my childhood too. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and the various offshoots do well with kids today as do the reprints Goosebumps. I hit your stories and those at about the same age.

Hope this finds you well. Thanks for all the stories and keep being awesome!
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Amanda -

Many thanks for this lovely message (and apologies for taking so long to reply - been a rough month here).

I love knowing that you have such fond memories of my books. Being able to bring back the Unicorn Chronicles has been both a challenge and a joy. I am almost done with the revisions of the final volume, and hope to have it out before the end of the year.

Doing those Scholastic anthologies was a wonderful experience, and I am always impressed by how fondly people remember them. Alas, I think a reprint of any of them is unlikely, partly because we would have to do a whole new round of contracts for each story.

Speaking of that sort of spooky thing, may I wish you a Happy Halloween!

All best,
BC
Sara from Toledo, Ohio wrote on September 7, 2022
I loved your books growing up! Especially the My Teacher is an Alien Series. I can’t wait till my niece and nephew are older so I can start buying books for them.
Reply by Bruce Coville
Hi, Sara -

Thanks for this . . . I take enormous delight in knowing that my original readers are bringing in another generation! Thanks for remembering the stories.

BC