GREAT!  Get to work!  (And happy holidays.)

Hi, Montego!  Good eye, great questions.  1) I think Amy would run into Evan from time to time when she was in Attleboro visiting Grace.  2) Ha!  Maybe you’re right!

Hi, Nicolas.  This is a good question!  It's a little early in the planning stages, and Scholastic has not yet decided on this.

Hi, Truman!  Afraid I am obligated to invoke the No Spoilers rule, which sits ever patiently atop this page between red diamonds.  Sorry.  As for speculating about what I would (or might) think if I weren’t who I am and could somehow un-know what I already know — whew, just thinking about that makes me want to take a nap!

Good research!

Hi, Danielle!  You’re quite welcome, it was a great pleasure visiting you guys, and thank YOU for the nice comment.  I don’t ever remember NOT wanting to be an author.  I was a born storyteller, I think.  I was the oldest kid in my family, so I had to babysit and tutor all my siblings and cousins.  I entertained them by telling stories and doing funny imitations.  In general, I  liked writing a lot, but it was a story by Jack London called “To Build a Fire” that inspired me to try being an author for a living.  The tale took place in the Far North, with a man and a dog trying to stay alive in a blizzard.  Even though I was reading it on a hot day in August, this book made me shiver with cold!  The idea that Jack London could have made me feel something so deeply, just with his words, was powerful to me!  I started thinking about how cool it would be to do that same sort of thing for other people.

Hello, Skye!  Yup, I think acting and writing come from the same place, a great big desire to tell stories.  I guess my favorite part was Tony in WEST SIDE STORY.  He’s a scrappy Polish kid (it was a long time ago), who falls for a Puerto Rican girl and is drawn into a gang war.  Because he’s the lead guy, and the music was written by the legendary Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, the tunes are so amazing to sing.  And I got to be in some fight scenes and get killed in the end.  There’s nothing like your fellow actors carrying you offstage while you stay limp, listening to people cry in the audience.  (Something I promise I will never try doing at a school visit.)  But I also loved being in the Broadway tour of THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG.  Even though my part was small, I got to tour the country with some great people in a small cast.  And I got to play a toy piano onstage while wearing pajamas.

Hi, Nicole!  Thanks for the kind words about my presentation and my books.  I had such a fun time visiting your school!  No, I never saw the Russian president after that trip, but I will never forget the experience of meeting him.  I was in the musical theater for about eight years, including a Broadway musical and a lot of regional theater and summer theater.  If you click on the “About Peter” section above, you can read lots more info about that (and see some photos), especially the section titled “Life Upon the Wicked Stage.”  You have all my best wishes for a glorious career in writing, acting, or whatever else you decide to do!

Hello, Seth.  Yes, I am.  In fact, that detail is also in the biographical section of my website, in case you need anything more ...

Hi, Nicole!  I had a great time at your school today.  As for ideas, I get them in so many different places — from things that happen in life, conversations I hear, books and articles I read, even movies and plays I see.  I’ve written more than 160 books, and each one is packed with ideas from so many different places.  My second favorite book changes from day to day, and I wouldn’t want to name that book for fear of making it feel bad compared to the first favorite.  And I always think I can do better on all my books.  That’s one thing about being a writer: you’re never satisfied, and that just makes you get better and better.