NEWSLETTER #2 - February 1999

Hey Kids,

Thanks for signing up for my newletter. My last one went out in October so it seems I'll be writing to you about four times a year. These days the time I have for writing books can easily be swallowed up by answering e-mails and fan mail, picking up the phone, keeping in touch with friends. Right now it's really important that I be quiet and keep in touch with my characters.

I grew up in Washington, D.C. My father was a journalist. I had five brothers. You can see pictures of us in the biography page of my web site. (http://www.absolute-sway.com/winthrop/message.html) We didn't have a television until I was twelve years old, but we did have a big old house with lots of places to hide and we had a dark, musty smelling basement. My oldest brother was a genius with electronics and a chemistry set so we spent all our extra time down in the basement, mixing chemicals together and rigging up our own private telephone system. We mixed together chemicals that blew up, sometimes on purpose and sometimes by mistake. We dug a fourteen foot bomb shelter in our front yard. We ran our private telephone wires through the storm sewer system under the streets. These were wild and exciting and sometimes dangerous adventures. And they have given me a rich life to draw on when I come to write stories. I think if we had owned a television we would have sat inside and watched it all the time and I wouldn't have had as many stories to tell or as many memories to draw from. Once when I was visiting a school, a kid put up his hand and asked, "How do you hold on to the right memories?" I answered him this way: "You don't need to hold on to them. When the stories are ready to be told, you will remember them." At least, that's been true for me. And if you want to be a writer, then I think it will work for you too.

There have been some changes to my website and I hope you'll come visit. I have been collecting quotes about writing for the last fifteen years and you can read a new one of these each week on the site. We've updated the page on AS THE CROW FLIES, my picture book that deals with the problem of divorce. (http://www.absolute-sway.com/winthrop/crowflies.html) and there you will find new links.

I hope you'll the Castle Club and leave a message on the message board (http://www.absolute-sway.com/winthrop/phorum-3.4.8a). Tell me if there's something more you'd like to see on my website. I'm really enjoying reading your "reviews" of my books and seeing the art the CASTLE books have inspired.

And tell your friends to visit my web site and sign up for my newsletter at (http://www.absolute-sway.com/winthrop/archives.html).

Happy Spring!