When Alex was about 14, he joined a cycling team and he’s been riding ever since. He was the only teenager on the team and he received tremendous amounts of encouragement and advice from his team-mates. They loved having him on board, not just because of his energy and drive, but because many of them had started riding at his age and seeing his enjoyment rekindled their own.

I felt this way myself when I did a couple of “Career Day” stints at an elementary school. I brought along some copies of my books and chatted with kids who were eight and nine about writing. I can still remember one boy asking me, “Do you use juicy adjectives?” I just loved that! Some teacher must have given him that tip — and I was glad to adopt it. Even now, when I’m writing, I’ll ask myself “Can I come up with something juicier here?”

That’s why it was so much fun to read A Servant’s Luck — a colorful, action-packed novella by Maggie, my neighbor and a gifted young writer. Maura, her mom — and dedicated transcriber! — passed a copy on to me. I spent a very enjoyable afternoon reading the story. It has a great title, great characters, lots of plot twists, fantasy, and an exotic Japanese locale — wow, was I impressed!

I brought Maggie a little gift — a flowered notebook — and wrote a card thanking her for letting me read her work. Then we sat down at her kitchen table and talked about writing. She showed me her journal, filled with pages and pages of her story, handwritten in different colored inks. What a thrill! I offered Maggie a few ideas and feedback. I hope I encouraged her as much as it did me to see her notebook rich with ideas, characters, and emotion. Write on, Maggie, write on!