Category: Writing

I spend a lot of time on e-mail with odds and ends of writing business. Today I heard from a drama teacher in Texas who had students performing a skit I wrote called, “The Better to Stalk You With, My Dear.” She had a photocopy of the script but in order to qualify for a competition they were entering, she needed an original copy and couldn’t find where to purchase it.

I remembered writing something with that title but had no clue where it eventually got published. I looked at the indexes of all four of my drama books (published by Meriwether Publishing) and it wasn’t in any of them.

Years ago I published some skit kits and other short pieces with Contemporary Drama Service, a branch of Meriwether, so I went to their web site and did a search for my name. Several items popped up, including some collections of skits that did not specify what was included. My former editor’s son now runs the business so I forwarded the inquiry to him and he said he would look for that title.

He found it! It’s in a booklet called Comedy Duets #2, now available in digital form, so he emailed the teacher with information on how to order it. My best guess is that I wrote it in 1975.

It’s pretty bad when I’ve written so much material that I can’t even remember where specific pieces got published. On the other hand, I’m pleased to know that a script I wrote thirty-seven years ago is still selected by teens to perform today.

 

Please Do My Homework For Me

I sometimes get emails from kids who say they want to ask me a few questions, but it quickly becomes clear that they are trying to write a book report on a book they haven’t read.  Sample questions: Who is the protagonist? What is the main problem in this book? How many pages does it have?

This week I had a different kind of “I’ll get Peg to do my homework for me” letter. Here it is:

I’m doing a report on tornadoes and I know you wrote about them in Runaway Twin, so if you could answer these it would be greatly appreciated. What is a tornado? How do you protect your house from a tornado? Which area of the U.S. gets the most tornadoes? How long do tornadoes last? How deadly are they? What is the average temperature of the center? How do you track tornadoes?  Thank you!

My reply: If you do an Internet search for tornadoes, you should be able to find the answers to your questions.

 

 

My last name, Kehret, is pronounced “carrot,” and is not an easy name to spell. Even so, I am amazed by the variety of spellings that are used when readers write to me. One would think that a person who’s writing to an author would have a copy of one the author’s books and would see how the author spells her name.

This week alone, I’ve received letters where my name is spelled Kerhet, Kehere, Kayret, Kerhert, and Krehert.

The town where I get my mail, Wilkeson, Washington, is a challenge for spellers, too. The most common mistake is to add an “r” and call it Wilkerson, but I’ve also seen it spelled Willkeson, Wilkesone, Wilkesen, and Wilkersonn.

I’m glad I have an easy first name. So far, everybody’s spelled Peg correctly.