Influence
When I was in the third grade (roughly), I read “Into the Land of the Unicorns,” and absolutely loved it. (As an aside, I am actually straight. You may find those two facts difficult to combine, but I assure you they’re both true.) I actually loved that damn Unicorn book so much I wrote the author asking if he was going to write any more, because at the time it was advertised as book 1 of a series, but no sequel had been written in the two or three years since its publication. Much to my surprise, he (Bruce Coville) wrote me back.
He told me that he had many ideas for that fantasy world, and hoped to write more stories as soon as he could; he also told me he was obligated to write more “My teacher….” novels, and so was unsure when, if ever, these Unicorn books would be written.
To shorten a too-long story, I found myself daydreaming about that rather imaginative book today, and decided to see if he’d ever made any progress on the series. Much to my surprise, he had. It had taken seven years for the sequel to see the light of day, and several more for the third. I mean to read them soon enough, but regardless of how much I end up enjoying them, I can’t help but feel a little proud of their existence. And I hope other kids take the time to write their favorite authors, on the off chance that they might too, 14 years later, be pleasantly surprised at the manifestation of their childhood dreams.
