Curiosity, Bam!

I’ve written six mysteries for kids, and curiosity is at the heart of every single one.  In fact, curiosity has shaped my life.  Curiosity is powerful.

What is it that’s so--I don’t know--energizing about tackling a problem or question that doesn’t yet have a solution or answer?  I’ve always noticed that kids sit up when asked what they really think about something that really needs some attention. At those moments, their brains are all there.  Maybe it’s a bit like what happens when your cat is staring off into space, clearly a little bored, and a bug skitters by.  Bam!  The cat is all eyes and ears, all action.  Every muscle in his body says, ‘Got it!  I can do this!  Crunch!’

Curiosity leads me to Chicago's Bean

As a kid, I loved the feeling of being curious, and invented mysterious situations out of my everyday world.  I read every mystery that I could get my hands on.  As a grownup, I still love reading a book that demands every ounce of my attention and makes me need to know what’s on the next page.  These are the stories I try to write. I want kids to share my love of being curious. Being curious can lead to a life of adventure and intrigue—a life in which you use your mind as a tool for digging.  Digging, sorting and finding.

I hope that after reading Pieces and Players kids will look around their world and say, ‘Bam!  I can do that!’  When I talk about the unsolved art heist that drove me to write this new book and the very real stolen art that keeps calling out to be rescued, kids get very excited.  Here is a problem that needs desperately to be solved.

Wouldn’t it be something if a reader of Pieces and Players were to run across one of the missing works of art? 

Curiosity is a driving force, and not to be underestimated.  Bam!