We all do more good than we know

This is from an email I received yesterday. (I asked the mother for permission to quote her, and changed the son's name.)

"I am writing on behalf of my 7 year old son, James. He is absolutely obsessed with your books. Just to give you a little back story, James is in special education and at the end of last year was extremely behind in reading. Now thanks to your books he is well beyond his grade level in reading. Reading is now his favorite activity over any other, including video games, which is huge for him. When he's not immersed in one of your books he spends his days writing versions of your stories and adding onto your books."

There's more. I feel amazed that something I do for pleasure makes good things happen. And it's not just my books. It's all our books. If you've published a book, you've changed a life. You've touched someone. For me, the most amazing part is that my books seem to appeal to reluctant readers. I don't write down. I hit my readers with philosophy and physics. I use whatever word is necessary, regardless of syllable count. I just assume they'll rise to as high a level as is offered to them. (A couple months ago, I was discussing paradoxes with a group of 5th graders during lunch, and they had no trouble following examples taken from Bertrand Russell. I love seeing that moment of recognition, when they grasp the reasoning.) As for the appeal of my books to young James, there's no mystery or paradox. I can sum it up in a four-letter word: plot. Stuff happens. Interesting stuff. Weird stuff. Astounding stuff. Creepy stuff. Funny stuff. Stuff that keeps James reading. Stuff that keeps me writing.