Just got this sent to me by reader Wendy Tindall — and love this story.  Here’s to all the coaches out there.

From Wendy, who’s hero is Doug Messeck:

Doug has become someone that I am glad my sons look up to, and a man I can point to and tell my daughter—”find someone like him!”.  He has given them confidence in their abilities and strength in their character.  Very few men are able to convey such a no-nonsense attitude and still let the kids know they matter and are special!  Who is he……the little league coach I was lucky enough to have my kids play for.  Thanks Doug!

Okay, now that the tour has calmed and my family recognizes me again, I finally got a chance to upload all the photos from the Heroes For My Son book tour to our regular Brad Meltzer facebook page.

The gallery contains pics of tons of readers, my very first girlfriend, my first best friend …in Florida, and even the family of a high school friend who died too young. It just reminds me how lucky we are every day. And how many beautiful readers and friends I’m so lucky to be surrounded by. You are the real heroes.

Anyway, special thanks to Kodak for the use of the amazing M530 Easy Share camera. Gave me my true Kodak moments.

I’m breaking one of my rules. I never go out there and yell from the rooftops when we get on the bestseller list. And y’know why? Because being on a stupid list doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t make me a smarter, nicer, or better person. It just means my family bought a lot of books.

But.

Sometimes you need to say thank you. And I need to say thank you for this: When Heroes For My Son launched, it was seen as a small idealistic book. It didn’t have crazy orders. It was always the underdog. And the entire advertising budget for the book was…zero.

Zero dollars.

Not a single ad was bought. Not a single TV or radio or print ad ran. In fact, in the weeks before the launch, the entire imprint that bought the book was shut down. It was an orphan book.

But, as it was launched, it had one thing going for it: you. Yes, you — our family and friends and beloved readers who supported this little dream of a book. You came out, and supported it, and bought copies for Dads and Grandparents, and kids and new babies. And Kodak came in and believed in that dream. And so did all our friends in the media and in publishing, who have looked out for us since page one. And so did the people at Harper, who took it over.

And that was how the book with zero advertising dollars just made the number two spot on the New York Times bestseller list (which I just got the call about).

So as I finish the tour tonight in Michigan, thank you for believing in this little book — and in me. It is your love and support of the thrillers that let me do this book for my boys. And it’s why it was launched with so much love. And that love is the only damn way to explain anything in this world.

Love on all of you.

b

PS – Right after we got the news, look what we passed. No kidding.

This is how you welcome someone to Dallas. Never have I seen a bigger balder head on a stadium.

I’ll be at Borders tonight at 7:00 PM

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From All Things Considered (NPR) — me talking about Heroes For My Son.

It’s now less than twenty-four hours until Heroes For My Son is released into our wild cruel world. So in this quiet little moment, let me tell you the most important thing of all: thank you. Thank you for what you’ve always done for all of us. If it weren’t for you buying the other stuff, I don’t get to do this one. And this one is just so personal to me.

As I’ve said before and will say again, this isn’t a book to me. It’s a dream. More important, it’s my dream for my son — and it’s something I thought up on the very first night Jonas was born eight years ago. Is that schmaltzy? You better believe it is. But I want my son to learn that too. And I hope that whoever you give it to — Dad, Grandparents, Mom, teacher, or child — I hope they get the joy that I had building it.

In fact, to show you what I’m talking about, take a look at this, which answers the real question my son asked me (and also gives you the first peek at some of the heroes inside).

With less than a week to go until the release of Heroes For My Son, things are getting crazy here. But even with all that’s going on, nothing in my professional life has hit me as hard as putting together this video. Anyone with a mother will understand.

We usually go through a few drafts when we do a video. Here, we went through dozens of edits, tweaks, etc. This one had to be perfect. It’s for my Mom.

So yes, she’s in the book along with Jim Henson, Rosa Parks and Mr. Rogers.

Of course, feel free to forward to your own Mom. And happy Mother’s Day to all.

Okay, we’re officially 3 weeks away from the launch of Heroes For My Son.

As we do with every book, just want to know who wants to help by being part of our oh-so-glamorous Invisible Army (who every book saves our tushies like nobody’s business). If you’re up for it, please email me here or at bradmeltzer44 AT gmail.com with the message: “I’m in.” We’ll do the rest.

Love you like Milano cookies.

-b

Time to reveal a new hero from the book.

Of all the people I’ve been lucky enough to meet while researching Heroes For My Son, I think the greatest thrill was meeting Frank Shankwitz. In fact, just to share a little more, here’s the actual entry from the book:

It started with a boy named Chris.
Chris wanted to be a police officer.
The problem was he had leukemia. He was dying.

But when Chris met Officer Frank Shankwitz,
when he saw Shankwitz’s motorcyle,
when Shankwitz came to the boy’s home and created a toy-motorcycle riding test,
for just that day, Chris forgot about the leukemia eating away at his body.

Two days after the visit, Chris was in a coma.
Shankwitz came to the boy’s hospital room to present him with real “motorcycle wings.”
When he pinned them on the boy’s uniform, young Chris actually came out of the coma.
And smiled.

On the flight back from Chris’s funeral, Shankwitz had an idea.
What if he could somehow give that same joy to other kids like Chris…just for one day?
Right there, the Make-A-Wish foundation was born.

During the research phase, I had the honor of getting on the phone with Frank. He gave me fifty more reasons why he should be in this book alongside Eleanor Roosevelt and the bigshots. So in his honor, check out World Wish Day and help them celebrate the upcoming 30th anniversary of Chris’s first wish day.

Holy jeez. Never, in all my years of having an April first birthday, have I ever had a prank this good played on me (though when I used to sell classified ads and all my clients canceled their ads on the same day, leaving me broke, that was close).

So thanks to my wife Cori — and all my fellow creative pals — and all the sites that helped post it. Every damn one of them is a place (and person) I love to read. My wife knows me well — and it was nice to know that if she wanted to cheat on me, I clearly would have no idea.

Also, best part? My film agent who called and said, “I believed it.”. Thanks for the faith. To see the full prank:

• From my pal Whitney’s Pop Candy USA Today blog.
• From Publishers Weekly.
• From ComicBookResources.
• From IGN.
• From Newsarama.
• From ComicAlliance.
• And from the beautiful Geoff Boucher and the LA Times Hero Complex.

But most of all, thanks to all the family and friends who sent love. You know I don’t have “readers.” I have family and friends. Always have. That’s the ONLY reason I get to still do this and on a day like my birthday — when I usually get all sappy and sad — thanks for making me feel so blessed. I never ever forget you’re there. Ever.

If I could buy each of you something expensive — like a first-class Bar Mitzvah — I would.

xoxo

B