In this two-page typed draft of a letter to a family friend, Catherine, Cormier conveys sympathy to her and her family over the loss of her father. With at least a dozen pen edits, this copy clearly shows revisions. In it, he encourages her to…
In this brief letter, Cormier points to Tenderness as a reflection of rampant violence in the real world and expresses hope that even monsters like Eric Poole can be saved.
Cormier responds to the "In Brief" team's follow-up questions, He sees the challenges of honest storytelling as timeless; he describes his adolescence as normal with "pits and peaks"; and he finds it difficult to put into words his affinity for…
In this response to the interview questions from the "In Brief" team, Cormier discusses his love of words, the politically conservative climate, the horror of the commonplace, and his admiration of other writers, especially Graham Greene. The topics…
Cormier writes to a group of students in Newcastle, U.K., promising to answer their questions in a forthcoming email. Cormier recounts his brief visit to Newcastle and praises Waterstones Books' "In Brief" program.
In this one-page typed letter to Cormier, Robby shares his positive experience with reading the novel Heroes. The novel helped Robby deal with some intense emotions, especially anger, and made him grateful to have a caring family and a home to come…
This e-mail presents a series of interview questions to Cormier from the Waterstones "In Brief" team out of Newcastle. Questions cover several topics including Cormier's journalism experience, Frenchtown, adolescence, large institutions, controversy,…
In this e-mail, the "In Brief" team asks Cormier some follow-up interview questions after making their initial inquiries eight days earlier. They ask about modern challenges, Cormier's own adolescent baggage, and request further elaboration on his…
In this 2-page letter to Cormier, Mike, a student in Knoxville Tennessee, asks about Cormier's writing process and education, along with specific questions about Heroes and I Am the Cheese. Mike is especially interested in Cormier's inspirations and…
In this one-page letter, young reader Michael Antoniak identifies the theme of injustice in Cormier's work and asks the author if he experienced teasing and injustice as a child. He also notes the depressing tone of Cormier's endings. Handwritten in…
In this single-page typed letter, a teacher of Murdock Middle/High School introduces his school's short film adaptations of Tenderness and Heroes and extends an invitation for Cormier to visit since his books feature heavily in the senior curriculum.
In this 2-page letter to Cormier, middle-school student Lara praises Cormier's realistic and socially-relevant novels, and among other things thanks him for making her "less self-centered". She mentions the potential for all people to be bad people,…
This three-page typed letter was sent to Cormier by Kellee Rich, a sixteen-year-old student in England. After recounting her horrible experience with Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native, she thanks Cormier for inspiring her to write and tells the…
In this one page typed, Cormier's Bantam editor Karen Wojtyla confirms receipt of his revisions to Tenderness. She encourages Cormier on his progress with the novel and informs him of the timeline for bound and unbound galleys.
This five-page, single-spaced editorial letter concerning Tenderness from the editor, Karen Wojtyla (Bantam Doubleday Dell), constructively critiques the work in progress. She asks him to mention "monster" only sparingly, to reconsider how much…