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 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 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 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.
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 four-page letter to his editor, Craig Virden, Robert Cormier defends his decision to label Tenderness a YA novel even though it features some departures from the genre, including an older protagonist and a morally ambiguous main character in…
In this letter to Dana, presumably a young reader, Cormier writes about finding inspiration for his novels in the lives of his children. He also speaks to the timeless nature of emotions, especially those of adolescence.
In this short half-page letter, Cormier thanks Debra for choosing Tenderness as her senior thesis. He reveals that one inspiration for this character Lori came from a girl he knew whose life he pitied. He was also interested in the humanity of serial…
In this one-page typed reply to Judy's letter, Robert Cormier confirms that the quick pacing of Tenderness was deliberate. He mentions that he created the character of Lori well before beginning the actual novel. He concludes by praising Judy's…
Cormier writes to Julie in response to her four interview questions for a class project. It appears he enjoyed a friendship with her teacher, Ms. Hawks. Cormier discusses his childhood during the depression, his interests, and his motives for…
This two-page letter to Karen Wojtyla details his response to the copy editor's comments on Tenderness. The changes frequently address word choice, names, ages, and quote attributions.
This one-page letter from Cormier accompanied his revised Tenderness draft. He addresses the character shifts he made with Lori and Eric and expresses his gratitude for her comments and his contentment with the revised version of the novel.
In this letter to a student, Robert Cormier describes how his own emotions fuel his writing and how he must be emotionally invested in his characters. He also discusses World War II and his fictional town of Monument.
This is a two-page typed letter to Marilyn Marlow of Curtis Brown Ltd. Literary agency. Cormier discusses his difficulty in settling on an idea for his new novel. One novel on a woman looking to be a nun reads dated to him and another is overtly…
In this four-page letter (page 2 missing) to agent Marilyn Marlow, Cormier discusses at length his difficulties writing a new novel, as well as publication challenges for his finished novel The Rumple Country. He solicits her advice on a short story…