Staff Report
Santa Ynez Valley resident Wendelin Van Draanen has made her way from disaster survivor to high school teacher to best-selling, multi-award-winning author of books that are sold internationally and have been produced as films, including the Warner Brothers feature film “Flipped” and the Nickelodeon made-for-TV movie “Shredderman Rules.”
She will host a signing session for her first nonfiction work, “Hope in the Mail, Reflections on Writing and Life,” from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, at the Book Loft, 1680 Mission Drive in Solvang.
Van Draanen, the daughter of immigrants, has live a life riddled with roadblocks and tragedy but her inspiring life story is testimony to the merits of hard work, persistence, and “keeping hope in the mail.”
She lived with her husband and two small children in a run-down rental in a rough part of town, keeping her dreams of a better future alive by sending her writing to New York publishers and agents. Week after week, year after year, she submitted her work, telling herself to “keep putting hope in the mail.”
It took 10 years for her persistence to pay off, and when it did, it launched the Sammy Keyes mystery series. Dubbed “the new Nancy Drew,” these books would grow to become a beloved award-winning 18-book series, read around the world.
Now, after more than 30 published novels, Van Draanen is telling her story and sharing her hard-won wisdom in her first nonfiction book.
Part memoir, part craft guide, and part publishing insight, “Hope in the Mail” is suitable for teen and adult audiences, especially those who want to write.
“The purpose of ‘Hope in the Mail,’” Van Draanen said, “is to help people find ways to pursue the things that really matter to them. Life and adult responsibilities tend to shove our creative pursuits to the back of the line. They don’t belong there.”
