“Dreamers
become writers, and for me, being a published writer is a dream come true.”
– David A. Adler
A math teacher by training, Adler (born on this
date in 1947) got into writing because of a question from his 3-year-old nephew
about how a city becomes a city. He put
together the answer in story form – relayed to a young child by his Grandpa –
and in 1976 it became his first best seller, A Little at a Time. He followed with a series of math books,
drawing on his teaching experience, and in 1977 he created his most famous
character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of
the Stolen Diamonds. The Cam Jansen
mystery series for kids is now up over 50 titles.
All told, Adler has written more than 200 books
for kids and young adults, including last year’s award-winning sports novel Don’t Throw It To Mo and dozens of
biographies and historical books for kids.
He’s also co-authored several books with son Michael, fitting because it was while he was a stay-at-home dad with
Michael that he decided to leave teaching and become a full-time
writer.
“For my books of nonfiction I write
about subjects I personally find fascinating. I've been a Yankees and a Lou Gehrig fan for
decades, so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The
Luckiest Man. It's more the story of
his great courage than of his baseball playing,” Adler said. “Children face all sorts of challenges, and
it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig.”
His advice for writers? 
“In my office I have a sign that says, 'Don't
think. Just write!' and that's how I work,” Adler said. “I try not to worry about each word, or even
each sentence or paragraph. For me, stories evolve. Writing is a process.”
“In my office I have a sign that says, 'Don't
think. Just write!' and that's how I work,” Adler said. “I try not to worry about each word, or even
each sentence or paragraph. For me, stories evolve. Writing is a process.”
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