A letter to the sun…

As part of our National Writing Day celebrations, we asked some of our friends to share fan mail letters to help them connect with the people/ objects/ things they are fans of. You can get involved and write your own fan mail by using our writing resource here.

First up, author (and Ministry of Stories’ Trustee) Piers Torday shares a fan mail letter he has been working on.

Dear Sun

My name is Piers, from London, aged 47, and I am a long term admirer of your work.

It is such a privilege when you come out to keep your fans in the  animal and plant kingdom sustained by your life giving rays.

Many of my friends are fans of your classic work ‘The Long British Summer’ and ‘Surprise Winter Sun’ – and who can forget ‘First Rays of Spring’ ?

It’s true that your latest hit ‘Never Ending Heat Wave’ was a bit intense and challenging for many.

But we still love you, Sun! Please don’t say that was your last tour! Come back and we will show you so much love, with our playing outside, walking, swimming and sunbathing.

(I would hate to see your rival Rain to go straight to Number 1 with “Summer Holiday Washout”…..)

Just saying!

Your fan

Piers

It’s not only humans who feel the need to connect, we also managed to get in touch with some monsters through Hoxton Street Monster Supplies’ Monster Postal Service. Pudding the Gremlin and Lapis the Mummy asked us to forward their letters by flying monkey.

Our volunteers are also getting involved to celebrate National Writing Day. Alice has been a Volunteer Writing Mentor for Ministry of Stories for seven years. She wanted to write to writers all around the world and in particular, the brilliant author Patrick Ness.

Dear Wonderful Writers All Around The World,

This is a huge thank you for making me who I am today. Without your words – your incredible stories, characters and settings – I would be a bit lost. But your books give me places to escape into and to learn more about the lives and feelings of others as well as understanding my own sense of self.

My name is Alice. I live and work in London and I have been a volunteer at the Ministry of Stories for years! The wonderful stories that young people create never fail to make me smile and to inspire me.

There is not the space to thank every single author who I have read over the past year, both published authors and young writers from the Ministry itself. I want to thank just one author who I cannot stop myself from reading and re-reading, who has made me laugh and cry and who always makes me think:

Patrick Ness

Thank you for creating the most incredible fantasy worlds. You give us adventures that we can truly get lost in –adventures that are not only wonderful fun but speak to us on a deeper level. This year, I have read The Rest of Us Just Live Here, and you captivated me with the character of Mike. He acknowledges his OCD and anxiety but is not shaped by it, and shows how the best heroes are well-rounded, complex characters, who may be fighting their own internal battles but still have the courage and care to fight for what’s right:

“Feelings don’t try to kill you, even the painful ones. Anxiety is a feeling grown too large. A feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You’re responsible for its consequences, you’re responsible for treating it. But…you’re not responsible for causing it. You’re not morally at fault for it.”

I also reread A Monster Calls. Again, what a wonderful fantasy novel! But on a deeper level, you show us the importance of our friends and family, and how important it is not to bottle up difficult feelings:

“Stories are important, the monster said. They can be more important than anything. If they carry the truth.” But… “Stories don’t always have happy endings… Stories were wild, wild animals and went off in directions you couldn’t expect.”

This year, we have seen that life – like stories – can go off in directions that we cannot control or expect. But, whilst we cannot control what the future holds, we can make sure to keep reading, keep imagining, and keep growing, approaching every day with bravery, empathy and creativity.

I cannot wait to keep reading your novels and seeing what you go on to write next!

Best wishes,

Alice

Feeling inspired? Write your own fan mail by following our instructions here. We would love to read them, so please feel free to share on Twitter.