The Jaguar's Jewel (6 page)

“What's funny?” Josh asked.

Dink shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “Just my eyes playing tricks on me again.”

When I visit schools, one question I'm often asked is, “Where do you get your ideas for your books?”

The truth is, my ideas come from many places: reading, watching TV, talking with friends, daydreaming. I even get some of my ideas while I'm asleep! I dream a lot, and if a dream contains a great idea, I try to remember it and write it down when I wake up.

Readers like you also give me ideas. A girl in Florida suggested that I use a dog in my series, so now Josh has a basset hound. A boy in Maine sent me a list of words beginning with the letter J. From those words, I chose the title of this book,
The Jaguar's Jewel
.

Many writers write about things that interest them. I happen to be fascinated by animals and history. In
The Jaguar's Jewel
, I was able to combine the two. I also set the story in one of my favorite places to visit, New York City. A lot of what I write about the city is true, but other parts are pure fiction!

I hope you'll write me with some of your ideas for future books. Please visit my Web site at
www.ronroy.com
or send your letters to:

                                      

Collect clues with Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose in their next exciting adventure
,

THE KIDNAPPED KING

Dink tried not to panic. Sammi's parents had been kidnapped, and now Sammi himself had vanished!

Dink hurried back to Sammi's bedroom for one more look. He wasn't in the closet. Where else in the room could a kid hide?

“Any luck?” Dink's mother called from downstairs.

“No, I can't find him!” Dink yelled back.

Then he saw the yellow French book. A paper stuck out like a bookmark.

Dink could see his own name written on the paper, so he pulled it out of the book. Under his name, Dink read five neatly printed words: MY FATHER'S ENEMIES ARE HERE.