Between the Chapters: Meet David A. Kelly

David is the author of the popular, best-selling “Ballpark Mysteries” series published by Random House

This was such an honor to get to interview author David A. Kelly. Not only is he an esteemed author of over 40 books, he is also one of my kids’ favorite authors. All three have read his “Ballpark Mysteries” series.

But what I also loved about this interview, and I suppose interviews in general, is that you feel like you actually get to know a person. For instance, we can now picture David picking up a coffee at Cumberland Farms before diving into writing for the day. This feels extra special in the age of AI, when, if we asked Gemini or ChatGPT about David, they could tell us how many copies of each book he has sold but not about his favorite book growing up, advice for parents or coffee preferences! Enjoy the full interview below:

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What is your favorite book that you’ve written so far?

My favorite book is probably my first Ballpark Mysteries book, The Fenway Foul-Up. It’s a Boston Red Sox mystery and it took me many revisions to get it right, because I was just learning how to write a mystery. But it brought together some Fenway Park history with a fun mystery and my readers seem to really enjoy it.

Do you have a favorite baseball stadium?

My favorite stadium is whatever one I’m working on right now! Which, today, is the Pittsburgh Pirates stadium. It’s actually located right in downtown Pittsburgh, with some great views of the nearby bridges and city. It has a great layout for fans, and some cool food areas.

But I’ve learned all the stadiums are fun to visit. They’re all so different that it’s fun to see the different types of fans, foods, and stadium areas like halls of fame or kids entertainment zones.

What was one of your favorite books growing up?

I loved the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries when I was growing up. They were short, fun, and challenging. I collected all the books in the series that I could find, and reread them even when I know the answers. I love how the solutions identified the clues that tipped Encyclopedia off to the criminal.

What are you reading now?

These days, I tend to read a lot of biographies or history books, with some occasional mysteries thrown in. I just finished a really good book called Moondust. It’s about the lives of the Apollo astronauts after they returned from the moon.

What reading skills do you think mysteries help with?

Mysteries are great for building reading skills because they encourage kids to pay attention. Readers have to notice details, remember clues, make predictions, and figure out what’s important. Best of all, mysteries give kids a reason to keep turning the pages—they want to find out if they can solve the mystery before the characters do!

In a world where reading is declining, how can kids still be encouraged to read?

It’s definitely tough—there’s so much competition for kids attention with screens these days. Whether it’s YouTube or Minecraft, kids have lots of amazing entertainment options, but unfortunately that translates to less reading time. That’s why I really feel that to get kids reading, you have to make reading enjoyable, instead of making it feel like an assignment.

A few ways to do that are: letting them read what they want (comics, graphic novels, sports books, etc.); connecting books to something they already love (if they love baseball, give them a baseball mystery!); give them books that create momentum (mysteries are good for this because the mystery gets them to turn the page); and connecting books to real life (such as visiting a ballpark after you’ve read a book about the ballpark).

What does a typical writing day look like for you?

It varies, but I usually don’t start writing until the afternoon. My mornings are filled with catching up on email, doing marketing, or handling projects. Usually after lunch I’ll sit down to write, and write until dinner. If it’s going really well, or I’m under a deadline, I’ll write after dinner. Unfortunately, I often end up writing (or editing) on the weekends because I ended doing too many other projects during the week.

What advice would you give to a child who wants to be an author?

My first piece of advice for a child who wants to become an author is to read. Reading all types of books is a great way to prepare to become an author. The second tip is, obviously, to write. If you don’t have a specific story in mind yourself, you can always take someone else’s book, like my Fenway Foul-Up Ballpark Mystery, and write an extra chapter. What happened to Mike and Kate after they solved their Red Sox mystery? Maybe extend the book with a new scene where Mike and Kate discover a mystery in Boston, outside the ballpark. Experiment with writing your own stories, or extending someone else’s, and then, last but not least, share you writing and get some feedback. A big part of my job as an author is to revise my work and make it clearer, shorter, and more fun to read. You can only do that by sharing your writing and getting feedback from new readers.

What are you writing next?

I’m just starting a Pittsburgh Pirates Ballpark Mysteries book. I’ve done the research, but need to sit down and try to create an outline and a solid idea of the mystery, clues, action, and resolution. Then I’ll draft it and revise it.

What qualities do you hope kids see in your main characters?

That’s a great question. I’d hope my readers see a bit more in my main characters Mike and Kate than the obvious: Mike loves food, and Kate loves to read. I would hope that readers would notice that they are both curious about the world around them and observant—they pay attention to their surroundings and use facts to draw conclusions. They’re also persistent. They often don’t solve the mystery right away, but have to try a few different approaches before they find the criminal. In addition, Mike and Kate work together well, showing the value of teamwork. They also have empathy—in order to solve some of the mysteries, they need to think like the perpetrators to understand what might have happened, or why someone did something. Lastly, I’d hope that readers see that my characters aren’t superheroes—they’re regular kids doing regular things.

What advice would you give to parents who say that their kids don’t like reading?

All kids can like reading if they have the right book and some incentives to help them read. Let your kids stay up an extra half an hour past their bedtime if they’re reading in bed. Work to find books about topics or teams that they love. Read together in bed. Or listen to audiobooks together. There are lots of ways to get kids hooked on reading when you try.

Do you like coffee or tea better?

Coffee! I usually start my day with a Dunkin coffee, or one from Cumberland Farms.

What’s one thing outside of writing that you do just for yourself?

I love to kayak and get outdoors when I’m not writing. I can’t say it really helps with the books, but it’s nice to relax and realize you’re part of a bigger, natural world that exists whether I finish my draft or not.  It’s important to find a few ways to smile each day, even when the work is hard.