About David A. Kelly
David A. Kelly is the author of more than 40 books for young readers, including the bestselling Ballpark Mysteries series from Random House and the Football Mysteries series. His books combine mystery, adventure, sports, and real-world settings to create fast-paced stories designed to keep kids turning the pages.
His Ballpark Mysteries follow cousins Mike and Kate as they solve mysteries at Major League Baseball stadiums across the country. David is also the author of the MVP (Most Valuable Players) series, Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse, and the picture books Tee Time on the Moon and Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne and the Secret Mud That Changed Baseball.
Over the past 15 years, David has sold nearly two million children’s books. He regularly visits elementary schools and libraries, where he talks with students about writing, mysteries, sports, and one of the most important parts of being an author: revising!
David lives near Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife, Alice.
How I Became an Author
I didn’t start out planning to be a children’s book author.
I grew up in New Hartford, New York, where my father ran a lumberyard. During the summers, I helped customers pick out boards and building supplies, swept up sawdust, and sometimes went along on deliveries.
Eventually, I decided I needed a change.
I tried helping a friend deliver newspapers, but getting up at 5:45 in the morning was way too early for me! One summer I worked as a busboy at a cowboy restaurant, where I got to wear a cowboy hat, cowboy shirt, and cowboy boots. It was hard work, but at the end of the night I could dig into a big bucket of chips and salsa, which wasn’t bad.
Later, I went to Syracuse University and studied computer science. I loved computers and eventually moved to the Boston area, where I worked for technology companies writing software and managing products. I later earned an MBA in marketing and started writing about technology for work.
But I wanted to try a different kind of writing, too.
I began writing travel articles on the side. It took a lot of work—and MANY rewrites—but eventually the Boston Globe published a travel story I’d written about Bermuda. I went on to write about travel and technology for newspapers including the Boston Globe and New York Times.
Then my wife, Alice, and I had two sons, Steven and Scott.
I spent a lot of time reading books to them and playing sports with them. They particularly liked baseball—although I think that was partly because Alice would let them stay up an extra half hour if they were watching a Red Sox game!
As Steven and Scott got older, I noticed something. They liked sports and they liked mysteries, but it was hard to find books that combined the two.
So I decided to try writing one myself.
It didn’t go very well.
My first stories were awful! They were too hard for kids to read. They didn’t have enough action. The words were too big. And, worst of all, they weren’t very interesting.
But I kept trying.
I rewrote the stories. Then I rewrote them again. I asked other people for advice. I took a class in writing children’s books. And I kept working at it.
After several years, an editor at Random House Children’s Books became interested in one of my stories. Even then, the book wasn’t finished. I spent another two years revising and improving it before Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse was finally published.
A couple of years later, the first Ballpark Mysteries books came out.
I’ve been writing mysteries and adventures for kids ever since.
And I still do a lot of rewriting.
A Few Fun Facts About Me
I grew up in upstate New York but have lived in the Boston area for many years.
Before becoming a children’s author, I wrote computer software, worked in technology and marketing, and wrote travel stories for newspapers.
I got the idea for writing sports mysteries after reading with my two sons, who loved both sports and mysteries.
I’m a big baseball fan, and I’ve visited ballparks around the country while researching the Ballpark Mysteries.
I love visiting schools and talking with kids about books, mysteries, writing—and how authors don’t usually get a story right the first time.
Some of my favorite research involves going to ballparks, football stadiums, museums, and other interesting places and figuring out how to turn something real into a mystery.
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