RUSH: We have Stephanie, from Olathe, Kansas, outside Kansas City and Stephanie great to have you. Thank you for waiting. I appreciate your patience.
CALLER: Hi, Rush.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: My question is, how did you come up with the names for Tommy and Cam in your Rush Revere book?
RUSH: Now, that, I’m curious, why are you interested in that, Stephanie?
CALLER: Well, I saw how you came up with Elizabeth and Liberty, Rush, and Freedom. I was just curious how you came up with Tommy and Cam.
RUSH: That is very shrewd of you. SheÂ’s 12 years old, by the way, folks. She’s a big fan the Rush Revere Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans series. Liberty is obvious. Elizabeth is obvious. Rush, obviously, is me. Cam is short for Cameron. And we chose those names because they remind us of people that we know. And —
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: The character Tommy, I mean, it just fits with that name, doesn’t it?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: I mean, you have to admit, he looks, he acts, he talks like a Tommy would talk, so it kind of works. Cam is short for Cameron, and it just reminded us of people that we know. And it’s anonymous, but it’s ways that we have acknowledged friends and that kind of thing. You know, we authors do things like that. We name characters after our friends so that they know but nobody else does. It’s just showing them a little respect and so forth. Would you want to be, Stephanie, a character in a future book?
CALLER: Sure.
RUSH: Yeah, yeah, Stephanie, I think we could have room for a Stephanie down the. ‘Cause these books we’re only in the beginning stages here. Got the third one coming out October 28th, Rush Revere and the American Revolution. Have you read the first two?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: Have you heard the audio versions of the first two? You probably haven’t, have you?
CALLER: No.
RUSH: Well, I want to send those two. Stephanie, I tell you what I’m gonna do ’cause your question is so good. If you will hold on when we finish here, and Mr. Snerdley, the nice man who answered your call will get — if your parents will permit, like to send you the new book when it comes out next week, and the audio versions. They’re read by me, so you’re guaranteed to like them. And a couple of other little goodies from our Rush Revere website that we like to send along as a little care package. Would that be okay?
CALLER: Okay, yeah.
RUSH: Okay, cool. So hang on. Mr. Snerdley will be back and on the phone here in mere moments and get your address, and we’ll have that stuff out to you hopefully next week. Book drops on Tuesday, Rush Revere and the American Revolution, October 28th. ItÂ’s gonna be big, we’re so excited about it. We can’t wait for this one.
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RUSH: Kevin, Downers Grove, Illinois. Great to have you. You’re gonna wrap it up today on Open Line Friday. Hi.
CALLER: Right. Resist we much dittos. Hey, Rush, I’ve got a 10-year-old daughter in the fourth grade, she’s diagnosed with ADHD, and up until two weeks ago, she never finished reading a chapter book on her own. I read her the first chapter of Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims; she loved it. Rush, she took the book and she finished it on her own in three days. She’d never done that before.
RUSH: Why do you think that is?
CALLER: It was so well written. Rush, she would not stop talking about it. I had to read it. It’s just the way it was written, it kept her attention and kept her wanting to read it more and more. We had to take it away from her at bedtime.
RUSH: How old is she.
CALLER: She’s 10 years old.
RUSH: Ten years old. This is incredible.
CALLER: I’ve never seen her take to something like that before, other than the cat she’s got.
RUSH: I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to say thank you. Because I know how important that can be.
CALLER: It is.
RUSH: Man, this just — look, Kevin, hang on, because we want to send her some stuff and I need your address to do that, and I really don’t have any more time, so thank you so much but don’t hang up.