The Disco Mermaids (Robin M. - Jay A. - Eve P.)

Find Us Fast!

2009-02-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

Quick links to our new individual blog addresses...

Jay Asher: www.jayasher.blogspot.com

Robin Mellom: www.robinmellom.blogspot.com

Eve Porinchak: www.eveporinchak.blogspot.com

...And It Was Good

2008-12-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Jump the Shark: A term to describe a moment when something that was once great has reached a point where it will now decline in quality. Origin of this phrase comes from a Happy Days episode where the Fonz jumped a shark on water-skis. Thus was labeled the lowest point of the show.

About three years ago, we put up our first post, describing this blog as an experiment. We immediately followed that with a Christmas-themed parody called The Twelve Form Rejections, which we’ve made an annual tradition on this site. Each time we come back to that tradition, it feels like we’ve come full-circle. In fact, we’ve come full-circle three times now, making the Disco Mermaids blog an official three-ring circus.

Like many experiments conducted by mad scientists, the results were beyond our anticipation. Here’s a brief list of things we never expected:

- The Newbery Jewels, our spoof on the Newbery Award’s scrotum controversy regarding The Higher Power of Lucky, led to a vague reference of us in Susan Patron’s Newbery acceptance speech…as well as a not-so-vague e-mail from lawyers for the American Library Association.

- The dePaola Code, our Tomie dePaola meets The DaVinci Code spoof, wound up being featured on Mr. dePaola’s own website.

- Jay was named one of the Hot Men of Children’s Literature even before he sold a book. (Hmm… Was that meant as a spoof, as well?)

- Robin was approached by, and acquired, a literary agent because of the writing style of her posts.

- Eve had a post reprinted in a book about writing.

- Some amazing logos were designed for us (scroll down and watch the right-hand column to see them all).

- We spoke at the national SCBWI conference in a workshop for bloggers, hosted by the always gracious Lisa Yee.

- We found ourselves illustrated in a picture book.

- We shared the joy and tears of selling a first book.

For us, this blog has been a wonderful way to document our struggles and successes as writers, and to meet so many wonderful people (both writers and readers). And while it’s dorsal fin hasn’t appeared yet, we know there’s a shark out there somewhere. So we’ve decided to jump off our water-skis, shake our Mermaid tails, and swim back to shore.

The Disco Mermaid experiment was a definite success.

When we get back to shore, we’re immediately trading our tails in for wings and flying independently into the blogosphere, thus beginning three new experiments. We consider these three new blogs like spin-offs, just like Happy Days spawned Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and…Joanie Loves Chachi?

Robin, Jay, Eve: Not it!

This blog will remain up because we already know we’ll want to come back to it often for nostalgia’s sake. But you can follow us into the future at…

Robin: www.robinmellom.blogspot.com
Jay: www.jayasher.blogspot.com
Eve: www.eveporinchak.blogspot.com

Lots of love,
Your Disco Mermaids

All I Don't Want For Christmas...

2008-12-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

(This is a repost of the conclusion to a 13-part series which jumpstarted our blog three years ago.)

THE TWELVE FORM REJECTIONS
(inspired by The Twelve Days of Christmas)

In my twelfth form rejection, the letter said to me:
Dear Author/Illustrator,
regarding (CAPS & BOLDFACE TITLE),
thanks for your submission,
we're so glad you thought of our house,
we're proud of ev'ry book we publish,
see Writer's Market for our guidelines,
due to the number of submissions,
we can't give personal suggestions,
though we strive for quick responses,
after careful consideration,
good luck in the future,
but this story doesn't fit our current needs.

So I cried for just a minute, and then
(surging with ambition)
tucked a self-addressed-stamped-envelope
into my next submission.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

from your

Disco Mermaids

Reading About Writers -- Jay

2008-12-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since the Reading Bug bit me…and I blame the public library! Until recently, I worked full-time at a library. Surrounded by more books than I could ever read, I regularly took home more books than I could ever read. I’d skim through a few pages of whichever book piqued my interest at that moment, then put it down and maybe pick up another, hardly ever finishing two chapters of any book before it was due back.

Over time, I forgot how wonderful it is to get absolutely lost in a single book!

Now that I’m more selective about which books I begin, I realized the other day that I’m about to finish my third book this month. (I know, some of you read three books in three days. Good for you!) And then I realized, all three of these books are non-fiction titles dealing with authors and why…or how…they write what they write.

Author Unknown: tales of a literary detective by Don Foster makes it clear that “since no two people use language in precisely the same way, our identities are encoded in our own language, in a kind of literary DNA.” Mr. Foster first proved that theory with his work on a newly discovered poem by William Shakespeare…if that is who wrote it! Using the same literary forensics, he made headlines when he unmasked the anonymous writer of Primary Colors. But my favorite chapter deals with the true identity of the man who originally wrote the words ’Twas the night before Christmas… Did Clement C. Moore come up with that poem, as we’ve been told, or was it a man named Major Henry Livingston, Jr.? You absolutely must grab this book for that chapter alone. (Ever heard of Santa’s reindeer, Dunder and Blixem? Probably not. But you should’ve!)

The Man Who Invented Christmas: how Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol rescued his career and revived our holiday spirits by Les Standiford is a great book to pick up for the holidays. Not only does it tell some interesting history about a classic story and the man who wrote it (and there is no doubt that Mr. Dickens wrote it!), it’s a fascinating look at the evolution of how we experience the Christmas season.

Grant and Twain: the story of a friendship that changed America by Mark Perry was not one I expected to enjoy, but I’m over halfway through it and I’m trying to slow down my reading (yes, even slower than it already is!) so I can enjoy it for a few days more. It’s a book about history, literature, and the friendship of Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain. Twain influenced Grant to write his memoirs before he lost his fight with cancer. Those memoirs are now considered classics of American non-fiction. At the same time, Twain was trying to figure out what should happen in the last half of his book about a boy named Huck.

So what do I plan to read next? Well, for Christmas I asked someone to get me The Annotated Christmas Carol so I can dig even deeper into that book. And I just bought the personal memoirs of U.S. Grant, which is over a thousand pages long…so I think I’m set for a while.

- Jay

My Writing Holiday Gift—Robin

2008-12-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

Today we had our annual Children’s Writers Holiday Luncheon and book exchange. It’s always a blast to catch up with our local writer friends and then watch their mouths drop when you steal a book from them during the gift exchange. Ha! Just trying to keep it interesting, y’all!

Last year, I walked away with my own copy of Twilight. Which turned out to be a new favorite of mine. So I’m hoping this year’s book will turn out to be another.

I have (ahem, stole…sorry, Yvonne!) a copy of What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell. Just the cover art and back flap got me excited to read it. Here’s a review from Publisher’s Weekly. Anyone else hearing buzz about this book? Can’t wait to dig in!

Review
Blundell, author of Star Wars novelizations, turns out a taut, noirish mystery/coming-of-age story set in 1947; it's easy to picture it as a film starring Lana Turner, who is mentioned in these pages. When first met, 15-year-old Evie and her best friend are buying chocolate cigarettes to practice smoking. Evie sheds that innocence on a trip to Florida, where her stepfather, Joe, back from the war in Europe, abruptly takes her and her beautiful mother, Beverly, and where Evie falls in love with glamorous Peter, an army buddy whom Joe is none too happy to see. But after a boating accident results in a suspicious death and an inquest, Evie is forced to revisit her romance with Peter and her relationships with Joe and her mother, and to consider that her assumptions about all three may have been wrong from the beginning. Blundell throws Evie's inexperience into high relief with slangy, retro dialogue: Peter calls Evie pussycat ; Beverly says her first husband kicked through love like it was dust and he kept on walking. Readers can taste Evie's alienation and her yearning; it's a stylish, addictive brew. --Publisher's Weekly

My Theory -- Eve

2008-12-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

The question I get asked most often these days by non-writers is "How did Stephanie Meyer do it?" Of course, if I knew the key to exactly why Twilight became such an epic phenomenon, I'd be Stephanie Meyer-rich by now. But I do have my theory. I saw Bruce Coville give a speech once on why Harry Potter became Harry Potter, and his thoughts were brilliant. It was something like: orphan+average boy+magic+fantasy world+adventure+world is at stake = winner.

I cannot claim to have the brilliance of Bruce Coville, but I can jot down my ideas on this here blog and see if anybody agrees with me!

First, Twilight is the classic "longing for the love that can never be," but with a genius twist. The love could easily be changed into eternal love by only one method...killing Edward's one true love and turning her into a monster. The same monster Edward has been hating in himself for 100 years! So we, the audience, want them to be together so badly, but experience constant conflict and tension because we know what it would take.

Second, Edward is perfection personified. He is smart, worldly, musical, athletic, sensitive, mysterious, funny, protective, loyal, generous, a little dangerous and it-almost-hurts-to-look-at-him gorgeous. Girls want to marry him. Boys want to be him. He's the ultimate. Who wouldn't want to spend a few hours with the world's most awesome guy? Of course, he is anything but boring because he also has the biggest flaw in the universe...he's an undead murderer and deep down he yearns to kill you!

Third, Bella is the every-girl. Truly, there is nothing extraordinary about her. She is plain looking (at least in the book), not athletic, nice enough, of normal intelligence. She is so very average. She could be us. We could be her! So, we the readers can easily put ourselves in her shoes and "live" Bella's story. Which means we, too, could capture Edward's heart!

Take the perfect guy, the normal, average girl, the impossible love story, combine with a little magic and fantasy, toss in a tiny bit of violence and adventure, but keep everything "real" in terms of high school issues, friendships and hardships, and you've got yourself a winner.

I think the most appealing thing about Twilight is that it taps into our romantic ideal of true love. I don't care who you are, if you have two X chromosomes, you've fantasized about that one perfect soul mate at some point in your development. And in our dreams, that one perfect soul mate loves us unconditionally. He would do anything to keep us safe and make us feel loved and happy. He is gorgeous inside and out. He has nothing but interesting thoughts and hobbies and things to chat about. He listens to us. And he truly believes that we are the best thing that has ever happened to him. Oh, if only we could be that lucky!

Yep, I totally get why Twilight is such a phenomenon. Just wish I had the brains to concoct the new recipe for the next big thing!

- Eve

Bloggers, Listen Up! -- Jay

2008-12-12T00:04:00.000-08:00

This past week, two posts from my past (PFMPs) were brought back to life. And while both situations were good, let this serve as a reminder that blog posts are forever. (Or at least until you delete them. But even then…)

PFMP #1: Razorbill asked if I would give an author blurb for the paperback version of Robin Benway’s Audrey, Wait! As you may remember, I love that book. In fact, all three Mermaids love that book. And last August, we wanted the world to know it! But we didn’t want to break our no-book-review status, so we decided to each give Audrey a few blurbs. (Y’know, pretending like we’d actually been asked.)

But Razorbill didn’t want me to write a new blurb, they wanted to use one of the blurbs I’d already written. Now, writing blurbs is very hard. You’re trying to convince someone, with as few words as possible, that they should spend some quality time reading this thing. You’re also trying to make the author feel really good because you, as another author, appreciate what they accomplished. Diff-i-cult!

Thankfully, that PFMP saved me several hours this week.

PFMP #2: Thirteen Reasons Why made this week’s Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers list. Aside from just listing the top fifteen bestsellers, PW also picks a few of the books to highlight with a little extra wordage and a photo. This time, they chose The Maze of Bones (in The 39 Clues series), The Book Thief, and Thirteen Reasons Why. In their report on my book, they included a line from my two-year-and-two-month old post where I described speaking on the phone with the three editors interested in my novel. “I came away with the impression that children’s book editors are some of the coolest people in the world.”

The coolest? In the world? Yes, I still believe that. But if I knew PW was only going to use that one sentence, I probably would’ve spent a little more time crafting it. I mean, is that the best I could come up with? The coolest people in the world??? It sounds like when I was eight and used to say, “Pizza is my most favoritest thing on the entire planet!”

Well, I guess I’ll forgive myself. It was only the most awesome day. Of. My. LIFE!!!

- Jay

From Publisher's Weekly:
On the blog he shares with two other writers, Jay Asher posted a blow-by-blow account of the auction for his first novel, Thirteen Reasons Why. He said he found the process nervewracking but exhilerating. Three houses were in the running, and he spoke with all three interested editors by phone. "I came away with the impression that children's book editors are some of the coolest people in the world," he said. Razorbill won the auction, and Thirteen Reasons Why came out in October 2007. The book--which covers the issue of teen bullying and suicide--is still selling very strongly; 200,000 copies are now in print. Asher is at work on his second novel, also for Razorbill.

It's That Time of Year -- Robin

2008-12-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Yep, it’s that time again. Time for mistletoe and holly and candy canes. But when you’re a parent, it’s also time for…the questions.

Usually the questions come in groups of two or three and the answers are simple and we can move on quickly to eating our candy canes. But this year, my son is six-and-a-half, so the questions came fast and furious. And I was completely unprepared…

• Will Santa visit our house this year?
• And Uncle Buddy’s house, too?
• Even Georgia?
• How does he visit everyone’s house in one night?
• Is he magic?
• Was he always magic?
• Was he born magic?
• Does Santa have a mommy and a daddy?
• Does Santa have brothers and sisters?
• Is Santa married?
• Do they have kids?
• Why not?
• Why don’t they just have their own kids?
• Was Santa born from his mommy’s tummy?
• Right after Santa was born from his mommy’s tummy, what did she do?
• Why?
• But why?
• But…but why do we need to go to church more often now?
• Oh.
• Can I have some juice?

So I feel bad saying this, but I’m a little concerned about Easter now. (And if anyone out there knows what Santa’s mommy did right after he was born from her tummy, please let me know. I’m at a loss here!!!)

- Robin

A Mermaid Welcome

2008-12-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Our blog has been getting a lot of new visitors recently. Many of you are finding us through the recently updated Thirteen Reasons Why website. Now, before you go scrolling and clicking around…be careful. If you don’t pay attention, you might leave here thinking Jay has a severe multiple-personality disorder. And that’s not true. At least, it hasn’t been confirmed. There are two other authors (hopefully, soon-to-be-published authors) blogging on this site with Jay. Robin and Eve! So check 'em out while you're here.

And for those of you who stumbled upon us while looking for info on a li’l something going on in Iowa…welcome! It's come to our attention that the newspaper made things out to be a little calmer than they actually were. So we wanted to take a moment and say thank you to the students, teachers, and librarians who stood up to defend something much more important than this one book. As well, thank you for taking the time to remind people about context. Context is fairly important. Oddly enough, this ruckus caused so many people in Des Moines to buy Thirteen Reasons Why, it helped raise the book another notch to number 9 on the New York Times bestsellers list. So thanks for that, too!

Not by the hair... -- Jay

2008-12-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

It's all about timing.

My chin has been covered up by either a goatee or a beard for nine years and I was beginning to miss that patch o' skin. But when you're an obsessive person, you think about way too many details before you do anything drastic. For example, what if I make a book-related appearance and no one recognizes me because I don't look like my author photo? (I know, I know, it's just a few square-inches of hair. It's not like I used a photo from twenty years ago...like some people!) Or what if eight years without sunlight makes it look like I painted my chin with Wite-Out?

So I put it off till there was a big gap between scheduled book events.

A couple Sundays ago, I sat on a panel with author Ron Koertge to discuss intellectual freedom and censorship in front of an audience of California teachers and librarians. The basic idea we were trying to get across is that censorship $%@&in' sucks! The next day I did my second book signing at Vroman's Bookstore. But this time, I teamed up with Jordanna Fraiberg, a fellow Razorbill author. Her debut teen novel, In Your Room, is a very fun and well-written love story that you absolutely must check out. For more info and pics of that event (including the last known photo of my pre-exposed chin), check out the blogs of Paula Yoo and Lisa Yee.

With those two bookish events concluded, my calendar was free till the end of January...which is plenty of time to cover my chin again if needed.

So my only other concern before shaving was whether or not the color of my chin would match the skin nearby it. And since the vampire look is in right now, no one seemed to notice when I let my never-very-present-anyway tan fade away from the rest of my face.

So out came the clippers and the razor.

And now, introducing, for the first time in nearly a decade...my chin!

- Jay

A Mellom Feast -- Robin

2008-11-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving I put my vegan ways behind me for a day and chowed down on some turkey. I know…shame, shame. And the turkeys thought they’d be safe from me this year. Nope! They get as nervous around me as they do just before a Sarah Palin interview.

Mom and I cooked up dinner for ten and all I kept thinking was, “Please, please let there be enough chairs.” To accommodate, my mom sat in my faux leather computer chair (I even let her adjust the height).

While we cooked, my son took on the job of decorating the table with anything he could find in the driveway. Turned out kinda cute!

Then I helped my son scoop up some of that previously nervous turkey. But by this point the turkey was very calm. (Oh, and dead.)

In the kitchen with Mom. Love her!

And here’s our annual Thanksgiving family portrait and, as usual, it’s without my husband since he’s always on the other side of the camera.

counter-clockwise:
Mom, Dad, Luke, Uncle Buddy, and his partner Martin

Hope you all had a turkey-filled thanksgiving. I’m now back to a life of lentils and tofu. Can’t wait till next year!

Wait…isn’t Christmas supposed to be a time to celebrate the wonders of ham!?

- Robin

Giving Thanks -- Eve

2008-11-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

The other day I read a funny article by Stephen King where he described all the things he was and was not thankful for this last year. It got me thinking about my "Thankful For" and "Not Thankful For" lists I've had over the years.

When my sister and I were kids, our family spent every Thanksgiving with the "Sycamore Street" neighbors. We were lucky to have a block full of kids my age and young parents who were all best friends. Every year, after hopping through potato sack races and watching the Twilight Zone marathon and overdosing on Tryptophan, we'd go around the table and discuss what we were each thankful for. When I was 4 years old, I chatted nonstop about how thankful I was for my big wheel. When I turned 13, I gave thanks for Duran Duran. At age 18, I was thankful for light beer and all-you-can-eat dorm food.

As my sister and I sit here this Thanksgiving week and reminisce about all the holidays past and thanks we've given, we marvel at how much we have to be thankful for now that we're all grown up.

Amy and I agree that this year we are very thankful for:

our wonderful family
health
good friends
eternal support of the Disco Mermaids
frequent flyer miles
puppies
South Park
sweat suits
Christian Bale
caffeine
Ugg boots
plumping lip gloss
polar fleece
satellite radio
gummy fish
Dave Eggers books
Judd Apatow movies
Reno 911
tampons
heated car seats
electrolysis
intact memories
Excedrin

Things we are not particularly thankful for:

aging
veal
that bailiff dude who thinks Amy looks like Celine Dion

Tonight when we asked my 9-year-old nephew what he is thankful for, he had to think for a long time. Finally, J.B. decided he is thankful for:

family
food
fun

He added, "That pretty much covers everything!" Then he said, "But you should know I am not thankful for shots, needles, or leeches!"

For the most part I agreed with him. Until I remembered that shots, needles, and leeches are the exact things that enable Demi Moore to defy the aging process. I think I'll add those three to my "Thankful For" list.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!

Eve

Mermaids at Twilight

2008-11-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

EVE:
Wow! I loved the movie even more than I had expected to (Edward Cullen is the hottest thing I've ever seen onscreen). Most people believe books are better than their movies. However, I usually have the opposite feeling. I'm a very visual person with a short attention span, so watching the story unfold onscreen in front of me often makes for more satisfying entertainment (and watching Robert Pattinson saunter his sexy self around for two hours makes for a lovely afternoon).

The movie did leave out a lot of scenes and became sort of a glossed over, Reader's Digest version of the novel. But if the movie-makers had crammed all 498 pages into a film, it would end up being 6 hours long (although, now that I think on it, 6 hours of staring at that perfect pale face and those luscious lips couldn't be all that bad).

The coolest thing to me was how well the characters were cast. Everyone looked almost exactly how I had pictured him/her. And, although Kristen Stewart was a little bland as Bella, she did capture her 16-year-old insecure yet idealistic persona. The acting was great. Not too melodramatic, but not too mellow either. The setting was perfect. And, yes, the "romantic tension" between Bella and Edward was palpable and anxiety provoking. Funny...I just realized that they only kissed one time onscreen. Amazing how the tiniest moments and slightest touches can be so romantic. I have to add that Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen was the most beautiful work of art I've seen onscreen since Brad Pitt trotted his way through Legends of the Fall. And did I mention how gorgeous Edward Cullen was?

Huge thumbs up for me!

ROBIN:
I liked the movie. I did. I had a bit of a different reaction from Eve, in that I came away thinking, "Wow. The book was sooo much better." Which is a good thing. It tells me the book was more in-depth and I had a more emotional connection with the words than with the visuals. That's pretty cool! (I had the same reaction to The Prince of Tides.)

I would have to say there are things I wanted *more* of and things I wanted *less* of...

I wanted more of Bella's inner-thoughts so we could understand her motivations more.

I wanted less make-up. I mean, sheesh, just make them regular pale...not E.T.-dying-in-the-river pale. And not all of the family members were made up like that. Only Edward, Jasper, and Mr. Cullen. The others all looked normal. Weird!

I wanted more music. I heard the soundtrack rocks and I wish I had heard more.

I wanted less of Jay saying, "What!?!?" every time Eve and I squirmed when Edward came onscreen. Really, Jay. Just give us our girl-time!

I wanted more of Mr. Cullen's back-story. I found that part fascinating in the book--why he is the way he is and how they came to be a family of "vegetarian" vampires. And how he is a doctor and why he chooses to be one. I thought that was one of the best parts of the book.

I wanted more of Bella and Edward. Can you believe that!? I don't think they could've actually shot more scenes with them, but their relationship was so dripping with emotion and, you know...lust…that it was so much fun to watch.

And my only regret? Not seeing the midnight showing. (Sorry, Jay!) We saw it in the middle of the day on a school day and there were no teenagers in the crowd. It was a quiet group. I really wish I could've heard a bunch of girls swooning at all the right spots. Because that's what Twilight is all about...swooning and all-around fun.

I give it 3 out of 5 fangs, baby!

JAY:
It’s funny how we all had different experiences at the same movie. Sitting by Robin and Eve, it sounded like the audience was packed with swooning girls. Packed! Of the three Mermaids, I think I was the only one who touched my popcorn. But I suppose it is hard to chew when your jaw is permanently dropped to the floor.

Okay, here are a couple changes made in the book-to-screen adaptation which drove me batty (tee-hee):

When Bella left the hotel and raced to the dance studio, my storyteller-brain nearly imploded at the lack of character motivation. Having read the book, I knew why she did that. But in the movie, she might as well have looked at the audience and said, “I have a sudden craving to do something really dangerous. Wanna watch?”

In the book, I loved the detail of the bad vampires first appearing as incognito backpackers coming out of the woods. In the movie, they were slo-mo Abercrombie & Fitch models (who happened to appear onscreen as Robin and Eve were just about to taste their first handfuls of popcorn).

But there were plenty lot of changes I loved, as well. Why simply run through the forest at breakneck speed when you can climb to the tops of the trees? It’s beautiful…and so cinematic…up there. Since Edward’s been a music lover for the past hundred years, his music collection should reflect that. In the book, he has a wall of C.D.s. In the movie, he also has vinyl records and 8-track tapes! Oh, and then there was that art piece made up of their collected graduation caps. Hilarious!

And then there’s my favorite change of all. In the book, when Bella first sits beside Edward in Biology, he seems like a barely contained ball of rage. But the movie takes a more creative approach and expands that scene. A book-reader knows the powerful thoughts ravaging Edward’s mind when she approaches, but to Bella, it appears less like rage and more like the mere sight of her is about to make him vomit. At that early point in the movie I thought to myself, that Robert Pattinson guy can act. That’s right. Act!

But you know who’s really hot? Ashley Greene, who played Alice Cullen. Unfortunately, whenever I did the masculine-swoon thing and shared my vampire crush, Robin and Eve shushed me and told me to eat my popcorn. Gotta love being a Mermaid!

If The Count from Sesame Street used decimal points, I'd give this movie "One. Two. Three-point-five out of five bats. Ah, ah, ahhhh!"

Twilight at Midnight? Not for Me! -- Jay

2008-11-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

It takes me forever to finish reading a book. My word-speed isn’t necessarily slow, I just have a short attention span. Rarely do I flip through more than one chapter per sitting. And then, who knows when I’ll pick it back up again!

For my birthday last September, Robin gave me a copy of Twilight. My goal was to finish the book before the movie came out. As you know, most theaters scheduled midnight showings for its release…which happens to coincide with this blog post going up. And I did it! I finished the book early! (Thirteen hours early, if you wanna know.)

So I called Robin and said, “I did it! We can see the movie tonight!”

And Robin said, “I’m not going to a midnight show.”

“What? That’s the whole reason I read it so fast.”

“Jay, I gave you that book in September.”

So Robin, Eve, and I will more than likely attend the 1:20pm show. (That, I wanna tell you, is thirteen hours later than a true Twilighter should be seeing it.) And I can’t wait! I completely understand why the book became the phenomenon it did, even if Edward doesn’t make me swoon.

If anyone’s looking to buy me a Christmas gift, mark me down for a copy of the Twilight sequel, New Moon. But does anyone know when that movie’s supposed to come out? Because my goal is to finish the book first…with hours to spare.

- Jay

P.S. Robin, I’m not really that mad that we missed the midnight show. But…ahem…I won’t be upset if you offer to buy the popcorn.

A Little Jumpstart -- Robin

2008-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

I’ve been trying to get back into the edits on my middle grade book, The Happiness Project, but it’s hard to let something sit for a while and then pick it up cold. Whenever I open the manuscript, I stare at the screen, unable to make changes…fearful any word I write will ruin it forever. So I’ve been doing a lot of staring lately.

I had this problem once before when I was trying to make edits on my first middle grade book, Dude, Where’s My Locker? The manuscript had been in the hands of an editor for a while, and when I tried to make the changes she had suggested, I totally froze. I couldn’t write a word! For some reason, I wasn’t able to get into the character’s voice, couldn’t figure out what he’d do next, couldn’t put him in dangerous situations because I didn’t know how he’d react.

So to break myself out of my writer’s block, I started writing a fake sequel to the book. I knew it wasn’t really going to get published, so I felt free to explore situations and play around with the character’s voice. Usually I wrote short stories, kind of like blog posts, and I was finally able to “hear” my character’s voice again. The title of my fake sequel? Dude, What’s That Smell? I wrote a lot of scenes about the lunchroom. Of course it will never get published…and that’s what made all the difference. It allowed me to warm-up until I was ready to get back to the real deal.

So I may need to take this approach again with The Happiness Project. Which means I need a fake title to my fake sequel. How about…

The Somewhat-Depressed-Sure-Could-Use-A-Reese’s Project

or

The Frustrated-By-People-Who-Don’t-Use-Blinkers Project

or

The I-Have-To-Admit-I-Have-A-Crush-On-Anderson-Cooper Project

Any other suggestions?

- Robin

Never in a Million Years -- Eve

2008-11-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

I've always said that if I ever ran for President, my slogan would be "Can't we all just get along?" (Yes, I did just quote Rodney King.) Upon my inauguration I would declare, "Everybody be nice to everybody, starting now."

Some would call me naive, and some would call me stupid, and most would never vote for me in a million years. But, it's nice to know that somebody out there feels me on this. I read a blog post today by Laini Taylor over at Grow Wings that really touched me. Like, even made me tear up. And, anyone who has known me for any amount of time knows full well that I never cry. Sometimes I wonder if I have tear ducts. Anyway, you'll have to read her post yourself because I could never in a million years articulate with such eloquence my beliefs on the state of the world like the magnificent Laini does.

Yes, you will notice that in this post I'm referring you to her post where she mentions my previous post...it's like a never ending house of mirrors! But, Laini really got me thinking (as she always does) about my core beliefs on humanity. Not sure if it's because of the historic election year, or my intense writing of book #2 or my experiences teaching the incarcerated kids, but for some reason, I'm full of deep thoughts lately on how to make the world a better place.

I'm a walking cliche, I realize that. "La-la-la...love makes the world go 'round, blah, blah, blah..." But, ignore my naivete for a moment and hear me out.

Last Saturday I had one of those "aha" epiphany moments. A "Holy crap, that's the key to happiness!" realization. Want to know where I had this brilliant hit-me-like-a-ton-of-bricks thought?

Ironically, I was in jail. Teacher Johnny K was nice enough to turn his older girls' class over to me for a morning, so I could get a feel for teaching girls, which I'd never done. I have to admit, I did prejudge. I won't lie. I was scared. I'd heard things about these girls. Unflattering things. Frightening things. As open-minded as I claim to be, when I'd heard about their alleged crimes, I pictured them stabbing me in the neck with a pencil, tying me up with their socks and holding me hostage under the table while they terrorized the compound, then escaped into the Sylmar hills. Don't get me wrong, I didn't obsess over it. It was a fleeting thought. But, still, I had it. Hey, give me a break...I've watched way too many of those World's Scariest Jail Stories! shows.

Here's the twist. Not only would I never in a million years have guessed any of these girls was capable of breaking a law, let alone murdering someone. I witnessed a fascinating camaraderie I haven't witnessed before. Anywhere. It was touching to watch the girls comfort each other, wipe away each other's tears, share pictures and stories about their babies back home, comb each other's hair, and protect each other from sadness and harm. One girl brought in a fruit roll-up she'd received in a care package. She immediately shredded it into equal pieces for everybody.

They are strangers. They have not known each other for long. But they are a family. They are generous. They listen to one another. They are open-minded and accepting of each other's differences, including gang affiliations and sexual orientation (hear that Prop 8 people??). They have realized that they need each other to survive. It is a very communal feeling. Not at all like the jail shows depict it. Now, maybe the bonding of this lovely group of girls is a fluke. Maybe it was all for show. Maybe they'll go back to their cells and carve shanks out of their notebook paper. But, I'll never believe that.

When I asked at the end of class how they could all remain so nice to each other in such crappy circumstances, they said, "Because we are sisters. We're all we got." I swear that three hour class was a whole book in itself. And a clear affirmation that humans can be good to one another, no matter what they've done in the past. And, again, call me simple minded, but I have to believe that if every human shared just a sliver of generosity and compassion toward a stranger every single day, we'd create the perfect world that Laini and I dream of.

I think I've got book #3 figured out just in the course of writing this post. Amazing what blogging can do!

Thanks for listening...

- Eve

The Coffee Shop Hop -- Jay

2008-11-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

I’m doing a little experiment. It’s one of those experiments more accurately described as just an excuse to do something I want to do.

While I still love the coffee shop I do most of my writing in, I’ve decided to occasionally change my scenery. New scenery means new people which means new oddballs to observe. And oddballs are great for sparking ideas.

So yesterday I drove down to Santa Barbara, a beautiful beach town a little over an hour from my house. I was there from nine in the morning till about six at night. Other than a random shift of gravity which forced me into a movie theater (taking ninety-nine hilarious minutes to get out of), I spent most of my day in a new bookstore/coffeeshop. Being surrounded by the newness rejuvenated something in me. My creativity seemed fresher. My writing seemed fresher. I just might even smell fresher!

It was also Farmer’s Market in Santa Barbara, which is always a great place to people watch and look for future literary characters. As usual, there were a lot of street-side performers (mostly playing Beatles tunes). The only musician who was potentially book-worthy was a boy around twelve-years-old playing an acoustic guitar and singing. I’d never seen someone that young play at a farmer’s market by himself, which made the writer in my brain scribble down some notes for later use.

But the only oddballs I saw who might make it into my next novel were downstairs at Borders. One male and one female, they were in the children’s section…but they weren’t children. They could’ve been college-age, and they were laughing hysterically, using the picturebook reading area to wrestle. She was trying to prove she could pin him and he was trying to prove he could deflect her best moves without breaking a sweat. It looked like a ton o’ fun, which meant some poor employee was going to be asked to break them up. But that wrestling match (with their ages slightly deflated) just might find itself in my next teen novel.

The experiment is working!

- Jay

Back at It -- Robin

2008-11-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

I recently turned in my completed manuscript to my agent and thought to myself, “Hooray! I’m done! It’s totally, utterly perfect! Time to break out the Kit-Kats!”

Did I mention my delusional nature? Yeah…I can convince myself of anything.

My agent wrote me a long email (correction: long, long, long email) outlining what she loved and what she thought needed more work. The book is coming along, but it’s back to work for me!

I found myself reading her email several times. One, because I have comprehension problems. And two, because she said some amazing things in that email that I think will help not only my story but any writer’s story. They were little nuggets of brilliance that had me banging my head on the table many times. (The last head bang kinda hurt.)

Here are a couple of things she said that I loved. And she’s gonna hate me for putting a spotlight on her. She’s kinda the David Plouffe of the writing world...the one behind the curtain running an amazing campaign. So instead of telling you that her name is Erin Murphy, I will instead refer to her as Agent X (the X stands for “awesome”).

“The difficult but important thing is for readers to feel two contradictory things—that you can’t possibly sustain all this juggling, and that you are in absolute control all the time.”--Agent X

“But of course that means that we need to understand what that closest-to-her-heart thing is. And that has to underpin everything, be the thing she checks all her impulses against, the thing that allows her to step out of her comfort zone and makes her continue to take on more and more problems, upping the ante all the way—because the stakes at the heart of it all are high for her emotionally.”--Agent X

While Agent X is busy at being brilliant and awesome, little ol’ me will be busy getting back to work. See ya’ll later!

- Robin

SURVIVOR: Lockup -- Eve

2008-11-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Lately I’ve been visiting Creative Writing classes in the L.A. juvenile jails as part of my teacher training. I wrote about my first visit here, and every minute I’ve spent in the jail since, I’ve learned something completely unexpected. Needless to say, this teaching position will undoubtedly be one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

When I tell people about this new job, the most frequently asked question is:
Aren’t you scared?

All I can say is that I am way more afraid of the mountain lion that lurks in the hills behind my house, and the pit bull down the street than I am of these kids.

To me, incarcerated kids are not scary. Here is what they are:

They are appreciative.
Thankful for the few things they have left, like family (if they have any), friends (if they have any), shelter, food, and outsiders who brave the halls of the pokey to mentor and listen to them.

They are curious.
They want to know what I drive, what kind of kid I was, about the books I write, what music I like, if I want to hear the song they wrote, if I like baseball, if my hair is real, why I dress the way I do, why I like the color pink so much, if I like their tatts, why I have no tatts.

They are lovers of reading and writing.
The other night, I sat in a cramped room with 12 alleged murderers; it was two of the most fascinating hours of my adult life. We didn’t talk about murder or gangs or “the outs.” We talked about…books! They crave books more than any other luxury item. More than candy or photos or soap or socks. For them, books are an escape, books are entertainment, books are education and wisdom. Even though many of them can hardly read fluently, they want books. Any books, all books, picture books, girly books, Dan Brown books. This surprised me…have to admit that my little closed mind assumed kid-thugs would find books boring. Boy, did they school me on that one! Writing is many things to them: therapeutic, entertaining, exciting, enlightening, hopeful, and anything but boring.

Most importantly, they are hungry.
Hungry for food. Hungry for shelter. Hungry for money. Hungry for attention. Hungry for respect. Hungry for compassion. Hungry for knowledge. Hungry for a new life. Hungry for guidance. Hungry for hope.

They are hungry because their basic needs have never been met. While on “the outs” they lie, cheat, steal, assault and kill in an attempt to acquire these things. The only difference between them and me as a kid is that my basic needs were always met…I had the luxury of loving, nurturing parents, constant roof over my head, plenty of food, money, role models, and opportunities for success in sports, academics, arts, and social activities.

Working in the juvenile jail is like watching a sick and twisted real-life version of SURVIVOR, where the contestants’ hunger for basic needs remains unmet, and the worst in them emerges. Ever notice how on Survivor there’s always a “losing” team that acts negative and defeated? They’re always out of food and skinny and sick and cold because their shelter leaks and they have no blankets. Then, as soon as that team wins a reward challenge, their demeanor and behavior completely changes. They become confident and happy and positive and physically stronger. Then, they’re less likely to steal food and fight and attack each other.

I believe that you can take the most compassionate and level-headed person and turn him into a monster criminal by stripping his basic needs. And I cannot judge them for the things they’ve done because maybe I would have taken the same route if I’d grown up in their circumstances. I also believe that if we help them gain and sustain these human needs, their behavior will change and hope will prevail.

- Eve

Introducing...

2008-11-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

America's Next First Family!!!

So...

2008-11-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

...anyone doing anything important today?

Important things we've been doing:

Jay Asher - voted at 7:30 a.m.
Robin Mellom - voted at 8:55 a.m.
Eve Porinchak - voted at 4:00 p.m.

Halloweird -- Jay

2008-11-02T02:23:00.000-08:00

’Twas the day before Halloween,
and all through the library…

Okay, I can’t think of a decent rhyme for library, so I’ll save you the eye-roll and just get to the point. Last Thursday was my final day working at the public library, and my co-workers put together a delicious potluck for my going-away party. So while the day felt bittersweet, it tasted like frosting and quiche.

I bequeathed a couple of my toys which had been put to great use over the past five years. I gave my pigapult (it’s like a catapult, but flings tiny plastic piggies) to Marci, my boss. But to keep the peace in my absence, I gave the piggies to Diana. I gave Mr. Peabody, who can shoot a stream of "water" up to ten feet, to JoAnn (for the past few years, her desk was well within Mr. Peabody's reach).

I received a few parting gifts, as well…including a pair of shiny red boxers. (Don't ask.) And when Halloween rolled around the next day, those boxers made a great addition to my costume. Thanks, Barry!

That night, my wife and I had a Halloween get-together at our house. While I was organizing the photos for this post, I realized that most of you have never seen a picture of my brother. So here’s Nate (do you notice the resemblance?), along with his girlfriend, Sarah (Moaning Myrtle!).

I had no idea what my wife was dressing up as. So when she came downstairs dressed as Hannah Baker (from Thirteen Reasons Why), I freaked out. Freaked! Out!!! How often do authors get to hang out with their characters?

Overall, we didn’t have as many trick-or-treaters this year, but we did have more teenagers. At one point, a group of three girls were at the door. My wife and I were letting them pick their favorites from the candy bowl. As they turned to leave, and we began shutting the door, one girl whispered something to her friend.

TEEN: She looked just like that girl from that book.
ME: Wait, what was that?
TEEN (turning back around): What was what?
ME: You said something about a book.
TEEN: She’s dressed like someone in a book I'm reading.
ME: Really? Really??? What book?
TEEN: Thirteen Rea—
ME: She is! That’s who she is! She’s Hannah Baker!
TEEN (to my wife): You read that book?
ME: I wrote that book!!!
TEEN (looking my costume up and down): You? You did?

- Jay

BOO! -- Robin

2008-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I’m hoping it will be a happy Halloween for me this year. I’ve been awfully sick this week with the cold/flu/plague thing I seem to get every Fall, which means I was unable to participate in the family Halloween preparations. My husband and son went to the pumpkin patch, decorated the house, and carved the pumpkins without me. Waaaaahhh! I love doing that stuff! But I’m hoping I’ll be better by tonight so I can take my son trick-or-treating…the best part of Halloween.

Every year we buy a pumpkin for each of us: a Mommy pumpkin, a Daddy pumpkin, and a Big Kid pumpkin (he no longer lets me say words like “baby”). And we each get to choose the type of face to carve on our own pumpkins. But like I said, I was sick and missed the pumpkin carving—I was too busy lying in bed, sneezing and coughing and yelling at the pundits on CNN.

My hubby and son decided they would carve my pumpkin for me, and they asked what I’d like. But I was moany and groany and said, “I don’t care. Whatever you want to carve.” So my son said he would make sure it was something that would make me feel better.

I went back to sneezing and yelling at the pundits, and a little while later, the boys called me into the living room. The room was completely dark and all I could see was my glowing pumpkin.

And my boy was right. I felt a lot better!

- Robin

What Do You Want To Do With Your Life? -- Eve

2008-10-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

I wanna rock!

Okay, I stole that line from an 80's hair band (Twisted Sister, maybe?? Man, I'm old...).

In chatting with my writer friend Christy Raedeke today, I got to seriously thinking about what I really want to do with my life. My writing life, that is. Christy recently landed a fantastic 2-book deal with a fantastic editor at a fantastic publishing house. When I hear news like this my immediate response is always pure excitement for my deserving friend, and then fantasies about what that day will feel like for me when I finally get "the call".

Usually those fantasies begin and end with me getting the contract, throwing a launch party on P. Diddy's yacht, and sipping champagne with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. I've never really thought too far beyond that. But, today, I started really thinking about who I want to be as a writer. Some types I'm considering:

The J.D. Salinger: reclusive, mysterious, one-classic-wonder
The Ellen Hopkins: passionate edgy genre master
The Gordon Korman: flawless genre-jumper
The Dave Eggers: independent, shuns money and media, writes only what he loves
The Jodi Piccult: prolific, "issue-oriented"
The John Grisham: perpetual bestseller, unable to write a flop
The Nicholas Sparks: love, love, love, sap, sap, sap, but in a good way
The Cormack McCarthy: Downer-Debbie, and a bit disturbed, but a genius!
The Greg Trine: funny, funny, lighthearted, and always funny
The John Green: award winner
The Stephanie Meyer: dazzling storyteller, "gets" teens
The Earnest Hemingway: massively influential writing style, wrote "autobiographically"
The Harper Lee: one brilliant piece of work was enough!
The Bruce Coville: creative, hilarious, humble, master entertainer, loves his job
The Jerry Spinelli: champion of the underdog kid
The Walter Dean Myers: tireless researcher, tackles tough subjects regardless of commercial appeal
The JK Rowling: no explanation necessary

It's hard to pin down which type of writing career would make me the happiest. Bottom line is that I want to write good, meaningful, entertaining, fascinating, brilliant, bestselling books that don't cave to trends, yet will speak to youth of today and youth 100 years from now. I'm thinking some kind of
SalHopKorEggPicGrishSparkMcTrineGreeMeyHemLeeCovSpinWDMRow combo might work for me.

I'm curious, though. Do any of our other writer friends out there have an ideal writer type you shoot for? And does anyone aspire to be The Valerie Bertinelli or the Pamela Anderson? Just wondering.

- Eve

Found in Translation -- Jay

2008-10-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Last week, I got an e-mail from someone working on one of the foreign translations of Thirteen Reasons Why. He needed a few things clarified to help with his translation because his job isn’t simply to swap one word for another, but to interpret each word for another language. His job is to make my story make sense. And some of his questions fascinated me!

Here are some examples:

What does "Boy Scout" mean in this context: "my tongue twisted into knots even a Boy Scout would walk away from"? (p.17)

I gave him a fairly detailed answer to that question. How he’s going to whittle my answer into a few simple words to convey context, I have no idea (which is why I never did well in my foreign language classes).

On page 57, Ms. Antilly says "Or... not." Does this mean "Maybe it was not a good idea to introduce you two to become buddies"?

One thing I am excessively conscious about is slang. Pop culture and slang will age a novel like nothing else. Unless a novel is meant to be timefull (which is my made-up opposite for timeless), most pop culture and slang can be deleted without being missed. “Or…not” was said with a little sarcasm in my book, making it a tad slangy...and making the translator earn his pay.

On page 59...
Then, on page 194...

Ah, yes. Something was found in translation, as well. Because a translator can’t take any word for granted, they need to pay special attention to everything. And sometimes they can catch little inconsistencies no one else has caught. (Yes, I already contacted my editor and said, “How did we miss this???”)

On page 283, it says "Class of '93". Just out of curiosity, is there some special meaning in the year 1993?

It's extremely cool to know that the person working on the translation also enjoyed the book. Can you imagine if the translator hated the book? Yikes! So it meant a lot to me that there were details he wanted to know just out of curiosity. And in case any of you are suddenly curious, 1993 is when I graduated from high school.

- Jay

P.S. Speaking of graduating from high school, the list of people taking the challenge of sharing their senior photos is still growing. Did you show us yours?

Finding My Spot -- Robin

2008-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have a “spot,” and I’ve spoken about this spot before. It's where I go to clear my head and think and get inspiration. It’s a trail that runs along a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I run for about twenty minutes, then take a smaller, more narrow side trail that leads out to a cliff that’s about twenty feet above a rocky, jagged part of the coastline. And that’s where I sit, and I ask questions, and sometimes I get answers. Sometimes I cry, and sometimes I don’t. But no matter what happens, I always feel better afterwards…like I’ve spent time talking with a close friend and I have a better handle on life. Does anyone else have a spot like this?

Today when I was at my spot, I cried. But it was a good kind of cry, because I was watching a flock of seagulls fly by me in a neat, single-file line, and as I watched them fly off, a small sailboat came into view, all at the exact moment the sun was setting over the ocean. It was a moment that took my breath away, and I realized…I freakin’ love where I live!!!

I love that I live in a place where we can take my six-year-old son kayaking and shark fishing and hiking and surfing and bird watching, all within a few minutes of our house. I love that my little boy knows when the tide is in and when it’s out, and that he loves walking through eucalyptus groves. And I love that I have a special spot where I can get away and feel connected with my surroundings. And that my environment can inspire me and lift me up, just like a friend.

I think when I was younger I paid more attention to people, not surroundings. I was more concerned with the people I liked and the people I didn’t like and the people I was jealous of and the people who annoyed me. But now that I’m a teensy bit older, and hopefully a teensy bit wiser, I’ve simplified things. I surround myself with the people I love and the ones who love me…no more, no less. And then I just enjoy my surroundings. So now, (and don’t worry, I realize how cheesy this sounds) I’ve learned how to love our Earth just as much as the people who inhabit it.

So what does this all mean? I don’t know. I kinda feel like Stan at the end of a South Park episode: “I’ve really learned something today!” That I need to teach my child that the environment is important. That it’s true he needs to be friends with lots of kids (and lots of different types of kids), but he also needs to be friends with his surroundings. And that nature can fill a need, just like people can.

So, here we are, forcing our son to be friends with his surroundings. And I have a feeling he doesn’t mind it one bit…

- Robin

Virtual High School -- Eve

2008-10-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've taken to finding and chatting with old friends via Facebook. Yes, I admit it. Eve, who never liked technology, who was the last person on earth to buy a cell phone, who shunned TV remote controls (why not just get up and turn the knob for crying out loud??) and computers (I have a perfectly good manual typewriter right here!) back in the day.

I started off slowly. Casually. Socially. Looking up Carrie from junior high or Stephie from UCLA...people I'd lost track of over the years and wondered what ever happened to them. I'd say "Hello." They'd write back and update me on their whereabouts. We'd exchange phone numbers and email addresses and promise to keep in touch.

Very quickly, FB-ing took on a life of its own. Suddenly, I was finding more old friends through mutual friends, and receiving friend requests from people I'd known in 5th grade and hadn't even thought about in, um, a lot of y ears. Then, suddenly, we began exchanging silly wall posts, leaving vulgar comments under photos, passing martinis around, baking virtual cupcakes, playing Duck-Duck-Goose, and creating sea creature aquariums for each other.

It hit me last night, as I was engaged in several of the above at the same time, that Facebook is high school all over again! You can "friend" and "de-friend" people in an instant, show off your flair for fashion, gossip on a giant virtual "bathroom wall" for all the world to see, brag about how popular you are by showcasing your number of friends, get "drunk" off virtual beers, play poker, discuss books and politics, and even join clubs like the "Obama Club" or the "No on Proposition 8 Club" or the "Save The Wolverines Club"!

(I don't think there's any kind of "hooking up" with a cute guy/girl feature, but I'm sure it's coming soon! That should be interesting...instead of "Click HERE to send Dave a pink octopus for his sea garden" it will say, "Click HERE to..." Never mind!)

For people like me, who loved high school and love to reminisce with long lost friends, Facebook is fantastic! Another added bonus is that I'm finding this to be a fabulous tool for YA book research and helping me regress back into the teen mentality. The other night, I went back and forth with an old girlfriend for a few hours (I'm recovering from knee surgery here and can't really move off the couch yet. That's my excuse for slacking and I'm sticking to it!). We rehashed so many forgotten stories of parties, heartbreak and crushes...it was amazing, the feelings and memories that flooded back.

*IMMATURE AND JUVENILE ALERT*

We even made lists for each other of the boys we kissed in high school and those we wanted to kiss, then laughed hysterically (virtually) when our lists shared a common guy. It was like the most entertaining thing I've done in a long time! This FB-ing has really enriched my writing in so many ways. Reliving my teen years with these friends and even the mention of a familiar name often gives me authentic plot ideas I never would have come up with on my own. Unfortunately, this FB thing is on its way to becoming an addiction for me. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with a really great novel!

- Eve

Senioritis All Over Again -- Jay

2008-10-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Because of author websites and MySpace, I’m sure authors receive a lot more feedback from readers than in the past. And I love that! Checking my MySpace messages is one of the highlights of my day.

But I looooove receiving actual hardcopy letters from my readers. Usually, those are mailed to my publisher, and then Penguin sends them on to me in one big envelope. This week, my bundle contained a letter from a high school senior in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Along with the letter (she loved the book…woo-hoo!), she also sent a wallet-sized senior portrait. With MySpace, you can usually see the writer of the message staring back at you in the upper left-hand corner. But with hardcopy letters, that’s not usually the case. So this particular letter reminded me of how fun it was to trade senior photos in the final year of high school.

So now, I’m gonna throw down a challenge to all you writers of teen literature out there. Go dig out your remaining senior photos. If you were just so popular in high school that you don’t have any leftovers, go scan the photo in your yearbook. And then post it on your blog! Come back to this post and leave a comment, directing us to your blog, so we can all laugh at…I mean, admire…how much you haven’t changed. (If you write for younger children, or are an illustrator, or blog in any way about books for children or teens, you should play along, too!)

To start it off, here are my two senior photos:

Ha! Ha! Ha! Laugh all you want. Like yours are any better...

- Jay

BONUS FACT: In the photo with my guitar, I'm actually playing the opening chord to a huge song from my high school days: More Than Words by Extreme. Don't lie, you still love that song!

UPDATE

Another Mermaid has decided to take the challenge.

Presenting...Robin!

Changin' It Up -- Robin

2008-10-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

I’ve made a few changes this week. Here they are, in no particular order…

I quit my job. I start a new job in a couple of weeks, and while it’s not entirely different from my current job, my hope is that it will be different enough to make me the happiest person on the planet. Or, at least, moderately light-hearted. In my new job, I will be supervising in-home behavioral programs for children with autism. Which means I will be attending lots of training and learning how to use Applied Behavioral Analysis. (Gulp!)

I bought a new pair of shoes. Normally, I wouldn’t consider that as something new since I do it so often. But my new shoes are like my food…vegan! They are an adorable pair of Mary Janes by Earth shoes and, according to the outside of the box, they’re vegan shoes. I don’t quite know what vegan shoes are, but I assume it means they aren’t made from ground beef and string cheese? How cool!!!

I bought a bouquet of flowers. Usually I drop hints to my husband that it’s time for him to buy me flowers, but this week I decided to put gender stereotypes aside and give a beautiful bouquet of tulips to my husband and thank him for all his love and support. And I have to say…brilliant idea. He loved it! Now I’m thinking about giving him diamonds and perfume. Who knows, maybe even a new pair of vegan shoes!

- Robin

Great Charlotte -- Jay

2008-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Last week, I spent three days speaking and signing books at the 18th Annual Novello Festival of Reading in Charlotte, North Carolina. Was it amazing? Was it amazing? Yes. It was amazing!

On Thursday and Friday, I spoke at four high schools: Ardrey Kell, Performance Learning Center, North Mecklenburg, and West Charlotte. It's unbelievable how every presentation can be a totally unique experience. And yet, you should believe it cuz it's true!

As usual, I use a PowerPoint to show my journey as an author and how Thirteen Reasons Why came to be. And, as usual, this slide here seems to get the biggest reaction. My favorite part, every time, is when I get to read a few pages with one of the students. Their interpretations of Hannah are always different (and not just because of the various accents they give her around the country) but they're always great!

This was the first time I arrived at a school, greeted by my name on the marquee. Did that give me the chills? Uh...kinda!

At another school, for the first time, they had posterboards and whiteboards all over the place announcing my visit. One whiteboard was overflowing with favorite quotes from the book. One posterboard was full of positive messages derived from the book. Here's Ashley and me in front of one of the whiteboards. (She designed the audiotape!)

The library across from my hotel had a gallery of original children's book art. There was a Tomie dePaola. A Garth Williams. And check out this close-up of a David Wisniewski paper cut-out piece.

Down the street was another library...just for children and teens. The ImaginOn is amazing! Aside from plenty of things to read (except for Thirteen Reasons Why...it was checked out!), there are a million cool things for children to play with. The teens even have a studio where they can film animated cartoons, live-action scenes (with a blue-screen for special f/x), or record their own music. And all you need is a library card.

Plus, they have some huge art structures.

Oh, and there were other authors in town, too! That's what Novello does. They bring in all types of authors to speak with all types of readers. And, quite often, I need to pinch myself over the people I find myself hanging out with. Here I am, dining with A.M. Jenkins, Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Ellen Hopkins. (Pinch-pinch!)

On the final day of the program, all of the authors and illustrators for children and teens did a group Q&A at ImaginOn, followed by an autograph party outside. Here I am being clawed by the author of The Cheetah Girls, Deborah Gregory. Growl power!

I swear, Cynthia Kadohata, author of Kira-Kira, started it! But at least I can say I fulfilled my long-held dream of putting bunny ears on a Newbery-winning author.

Before going home, I paid a visit to a traveling Pompeii exhibit. The rooms were full of items excavated out of the ash, bringing back to life an amazing city. But the final room was heartbreaking. The walls and floor were black. Overhead spotlights illuminated the famous plaster casts of the final moments of people and animals trapped in their homes and on the streets. A slave still had shackles around his legs. A man held a handkerchief up to his mouth. A man and a woman spend their last moments together.

It's funny how authors are attracted to things like Pompeii. Ms. Haddix and Ms. Jenkins were walking the exhibit and ran into Ms. Kadohata. And then they ran into me. As Ms. Haddix pointed out, only one of us opted to purchase the audiotour device. And if you had to guess, based on our books, which author would be most fascinated by the idea of an audiotour...you might pick me.

And you'd be right.

- Jay

I'm Done (And So Can You!) -- Robin

2008-10-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have finally handed my middle grade novel, The Happiness Project, over to my agent. (Pant, pant. Whew!) It feels like I just handed in the hugest term paper ever and now I’m cringing to see how many red marks the teacher will put on my paper. Hopefully, she’ll put a big A+ with a cute smiley face. Maybe even draw some stars and hearts. That’d be nice.

Whenever I finish writing a book, I find that I have to take a break. I wish I was one of those people (you know who you are, CynJay!) who can just scoot right back up to the computer and start working on another book. But for me, I need to decompress. Relax. Meditate. Kick back. Smell the roses. Eat popcorn. Watch more TV. Cry over the economy. Kick the dog...that sort of thing.

(And, of course, I don’t actually kick my dog. Just stuffed animal versions of my dog.)

What about you writers and illustrators out there? Do you get started on a new project as soon as you turn one in? Or do you take some time off before you dig in again? I love hearing about other processes…so leave me a comment.

I’ll just be sitting here, kicking back, eating popcorn, petting my dog, and reading your comments. What else is there to do!?

-Robin

The "Ick" Factor -- Eve

2008-10-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

I’ve got a stack of YA books on the shelf next to my writing couch (Yes, I said “couch”…I like to be veeerrry comfortable when writing, and need to spread out. A chair just won’t do!) that I read when giving my wrists a break from typing on an ergonomically-challenged laptop for hours at a time. The “stack” consists of YA novels that have been given or recommended to me, and they’re all very different from what I write, in terms of style, subject matter, and themes. I find that reading during my writing breaks keeps me motivated…not sure if it’s the carrot of the whole entire published book, or if it’s just giving my mind a break from whatever I’m obsessing over in my own story. A lot of people tell me they cannot read anything else while crafting a book. But for me, it’s essential.

So, I’m staring at the “stack” today and realized that I’ve read little bits and pieces of each book, but never read just one consistently for too long, or even finished most of them! (It’s a LARGE stack, I tell you.) So, I thought long and hard about what my problem is and it hit me that the books all have something in common.

The “Ick” factor. Yes, I said “Ick.” As in, yuck. Sick. Gross. Disgusting. Repulsive. I don’t know what it is about the novels people are giving me lately, but they all deal with really sick topics. Like, hard to read topics. Now, I am not a prude. I can watch gross-out horror flicks, CSI, Fear Factor, bloody surgery shows with the best of ‘em. But, I’m talking about disturbing stuff. Stuff I wish I hadn’t read. Nauseating visuals I can’t get out of my head. Plots that are so far out there on the vile scale, I have to wonder who would actually read--and get pleasure--from them.

I have nothing against difficult and edgy topics. Give me suicide, death, destruction, drugs, guns, even a little homicide doesn’t bother me so much…I’ll take those any day. I’m talking more along the lines of violent abduction, child-rape, perverted sexual assault, twisted brainwashing…that kind of thing.

My question is this: Who is the audience? If we are writing for teens, should we be providing stories that are so perverted, so far out there, so disturbing, that they become afraid to leave their houses or ever make eye contact with a stranger? It’s one thing to write a story about, say, suicide, which in my opinion is something every single teen on the planet is somehow touched by. But some of these stories are about such random and rare issues, I just wonder exactly who is relating to them. Now, I realize we do not have to relate or see ourselves in every story we enjoy. But I’m telling you, I’ve got a stack of YA books that seem to lack any ente rtainment value at all. In fact, the only hook I can imagine is one of shock value. Although, I have to worry about the person who enjoys this kind of shock.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. Or maybe not. My dear friend, Barbara, gave me an ARC, that is getting good reviews, recently and said, “I just want to see what you think.” When I asked what she thought of it, she said, “Oh! It made me barf!”

Guess what. I read it. And then I barfed.

- Eve

PJs Forever! -- Jay

2008-10-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

If I could, I would wake up everyday and stay in my pajamas till I swap (in a move reminiscint of Mr. Rogers) one pair of pajamas for another just in time to crawl back into bed. My days would consist of waking up, brewing some coffee, sitting down to write, and not getting up (other than for refills and bathroom breaks) till I can't write anymore.

And now...I'll have the chance to do that.

In an extremely bittersweet move, I recently gave notice that I will be leaving my full-time job at the public library to become a full-time writer. I absolutely love my job at the library. Everyday, I feel like I'm contributing something worthwhile to the community. And my co-workers have all become friends. But it's every author's dream (at least, every author I've spoken with) to have the chance to devote as much time as possible to their stories.

And now...I'll have the chance to do that!

This definitely was not an easy decision. My agent, the fine folks at Penguin, my family, and the Mermaids have all been pushing me in this direction for quite a while. But I'm a worrier, so just the idea of leaving the stability of a full-time job (with benefits!) was agonizing. So my agent and the fabulous folks at Penguin basically pushed me out of the nest (can Penguins fly?) and now I'm happy to announce that I'm putting all of my eggs into one basket. [If you check out the third photo in this post, that's what we were toasting. Sometimes it takes a while to finalize these things.]

On top of writing, I'll be able to do a lot more promoting, which is almost as fun as writing. (Actually, it's more fun than writing...but don't tell the fantastic folks at Penguin I said that!) For example, last weekend I signed books at the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association tradeshow.

Take a looksie...

Do any of you recognize this woman? She's a V.I.P. in the history of my book signings. Click here to find out who she is. And yes, I realize I have a problem thinking I need to hold my book every time my photo is taken. Call it author-insecurity.

Okay, now this is ridiculous! I must really have author-insecurity issues. On the left is Allison Verost, my publicist at Penguin. According to Allison, publicists should never be photographed. They should remain behind-the-scenes. So, everyone...this is Allison! And on the right you will find Penguins Sales Rep. Extraordinaires, Steve Kent and Colleen Conway.

Problem solved! I can hold someone else's book while they hold my book. Before my autographing session, I had coffee with fellow Razorbillian, Richelle Mead. Richelle does a much better job on her blog of showing you what an actual tradeshow looks like.

Now, it's time to buy some comfy new pajamas!

- Jay

Mermaid Meet-Up: Today (Tuesday, October 7th), I'll be speaking at the fourth annual San Luis Obispo Suicide Prevention Forum. It'll be at Laguna Middle School from 6-9pm. If you're in the area, stop by...and take home some valuable information. You can download a flyer here.

Happy Birth/Debate Day -- Robin

2008-10-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Disco Mermaids got together the other night to celebrate two things: the vice-presidential debate and Jay’s birthday. And by the way, Jay wouldn’t admit his age in his last post, but in two years he will have lived on this planet for as long as Joe Biden has been a U.S. senator. That’s right…Jay is 76 years old.

The three of us had a good time discussing politics and eating veggie burgers from our favorite local restaurant, Sylvester’s. (What is in their sauce!? Heaven juice!?) Well, not all of us had veggie burgers. Jay had hamburger. But who could blame him? At his age, the poor guy needs all the extra iron he can get!

We thought it might be fun to play a drinking game while we watched the debate and take a drink every time Sarah Palin said “maverick,” “gosh darn,” "nuke-you-ler," or “ramp it up!” or any time Joe Biden offered specific facts. But we knew no one would be able to drive home if we did that, so we sipped our Coke Zeros with sophistication (pinkies out!) and made crude remarks to the TV screen. We’re just that classy.

And, of course, we ate cake. Lots of it. Ridiculous amounts of it. So many amounts, it was like we were celebrating the cake itself…and it deserved it. But really, it was all for you, Jay. Happy Birthday, man!

Now that we’re done celebrating, the Disco Mermaids need to get back to the business of writing books. But at least now we have a new writing mantra…

Ramp it up!!!

- Robin

Check It!!! -- Eve

2008-10-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

I’m a simple person. It doesn’t take much to excite me. Little things that make me incredibly happy are: Fetching the new People magazine from the mailbox, mounds of whipped cream on my morning café mocha, unexpected emails from old friends, an accidental extra jelly doughnut in my box of “dozen assorted” from Stan’s in Westwood.

Seriously, no joke, these are the things I revel in. One new comment on my Facebook page can get my heart pumping, my endorphins flowing, and instantly make me ecstatic to be alive. Told you. I’m simple.

With my excitement threshold still being that of a six-year-old (remember when finding a ladybug on your sleeve was like the best thing ever?) you can imagine how I felt when I ran into Borders Bookstore a few days ago to check out the Writing/Publishing section (which I often do, just to see if there’s anything on the planet about this business I haven’t read yet) and saw this!!

The New Writer’s Handbook, Vol. 2 is an all-new collection of articles to refresh and upgrade any writer's skills, with tons of advice on craft and career development. It delivers an eclectic mix of expert how-tos, stimulating pieces on creativity and professional issues, and broad encouragement for aspiring and experienced writers alike.

Why the heart attack inducing freak out session? Because I flipped to page 33 and saw this!

“SOCK MONKEYS AND STEGOSAURUSES” BY EVE PORINCHAK

Originally written as a post on this blog, the lovely editor, Philip Martin, had read it and contacted me about turning it into an article for the anthology.

There’s nothing like the thrill of seeing one’s name in print. In a real book. In a real bookstore. When I spied the book, I was alone in the aisle (sweats-clad and greasy-haired, by the way…not my best look) except for the scruffy, bespectacled young book-stacker a couple shelves down. I could not contain my enthusiasm. I flipped to page 33, jumped up and down, squealed a bit, then decided I needed to share the moment with someone. It went something like this:

ME: (pokes scruffy young book stacker in the arm) Hey…Hey!
HIM: Yes.
ME: Look! (points to page 33) That’s me!
HIM: Uh-huh.
ME: Me! In the book. My name. Me!
HIM: Mm-hmm.
ME: I wrote this.
HIM: (finally looks up from his book stacking) Oh.
ME: I’m a writer…
HIM: (finally stops book stacking) Yeah? Like JK Rowling??
ME: (walks away hugging book to chest) Yes. Just like JK Rowling.

Amazon blurb:

The 60-plus articles are chosen from best pieces of advice published in books, magazines, and online. Contributors include Tess Gerritsen, Lois Lowry, Ira Glass, and other bestselling and award-winning authors, plus leading journalists, writing teachers, editors, agents, and literary bloggers…(LIKE EVIE P!)

- Eve

Excuses, Excuses -- Jay

2008-09-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

It’s my birthday, and I don’t feel like taking the time to write a full post today. So…I’m not gonna!

Why don’t I feel like writing a full post? It doesn’t matter! It’s my birthday, and that’ll just have to be reason enough for ya.

But I did take a close-up photo of that space around my eyes while I was smiling today. Based on this evidence alone, can you tell how old I am?

- Jay

Yay for CynJay! -- Robin

2008-09-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

I want to give a big shout-out/ hug/ pom-pom shake to my friend Cynthia Jaynes Omololu (Cynjay!) for selling her debut young adult novel!

From Publisher's Marketplace:

CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT

Cynthia Jaynes Omololu's Dirty Little Secrets, in which the garbage-filled world of a 16 year-old girl comes crashing down around her even as she gets her first glimpse of what it might be like to be "normal" rather than living cloaked in the secret shame of her mom's out-of-control hoarding to Mary Kate Castellani at Walker, by Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency (world).

Woo-hoo! (Doesn’t that sound like a fascinating premise!?)

I met Cynthia a couple of years ago at a conference in Santa Barbara where we both met up with our agent, Erin Murphy. Cynthia and I hit it off right away. It’s so cool when that happens…you look at someone and you immediately think, “Yep. I could hang with that girl—for sure.”

Since then, we’ve exchanged manuscripts and parenting advice and many silly emails and, of course, our thoughts on writing. And what I’ve learned most from her is perseverance. And I’m not talking the you can do it kind. Cynthia has perseverance of the extreme kind. She will write a book, send it off to her agent, go to the bathroom, take a sip of coffee…then start on another book. She made a decision to make this her path in life and she kept writing until it happened.

The Disco Mermaids are doing the happy dance for you, Cynthia! (Which is actually cute when Jay and Eve do it, but not so much for me.)

Congratulations!

- Robin

Stop and Smell the Lavender -- Eve

2008-09-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

I just spent 10 days biking through wine country in Southern France. A huge group of us got together to celebrate the life of a great friend who recently defied the odds to beat a deadly cancer. He “Lance Armstrong-ed” his way back to health through biking and came back better and stronger than science predicted he could.

Attacking Mount Ventoux, the most feared portion of the Tour De France, was the original point of our biking trip. Unfortunately, I busted my knee the day before and was unable to make it up the mountain. But I did take this pic from my hotel room at the very moment my buddies summitted. Can you see them waving?

Because the other bikers I traveled with tend to ride at the speed of Lance, and I ride more at the speed of, say, a lame snail, I ended up spending a lot of hours alone checking out the scenery. Having never been to France, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Funny thing is that upon first glance the French countryside looks a lot like, well, the San Luis Obispo countryside with its vineyards, wildflowers, and tiny rural towns. But below the surface, it’s a whole different world.

There’s something different about the air in French wine country. It’s somehow crisper, sweeter, more oxygenated. Although the trees are probably the same exact species we have here, there’s something about the way they tilt against the sky, the way the branches bend and leaves curve, that makes them appear to have been sculpted individually with an artist’s hand. Like maybe the guy who trims those shrubs at Disneyland into animal shapes took his shears to France and became a master of abstract composition. Everything in France is about aesthetics. Fruit stands are meticulously arranged. Buildings are preserved in all their ancient Roman magnificence. Even their ghettos are dazzling with perfectly pruned flowers and cobblestone streets.

One day I abandoned my bike and hiked a good twelve miles alone through untouched wilderness. As I was walking through yet another endless lavender field I realized that the space was so quiet, I could not remember ever hearing such a loud quiet. No cars, no airplanes, no voices, nothing! Not even a bumblebee buzz. Normally that would creep me out. But instead it was calming and I had one of those writerly epiphany moments. When a distant rooster finally broke the silence I realized that although the setting initially appeared so familiar, it felt so completely different. It was a “feeling” type of setting.

I’ ve always been sucked into books where a moody “feeling” type setting emerges. You know, the kind where you “feel” like you are “in” it, not just being told about it. A few great examples come to mind; Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers, and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

I love the idea of setting as a character in itself. And while hiking I promised myself that while writing I will now and forever pay more attention to setting. Describing one’s surroundings always seemed so boring to me back in 9th grade English. But now I realize there’s more to it. Setting has to evoke a feeling. Whether it’s soothing and familiar, or uncomfortable and frightening, the right setting can make or break a book. And a vacation!

- Eve

Independents & Independence -- Jay

2008-09-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I attended the North Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association tradeshow, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Penguin hosted a meet-the-authors breakfast, which allowed me to...y'know...meet some authors! Cameron Tuttle, Loren Long, and T.A. Barron all spoke at the breakfast and had such different, but very inspiring, personal stories to tell. (Of course, I gave a presentation, as well. But I've heard my story a million times, so it's not that inspiring to me anymore.) You've gotta check out Loren's picture book, Drummer Boy. Not only was it inspired by my favorite Christmas song (and his!), but it's absolutely beautiful.

And then I crashed (just for a minute) a lunch hosted by HarperCollins so I could do a little fanboy dance and get this picture with Maureen Johnson.

Next, I took an expensive cab ride into Philadelphia...to wrap my mouth around my first-ever Philly cheesesteak. Wow!

Since I was already in Philly, I decided to check out some historical stuff. And what's my favorite American era? It's that whole Spirit of '76 thing. And what city rocks the Spirit of '76 the hardest? Philadelphia! They've got the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall, and Ben Franklin pretty much everywhere you look. They even have a new museum dedicated to the Constitution. One room has lifesize bronze statues of the signers, and you can walk amongst them, which is just eerie. When I had another tourist take my photo, I realized that I ridiculously had my hand on the back of one of the statues, as if we were posing together. (That's Ben Franklin in front, doing that classic pull-my-finger routine he invented.)

To make Penguin happy (and also because I love doing this), I walked to a bunch of bookstores in the area and signed their copies of Thirteen Reasons Why. And as I was walking by Independence Hall, the road was blocked off and a small crowd was gathering. I looked across the street, and guess who was leaving a meeting there...

Johnny McC walked across the street and shook hands with the people standing all around me. I guess I just...I don't know...didn't feel like it. But I did stick a camera in his face!

Then, the part I'd been looking forward to most of all because that's just how I am. I took a guided ghost tour! Our costumed guide led us around the city with a candle-burning lantern. In the photo below, our guide is standing in front of America's very first library, with a statue of Benjamin Franklin above her. According to our guide, Mr. Franklin's ghost has been seen many times walking through the halls with an armful of of books. But sometimes, when his arms aren't so full, his spirit has a habit of pinching ladies on the buttocks. Renaissance man, indeed!

The next morning, I went to the NAIBA tradeshow floor in search of freebies. I must've said D'oh! half a dozen times after realizing I recently paid full price for books I could've gotten for nothin'! These events are always nice for connecting with other YA authors in attendance. After chatting about the industry and creativity, someone usually says, "Hey! We should exchange books and autograph them!" So two of the latest additions to my signed-book collection are Same Difference, by Siobhan Vivian, and The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies, by Lizabeth Zindel.

My final big thrill of the trip (okay, it was actually followed by a second Philly cheesesteak) was touring Independence Hall. The room below is where the Declaration was signed and the Constitution came together. The weight of history in that room gave me the chills and, not to get all sentimental, it made me even more determined to do my part from now till November (and after) to help make this a more perfect union. By the way, more perfect union has got to be the most creative use of three words in any government document. Anyone who says America is already perfect...fine. But even the founders thought we should try to make it even more perfect. (Who knew those men in tights could be so sarcastic!) And that chair at the back of the room, that's the only piece of original furniture in there. Some guy named George Washington sat in it.

- Jay

Done! (Almost)—Robin

2008-09-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

I’ve finally finished the revisions for The Happiness Project. Woohoo! Now it’s off to get suggestions from a couple of author friends and then, assuming their suggestions aren’t the start-all-over kind, it’s off to my agent.

So you would think now that I’m done with my part for a while, I’d have plenty of time for laundry and movies and shower scrubbing and well-cooked dinners. But…no.

I have another project I’m working on. I’ve been helping my husband start up his wedding photography business and we’ve signed up to be in a wedding faire next month. Which sounds simple, but the vendors at these fairs don’t just decorate, they go…all…out. Fabric, flower arrangements, lighting, rugs, souvenirs, giveaways. And the lighting. Did I mention the lighting!?

Gulp.

They even have a competition at the wedding faire for booth decorating and they’ll be handing out an award for Best In Show. My plan is to just do well enough that we aren’t escorted out of there by the decorating police. (Would they handcuff us with tulle?)

“Simple and elegant,” I explained to my husband.

He nodded.

But yesterday, Husband burst into the front door and said, “Dude, I found these lamps that sit on the floor and they’re covered in bamboo and I could take off the top and weight the bottom with sandbags and light it from beneath and we could buy four of them and build our own tabletops and attach them with brackets and run the cords underneath so it looks like tables that are sitting on glowing bamboo pods! What do you think!?”

What do I think?

We’re going for Best In Show, baby!!!

-Robin

It's the Thought that Counts -- Jay

2008-09-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

After work, I met Robin for an emergency Brainstorm Session about a problem with her novel. Meanwhile, my wife was at a friend’s house and we probably weren’t going to see each other till much later because she was then heading to choir practice. Well, the Mermaid B.S. session ended early (it was an easy fix!), so I decided to surprise my wife before she left her friend’s house.

Her friend lives in a mobile home park, but I couldn’t remember which home was hers. So I parked my car across the street from the entrance so my wife would see me as she was leaving…and hopefully she could spare a second to say hi before driving off.

I was trying to be cute!

So I sat there. And then I pulled out a really cool book I’d just picked up about the Salem Witch Trials and began reading. Then I watched three teenage boys drive up beside me, walk across the street, and hang out in front of the mobile home park. I couldn’t hear their words, but after reading one or two pages, I’d look up and try to figure out what they were talking about based on their body language. There was a lot of stepping on and off the curb, swiping at the air when making a point, and full-throttle laughing while leaning way back. As a YA author, it was fascinating to remind myself how important actions are when describing a character’s personality. After a few more pages, a teenage girl riding a bike stopped beside the boys. Suddenly, their body language was very different. Everyone either stayed up on the sidewalk or down in the gutter, without changing positions. Hands were either in their pockets or gently pointed at the girl when she made a presumably good point. And the laughs were more like chuckles. I read a little more, and eventually the girl said goodbye and began riding away. The boys just stood there and watched her pedal for a long time. And then they went back to using their original body language.

Like I said…fascinating!

Wait. Where in the world was my wife?

Then it hit me. My wife’s friend didn’t live in the mobile home park anymore. She’d recently moved into a stationary home. Aaaaaargh!

So much for being cute.

- Jay

I Have a Theme! -- Robin

2008-09-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Something really amazing happened to me this week. While I was revising my middle grade manuscript, I realized…my book has a theme! And the strange thing? The theme wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.

About half-way through writing the first draft of The Happiness Project, I decided the theme of the story would be about the importance of having opinions, and how having different opinions can be a good thing (in relationships and especially in society).

So, okay. Fine. That’s a fine theme.

But then this week, when I was working on approximately draft #347 of the book, I came across a sentence that jumped out at me. It was one line my main character said to her mom while they were talking about the family dog. And I realized: that one line is my theme!

It was one of those moments where fireworks went off and angels sang and chocolate was eaten quickly! I had heard of this happening to writers before—they write a story and many, many drafts later the theme presents itself to the author. Like magic! Then these lucky authors write another draft where they strengthen the theme and make one of those...you know…awesome books. I just never thought I’d be one of those authors.

Just like I never thought I’d consider myself a runner. I usually describe myself as someone who “moves her feet rapidly 3-4 times per week.” Not a runner. But I guess technically I can now call myself a runner because I've experienced that one thing that all real runners have experienced: Runner’s High. Know what I’m talking about? That moment where you’re running and you realize that your brain is not attached to your body and your lungs are on auto-pilot and you feel so good you think you could run forever…or at least all the way from Sarah Palin’s house to Russia and back!?

Well, it happened to me! (Once.) I was running on the beach in Morro Bay, CA and I literally ran so far I ran all the way to the next town. I ran so far the dog leash law changed!

So, I guess I can kind of call myself a real runner. And now I feel like a real writer. I wrote a story and the theme presented itself to me like magic!

Now that’s Writer’s High!

- Robin

Fellowship of the Wing -- Eve

2008-09-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

No, that is not a typo, and I don't have an Elmer Fudd speech impediment. FOW is the unofficial name of my monthly L.A. based kid-lit writers critique group. Judy Enderle and Stephanie Jacob Gordon started the group a few years back, when I was still "green" and silly and hopeful (and a really BAD writer, but that's a story for another day!). Okay, so I'm still silly and hopeful. But with the help of this extremely generous and talented group of women, I am hoping my "greeness" has become a little less neon and more of, say, a light mint or celery color.

Over the years we've lost a few members for geographic reasons. But when one leaves, Tina Nichols Coury (who so generously provides housing, snacks, coffee, tea, puppies, candy, and sometimes special gifts, for our meetings) always seems to round up another insanely creative and special writer to fill the spot. Oh, and did I mention Tina is the queen of marketing (both BEFORE and after selling a book!), an amazing golfer, a prolific painter, a world traveler AND knows the business of writing inside and out? Seriously, when does the girl sleep?

I'm humbled to work with these women, and often feel out of place. Remember that song, "Which one of these things is not like the other...?" Not because we don't connect on a personal level (we do!) or a political level (we definitely do!) or have things in common (oh, boy, do we ever!). But, as I sat yesterday critiquing the masterpiece works (NO JOKE) of Barbara Bietz, Denise Gruska, June Sobel, Barbara Jean Hicks, and Tina Nichols Coury, I realized that I have SO much still to learn about the craft of writing!

I mean, my goodness, these people know a lot about A LOT. I used to wonder why Judy and Stephanie chose me to join this group in the first place, having been so new to writing and all. But, then I stopped and thought, WHO CARES? I have to believe that some serendipitous forces tossed us together for a reason, and I'm certainly enjoying the ride! So, why ask why?

Just yesterday I had an incredible chat with Barbara Bietz, who somehow miraculously balances working, writing, parenting, and still manages to look fashion-model put together, keep up on politics and Hollywood gossip, and read seemingly every book that hits the shelves. Superwoman personified, you know what I mean? Anyway, just before we hung up the phone she said, "There are no accidents, Eve." I didn't used to believe that. But now I think I really do!

For some reason, the planets aligned perfectly, I found this unique group of writers, or maybe they somehow found me, and every time we get together it's complete magic. Our manuscripts are transformed, our feelings and fears are validated, our views on the world listened to, and spirits are brightened. I always drive home (2.5 hours for me each way) feeling like I just finished an amazing workout, had a massage, a home-cooked meal, and a breakthrough therapy session all at the same time!

Seriously LOVE these girls. Long live the Fellowship of the Wing! When attempting a group picture, we were unable to figure out the camera timer thingy, so there we are, one pic sans Eve, one pic sans Tina. We're better writers than we are photographers, trust me!

- Eve

A Hair Piece -- Jay

2008-09-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

At long last, I’ve found another creative outlet. Painting!

This past Saturday, I painted my very first canvas. I titled it "Windcatcher" and gave it to my wife on our 6th wedding anniversary on Sunday. (The woman in the painting is supposed to be JoanMarie, in case you don’t recognize her.)

For several years, I had been telling Eve that I wanted to learn how to paint. She always told me to c’mon over and she’d show me how, but I always had “other things” to do. Truthfully, I was just terrified of discovering that I sucked. I can’t draw, so how could I possibly paint? But last week, I watched a BBC series about famous paintings and I relearned a word that would allow me to justify a lack of attention to detail: Impressionism!

No, of course that doesn’t look exactly like a woman’s hair caught in a breeze. It’s simply my impression of a woman’s hair caught in a breeze.

Eve was getting ready to begin a painting for a neighbor, so I joined her. Her paints were all set out, she had an assortment of canvas sizes for me to choose from, and we got to work. She gave me a few pointers (you can use the other end of a brush to scratch lines through the paint!), but she otherwise allowed me to get lost for a couple hours in the colors.

Of course, after I’d finished my painting, Eve showed me what she’d been working on.

Show off!

- Jay

Reading The Times -- Robin

2008-09-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

I would love to be boastful and say, “I read the New York Times!” But I don’t. I read articles in the New York Times…not the whole thing. I would love to read it from front to back, but I simply don’t have the time. (Who knew getting the consistency right on my smoothie every morning would be so time consuming!)

My husband loves to read it cover to cover and hands it over to me with particular articles he wants me to read circled in black ink. Sometimes they’re articles about politics, sometimes they’re articles about fuel consumption, but usually they’re articles to help me with book ideas. Like the one about the teenagers who did a school research project on the type of fish used in sushi restaurants. (Be careful…that bluefin tuna might really be tilapia!)

But this last article he gave me was about teenagers. And popularity. And how popularity (or lack of it) when we’re teenagers can be an indicator of our future success as adults. And it’s not what you think! (Hence, the reason I love reading the New York Times.)

The article suggests that kids who are likeable seem to have more success outside of high school than kids who are prominent. Researchers asked teens questions about who is popular in their school and who is not. Then they asked them who’d they like to hang out with most on Saturday night. And the answers were different. They weren’t the “popular” kids, they were a different category of kid. To quote the article: “(those students) tend to have closer friendships, to excel academically and to get on well with most others, including parents—their own and their friends.” The researchers also concluded “this group is characterized by a degree of openness to strong emotional experience. These are very, very socially skilled kids who are really able to master the intricacies of diverse social situations.”

These kids are likeable. Which is cool to think that the A-list popular kids don’t always end up being the most successful. It sounds like the smart, nice ones get to rock in the future! (Can you tell I was never on the A-list?)

But now this whole thing is making me very curious about my high school reunion…

- Robin

Life of Crime -- Eve

2008-09-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a wonderfully relaxing Florida vacation. Although, I use the word “vacation” loosely because now that I’m “retired” from full-time teaching to “write” full-time, my holidays seem like less of a break from things than they used to. I always considered it a heinous crime to have an easy life. And now I am that person!

Believe it or not, throughout junior high, high school, and college I was always an over-scheduler. A crazy Type-A energetic freak of nature, who had to be doing something important and meaningful every single minute of the day. When I graduated college and became a “real” grown-up, I was completely obsessed with planning my future of saving the world in every way humanly possible. Even the year I took off between undergrad and medical school, which was supposed to be my take a break from the grind-travel and relax year, became a random frenzy of philanthropy work through the jungles of Mexico and the forests of Vermont. Not one minute was wasted lounging or playing. After all, I had an entire world to save!

Fast-forward to 2008. Ever since I quit full-time teaching to begin my quest for YA novel publication, I’ve had nothing but free time. True, I do spend hours upon hours reading, writing, researching, re-writing, critiquing, revising, revising, and revising. But the difference now is that I have all the time in the world, and can make up any schedule I want to. Unfortunately, as a result I’ve become less productive and way more slothful. Of course, in my defense, the life of a writer is inherently idle, so until somebody invents a portable computer screen I can attach to my forehead and a keyboard I can operate with eye movements, I’m stuck sitting on my growing-wider-and-more-numb-by-the-day butt.

It’s a paradox, this slacker lifestyle. One the one hand, I’m happier and healthier than I’ve ever been. True story…I had pneumonia six times during med school and teaching combined. Like, antibiotic-resistant-I’m-on-my-deathbed pneumonia. I haven’t suffered so much as a sniffle since I quit. I’m not chronically sleep deprived anymore, so the under eye bags and dark circles have vanished. I have time to run outside every single day, so I’ve shed my pale-green skin color and exchanged my skeletal, lack of muscle tone physique for a pleasantly tanned and plump version.

On the other hand, at the end of the day I often feel, well, slackerish. Like I’ve accomplished nothing, gained nothing, and given nothing to society. I’m not complaining. Again, I’m extraordinarily happy. However, I do battle this love/hate relationship with the slack-life on a daily basis. And I feel guilty for failing to save the world.

Funny thing is that I’m guessing when I do publish my novels, become rich and famous, and soar to unfathomable literary heights, I’ll still feel a bit like a slacker. Because, really, it’s bizarre to think I'll be paid for doing something insanely fun that I love so much. That I can do in my pajamas. Late at night. While blasting Maroon 5 music. And eating chocolate covered pretzels. I mean, really. It’s criminal, isn’t it?

- Eve

In Your Head -- Jay

2008-09-05T00:29:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, I told you I was re-examining my life’s passions. I wanted to find a way to occasionally stop worrying so much about writing and promotion. I needed to think about something else. I needed a hobby!

But that, apparently, wasn’t what I really needed.

This week, I did something I never thought I’d do. And I definitely never thought I’d tell anyone about it if I did. But it was such a great experience that I want to tell you about it. So here it goes: I went to a shrink.

Wait, wait! I mean, I went to a therapist. (Sorry. Old habit.)

My time “on the couch” wasn’t at all like it’s portrayed in the movies and cartoons. The room was small but brightly lit and I sat on a two-seater couch facing the counselor across the room, as opposed to lounging on my back while staring at the ceiling with the lights dimmed.

So what did I learn? Nothing that shouldn’t have been totally obvious…but wasn’t.

Like most writers, I’m an observer. And I don’t simply observe what other people do, but I try to predict what they will do based purely on visual clues. It’s a fun little exercise which helps when it’s time to figure out individual traits for my characters.

The problem? I’m an observer, but I hate being observed. Even by me!

As a writer, here’s what I found so interesting. Whenever I’m asked which character in Thirteen Reasons Why I most identify with, my answer is automatic. And most outside observers will guess that same character. But when I get really deep into motivation and how a character thinks as opposed to just acts, my answer is different. And looking back at my previous (unpublished) manuscripts, I actually identify more closely…in a much more personal way…with different characters than I originally thought.

Weird!

It’s almost like my writing could have been used as therapy, but I wasn’t letting it.

Alright, I’m gonna pull myself back into my head for awhile. Thanks for listening. And who should I make the check out to?

- Jay

BONUS COOLNESS: Here's the Italian cover of my book, known over there as 13.

The Higher Power of Revision -- Robin

2008-09-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve been pretty blurry-eyed lately, pouring through the edits Jay and Eve gave me for my manuscript, The Happiness Project. Looking at all their slash marks, I realized that I have some serious word addictions.

I used to think my only word addiction was to the word wonky. I love saying that word...and I don’t even think it’s an actual word! But now I realize I have many more word addictions, where I use the same words over and over, hoping for a different result each time. But what really happens is they just end up getting slashed by my wonderful critique partners because I never needed those words to begin with. So now I take it one page at a time, accept the words that I cannot change, have the courage to change the words I can, and hope Jay and Eve have the wisdom to know the difference.

Here is a small list of the words I am seriously addicted to:

Suddenly
Um
Okay
Even
Just (...but I just love that word!)

I also have an issue beginning too many sentences with the ever dependable: Then/But/So. Which sounds like a new type of dance move, to me. Which reminds me! My friend Katie told me about a new dance craze called Zumba. I thought it sounded like a fruity, semi-alcoholic drink, but she assured me it was a fitness program. And I believe her because she can do this. And I…um…can’t.

Speaking of addictions and things I can’t do well, reading through Jay and Eve’s edits also showed me that I have a serious dysfunctional relationship with the italics function…and…the…ellipses function.

But I looooove them. Italics and ellipses are just so…what’s the word???

Wonky!

- Robin

Happiness Is... -- Jay

2008-08-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Robin and I recently met at Linnaea’s Café to go over my edits to her manuscript, The Happiness Project. We were also interested in watching some of the speeches from the Democratic national convention on her laptop.

After the first speech, Robin and I had so much to discuss (thankfully, our political views are almost identical). And I made an offhand comment that it was unfortunate we couldn’t talk about politics on our blog.

And Robin said…

Yes we can!

But I didn’t think it was appropriate to use this blog, where we discuss our lives as children’s book writers, to express our excitement…or disappointment…in political things. I mean, sure, even children’s book writers have worldviews that lean us in certain political directions and almost certainly seep into our written words, but I still didn’t think we…

Yes we can!

Maybe if we wrote non-fiction books dealing with the state of the world it would be more appropriate. But the Disco Mermaids, when we write, we just make stuff up. We write fiction! Contemporary fiction. Contemporary realistic fiction, which basically means we take the real world and add a unique point of view or an interesting plot twist to discuss the way the world works. But, no, I still didn’t think…

Yes we can!

By that part of our discussion, Robin’s laptop ran out of juice (she forgot to bring her plug!), so we hightailed it to Mom and Dad Asher’s house to catch the next big Democratic speech. As she drove, I continued discussing my changes to her manuscript. One of the storylines in The Happiness Project, oddly enough, deals with a girl’s upcoming oral report on the Declaration of Independence. And Robin brings up some great points in there about what the founding fathers hoped Americans would do if our country ever found itself in desperate need of change. Too bad we can’t…

Yes we can!

When it came time to figure out a topic for my next blog post, Robin suggested that I simply describe our back-and-forth about whether or not to discuss politics on our blog. So that’s what you’ve got! And if any of my views seeped into this post, I sincerely hope it wasn’t too irritating.

But a little political…that’s something else I can believe in.

- Jay

From GA to CA -- Robin

2008-08-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

I’m back from my vacation in Georgia where I had my fill of Waffle House and Chick-Fil-A. (But I don’t think I can ever truly get my fill of the vanilla dream ice cream cones at Chick-Fil-A. I miss 'em already!)

I also managed to accomplish the three things I needed to do in order to complete the research for my middle grade novel set in Atlanta.

First, I checked out some architecture…

Note: The house I grew up in looked exactly like this one, except that my house was small and wasn’t white and didn’t have columns and didn’t look like this house at all.

Then, I rode the MARTA subway train downtown. Here’s a picture of me and my brother standing in front of the High Museum of Art...

Note: My brother is the one standing with his arm around me, not the guy in the Skipper hat…in case you were wondering. (You probably weren’t wondering.)

And finally…I took a tour of the Centers for Disease Control!!!

My mother and I were escorted through the visitor center with our own personal tour guide. It was fascinating and I came away with a few great nuggets of detail that will fit perfectly into my story.

The CDC is very secure and we had to go through a couple of security checkpoints. Our car even had to go through security, with two armed guards thoroughly searching every part. Even the engine! They only allow you to take pictures inside the visitor center. You are not allowed to take pictures outside. (But I did anyway. Don’t they understand I have a blog!?)

Note: That’s me in the CDC parking lot. I swear!

When we landed back in Los Angeles, we did what all sane people do at the end of a long, exhausting trip. We went to see Donna Summer at the Hollywood Bowl! She brought down the house with “Last Dance.” The queen rocked it!

So now I’m energized to finish these last rounds of revisions and get this book into the hands of my agent. Hopefully she won’t mind the pages that come with smudges of vanilla dream ice cream. Mmmm…Chick-Fil-A. I think I’m ready for another trip back to Atlanta…

- Robin

Gimme the Gold -- Eve

2008-08-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

I’ve decided that sitting down to write for long periods of time takes the same amount of focus, energy, and endurance the Olympic athletes need to excel at their sports. Seriously! I sit here day after day, month after month, and sadly, year after year, clacking away at this computer, not moving a single muscle except for those in the fingers, wrists, forearms and eyeballs. But, at the end of each day, I’m exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. Then I sleep, and get up to do it all over again the next day.

I read somewhere that Michael Phelps works out for at least 5 straight hours a day. A re you kidding me? Puh-leeze, M-Phelp. I can do twice that without even taking a bathroom break. Apparently, he also consumes 12,000 calories a day. Psh…that’s nothing! With all the café mochas and red licorice I inhale, no doubt I’ve got you beat. I mean, every single Starbucks mocha I suck down is 1000 calories right there…Boom!

You know, I’m starting to believe that writing a novel is way tougher than being a multi-medal winning Olympian. I mean, these guys have their own entourage 24/7 coaching them, training them, massaging them, feeding them, brushing their teeth. We novelists got nothing! They’ve got the added luxury of having other people to compete against, so they have constant testosterone flying around, and instant adrenalin rushes when they watch competitors excelling. All this activity makes it easy to push through the pain and perform.

We writers sit in quiet solitude. No coaches. No competitors in our faces. No massages. No endorsements or money or commercials or free swim caps. Not that I’d wear a swim cap, but still, it’d be nice to have a collection of free ones anyway…you know, so I could create a display above the mantle or something.

All I’ve got is a brain and a pencil!

Okay, and a critique group and a computer. And an iPod and printer. And the internet and books. And all my Facebook and writing friends. And a cushy couch and lots of sweatsuits. And licorice and Coke Zero and café mochas. And Robin and Jay at my disposal 24/7 for brainstorming, last minute critiques, moral support, licorice, Coke Zero and café mochas. And my fantastic running shoes for those daily runs around the vineyard to work out the plot kink sessions. And a pool. And a hot tub. And my puppies to keep me company all day and play with me on breaks.

Okay, I don’t have it so bad. I do think they should start giving out medals for writers, though. And if they awarded them based on sheer endurance (the ability to bear prolonged exertion, pain, or hardship), I’d win the gold!

- Eve

I Want My RGZ TV -- Jay

2008-08-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

I love TV! Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around watching holiday cartoon specials. (Seriously, how did Snoopy get that scrawny li'l Christmas tree to sprout branches just by waving his hands in front of it?) And in college, if I had trouble falling asleep, I would put on QVC and slowly fade into dreamland while watching a woman (who was always a little too composed for me to fully trust her) try to sell me sweaters and knives.

But...and here's the part which usually gets me labeled weird...I haven't owned a TV in six years. And I don't miss it! As long as Mom and Dad invite me over on Survivor night, and as long as I can catch The Daily Show online, I'm fine.

Plus, those fabulous Readergirlz just launched rgz TV where I can watch interviews with some of my favorite YA authors. So far, they've got Rachel Cohn, Sonya Sones, and Paula Yoo available for my viewing pleasure whenever I want them.

Oh, and I'm on there, too. But I refuse to listen to my own video because I would just obsess over my words for the next several weeks and I'd need that composed woman from QVC to help me fall asleep.

- Jay

Dork Admission: I did watch my video with the sound off, though. How come no one ever told me I talk with my hands that much?

Hey, Y'all! -- Robin

2008-08-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

I'm in Georgia right now to visit friends and family. But mostly, it seems like I've been hangin' out on I-85. When my son and I arrived at the Atlanta airport, we drove with my folks to Charlotte, North Carolina to spend the weekend with my brother and his kids. My nephew was playing in a soccer tournament and we decided to make it a family event. There were almost a hundred soccer teams playing in the tournament, which meant the Holiday Inn Express we were staying at was filled with under-13 soccer teams...boys and girls.

Now, a weekend like that may sound like H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks to most of you. But for me, it was one thing: Fodder. For. My. Book! I spent Saturday night prying under-13 soccer girls off of my under-13 soccer nephew. (He's adorable, so I couldn't blame them.)

My son was a trooper, and even found ways to pass the time during all the soccer games.

Later this week, since my middle-grade novel is set in Atlanta, I plan to do the following "southern" things in the name of research...

1. Visit a historical section of town to study the architecture.

2. Ride the subway to downtown Atlanta...by myself.

3. And, of course, take a tour of the Centers for Disease Control!

That last one may sound like H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks to most of you, but I can't wait! I'm going to visit the CDC! I'll report back later in the week with more info. And hopefully, with nothing contagious...

Bye, y'all!

- Robin

Bruce Coville-isms -- Eve

2008-08-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

(I'd like to dedicate this post to the ever-talented writer, singer, picture book reader, Disneyland expert-extraordinaire,

Tyler McBroom...who I believe in my lifetime will become the next Bruce Coville.)

One of the best parts of the SCBWI conference for me this year was watching the always outrageously entertaining Bruce Coville speak. He makes me laugh, cry, gasp and yearn to become a better writer and person. Every time I see him, he spits out so many perfect, poignant Coville-isms, I hardly have the finger power to write them all down. Some of my favorites from this year’s opening keynote speech:

“Push the why. Ask yourself why you want to write the story.”

“The three stages of childhood in American history include child as:

A) Economic Contributor, B) Object of Love, and C) Consumer.”

(So true! Yet a little sad…)

“Kids need heroes.”

“The seven deadly sins for writers are: Dullness, Repetition, Cliché, Inattention, Perfectionism, Sloth, Clumsiness.”

(Is Sloth really a sin? Damn!)

“Do not follow the trend. Make the trend.”

“A great book is like only itself.”

“Clichés lie dead and leaden on the page.”

“I cannot imagine a greater handicap than lacking a sense of humor.”

(Couldn’t agree with you more, Bruce! Well said.)

“Security is an illusion.”

“Humor is the highest emotion.”

“To act from joy is more courageous than to act from fear.”

And my all time favorite Coville-ism:

“The Creator must have had a sense of humor to place the plumbing so close to the playground!”

(Remember, Bruce said it. Not me!)

Love Bruce Coville. I want to be him when I grow up!

- Eve

(Please check out the Plot This blog for a great recap of Bruce Coville's Plotting workshop!)

Disco Blurbmaids

2008-08-14T00:19:00.000-07:00

Dilemma: We don’t want to start reviewing books on our blog, yet there’s a new book all three of us fell instantly in love with. You might say we frequently sing its praises!

Solution: We won’t review the book…we’ll blurb it!

While this book has already received a wonderful blurb by someone named Meg Cabot, we decided to offer our own little nuggets of applause to Robin Benway’s debut teen novel, Audrey, Wait!

But first, here’s how the book is described on its jacket flap:

EVERYBODY’S SINGING, “AUDREY, WAIT!”

Audrey Cuttler’s life hasn’t been the same since that song, “Audrey, Wait!” hit the airwaves. All she wants to do is go to concerts, hang out with her friends, and maybe score a date with the cute boy who works with her at the Scooper Dooper.

But now, her ex-boyfriend’s song about their breakup is at the top of the charts and she’s suddenly famous! The paparazzi won’t leave her alone, the tabloids are trying to make her into some kind of rock goddess, and the Internet is documenting her every move!

Will Audrey ever be able to have a normal life again? Get ready to find out, because it’s time for Audrey to tell her side of the story.
And now for the blurbs:

Robin Benway did three things with this story: She. Rocked. It.
- Robin Mellom

When I first heard the premise for Audrey, Wait! I was almost too afraid to start reading it. I thought my hopes were way too high. Turns out, I could’ve set them even higher.
- Jay Asher

Robin Benway, brilliant! Just like when I come across a new tune I need to play over and over, I finished Audrey, Wait!, then flipped back to the beginning and read it all again.
- Eve Porinchak

Run, don’t wait to get your hands on Audrey, Wait! You’ll wonder why you didn’t run faster! Then you'll wonder why you don't run through bookstores all the time. It's so much fun!
- Robin Mellom

If you mix up the letters and punctuation in Robin Benway Audrey, Wait!, you get A Brawny, Auditory Newbie! Coincidence? I think not.
- Jay Asher

I laughed, I cried, I became one with Audrey, Wait! But mostly laughed. My new favorite book!
- Eve Porinchak

Not only do Robin Benway and I share the same first name (which makes me that much closer to being cool someday) but we also share a love of music. And Audrey, Wait! makes you want to write a love song to her as the author for writing such a fantastic book. So fantastic that I had to read it even when American Idol was on. Seriously…it’s that good.
- Robin Mellom

You know that song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen? And you know how that song is so fun, but it’s really hard to figure out which part is the most fun? Audrey, Wait! is just like that!
- Jay Asher

I LOL-ed so many times my stomach hurt. So real. So quick-witted. So wish I had written it first!
- Eve Porinchak

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
It won't just tickle your funnybone...
it'll rock it!

Another Way to Get the Chills -- Jay

2008-08-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

When I got home last Saturday, a package was waiting on my doorstep. Inside was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. Not only was there an autographed copy of Brooke Taylor’s debut teen novel, Undone…but on the back of the book was my very first blurb!

Why is it so cool to see my name on someone else’s book? I don’t know, but it is! When I showed my wife, she got the chills, too.

Along with a copy of the book, there were several bookmarks and postcards, such as this…

The full blurb reads: A beautifully intense story. Brooke Taylor hooked me with the very first line and never let go.

And to whet your appetite, here’s that first line: Kori came with a warning label—a black T-shirt that read: DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR ABOUT ME.

What’d I tell you!

- Jay

Dork Admission: Yesterday, I was in a bookstore and stumbled upon several copies of Undone on the shelves. I showed off my debut blurb to a few shoppers…completely forgetting to tell them about my own book one aisle over!

Back in the Saddle -- Robin

2008-08-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

No doubt, we had fun at the national SCBWI conference. But the highlight for me was Sunday at the Golden Kite Luncheon when Lin Oliver gave a moving tribute to Sue Alexander.

Lin told the story of how SCBWI came to be. She and Stephen Mooser were friends who had just graduated from college in the early 70’s and they had been asked to do some work for an educational publisher. Neither one of them knew much about writing for children, so they tried to find an organization to answer their questions. But there were none. So…they decided to start their own. They ran an ad asking for writers to join their new organization called the Society of Children’s Book Writers. And the first person to answer that ad? Sue Alexander.

Over 35 years later, looking around that glamorous ballroom full of nearly a thousand people, it made me want to cry. I am so proud to be part of an organization so thriving and full of amazing supportive people. Sniff!

The conference inspired me and motivated me (as it does every year) to get back in the saddle and push harder and harder to write the best story possible. Which, for me, meant getting back to revising my middle grade novel, The Happiness Project.

You may remember that I spent quite a while revising that puppy with my new, lovely, Elite Uni-Ball red pen...

And I assumed I had gotten the manuscript into really good shape. But my critiques from Jay have been rolling in (apparently he’s partial to fine-tipped black pens)…

Umm...yeah. I have a lot of work to do.

So thanks to the folks at SCBWI for putting on a fabulous conference. Nothing but love. And I also want to say thanks to my critique partners, but really…that’s more of a love/hate thing.

Nah, let’s face it…it’s mostly love.

- Robin

Final Photos from SCBWI

2008-08-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

One more pic from Jay's workshop on suspense. Do you recognize the book he's reading? It's only the greatest tale of suspense ever written!!!

Laura Rennert, agent to two Disco Mermaids, hosted a get-together in the X Bar for her clients, many of whom were meeting for the first time. Cool authors! Even cooler agent!!!

This is the crew we hung out with through most of the conference. At least, it's as many as would fit at one table for the Golden Kite luncheon.

See y'all in less than a year!

Day 2 at SCBWI

2008-08-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

It was standing-room only at Jay's first non-panel SCBWI workshop. Isn't this the most beautiful audience you've ever seen?

As part of Jay's workshop, he used a Powerpoint slide exposing Bruce Coville's fear of happy-faces. (And yes, it made sense in context. Kind of.)

Of course, the real reason we go to these conferences is to have tons o' fun with others in the children's lit. world. Here's the view from our hotel room, looking down at the Paint the Town Red party.

And here we are, getting ready to make our grand entrance and feeling more nervous than in any previous year.

Jay and the tallest (and nicest) guy at the conference, David LaRochelle.

Robin and Eve and lady in red, Suzanne Young.

Day 1 at SCBWI

2008-08-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

Soon after arriving in L.A., Katie and Sarah Frances presented us with Y'all hats, direct from Mississippi.

Lunch with the Mississippi gals, Rita Crayon Huang, Lee Wind, Will Ferrell, and John C. Riley.

Toasting something very cool (more on that later) with Suzanne Young and Katie.

Jay's first time speaking on the main stage with Yuyi Morales, Paula Yoo, John Rocco, and Lisa Yee.

Jay kickin' butt at the first annual skipping contest through the hotel lobby. (We had to yell "Guffaw!" at the peak of each skip. Don't ask.)

Go to Bed! -- Jay

2008-07-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

I’m a fiddler.

No, you won’t find me balancing on a rooftop, silhouetted by moonlight, playing an instrument with a bow. But for the past couple weeks, I could easily be found on most nights hunched over my desk, glowing in the light of my monitor, endlessly tweaking my Powerpoint presentation.

On Saturday, I’ll be giving a workshop at the national SCBWI conference titled No Bookmarks Allowed: How to Inject Suspense into any Novel. And basically, I’m nervous as hell with a little bit of heck thrown in, too. I know I’ll be fine once I begin talking and there’s no turning back. But until that time comes, I haven’t been able to think about anything but my workshop.

Sometimes I’ll think about creative ways to improve it. But usually I’m just thinking of ways I might potentially blow it.

Also, I’ve been kind of cranky lately. (Shut up! At least I admit it! What’s your excuse!?!?) I’m not normally a cranky person, but I get that way when I don’t sleep. And when there’s a speech coming up that I’m nervous about, I just do not sleep much. I always think there’s a more creative way to get a point across and that I’ll find that creative way if I just stay up and stare at my monitor for another 15 minutes.

Of course, that doesn’t usually work. But I still try!

The past few days, friends have been e-mailing or texting me around midnight. Most of the messages consist of nothing more than Go To Bed. And even though they’re right…boy, that sure makes me even crankier!

What I’m getting at is, I’m actually kind of excited about my presentation. All of those extra 15 minutes (which usually piled on multiple times within the same night) might have paid off this time. But I'm afraid that for the first day-and-a-half of the four-day conference my mind will be distracted. So consider this an apology-in-advance to any of you who might run into Cranky Jay this weekend. I promise, once my workshop is over…it’s party time!

- Jay

Red - Set - Go!

2008-07-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Only a few more days till we head down to the national SCBWI conference in Los Angeles. For those who don't know, this is a conference for only the most serious writers and illustrators of children's books. It's a chance to learn from one another, to network, to...

Y'know what? There's no sense in lying. The Disco Mermaids go, year after year after year after year, to have fun! And the height of that fun is reached Saturday night during the afterhours theme party. This year's theme is Paint the Town Red. So here's a li'l behind-the-scenes scoop on how we're planning to make fools of ourselves this year:

Here's Robin adjusting the color of her footwear:

Here's Jay researching "moves" on YouTube:

And here's Eve making sure...um...making sure her costume smells good:

Fondue Friday #4 - One Week and Counting...

2008-07-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

Fondue Fridays

- where everyone dips in, and everything comes up cheesy -
- - -

Every year, we have a blast at the SCBWI National Conference in Los Angeles. But every year is a totally different experience. Recently, the three of us got together, placed a laptop on a Lazy-Susan, and discussed our thoughts and hopes for the next conference…which begins one week from today.

- - -

Jay: Okay, who wants to go first?
Robin: Well, you just did.
Jay: Okay, then who wants to go sec--…I mean…third?
Eve: I’ll go…wait, what are we talking about?
Robin: I think this is the last time we’re going to do this.
Jay: Robin’s in a bad mood cuz she had to put off her hair appointment. Nice hat, by the way.
Robin: I like to call it Redneck Chic. Let’s move on.
Eve: I love the hat! And, Jay…you’re wearing a hat too. Speaking of hats, what are you guys most excited about doing at the conference?
Jay: Just for your info, dear readers, Robin’s hat says Pheasants Forever. I think it’s from back home in Georgia.
Robin: Pheasants are forever. Now let’s move on. I’m looking forward to so many of the speakers, including the amazing Jay Asher who had better lose his hat by then…and his attitude.
Jay: It’s a Penguin hat. I’m just trying to represent!
Eve: Pheasants. Penguins. Who cares? I’m excited to meet blog readers like Suzanne Young and Laura Ludwig Hamor, who I’ve only met cyber-ly! And Christy Raedeke, who I only got to hang with a little bit in Big Sur.
Robin: Yes! And Rachel Cohn and David LaRochelle and…and…oh, who am I kidding…I can’t wait to get soy lattes all day long from the Starbucks in the lobby!
Eve: OMG! I was just going to say the same thing! Except my drink of choice is a café mocha. We are the same person, Robin!
Jay: You definitely are. Each year at the conference…each and every morning!…I’m told to get up early, go downstairs, and bring back your coffees while you “put your faces on.”
Robin: Thanks, Jay. Extra hot…don’t forget! Hopefully we’ll make it down in time for the faculty parade, where each faculty member says one inspired word into the microphone. Do you want to give our readers a hint as to what your word will be, Jay?
Eve: Ooh! Do not say something generic like creative or imagine. You should say…
Robin: Wait, you didn’t tell Eve yet?
Jay: No, back when I came up with it, it would’ve just frustrated her. But I think she’d like it now.
Eve: Wait, I know! Your word is…wait, why would it frustrate me? Is it menopause???
Robin: You’re right. It would’ve frustrated her.
Eve: What IS it? Loser? Cellulite? Dumb blond? No, that’s two words.
Jay: Come here, I’ll whisper it to you. [Jay whispers his word.]
Eve: Oh! NEVER would have guessed that one! Funny. Yes, maybe it would have frustrated me a few months back. But not now. Thanks for telling me!
Jay: Okay, Robin, what year did you first attend the conference?
Robin: My first year was 2003. The theme was the Mad Hatter Tea Party or something. I drove down by myself for one day and ended up crashing in Eve’s room that night. I remember thinking…I could make a habit out of this.
Eve: That’s right! We all hardly knew each other then. I remember sitting in my room with Jay chatting about how much I loved his new project, and insisting that he keep working on it. Back then it was a little thing called, Baker’s Dozen. Most of you now know it as Thirteen Reasons Why!
Jay: I remember that conversation so well! When you told me you loved my book, I remember thinking, “I think we could become really good friends.”
Robin: Awww. This is getting so cute. Let’s do more cute! When was your first year, Jay? What was that like?
Jay: 2000 was my first year…and it wasn’t so cute at first. I knew absolutely no one and I was so shy back then. But I ended up befriending Kathleen Duey, and she introduced me to so many cool people. By the end of the conference, I was more determined than ever to stick with this. And then, Eve, I think you came to the conference two years later, but we never even talked.
Eve: Yes, 2002 was my first. I had just moved to Cali, knew no one at the conference, but met a fabulous group of girls the first day--April Fritz, Kelly DiPucchio, Hope Vestergaard, Alice Pope, Lisa Wheeler--and they made me feel right at home. I do remember seeing a strange guy sitting all alone at the Saturday night luau dressed like the Hawaiian Punch logo-guy and playing a ukulele!
Jay: Yep. That was embarrassing…cuz NO ONE ELSE DRESSED UP THAT YEAR!!!
Robin: But this year, things will be much different!
Eve: Yes, because it’s not a luau, so you won’t need that ukulele. Don’t bring it. No, seriously. Don’t.
Robin: Right! This year will be very different. Jay’s book is out and he’s on the faculty and he’s going to be the hit of the conference. For me it’ll be different because…oh, wait…it won’t be different at all. Except we’ll be dressed in red!!!
Jay: Hey, Robin. I’m actually starting to like your Pheasants Forever hat. You look good in it.
Eve: Leave her hat alone!
Jay: No, I’m serious. I like it!
Robin: For real ya’ll, pheasants are forever.
Eve: Oh! Oh! I know! Your one word should be I’maNewYorkTimesBestsellingAuthorLookAtMeLookAtMe.
Robin: Or how about EveAndRobinWillBePublishedSoon.
Eve: Oh, oh, or MillionDollarContractsMovieDealsAndTheWholeShabangForBothOfYou.
Robin: Or ILoveEveAndRobinMoreThanLifeItself.
Eve: IWouldBeNothingWithoutThem.
Jay: [walks away]
Robin: Jay! We’re sorry.
Jay: I’m just getting more coffee.
Eve: Maybe his one word should just be creative.
Robin: Yeah. Creative. That’s good!

Magna Carta -- Eve

2008-07-23T00:56:00.000-07:00

As I’m furiously completing this draft of my YA masterpiece, I’m constantly checking in with my novel and screenwriting reference books to make sure that I’m staying on track, avoiding common amateur mistakes, and following three-act structure, plot, and character rules.

One of these “how to write” books had a great exercise for keeping an author focused on his/her overall goals for the novel. I cannot remember which book suggested this piece of advice, but it is brilliant.

Create your own Magna Carta.

Your own personal Magna Carta is simply an honest list of things you like and dislike when reading stories. That’s it!

My Magna Carta:

LIKES
First-person point of view
Simple writing
Intense love stories
Humor (even intense dramas must have some)
Realistic characters, plot, setting, dialogue
Likeable characters
Makes me laugh and/or cry
Suspense
Surprise or twist endings
Multicultural (to me this means using characters from a variety of backgrounds; rich, poor, different customs, be liefs, religions, philosophies)

DISLIKES
Third-person POV
Pretentious writing or characters
Verbose writing or overuse of fancy words
Overly quirky characters
Unrealistic characters
Characters who speak too young/old for their ages
Mean-spirited or selfish protagonists
Slow/quiet
Overly depressing, disturbing, no comic relief, no hope (see: House of Sand and Fog, The Road)
Fancy, rich-people settings
Lame endings (out of the blue or abrupt)
Contrived Multicultural (Specifically, the use of token characters with pigment, trying to pass as “multicultural” writing. Drives me crazy! “Culture” implies a way of life, NOT a shade of pigment. Stepping down off soapbox now…)

For me the exercise is so simple, yet so useful. It’s a constant reminder of what I want (and do not want) to accomplish in telling a story. If I can just stick all the things I love to see in novels into my own novel, then I’ll be satisfied as an artist. Easier said than done, of course!

8 days to go until I hit my deadline. I just hope I’m doing my Magna Carta proud!

- Eve

Rehearsin' for SCBWI in L.A.

2008-07-20T23:21:00.001-07:00

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We've definitely got the moves. Now all we've gotta do is get our costumes ready for the afterhours party.

This year's theme? Paint the Town Red.

Bring it!

To My Dear Friends... -- Robin

2008-07-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

Since Jay and Eve are busy reading my manuscript, they don’t have time for blogging right now. So you get me…again!

This time I need some advice. (Jay and Eve aren’t even able to provide basic friendship needs! But that’s okay. I asked them to read my book and ignore my
calls. They’re taking this very seriously!)

Question #1: My husband is leaving to go do some workin South America. Which means I’ll be doing the single-mom thing for a while. Waaaahhh! But now I can’t decide how to spend my time while he’s gone. Should I a) rearrange the furniture; b) scrub the bathrooms; or c) get a babysitter and go see a movie?

Question #2: If I was to get a babysitter and go see a movie, should I go see that Mamma Mia! movie? Or is that Batman movie as good as everyone says?

Question #3: I’ll change the subject now…my 6-year old son has become totally obsessed with Hannah Montana. Is this normal? Or am I a bad mother?

Question #4: Seriously…Mamma Mia! or The Dark Knight?

- Robin

Putting the Pen Down -- Robin

2008-07-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have finally put down my red Uni-Ball Vision Elite pen because I'm done with my revisions. Woo-hoo!!! And we all know what that means…my son gets to eat fresh vegetables again! No more pizza and tofu dogs on a regular basis. At least, for a little while.

I have now passed my manuscript on to Jay and Eve so they can work their magic and make my somewhat decent story into an awesome story. They’re the best, I’m tellin’ ya!

I started on this manuscript almost two years ago when I attended a humor workshop put on by the lovely Mary Hershey. During that workshop, we did a writing exercise and I came up with a character, Carly, who is from The South and has an obsession with hair products. (Hmmm…wonder who's eerily similar to that description…)

Anyway, I wrote about me...I mean, Carly...and got a few chapters in when I realized that she had absolutely no story to go along with her. And for many months, I couldn’t come up with anything. But then, I had one of those flashes, the kind that hit you quickly and you stop what you’re doing and just stare for a while. It happened to me at 7 a.m. when I was in the middle of putting a load of whites into the dryer. I just stared at the dial and thought…Wow, I might be on to something here!

And now, 18 months later, I’ve finally put the finishing touches on that little idea I had while cleaning socks and underwear. What’s it about? Well...um…let’s see. It’s about a girl who discovers this thing that does this stuff and her mom tells her all this other stuff and she can’t figure out what to do with the stuff and the thing that her mom told her about...and stuff.

Yeah, I’m bad at summaries. In fact, when I first pitched this idea to my agent, it took me about half an hour to describe what I wanted to do. She was so wonderful and patient and didn’t even take a bathroom break during my long rambling attempt at a summary. Love her!

So that’s what Jay and Eve are for. Their job is to not only make the book rock, but to help me figure out how to summarize 175 pages of stuff into about 3 sentences. Until then, what I can tell you is the title: THE HAPPINESS PROJECT.

And when I handed copies over to Jay and Eve, I even gave them a girl and a boy version.

Can you guess which Mermaid’s which?

- Robin

18 Days...Si Se Puede! -- Eve

2008-07-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, it can be done.

After briefly chatting with Suzanne Young the other day via email about her numerous books, and the fact that she can crank out a first draft in 4 days (yes, I said 4 days!) I felt motivated. And, admittedly, slothful, lame and inadequate. But mostly motivated. Makes my 18-day deadline seem quite silly...and attainable!

Turns out my procrastination tactics have all been thwarted by a minor injury I had last week. Running...not allowed. Hot tub...can't get wet. Sleep...hurts too much. Softball...not gonna happen. All I can humanly do is sit and write. The situation over the last few days has taught me that I really can keep my butt in the chair and write a crap-load of words. I mean, a lot of words. And all strung together they even seem to make some sort of sense! At this rate I really think, for the first time this month, that I'll meet my crazy deadline.

Special thanks to my new writing coach, Eric Elfman, who cracked the whip, Agent Laura for her everlasting patience, Greg "H" Guss, fellow Bruin who emails me motivational messages like, "Hey, I just wrote 10 pages during the America's Got Talent commercial break...what have you done?" and, of course, Robin and Jay for...um...generously bringing me all those buckets of Australian Kookubura Licorice (the red kind) from Trader Joe's and a keg of Diet Coke...I'm thanking you in advance because I know you two are going to show up any day bearing inspirational gifts. I'm waiting by the door...

Si Se Puede!

- Eve

Bonus Scenes -- Jay

2008-07-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

There are several questions I get asked about Thirteen Reasons Why almost every time I do a school visit or book club event. One question concerns the characters (other than Clay) mentioned on Hannah's cassette tapes. They want to know how those people reacted to being singled out as reasons for her suicide. How did it affect them?

My answer? I have no idea.

Once I recorded...I mean, wrote...Hannah's words, and conveyed Clay's reactions, my contribution to the story was finished. Whatever happens outside of those 288 printed pages (or 5 compact discs) is entirely up to each reader.

But I won't disagree with the following two-part student project. In fact, I absolutely love their ideas...as well as how they're presented. If you haven't already read the book, don't be afraid to watch. Nothing will be spoiled for you. The only scene I wrote is at the beginning, when Clay first receives the package of tapes.

Everything else is brand new...and brilliant!

Part 1

Part 2

- Jay

P.S. Did you notice my book made two cameos? That is so cool!

Aaaaaaand...She's Off!!! -- Jay

2008-07-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

I never tire of hearing a good "How I Got Published" story. Before I sold my book, I took comfort in the often unpredictable ups-and-downs of other writers. Many of them struggle for years, searching for their perfect age-group or genre or writing style. And when they find it, it often takes years to find the perfect story within that bracket. And when they find that story, they then need to write that story and find an editor who can convince a publisher to buy it...which can add even more years to an author's personal journey.

This post is not about one of those journeys.

But first, I need you to think back. If you're a writer, think back a year-and-a-half. What were you working on back then? Eighteen months ago, I’d just finished editing Thirteen Reasons Why for Razorbill. I was still on Cloud 9, feeling that my thirteen years of slowly learning the craft had finally paid off.

What was my friend and fellow-blogger Suzanne Young doing a year-and-a-half ago? She had just decided to become a writer, so began working on her very first novel. (Please, dear reader, now would be a good time to find a chair...and sit in it.) In the ensuing eighteen months, Suzanne wrote a total of nine young adult manuscripts. That's right…nine YA manuscripts...eighteen months! (Warning: Do not attempt the math because the answer will make your brain go kablooey.) Were all of those manuscripts brilliant? Probably not...at least, it makes me feel better to assume they weren't. But a mere nine months after beginning her writing journey, she signed with a literary agent.

Several months went by, and I received a very nice e-mail from Suzanne about Thirteen Reasons Why. We did a little shop-talk and it became clear that she was not in the best author/agent relationship. So she parted ways with her agent and did some submitting on her own, getting extremely positive feedback from editors. And then, after stumbling across her blog, another literary agent contacted her. This new agent was extremely excited about Suzanne and was soon submitting her novel Smitten Kittens.

Within a matter of weeks, three publishing houses were fighting over Suzanne. This past Monday, she signed a two-book deal with Razorbill.

What I'm saying is, Suzanne's learning curve looks more like a ninety-degree-angle!

So how did she do it? I have many theories, but they mainly come down to this: It's internal. She just gets it! When it comes to characters, emotional tension, how to time a joke, and pitch-perfect dialogue, she knows how to get the idea out of her head and onto her computer in one clean sweep. Her writing process is a lot like an improv comedian. What comes out simply works.

But it can be frustrating, too. Several times, she would send me an opening chapter to a new book and ask me if it was any good. I would start to read it, laughing out loud, and another e-mail would pop up asking me to stop reading because she'd just rewritten that chapter. Not edited it. Rewritten it! New actions. New dialogue. New jokes. So I would start reading the new version, and another e-mail would pop up with the subject line Stop Reading!

And in the time it took me to write and edit this post, Suzanne probably wrote three chapters in her second book for Razorbill...and rewrote each chapter three or four times.

Congratulations, Suzanne! Eve, Robin, and I are doing the Book Deal Dance in solidarity with ya!!!

- Jay

To read more about Suzanne, here are some more links. (Notice how many blogs she contributes to. She just can't stop those fingers from typing!)

Yapping About YA

Lipgloss Lit

2010: A Book Odyssey

Yes, A Post About Pens -- Robin

2008-07-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

I figured I could post about the state of our economy or the massive job layoffs across the country or the outrageous gas prices, but really, I’m more concerned about pens.

Since I’m in the middle of revising my middle grade novel, and since I’m the type of person who revises using the mark-the-paper-like-mad-with-red-pen method, I am very particular about my red pens. Very particular.

It can’t be felt or ballpoint or fiber or gel. And especially not quill. That’s just weird. I like my pens to be, oh…how do you say…the kind that move. You know, the ones that just glide across the page without any effort and spit out just the right amount of ink that is very visible, not too faint, and not too bold. Yeah, see, I had just that pen. Had! And I made it through almost fifty pages of revisions with such a pen. Then it up and left the planet. I can’t find it anywhere!!!

However, a new pen has come into my life. You see, my husband and I decided to take out a home equity line of credit [see opening sentence] and when the lady came to our house to have us sign the documents, she said, “Sign here…and here…and here…” Which I did, and then I realized that she had handed me the most wonderful, gliding, graceful pen on the planet! (Other than the one I lost.) I asked her where she got it and she told me Costco and then she snatched it from my hand.

So now that we have all this extra money available due to our new home equity line of credit, I went out and bought a value pack of 16 Uni-Ball Vision Elite pens. Twelve of which are black, three are blue, and one is red.

One.

Which means I’d better not lose this pen, too. Otherwise, I will be posting about the state of our economy and complaining about the lack of good red pens in this country!

-Robin

The Dark Side -- Eve

2008-07-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have 27 days and 27 nights left until my self-imposed deadline for completing my YA novel is upon me! The lack of hours isn't what's scaring me, though. It's the fact that my once sweet, simple love story has drifted over to the dark side and become something I hadn't seen coming. Which is ironic because the book's main theme is facing our fear of the unknown. And I've got some serious Unknown-O-Phobia right now. Isn't that like art imitating life imitating art or something? I don't know. Maybe I've been chewing on too many licorice sticks.

All I know is that these new ideas are popping out of my head and shooting through my fingers into the keyboard and splattering onto the computer screen and creating a story that is very different from the one that is so neatly outlined on my giant dry erase board. The story now has more tension, more adventure, more stakes, and more...well, um...freaky stuff. But, see, this didn't start out as a freaky story. And I didn't think I had it in me to write freaky stuff. Don't get me wrong...it's not like Saw or Halloween or The Strangers freaky stuff. It's more like "M. Night Shyamalan / I see dead people" weird stuff. And that kind of story excites me and creeps me out at the same time.

My dilemma now is...Do I continue on this Stephen King route? Or do I delete everything I've written in the last 48 diet coke-intoxicated hours and return to my Nicholas Sparks roots? It's a tough one. Sweet and simple? Or tense and freaky? Light and breezy? Doomed and dark? I'd like to think of myself as a pretty light and silly person. But, in truth, I tend to be drawn to darker books. For some reason, darker and more serious books make me think harder and stay with me longer than lighthearted books.

Of course, when I sprung these new ideas on my critique group partners yesterday, I think they were a little perplexed. The consensus was that while the new tone and plot points are certainly riveting, they don't fit with the original vision of the book. My problem is that the original vision was feeling a bit boring and stale to me, and the shake up injected new life into the story. And it's exciting to think of this novel as a new, never been done before, strange, but compelling (in a train wreck kind of way) project.

The artist in me tells me to take a risk and blow it out and go with the freaky-deaky flow. But the practical side of me tells me to keep it simple, stick to the vision and finish the sappy love story. Not sure. Maybe filling my body with more guar gum, red dye and artificial carmel coloring will give me some clarity.

- Eve

ALA-kazam! -- Jay

2008-07-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

During my three days at the American Library Association conference in Anaheim this past weekend, I averaged four hours of sleep per night. So if you find any grammatical errors in this post, here's what you should do...

Get. Over. It.

On Friday night, Penguin Young Readers held a fancy schmancy dinner for librarians, educators, and award committee members. At each table sat an author. One at a time, each author spoke about his or her latest book. I happened to bring up the fact...a few times...that I work at a library, which had the same effect as a neon Applause sign hanging over my head. (So that was nice.) Afterwards, a bunch of Penguins marched to a nightspot to continue the chit-chatting, including Ingrid Law, Jon Scieszka, Jacqueline Woodson, John Green, and myself.

The next morning, I headed out to the exhibition room and stood in the presence of as many famous authors as I could. The biggie for me was Laurie Halse Anderson. And when her hand touched my chest while posing for a photo, I swear I felt some superauthor force pass into me.

That afternoon, Feiwel & Friends hosted a bunch o' bloggers in a suite (sweet!), where I got to hang out with the bloggers behind Fuse #8, Jen Robinson's Book Page, and GottaBook.

That night...Disneyland! Followed by IHOP shenanigans and a brief visit to my bed.

Early the next morning, it was time for speed-dating with children's authors! A whole bunch of us marched into a room where about 30 tables were stocked with around eight librarians each. I began my journey (totally by coincidence) at table 13. I talked about my book, answered questions, then moved to a new table whenever the whistle blew. So fun! Afterwards, all of the authors gathered for a group photo. What you can't see is the wall of camera-packin' librarians in front of us.

From there, I went to my first of two autographing sessions. And let me take this moment to say that the behind-the-scenes Penguins who made my first ALA experience so wonderful are some of the coolest (and cutest!) people in the biz. [I know Robin and Eve are gonna tell me to take down the "cutest!" comment, but it's true...and I'm tired, so No.]

And Terry Trueman stopped by. Terry! Trueman!

I don't have any photos from the Best Books for Young Adults pizza party, but John Green, Nancy Werlin, Steve Kluger, and I joined a bunch of teens for hotdogs and hamburgers. (Just kidding! It was pizza. But I'm really tired, so you have to forgive the lame joke.)

When I first walked in, a group of four girls walked up to me and were kind of shy. Eventually, one of them found the courage to say, "I just wanted you to know that I loved Looking for Alaska." And then her friends started busting up and told her that I wasn't John Green. (But don't feel bad for me...she liked my book, too!) Unfortunately for John Green, I pointed him out to the girls and we played a little prank on him. They told him they were big fans of his...and that they loved Thirteen Reasons Why.

Then I signed books for another hour at the Baker & Taylor booth...with Lisa Loeb!!! No, seriously! Look!!!

Near the end, I had a wonderful discussion with my publisher, Ben Schrank, outside of the exhibition area. Over my fourth- or fifth-cup of coffee of the day, we talked about the future of Thirteen Reasons Why and my future dreams as an author. We talked about taking chances. And we talked about... Forget it, I'm tired, and I still have two pictures to go.

No ALA is complete without a little competition between gangs of librarians. Have you ever seen your neighborhood librarians perform a choreographed dance with bookcarts to the music of Weird Science or Thriller? It's truly one of the weirdest things you'll ever see in your life...

Okay, goodnight.

- Jay

While the Cat’s Away…--Robin

2008-06-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Jay is off to ALA this weekend, which means...we have the blog all to ourselves. Woohoo!!!

And you know what happens when the cat's away...the mice will play!!!

And as the next "mouse" who gets to post, and since Jay isn't around to tell me No!, I've decided to take this time to share with you some amazing photography. I feel a picture can change a world. It can change attitudes. It can change the outcome of history! (And yes, it also happens to be something I can post on the blog to entertain easily!)

Therefore, in Jay's absence, and because I know Eve will fully approve of these, I will now share for you some of my favorite photographs that have changed my view on life.

This picture changed my view on men with long hair.

And this photo changed my view on leaving the house that day. Wow. I could look at that forever.

But I'm not a deeply reflective person ALL the time. I love kitties, too!!!

Have a great weekend everyone! We miss you, Jay. For reals!!!

-Robin

Get 'er Done -- Eve

2008-06-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

36 days. That’s what I’m giving myself to finish this YA romance, work-in-progress, year and a half of research, changed the plot at least twenty times, labor of love, sweat and tears, great American teen novel.

July 31st, 2008. That’s my deadline. The day the Disco Mermaids leave town and head to the annual SCBWI national conference in Los Angeles. I told my agent I’d have the draft to her sometime this summer, and we’ll be getting together at the conference. So, the pressure’s on!

This is pretty much how I tackle all giant projects…slow, slow, slow, plan, plan, plan, re-think, re-think, research, research, think some more, do some outlining, then…GO!

Realistically, I’m about 1/4 finished. Because I’ve changed the main plot so many times, the beginning has been reworked to death (no pun intended, as this is essentially a story about a young girl learning to die with dignity). This is exactly how I wrote my first novel, Ring of Fire, as well. I wrote, edited, re-wrote, critiqued, and revised the first six chapters for three years! Then, when I finally had the exact beginning I wanted, and created a general outline of the remaining ¾ of the book, the rest of the writing went really quickly. I actually spent one entire month sitting at my dining room table, sucking down Diet Coke and red licorice (a surprisingly delicious combo!), writing like a madwoman for 10-12 hours a day.

Remember that, Jay and Robin? When you couldn’t get me on the phone or email for days at a time, and then you’d pop by my house to check if I was still alive, and you’d find me greasy-haired and sweaty with licorice in my un-brushed teeth, surrounded by crushed empty Coke cans? Well, prepare yourselves because that time is upon us again.

I’m afraid you won’t see much of me for the next 36 days. Unless, of course, you happen to be shopping in Trader Joe’s and wander down the sweets isle (it’s the third from the left), and accidentally drop some Australian Kookabura red licorice into your cart, then find yourself driving through my neighborhood. Then, and only then, should you walk into my house and disturb me. Thanks in advance!

- Eve

Countdown to ALA -- Jay

2008-06-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

I used to get nervous before speaking in front of a group. Insanely nervous! Sweaty, grumpy, shaky, ready-to-puke nervous. In fact, I used to pray for puke because “I can’t go on, I just puked” is a really good excuse.

But once I’m physically standing before an audience…once there’s no turning back…I enjoy myself. In fact, speaking before an audience has become something I look forward to. That sink-or-swim predicament allows me to forget all of my real-world stresses and just have fun. Of course, it took many speaking engagements before I noticed the nerves always backed off when I needed them to. But now, just knowing I will get through it without a dry cleaning bill makes me excited about upcoming gigs.

Until now.

This coming weekend is the American Library Association’s annual conference. On Friday, shortly after I make the drive down to Anaheim, Penguin’s hosting a dinner for select librarians, educators, and ALA Awards Committee members. And I’m supposed to get up and say a few words. Sounds like something I’d enjoy, right?

Well, I made the horrible mistake of asking for a list of names of the other authors who will be speaking. In alphabetical order, they are…

Andrew Clements
John Green
Ingrid Law
Tao Nyeu
Neal Schusterman
Jon Scieszka
Nancy Werlin
Jacqueline Woodson

I seriously don’t know if I can do this. At least, not without puking on something. I’ve already started shaking and sweating and a few people have even called me grumpy in the past few days (but I think they’re all stupid and wrong!!!).

Seriously, I’ve been trying to figure out where within that list I’d feel most comfortable speaking. And I don’t know where! There is nowhere!

- Jay

LAST MINUTE UPDATE:

Everything’s going to be okay.

Why the sudden change? Because of a dare. Yes, once again, I’ve been dared by a Mermaid to do something potentially embarrassing in front of a bunch of strangers. And knowing that I might embarrass myself on purpose eliminates the chance of me embarrassing myself on accident.

(Don’t worry, as long as I buy that logic, it works.)

I’ll let you know how it goes…

P.S. From 11 to noon on Sunday, I’ll be autographing copies of Thirteen Reasons Why in booth #2617. Stop by if you’re around!

Suite Revisions -- Robin

2008-06-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

This past week was a vacation at our house, only we didn’t take a family trip…at least not together. The plan was for my husband and kid to take a father/son camping trip so that I could have the whole house to myself while I worked on revising my middle grade manuscript.

I know…great plan!

Except that the camping trip suddenly got cancelled when we found out the cement mixing truck was scheduled to come earlier than expected. (We’re doing a landscaping project in our front yard, which is another post in itself, and it will include pictures, I promise!) Anyway, that meant my two-day, interruption-free revision retreat was now cancelled, too.

I know…total bummer.

My hubby saw the disappointment on my face and told me to go to a hotel…that cement mixing is bonding for a father and son. (Who knew!?) So off I went to spend two days at The Embassy Suites.

Yes, I said suites! That means two…whole…rooms! I set up the bedroom with my computer and iPod and speakers and stocked it with Coke Zeros and peanutbutter crackers. I used the “living room” to read the drafts and take notes. It was an awesome set-up. No, it was a suite set-up!!!

The hotel also had a large pool and a 24-hour gym. I brought my bathing suit and my gym clothes, thinking I’d have plenty of time for extra-curricular activities. But, no. I worked from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and only took a lunch break, coffee break, dinner break, and then a late night run to the grocery store to get Little Debbie Nutty Bars. (Love those!)

At first I thought the revisions would go quickly. I pulled out my handy-dandy red pen and cut some lines. Like, for example, page 8. A couple of sentences deleted. No biggie.

By the time I got to page 22, it was a different story. My handy-dandy red pen was starting to see a lot of action.

And page 35? Good grief. I gave up and just turned to a blank page.

So the process is coming along slowly, but at least my husband and son have now bonded in the name of cement. What more could I ask for!?

-Robin

A Smell of My Own Medicine -- Jay

2008-06-19T00:09:00.000-07:00

There’s nothing about writing in this post. I just want you to know why I’m so proud of my wife.

But first, a li’l backstory…

In college, my roommate worked at Barnes & Noble and didn’t get off till midnight. I would meet him and a few other friends at Denny’s, where we’d eat seasoned fries and drink coffee for a couple hours before heading home. It was within those cushy booths that I perfected the fine art of comedic timing. My goal, whenever a new person joined us, was to get his or her coffee to come squirting through at least one nostril.

Sometimes I was able to do it alone. But quite often, it required my roommate to do a little tag-team with me. Since we had identical senses of humor, we would immediately understand when the other person was delicately setting up a joke. For example, say the new person on the other side of the booth was beginning to lift the coffee mug to his or her lips. My roommate would say something which sounded innocent enough. And then, just as the victim’s throat opened up to swallow, I would turn the "innocent" subject around…and the coffee would see fresh air once again.

My wife never understood the humor in that.

But just the other day, we were sitting in my car getting ready to go into a theater to see Kung Fu Panda. I was quickly downing my coffee because hot liquids were not allowed inside…and lukewarm, apparently, counts as hot. Unbeknownst to me, my wife began laying the groundwork for a messy pay-off, and I was paying close attention to everything she said. And just as my throat began to open, she seized the opportunity.

But it didn’t work. I was able to keep the coffee in my mouth.

So I kept trying to swallow before she came up with a back-up plan, but the giggles kept the liquid from going down. So my wife leaned close to my face, and with a voice which sounded like the spawn of Janis Joplin and Satan, she shouted, “Do it!!!”

And for the first half of Kung Fu Panda, all I smelled was coffee.

I’m proud of you, babe.

I taught you well!

- Jay

BONUS COOLNESS: Check out this NPR All Things Considered report. (Thank you so much, Amber!)

Graphically Correct

2008-06-17T00:30:00.000-07:00

Between acquiring agents, speaking at conferences, a bestseller, getting featured on Tomie dePaola’s website, and receiving a tangential shout-out in a Newbery acceptance speech, the Disco Mermaids have had way too much fun the past two-and-a-half years.

And yet, somehow, things keep getting cooler. Thanks to Melanie Hope Greenberg, you can now find our images immortalized within the pages of a picture book.

Say it with us now: Woo-hoo!!!

Mermaids on Parade tells the story of one girl’s experience at Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade. And who’s that riding atop float #46? It’s us!

The illustration below is from the back jacket flap, accompanying Melanie’s author/illustrator bio. To see us proudly strut our stuff atop float #46, surrounded by more mermaids than have ever legally been allowed in a two-page spread, you’re just gonna have to buy the book for yourself. (And you will not be disappointed. This very fun picture book even includes instructions on how to make your own mermaid tail!)

To fully appreciate Melanie’s attention to detail, click here.

Three mer-kisses
to Melanie Hope Greenberg!!!

Another World -- Eve

2008-06-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

The other day I was reading a post on Christy Raedeke’s blog, Juvenescence, about her travels through India, when I suddenly got the itch for travel. Not like, “I need a shopping trip to Santa Barbara” travel, but the urge to get up and go somewhere completely foreign and different than my current world. Every few months, I become overwhelmed with the need to reach beyond my safe bubble and experience life as strangers know it. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the result of growing up in a military family where we traveled constantly. Or maybe I was an explorer in my past life. Or maybe I just have ADD.

There’s something about traveling to new random places that really charges my batteries and makes me feel like I’m fully living life. Travel cures my restlessness, clears my mind, and just makes me a happier person. Little did I know that I’d be transported to a place so foreign, so different from my own existence, that I’d be forever changed. And it was only three short hours from my house. And it wasn’t even another country. But it was a completely different world.

Earlier this week, I spent the afternoon and evening at Los Angeles County’s Central Juvenile Hall, where I joined several writing classes for my first official InsideOUT Writers training. Beyond fascinating. Everybody knows that jail isn’t exactly The Ritz, but nothing could have prepared me for the claustrophobia and sickening feeling in my stomach as I wandered down the long hallway of concrete cells. Tiny square windows carved into heavy steel doors framed ghostly faces pressed up to glass. Some screamed, some smiled, some cried. But I couldn’t hear a thing through the soundproof cells. Skinny feral cats lurk throughout the place. I had read about this, but never really believed it. When I questioned whether the cat situation was a health issue or not, the IOW program director commented that it was actually pretty helpful since the cats scavenge the rats, lessening the work for the probation staff. Every room in the entire joint is either freezing or a complete sauna. There’s no comfortable in between.

It’s no wonder the kids are ecstatic to join a writing class. They get human contact. Fresh (or at least oxygenated) air. Paper and pens. A semblance of normalcy. The kids were polite, funny, creative, vulnerable, and honest. Though I learned important jail stuff, like how the girls “shave” legs and “pluck” eyebrows by resourcefully using the tiny elastic threads weaved throughout their Los Angeles County CJH issued socks, and how to use ink pens and comb bristles for all my tattooing and piercing needs, the most important thing I learned was just how huge a difference teaching writing to these kids really makes. It provides them with an outlet. And connections to other people. And most importantly, hope.

Our conversations constantly reminded me how child-like they really are, missing their moms, wishing they could dress up for Halloween and eat Easter candy and listen to music. The most riveting part of the night was when perhaps the most threatening-looking, beefy, tatted-up, double-murder, facing a life sentence, would rather swim with crocodiles than meet this kid in a dark alley dude I’ve ever seen stood up to read his in-class assignment. He’d written a beautiful poem about his greatest fears in life. The one that got me the most… “Fear of love. Cuz when it’s gone, that’s the worst pain of all.” Then he said, “You know, under this tough-guy exterior…is really just a little scared kid.” I believe he summed up the sentiment of the entire class.

I think I’m going to love this job.

- Eve

Pass Me a Tissue Again -- Robin

2008-06-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s been ten months since this happened and you’d think I’d stop being a blubbering mess by now.

My son’s first day of kindergarten was emotional because it marked a beginning in his life, and this Thursday marks the end of that beginning…the last day of kindergarten. There’s something special about kindergarten, unlike any other grade, I suspect. First, the teachers are the most gentle souls on the earth. And second, a visit to the principal’s office is a good thing…it means they get to read him a story. How awesome.

I have to admit that this past year has been my favorite as a parent. Don’t get me wrong…two-year-olds are very cute. And six-month-olds are very, very cute (even though you’re still in a daze from all the sleep deprivation and you only remember how cute they were when you watch home videos of you feeding them strawberries for the first time and you think Is that me in that video!? I don’t remember that!).

But five-year-olds? They’re amazing. They still call you Mommy, not Mom, and they still like hugging and kissing you goodbye…no matter who sees.

And they say things so wise that you’d never expect something like that could come from a person only four-feet tall. Like the time we were driving in the car and he called out to me from the backseat and asked, “Mommy…what are you thinking about?” I know, how adorable is that!? So I told him what I was thinking about and then I thought to myself, You know…maybe I shouldn’t be explaining the problems with our country’s health care system to a person only four-feet tall.

And, of course, there was the time that my son farted really loud and then turned to our dog and said, “Samson! Jeez!!!”

Yep, he learned a lot in kindergarten.

So on his last day I plan to hug him and kiss him in front of everyone because it may be one of the last times I get to do that. And then I’ll spend the rest of my day in very close vicinity to a tissue box. Maybe two.

Sniff.

-Robin

Golden Gate to the Windy City -- Jay

2008-06-10T01:32:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was one of the biggest nights of my literary life...and I nearly missed it. My wife and I raced over three hours to San Francisco, peeled into a valet parking garage, and with the valet standing nearby, changed out of our comfy work clothes and into our much less comfy (but much more appropriate) dress clothes. Then we ran a couple blocks and made it to the California Book Awards ceremony just in time.
Here's Agent-of-the-Evening Laura Rennert squished between two of her authors, Ying Chang Compestine and me, co-winners in the Young Adult category.
Paul Fleischman (the man can write anything) won in the children's lit. category.
A couple winners you may have heard a little something about are Michael Chabon...
...and Khaled Hosseini.
I swear, I felt like such a dork giving an acceptance speech to a room filled with authors of this caliber. But I had fun, and even had a chance to work Ross: Dress for Less into my speech!

The next morning, my wife and I flew to Chicago for the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair. Here's the view of the fair from our hotel window.
We went to a ceremony honoring S.E. Hinton, where she took audience questions for an hour. For such an influential writer, she's extremely down-to-earth. Unfortunately, I had to run to my speaking gig and didn't have a chance to faint in front of her. So my wife stood in line to get an autograph. And without being asked, she knew I'd want a photo to put on the blog!
Then I spoke on a very fun panel with Jennifer Smith, Renee Rosen, and David Wartik, with Kait Steele moderating. Everyone on that panel was so nice, and it was great to hear so many different perspectives on writing issues. I even used the water bottle in front of me to play an impromptu game of Spin-the-Bottle (because, apparently, everyone's played it but me)...but when it stopped spinning, it pointed back at me. Sigh!
Then we stayed in Chicago an extra day to check things out. We caught a show at The Second City. Hilarious! Took an architectual boat cruise. Awesome! Heard (but couldn't see) B.B. King play at the Blues Festival. Insanely cool! Got caught outdoors in a thunderstorm. Wet! And checked out a few museums.
Of course, we had to eat, too!

Best pizza of my life!

- Jay

Project Runaround—Robin

2008-06-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

So…how are my revisions going, you might wonder?

Well. Um. Yeah.

Sometimes life takes the driver’s seat and I have to just sit back and hang on. And this week, I was consumed with one thing only: planning my son’s 6th birthday party.

The planning was going smoothly earlier this week, but then it all came to a screeching halt. My boy had asked for a Star Wars themed party and I went on a massive quest to search for a Star Wars cake. First I checked with our little local bakery, but they said, “Sorry, we don’t do licensed characters.” So I called every bakery and grocery store in two towns until I finally found a big, chain grocery store that had the perfect Darth Vadar sheet cake. Woohoo!

But no…the day before the party, the store called me to say they were wrong. They actually didn’t have a Darth Vadar cake, but would I like to replace it with Indiana Jones? Umm, no. I needed a Star Wars birthday cake like Barack needed an endorsement from Hillary…without it, I wasn’t going to get anywhere. But luckily for me, I got what I needed. (And according to CNN tonight, Barack got what he needed too!) I ended up calling back our little, local bakery and explained my desperate situation. She sighed and said, “Okay, honey. Bring in some figurines and I’ll see what I can do.”

And when I saw what she did, I realized: local and little…is always better.

(She actually made the light sabers from icing!)

-Robin

BEA & MB -- Jay

2008-06-04T00:01:00.001-07:00

I apologize. I'm a blogger, yet I walked around BookExpo America without taking one picture. Un...forgiv...able. I know!

BEA is this huge deal in the publishing world where booksellers from around the country come to see what publishers have in store for their stores in the near future.

I began my weekend late Friday night by hanging out with Stephanie from Moravian Book Shop and Jill from Square Books. Moravian is the oldest bookstore in the world (and Stephanie is Laurie Halse Anderson's daughter!). Square Books is in Mississppi, and my fingers are crossed that I can visit there next April (hint-hint, Jill).

Saturday morning, I had breakfast with my fantabulous agent, followed by an exhausting stroll through the Los Angeles Convention Center, trying to grab as many free books as possible. Then I had an amazing book signing, where I got to walk out from behind a blue curtain to face a long line of people waiting for my autograph. Seriously, this job rocks! I met lots of cool booksellers from all over, and even had an unexpected visit from the teens of Vroman's Galley Group, hereby lovingly referred to as The Screamers! Here's a photo from the signing (courtesy of Love the Books? Meet the Authors!). And no, that's not Jeff Bezos behind me, but Ben Schrank, my publisher.

Lunch with Mr. Schrank was interesting. Great conversation, good Mexican food, and people dressed as pirates carrying books by L. Ron Hubbard (no, I have no idea what that was all about). That was followed by a meeting with Mr. Schrank, Don Weisberg (the new president of Penguin's Young Readers Group), and Barbara Marcus (P.Y.R's strategic advisor). People kept asking if I was nervous about the meeting, but they're a fun bunch of Penguins with lots of exciting ideas about the future of Thirteen Reasons Why!

Oh, and then I got an autographed copy of Holes. Woo-hoo!

By the way, am I the only writer who was unaware that publishers spend a ton of money on parties? I went to (read: crashed) the Little Brown party...held on top of a building in downtown L.A.!

The entire Andrea Brown Literary Agency crew was there, but here's me with my beautiful agent, Laura Rennert.

Then I attended a party put on by Publishers Group West, thanks to a generous invite from David Diaz. That was held in a dance club, the El Rey, where they hired an amazing dance troupe to perform. Here's Mr. Diaz, Vicki Arkoff, Jen Rofé (Jaeger), and me. Jen is an agent at A.B.L.A. and Vicki writes for MAD Magazine!!!

On Sunday, now completely exhausted, I drove to Morro Bay for a wonderful booksigning with Catherine Ryan Hyde at Coalesce Bookstore. Lots of friends came, as well as our parents, which capped the weekend beautifully. Here I am with the Coalesce staff and Ms. Hyde (to my left).

And then I slept harder than I have in a long, long time. So let me end with a second apology to anyone out there who heard me snore.

- Jay

Meet a Mermaid: If you happen to be in the Chicago area this Saturday, come say hi at the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair, where I'll be speaking and signing.

Sweet -- Eve

2008-06-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about writing for children is the major support network and generosity of the people in the business. I've never had a job where people are so incredibly kind and noncompetitive and sincere. And I've worked in medicine, social work, and teaching! Not that those colleagues weren't supportive, but this is a whole different world. A completely different level of niceness. It's like children's writers are inherently driven to help one another.

Of course, being a Disco Mermaid has its major perks because the support is three-fold! Those blog readers/book readers who support Jay also become connected to Robin and me. Blog readers who I become "cyber" friends with always ask for updates on Robin's and Jay's careers. It's like one giant, never ending web of friends. Seriously, we are undisputed evidence for the six-degrees of separation theory. I wonder if Kevin Bacon is reading? Hmmm...

But I digress.

My first official day of being a full time writer (Translation: Quit my day job and traded my skirt suits for sweat suits and hair products for hair scrunchies) was Friday August 2, 2002. I valet parked my car at the Century City Hyatt Hotel and nervously entered the giant ballroom that was buzzing with 1000 or so children's writers, all gathered for the SCBWI annual Los Angeles conference. I had just sped 3000 miles across the country a couple days before the conference in a move from the sticks of New Hampshire to the California Coast. And, man, did I feel like a movie star! Well, more like a wannabe movie star who had just jumped off the bus from the sticks of New England in my flannel shirt and Sorrel snow boots, hoping some big-time agent would discover me while I wandered the streets.

I must have looked like a scared child because almost immediately, the kindest woman appeared and said, "Are you alone, sweetie? Come sit with us!" And just like that, I was swimming among the "In Crowd" of the SCBWI. The woman was April Young Fritz, a fantastic YA novelist, whose first book had just come out. During the four-day conference, April and her pals took me under their wings, introduced me to everybody, and shared their meals with me so I didn't have to sit in a corner alone.

My six-year path to publication has been filled with that type of thoughtfulness from friends and strangers alike. Just the other day, I opened my mailbox to find a package with a New York return address. It was from longtime blog reader, Laura Ludwig Hamor, who sent me the most beautiful handmade bracelet and told me she had just been thinking of me and wanted to send some "Goodwriterluckiness." What a total sweetheart!

Just when I'm sinking to a new low in the "I'll never get published" pity party, I receive the most uplifting of gifts from a children's book professional I've never even met. So, thank you, thank you to Laura and all the other readers and friends out there who have provided unwavering support in my quest for publication. When I do get published, I will no doubt have the longest acknowledgments page in the history of novels!

- Eve

Revision-O-Rama -- Robin

2008-05-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I wrote it: The End. Writing those two words makes me do back-handsprings and air-splits and handstands underwater. Well, it makes me want to do those things. (I have coordination issues.)

So instead, I settled for a frosty beverage and some Cheez-Its. Then I looked over my manuscript and realized two things:

1. It needs major revisions.
2. It kind of sucks.

Usually, a revelation like that would cause me to dig deeper into a box of Cheez-Its and pour another frosty beverage, but I finally figured out how to handle the revision part of this book. This is a totally new idea for me, so we’ll see if it works.

But first, let me share a wee bit of backstory (it’s very wee, I promise!). I came across a summary of the SCBWI Washington conference on someone’s blog and saw that an editor there had spoken on the topics of Plot, Theme, Character and Voice. Which, to me, sounded like a speech about Everything. But then I realized that those topics, in that order, are the layers of revisions I need to do!

First, I’ll go through and revise only for plot. I’ll make sure the main character gets from A to Z, and that the manner in which she gets from A to Z makes perfect sense. I’ll also make sure that the car which was lime green in chapter 1 is still lime green in chapter 24.

Second, I’ll go through and look just at theme. Now that I have a newly buffed and shiny plot, did my idea of ‘xyz’ (whatever that ends up being) come across as I wanted it to? Is it too subtle or way too heavy handed?

Third, I’ll go through and revise for character. I’m not sure what the editor was referring to in his speech, but for me, revising for character means I’ll look at all the other people in my main character’s life. I’ll try to make them well-rounded and avoid stereotypes. I might look at subplots and see if I can strengthen their stories. I want the people in her world to be as interesting as possible (but not annoyingly quirky) and deliver only some of the best punch lines.

And finally, I’ll go through and revise for voice. Now that my main character is propelling her way through a decent-ish plot, she has an interesting theme to wade through, and the characters around her are freakishly real (hopefully)…what the heck would she say and how would she say it!?!?

I’m not going to kid myself…all of this revision is going to take a long time.

So! My plan—for now—is that once I get to the voice-round of revision, I’m going to check myself into a lovely bed and breakfast and just focus on my main character and her words. I’ll only think about how she would react to each moment and just become her. I think I can do that if I’m away from my own world and don’t have to get up from my computer every five minutes to help my son clean up the Life cereal he dumped on himself (which is what I’ve been doing while writing this post).

This is a new way of approaching a novel for me, so let’s hope it works. And if it doesn’t? I’m moving on to the hard stuff…a good bottle of Pinot Noir and Rainbow Goldfish.

- Robin

Radio Ga Ga -- Jay

2008-05-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I say stupid and embarrassing things. And that makes me nervous about this Thursday. Why? Because I’m doing a live radio interview on The Dave Congalton Show.

Mr. Congalton (who’s an author, as well) used to direct the local writing conference, which I attended for several years. He’s had an open-invite for me to appear on his radio show, but I’ve shied away from committing because…well…sometimes I say stupid and embarrassing things. And that’s fine when I’m standing in a classroom, or even in an auditorium. But on the air?

So how did this happen…

This coming Sunday, I’m doing a book signing at Coalesce Bookstore in Morro Bay with Catherine Ryan Hyde. Ms. Hyde has been doing the publishing-thing for several years, so she’s well connected with the local media. When she asked if I wanted to do a signing with her, she also said she could get us booked on The Dave Congalton Show on KVEC News-Talk 920…to which I replied with a very audible “Gulp!”

See, in high school, I did a brief internship at KVEC. They were searching for a couple teens who might be interested in writing for the radio news business and my guidance counselor recommended me.

It was an amazing few months with many cool responsibilities. One, I had to record the ABC news feed which came in at specific times. This was before the internet took off (in fact, I recorded it on 8-track cassettes!), so if I missed it, we couldn’t just download the report. Two, I had to call people, interview them, and record sound bites. Three, if I wanted to, I could record myself doing a special news report and they would air it. But I only did that once because my teen-voice was not radio-friendly. And four, I called the police news hotline to find stories to fill air-time. I became addicted to that hotline and would wake up in the middle of the night just to see what was goin’ down in the underbelly of my town…which wasn’t much. The only story I specifically remember writing was about a neighborhood Peeping Tom who’d been peering into bathroom windows. The police caught him in the bushes…y’know…doing something. (I'm not sure if this was the inspiration for a certain scene in Thirteen Reasons Why, but it sure sounds like it.)

After writing those police stories for several weeks, I was told that the news guys hadn’t been using my stuff. Ever! Apparently, I wasn’t writing them correctly. And everyone kept forgetting to tell me I was doing it wrong...or to show me how to do it right. So, day after day, I was happily turning in material which I thought was being used.

And I’m a sensitive writer!

So I left the radio business for good. But this Thursday at 3pm, I’m back! And even if you’re not in the area, you can probably catch me saying stupid and embarrassing things online by clicking here.

- Jay

Vote Purple!

2008-05-25T00:32:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be wonderful if characters from children's literature were allowed to run for president? They know the important issues. They feel the pain we authors face everyday. And they're just so darn cute! Maybe one day, if we're lucky, we might hear a speech as stirring as this one:

My fellow writers, I know your struggles. I know the mountains to be climbed, the oceans to be crossed, and the distractions to be ignored.

Hope, my friends, is on the way. And that hope…is made of wax.

Come inauguration day, I will place a crayon in every hand. A purple crayon. And together, we will draw that bridge to a shiny tomorrow. And that bridge will be purple and proud.

Searching for a novel idea? Draw a purple lightbulb over your head. Can’t bust through that writers block? A purple powderkeg will blast it away. And when you send off your manuscript to the grand city of New York, and your carefully crafted words are first seen in that highrise in the sky, draw purple dollar signs in the editor’s eyes.

You will be published. Yes, you will be published. Tomorrow’s leaders—today’s children—will read your books. And then you will be tickled a new shade…and it will be purple.

Now, my opponent may tell you that you need more than purple. That you need sparkles and feathers and things that twinkle. And even though Nancy has quite an impressive wardrobe, fancy is not what you need.

When I look out across this great country of ours, I do not see blue states and red states. From sea to shining sea, just like the mountains majesty…I see purple. It's not just a color, but a color you can believe in.

When you enter that booth on election day, vote Harold.

Alignment of the Planets -- Eve

2008-05-22T22:30:00.000-07:00

I've been researching astrology for my YA romance in progress for some time now. And, consequently, I've become obsessed with checking my own. In researching the history of astrology, I found that back in the day, kings, queens, astronomers, and all kinds of famous and intellectual people used their sun signs, moon signs, Venus signs, etc., to chart their futures and make big decisions. So I charted out all my signs based on the alignment of the planets (plus sun and moon) the minute I was born. I figured, hey, if powerful royal rulers used this stuff to decide whether or not to invade neighboring countries, I should take a few pointers from the universe in my quest for publication.

My "personalized horoscope" pops up in my email inbox every morning and strangely, it's usually right on in terms of how my day is going to go. Just to make sure I'm not just making my day go the way my horoscope says, sometimes I experiment and check it at the end of the day to see if it fits. My personalized reading includes a full detailed paragraph of what I can expect to endure mentally, physically, professionally and intimately during the next 24 hours. And the opening sentence sets the tone.

Since I've received so many emails from friends and supporters asking how the edits on Ring of Fire turned out, and if I've heard back from the publishing house who showed promising interest in the novel, I'll leave you with a sampling of opening horoscope lines from the last several days to let you know how my week has gone.

"Your long-term goal is completely in reach."
"Don't even think of taking a break now, the finish line is ahead."
"Creativity flows, emotions are high, the world is yours."
"Sweet success is upon you in ways you never dreamed of."
"The powers that be decide your fate today."
"Nightfall brings news you have been waiting patiently for."
"Sometimes what we want may not be what we need."
"Rejection and disappointment create a stronger, healthier, more motivated you!"

Um, yeah, thanks planets, but I think you got it wrong this time. I'm not feeling so strong, healthy or motivated at the moment.

- Eve

I Love the Internet -- Robin

2008-05-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

The reason I love the internet isn’t because I can get current pictures of Britney Spears on a minute-by-minute basis or because I can read customer reviews of hot tubs from Costco any time I want to. And it isn’t even because I can make myself into a South Park character (even though that is freaking awesome!).

I love the internet for two reasons:

1. Research for my novels
2. Pandora.com

I love those particular two things because I can listen to music on Pandora that I may have never considered listening to, all while researching information on American history. Heaven!

So this weekend I was listening to Wyclef Jean (my new fave) and looking up info on the Declaration of Independence. (I know…who wasn’t?) And I came across a woman who has done extensive research on the D of I (which is my new pet name for the good ol’ Declaration of Independence). She had written a book on the Founding Fathers and some of the information she discovered on a specific incident in history is going to be a critical turning point in my book. So I really, really wanted to find out more from her. And thanks to the internet, I found her email address.

I sent her a detailed email describing the book I’m working on and asked her a few questions about the D of I, hoping she’d give me the little nugget of info I needed to make the scene that much more real (and also hoping she wouldn’t mind me calling it the D of I). But I also figured she was probably a busy person and it was probably an old email address and I’d probably never hear from her.

Wrong.

She wrote back the very next morning. And she gave me the perfect nuggets I need to make the story so utterly real. Woo-hoo! Yes, I squealed as I read her email, which caused my husband to yell across the room, “Why are you squealing!?”

“Oh,” I said, “I’m just chatting with a history professor from MIT…that’s all!!!”

And he said under his breath, “Man, I love the internet.”

- Robin
(who is currently listening to Fiona Apple radio on Pandora)

Write On! -- Jay

2008-05-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg is an awesome and creatively inspiring book. For a lot of you, that’s probably not news. Basically, it’s a collection of 14 black and white illustrations, each with a title and a line of text from a different book written and illustrated by the mysterious Harris Burdick. But that’s all we have…a single page from each book!

And that, of course, allows whoever picks up this amazing book to imagine what happens beyond these story prompts.

I was reminded of this book while flipping through the latest Houghton Mifflin catalogue, where they revealed the following website:

www.themysteriesofharrisburdick.com

It includes stories written by children who were inspired by Mr. Van Alls—…I mean, Mr. Burdick’s artwork. There’s also a story written by Stephen King! Mr. King chose "The House on Maple Street" to inspire his story. In that illustration, a two-story house (with a light on in the attic) is beginning to blast off. It's a cool story prompt with a little bit of personal history for me.

When I was an assistant children’s librarian in Wyoming, I used The Mysteries of Harris Burdick to teach creative writing in an after-school program for elementary school students. The only story I still remember was written by a boy who was inspired by the same illustration as Mr. King. He was so excited to show me what he'd written because…I was the main character. Yes, I was in the house as it began lift-off. Of course, with a house pushing off against the Earth’s gravitational pull, there’s a lot of shaking that occurs. And things began flying off shelves. And one heavy object hit me on the head. And there was blood oozing out of my head. Lots of blood. Pools of blood.

And when I finished reading, I heard the author laugh. “Huh-huh. Heh-heh-huh.”

I don’t know what I’m trying to say with this post, but that laugh still gives me the chills.

- Jay

BONUS COOLNESS: Check out this article from Publishers Weekly regarding Thirteen Reasons Why. It is beyond cool!!!

Bucket List -- Eve

2008-05-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

While working on my second YA novel, I tend to think a lot about "Bucket Lists," you know, the list of things one wants to do before he or she "kicks the bucket" (Jack Nicholson's phrase, not mine). My main character is coming to terms with her own mortality, but in an effort to be more spontaneous and less meticulous about her life she kind of creates an anti-bucket list, and spends her days doing random things she never even dreamed she'd enjoy.

When researching peoples’ bucket lists on the internet, I noticed that certain things pop up regularly. Why does everybody want to grow a vegetable garden? Experience weightlessness? Spend an entire day lounging in pajamas, eating only junk food? Okay, that one I get, but it doesn’t count as a bucket list item because I pretty much do that every single day.

I think bucket lists say a lot about people. Though I’ve never committed mine to paper, there are definitely activities or adventures that I’ve always secretly (or not so secretly) wanted to partake in. Although I’ve still (hopefully) got another 100 years to live, I’ve been taking stock lately, and I realized I’ve almost checked off my whole mental list! Not sure what that means. Either my life’s almost over, or it’s time to make another list.

My bucket list so far in no particular order:

Live on an island. X
Spend time in the rainforest, living off the land. X
Swim with dolphins. X
Jump off a really scary cliff. X
Visit Fiji (to see where The Blue Lagoon was filmed!) X
Attend the Olympics. X
Teach young children. X
Paint and show the art in a real gallery. X
Meet the President. X (Not the current one, the good one before him.)
Learn to ballroom dance. X
Drive America coast to coast. 3X
Run a marathon. ½ X
Meet Duran Duran. X (Woo-Hoo!!)
Be featured in People magazine. (For doing something cool, not for being a murder victim or anything.)
Write a novel. X
Publish a novel.

Any other bucket listers out there willing to share? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

- Eve

Murphy-isms -- Robin

2008-05-13T00:19:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Cynthia Leitich Smith posted an interview with my agent, Erin Murphy. I almost didn’t read it because I thought I knew everything there was to know about her. (She really likes dark chocolate. What else do I need to know?) But luckily I checked it out and, man, if the interview didn’t just blow me away! I got to the end of it and thought: She is so dreamy…I want her for an agent.

Then I kicked myself and said: She IS your agent, doofus. Now sit up straight and be grateful! So I just wanted to share with you all that I am so thankful to have such a fantastic agent (and that I’m working on my posture).

About halfway down, Cynthia asks her what she sees as the ingredients for a "breakout" book. And Erin’s answer is fascinating! I think I’ve had thoughts similar to hers on this subject, but I just didn’t know those thoughts could be put together in a way that makes so much sense. (It makes me wonder who the real writer is in this relationship!) So check it out!

I also wanted to make sure all you moms out there had a fabulous Mother’s Day! I told my family I only wanted one thing for Mother’s Day: three hours to myself. So I went to my favorite coffee shop and wrote two chapters in my middle grade novel. Then I went to the gym and exercised like crazy! But I overexerted myself and ended up dragging my limp, lifeless body home…only to find my son and husband proudly holding backpacks filled with snacks and water bottles. They both cheered, “Happy Mother’s Day! We’re going on a family hike!” They looked so cute and well-prepared…I couldn’t let them down.

And how are my thighs feeling now? Like overcooked spaghetti. Good thing I have a sit-down job.

- Robin

Faster than Hollywood -- Jay

2008-05-11T00:10:00.000-07:00

When Hollywood's moving too slow, you can always count on the students in Alabama*...

and Pennsylvania to pick up the slack!

- Jay

*also responsible for the awesome teen book review site, NotRequiredReading.com!

13 Again, Part Deux -- Eve

2008-05-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

I've received so many calls and emails asking for updates on my Teaser Post about my incredible news, so I thought it only fair to appease the thousands of readers out there (okay, three) who've been politely asking.

Oh! You thought I meant that news? Oh, no, we're not talking book news here. No, I'm talking about the fact that my sister Amy and I got to meet Duran Duran last weekend backstage at the Santa Barbara Bowl!

As young teens, all my girlfriends and I ever wanted was to meet the boys of Duran Duran. I swear I'm going to write a YA book based on our crazy antics. Funny that after all these years, my inner 13-year-old still pops out upon hearing one of their songs (and certainly upon meeting them in person...who knew??). My words cannot adequately express how insanely cool it was to finally meet the band of my dreams after worshiping their awesomeness for 25 years!

I'll let the pictures (and quotes) speak for me...

Eve & Amy: We are so excited! They'd better come backstage before we hurl!

Amy: Seriously, dude. I'm gonna hurl. Not joking. Seriously.

Eve: OMG, Nick. I want to marry you!
Nick: Uh, yeah, thanks, but you should have called me when I was between wives.

Roger: If I had one wish, I would wish for Evie to smooch me!

John: OMG, Evie! I've been waiting 25 years to meet you too!

Duran Duran: We love Amy and Eve. They are our most favorite fans ever!

- Eve

Oops!...I Did It Again -- Robin

2008-05-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Yep, I got sick again. I thought I had paid my dues when I came down with the flu (the super evil kind) last month, but the bugs of the world felt I was such a lovely host that they decided to vacation with me again. (Do they have frequent flier miles or something!?)

Sorry for the gross opening paragraph. But I spent five days (yes, five!) lounging in my bed watching bad TV. I also moaned and complained a lot, but after that I found myself—yet again—addicted to watching The E! True Hollywood Story. Last Wednesday, they dedicated an entire afternoon to Britney Spears. And it happened again, the same way it happened with JLo! Once I heard her back story (all three hours of it) I totally felt empathy with her and now I adore her! The poor girl. Someone help her! (And please, not Dr. Phil.)

Now, I would help Britney if I had the time, but I’ve been sidetracked ever since I got something in the mail…the SCBWI 37th Annual Summer Conference brochure!!! Woo-hoo!!! Breaking the seal on that little half-circle sticker to reveal the list of speakers and events is like holding a little slice of heaven in my palm. I look forward to that moment every year!

It was nice to see some familiar names on the faculty list, like Bruce Coville, Arthur Levine, David LaRochelle, Lisa Yee, and, of course, Jay Asher! Jay’s topic sounds fascinating and I can’t wait to see what he puts together because, as I’m sure you all can guess, there will be many laughs.

There are so many other people I can’t wait to see. I noticed that editor Julie Strauss-Gabel will be giving a four-day long workshop on revising your YA novel. Just as I was sitting there thinking, “Hmm…I think I’d like to take that class,” an email popped up from our local SCBWI listserv saying that Julie’s workshop had just filled up. D'oh! But I can’t wait to hear from people who do take the workshop—I think it’s a super idea to have intensive classes on revision. Are any of you signed up for it? Maybe I’ll be quicker on the draw next year!

And, of course, The Mermaids are busy brainstorming costume ideas for this year’s “Paint the Town Red” poolside party! Most of our brainstorming sessions consist of me and Eve saying to Jay: Nope, too difficult…too revealing…too itchy…too, wait…you want us to do what!?!?...okay, but only if you'll wear this...DEAL!!!

It should be fun! Do any of you have plans to go to the conference?

- Robin

FCBD08 -- Jay

2008-05-04T00:54:00.000-07:00

I have a really long list of things I love.

At least, I say I love them, but then I don’t spend nearly enough time with them. I guess I love the idea of loving them more than taking the time to genuinely explore my love with them.

Like history. I love history! And sometimes I’ll get into a love affair with history and think, “I need to know more about the Renaissance!” Then I’ll do tons of research to find the perfect book about that time period, I’ll buy the book, and after twenty or thirty pages…I’m over it.

Or space. I love outer space! One of my friends teaches astronomy, and sometimes we’ll go camping and he’ll teach a group of us about the constellations, and I’ll think, “I need to know more about space exploration!” But pretty soon…I’m onto something else.

I also love comic books! As a kid, my favorite was the entire line of Archie comics. Riverdale High School rocks!!! But then I stopped reading any comics at all. Over the past few years, though, they’ve been piquing my interest again. Some of my friends are really into comics, and I always ask them to buy me the cream o’ the crop for my birthday. Usually, they’ll bring me their favorites titles from the previous year as well as a couple they think I’ll like. And I always love what I read!

But then I never go out and buy my own.

Last week, I saw an ad announcing Free Comic Book Day, which is always the first Saturday in May. For seven years now, all around the world, comic book stores have been celebrating FCBD. And this past Saturday, I finally enjoyed the festivities down at my local comic book store, Captain Nemo…

I spent a long time analyzing the titles on the racks from which we could choose two comic books created specifically for FCBD…

And then I went to the counter where the staff selected a non-FCBD comic just for me. That’s three for free!!!

Then I went straight home and started reading my new books while downing Mountain Dew (I guess it's a comic book culture thing...I saw a few people drinking it inside Capt. Nemo).

Now, if you're still one of those people who think comic books aren’t a respectable art, then you definitely haven’t read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. Go read it now! It's amazing!!!

- Jay

Bonus Coolness: Thirteen Reasons Why, along with Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine, just won the California Book Award for Young Adult Literature, given each year to books written by California authors. And that's really cool for two reasons. One, both books were represented by the same literary agent...the amazing Laura Rennert! And two, from what I understand about the population distribution of the United States...California is huge!!!

13 Again -- Eve

2008-05-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Back in the 80's, my girlfriends and I were huge Duran Duran fans. Now, when I say "huge fans" I mean we were the fans. Crazy. Nutty. Obsessed. Kid you not, Maril, Kelly, Christy, my sister Amy and I owned every album, European remix single, poster, button, and T-shirt available on the planet. Whenever a new piece of DD paraphernalia became available, we acquired it. We screamed and cried (literally) every time a DD video played on MTV (this was pre-video recorders, pre-TiVo). Everything we did revolved around the band. When other kids were out drinking, smoking, partying, and taking Tomfoolery to new heights, our group was lying around Maril's living room, rewinding and replaying our DD tapes bit by bit so we could memorize every word to every song. No joke, I still know them all (but, of course, I couldn't recite state capitals or even tell you what I had for breakfast today to save my life...funny how memory works, isn't it?).

Every birthday that Simon, John, Andy, Nick and Roger had, we celebrated with a party, a cake, and a stand-in poster of the absent birthday boy. When the band started touring in the US for the first time, our parents styled us with 6th row center tickets at the L.A. Forum (purchased for a lot of money through a scalping agency...did we have the greatest parents or what??), a limousine, and a pre-party (with a DD themed cake) at my house. We spent months planning our outfits, our make-up colors and deciding what gifts to toss on stage. I settled on a stuffed elephant that I had been sewing in 7th grade Home Ec. class just for the occasion. I attached a (scary, stalker-fan) note to the elephant and hurled him to the middle of the stage, where it poofed against Simon's foot. I had written my phone number on the note. They never called.

About six months later, the band scheduled a second show in San Diego, and Maril's mom schlepped us all down there. She sat in her car in the parking lot during the three hour show, then suggested we stake out the backstage door afterward so we could hopefully meet the band. We camped out all night in the back of Mrs. Manning's El Camino. No luck. They never came out. Probably got airlifted out by helicopter the minute the show ended to avoid shrieking fans accosting them.

Our goal in life was to meet Duran Duran in person. We knew once they met us, they'd fall madly in love and simply have to whisk us off to England and marry us. Maril would marry Simon, Amy would marry John, Christy and I would both marry Nick (I spent the entirety of my junior high years writing "Eve Rhodes" on every paper I turned in!). Over the years, Duran Duran has broken up and reunited a number of times, but every time they play a concert together with the original 5 members, we're there. In the last 10 years, I've seen them in Florida, Vegas, L.A. and the O.C. But, alas, have never had the coveted opportunity to meet them in person. Certainly not for lack of trying!

So, my sister is flying out here from Florida as we speak so we can once again relive our youth this Saturday when we attend the Duran Duran concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl. But this time we're doing it right. We decided to throw caution (and several hundreds of dollars) to the wind and purchased two very special DD VIP packages, which include...Pre-party reception with food and drink, "special" gifts from the band, front row center tickets, and...drumroll...

POST-CONCERT BACKSTAGE PASSES!!!

I'm expecting one of two things to happen. Either the band will be too exhausted to meet us, and they'll ditch us, forever shattering my dream of a lifetime. Or, if you never hear from me again, you can assume I'm lounging around a mansion somewhere in the English countryside, under the name Mrs. Eve Rhodes!

- Eve

How I (Don't) Write -- Robin

2008-04-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

I’m about halfway through writing my fourth novel, and I’ve noticed that the way I’m writing this one is much different than how I wrote my previous novels. Whether I mean to or not, I’ve been treating my manuscripts differently! (Bad Mommy!)

It’s similar to how my parents raised me and my brother differently. What worked for him, didn’t really work for me. And not just because of the he’s-a-boy-and-I’m-a-girl reasons. My brother was the type of guy who missed, like, one question on the SAT. I, on the other hand, couldn’t even find the building to take my SAT because the directions were so confusing and I was super late since my friends and I had to stop at McDonald’s for our hangover-relieving breakfast. Mmmm…combo #1.

(Sorry, Mom and Dad. But I still turned out okay…right!?)

Anyway, for novel No.4, I’ve been writing my first draft much more loosely. I’m moving along quickly without spending much time on description or searching for the perfect word. In fact, I often find myself writing things like (Insert: write about her feelings here) or (Insert: describe house) or, my favorite, (Insert: make this part not so stupid). As silly as it seems, this new technique is really working for me. It allows me to stop dwelling so much (which is not an attractive look for me) and just move along with the story at the pace my brain wants to move. And with this book, my brain feels like it’s in a drag race. Woo-hoo! Step on it, baby!

I was explaining this new technique to Eve the other day and she joked that, at some point, I’ll probably write (Insert: Next chapter here). Well, she was right! Yesterday, I got myself all psyched up to write a particular chapter, only to realize that another chapter needed to be written first. But I didn’t want to write that chapter so I actually typed the words (Insert: Next chapter here). So thanks, Eve. Your ridicule is now my reality!

So I decided to Google the phrase “how I write” to see how other writers handle the process of book-writing. Apparently Garrison Keillor gets up at 5 a.m., sits in an armchair, and types a chapter into his laptop. Then he prints it out, makes lots of changes in pencil, and types the final revised version straight into his computer…all before lunchtime! That made me feel ridiculous for not having wonderfully polished chapters completed before lunch, but then I came across this quote from Judy Blume: “The first draft is a skeleton…just bare bones.”

Aaaahhh. No wonder Judy Blume is still my hero.

(Insert: adorably witty ending to this post.)

- Robin

L.A. L.A. Land -- Jay

2008-04-28T00:26:00.000-07:00

When the Mermaids first arrived at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, we were amazed at the amount of people who showed up on a scorching hot weekend purely for the love of books.

Then we went backstage to the V.I.P. room and were like giddy fans, surrounded by so many big-named authors. Mo Willems! Jon Scieszka! T.C. Boyle! Mary Higgins Clark! We ate as many cheese squares and fruit wedges as fast as we could in case anyone suddenly decided we weren't cool enough to be back there.

Then we met a bunch of L.A. writers of teen lit. in the Angeleno hotel, which gave an amazing view of the city at night. We followed that by having dinner with Robin Benway, debut author of Audrey, Wait!...which has quickly added itself as one of my favorite books. Don't wait! Go out and get it!!!

Of course, when we're in L.A., we just have to pretend like we're from The City and go out dancin'. (Sidenote: Eve's allergy pills made her so drowsy, she had to sit out most of the songs, which is why she's not in this photo...and it took about 85 photos for her to get even one where Robin and I look only partially goofy.)

Back at the Festival the next day, I got to meet Sherman Alexie, author of the National Book Award winning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. This was an especially fun first-meeting because Mr. Alexie recently wrote a blurb for the paperback edition of Thirteen Reasons Why, which you can read at the bottom of this post.

After signing books for an hour with Ms. Benway, we headed to our panel on teen literature. As the room started to fill up, I began to get insanely nervous. I expected our panel to barely sell-out a small classroom...not a whole lecture hall! This photo doesn't even show the two side-sections of seats.

Along with Ms. Benway, I was joined by Cecil Castellucci and Michele Serros. The three of them were so articulate and thoughtful, part of me wanted to just sit in the audience and watch. But it was a lot of fun...and quite an honor...to be up there with them!

- Jay

Thirteen Reasons Why is a mystery, eulogy, and ceremony. Twenty or thirty times, I snapped the book shut when a sentence, an image, or line of dialogue was too beautiful and painful. But I, afraid and curious, would always return to this amazing book. I know, in the years to come, I will often return to this book.
- Sherman Alexie