Putting the Pen Down -- Robin

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

ALA-kazam! -- Jay

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...


Before leaving Anaheim, I had to squeeze in a few hours at Disney's California Adventure. Somehow, although I went to two theme parks in two days, I didn't get a single photo of myself. But in this one, starring Jen Rofé of Andrea Brown Literary running down a street which really isn't there, my shadow does make a cameo appearance.


Okay, goodnight.

- Jay

Golden Gate to the Windy City -- Jay

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

BEA & MB -- Jay

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.

13 Again, Part Deux -- Eve

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

FCBD08 -- Jay

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!!!

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

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

"Kiss My Grits" -- Jay

Growing up, "Kiss my grits" was tied with "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" as my favorite TV catchphrase. But, as a California boy, I had no idea 'grits' referred to a food that Mel's Diner might actually serve on Alice.

I spent this past weekend in Alabama and found out exactly what grits taste like. And they're mmm-mmm good! In fact, they're so good, you can eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In fact, many people do just that. But that's not why I took my first trip to the South. I went because a certain school in Alabama held the first of many Thirteen Reasons Why book clubs last December, and there just happened to be a book fair nearby last Saturday. So I hopped on a plane to say thank you in person.

Here's a photo of my first meeting with some of the HMS iREAD Club students. It was taken soon after I stopped blushing from a little joke they played on me. (Don't worry...I'll get you back!)

During my presentation, Carrie helped me read from the book. It was the first time I heard Hannah with a southern accent, which made her words sound so much cooler than they sounded in my head when I wrote them!

An hour later, I found myself sitting on a very fun panel with R.A. Nelson, Loretta Ellsworth, and Jennifer Echols.

Nope, I never outgrew my love for Clifford.

That night, I met some local teachers and MSFKALs (Media Specialists Formerly Known As Librarians) at a restaurant for my first taste o' grits. Then we went and watched the most amazing cover band I've ever seen, The Spicolis, play everything from Take On Me to Smells Like Teen Spirit. (What? No, I never noticed how cute they all were. They just seemed really nice.)

Of course, I couldn't leave without stopping by a Waffle House. Hashbrowns? Covered!

- Jay


Wanna Chat? Join me online this Wednesday at 9pm Eastern. Thirteen Reasons Why is the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents Book Club pick for April.

Writers & Readers -- Jay

From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., I spent this past Saturday with two different sides of this crazy business...first with writers, then with readers.

At the Los Angeles SCBWI Writer's Day, I sat in a packed gym, listening to other authors share their tips and experiences. Cecil Castelluci, as usual, was hilarious (making me slightly nervous about speaking on a panel with her at the upcoming L.A. Times Festival of Books). I also bought a couple Gail Carson Levine books and had them autographed as gifts...one being for me!

Most importantly, I discovered the theme for this summer's SCBWI national conference theme party. (Past parties are where we earned the nickname The Disco Mermaids.) Ready to hear it? Paint the Town Red. And yes, we've already started brainstorming costume ideas.

After Writer's Day, I sat in on a meeting of the Vroman's Bookstore teen galley group. The group meets monthly to discuss new and upcoming books, giving Vroman's a good idea of which books to really push. A lot of indie bookstores have teen galley groups, and I recommend that every YA writer attend at least one...for two reasons.

First, you'll get some great insight into what bugs teens about a lot of YA lit.: freshmen characters who are too cool for freshmen, the overuse of prophecies in fantasy, storylines that can easily be defined as "one of those books on divorce", present-tense narration...unless it's done really well, the overuse of sex as a plot device, and misleading covers and summaries.

And second, you'll get some good tips on which books you should read. Here are some books this group loved: Not Like I'm Jealous or Anything, My Most Excellent Year, Project 17, Life as it Comes, Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little, The White Giraffe, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, Fancy White Trash, and Thank You, Lucky Stars.


By the way, in the photo above, most of the group members are flashing the Awkward Turtle sign...but it's kind of difficult to describe the complex rules of its use. Just be aware that there are also signs for the Awkward Moose, the Awkward Ostrich, and a few other animals. Unfortunately, my head got chopped off in this photo. Just assume that I'm doing my own interpretation of the Awkward Turtle.

After several in the group had to leave, some stayed behind and...Wow! For about an hour, I listened to them discuss Thirteen Reasons Why in extremely fine detail. They talked about character motivation, discussed the ideas of blame, guilt, innocence, and revenge, quoted passages to prove points, and made me feel so inspired.

And then someone mentioned a rumor that the book originally had a different ending. I confirmed that rumor, and they asked me to tell them about it. I hesitated. But then, they started begging. I mean, really begging...


So did I tell them? Of course!

But when they asked what my next book is about, I told them it's a pop-up book about bunnies going through a divorce...written in the present-tense.

- Jay

Hangin' with Mickey -- Robin

Last week, my husband and I took our son to The Happiest Place on Earth. It happened to be Spring Break week, so that meant Disneyland was also The Most Crowded Place on Earth. And by the end of the day we discovered it was also The Most Expensive Place on Earth.

Even though we brought our own bagels and nuts and juice boxes, we still managed to blow over a hundred bucks! A Diet Coke is how much!? But when we were leaving the park, my son clutched his new Buzz Lightyear toy and said, “That was the best day ever.” Aaaahhh…worth every penny.

My favorite part? It wasn’t even in the park…it was the moment when we first went through the gate and stood in that in-between part, right between Disneyland and California Adventure, and they had Raiders of the Lost Ark music piping through speakers and I suddenly felt like I could take on the world. Like the possibilities were endless. It was an amazing feeling.

Does anyone else get all tingly just before they enter Disneyland? Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I don’t get out enough.

Here we are on the ‘C’ just outside California Adventure…ready to take on the world…


We finally made it on to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and my son decided he wanted to spend the rest of his day as Captain Jack Sparrow. I thought if I heard “Aaarrggghh, matey!” one more time I was gonna scream. But he looked so cute as a pirate, all I could do was smile. (Then happily sip on my $4 Diet Coke.)


- Robin

Life, Extra-Regular -- Robin

It was quite a week for the DMs. When one DM makes the New York Times Best Sellers list, we do what we always do (for the first time ever)...we cry, we call everyone we know, we cry some more, Eve drinks Cosmos, I drink beer, Jay drinks shots of espresso, then we cry some more.

There’s only one downer to sharing a blog with someone who announces they just made the NYTBS list…you get a voice message like this, “Hey, Robin. It’s Jay. It’s your turn to post next.”

So I get to be the one to post after Jay’s big announcement. Oh. That’s. Just. Great. How can I follow that!? Because right now, my life is a little less exciting.

It’s funny how things in your life can be super exciting (a friend’s success), or things can be going remarkably crappy (the flu)…but there is always laundry. Seriously! Doesn’t laundry know when to take a break? Listen up laundry…I’m putting you on notice!!!

Other than Jay making the NYTBS list, life was extra-regular for me this week. My evil cold morphed again into a sinus infection that now requires me to blow my nose non-stop from morning till night with the only respite being when I get to sneeze. I think our country may get out of this recession if we all invest in Kleenex.

Oh, but I did have something extra cute happen to me this week. (Thanks for asking!) My son has been begging to see pictures of me when I was a little girl. So I had my parents (who live in Georgia) go through all our old photos and pick some out to send to my son. Well, they went a step further and scanned in a bunch of pictures of me from birth through college and then mailed us a CD.

And my son’s favorite picture? The one of me when I was his age…in kindergarten.


But there were pictures of me in high school, and knowing my fellow Mermaids, they will be made public someday without my permission. Unless, of course, they’re willing to show me their high school yearbook pictures. Oh, it’s on!!!

- Robin

Hometown Signing -- Jay

It was awesome to do a signing at the bookstore where I worked while writing much of Thirteen Reasons Why...

Me reading as Clay and Sabrina reading as Hannah...

I never thought I'd say this, but I love public speaking...

Yes, I managed to squeeze Vanilla Ice into my presentation...

I could look at their expressions forever...

If you misspell a name, are you supposed to buy them a new book? Just askin' for the future...

And of course, everything's more fun with the other Mermaids around...

- Jay

Old School -- Eve

I just returned from Yucatan, Mexico, where I machete-whacked my way through the jungles in search of freshwater cenotes and ancient Mayan ruins, subsisting on berries and plants and the occasional iguana that I had to fry over an open fire made of mangrove roots.

Oh, wait. No. That was my last trip down here when I was young and silly and thought eating fried iguana was exotic. In reality it’s just chewy and tasteless. This time I lounged around a nice tropical house with 8 of my best girlfriends from college. Go UCLA Bruins! We’ve known each other since we were 18 and we have a history and understanding of each other that is unique in so many ways. We travel together at least once a year (sometimes two or three times!) and every one of us attends, no excuses. All responsibilities, including kids, jobs, husbands and pets, are dropped for the week, and the only rule is that we have fun. Over the years we’ve gone canoeing, wine tasting, hiking, spa-ing, snorkeling, cliff-jumping, blueberry picking, played soccer, attended Spring Training baseball games, entered break-dancing contests, raced cars, and swam with dolphins.


The best part of these trips is experiencing the rapid regression back to our teen years. Although we’ve had our share of crazy life experiences over the last 20 years (marriages, motherhood, illnesses, divorces, Peace Corps, grad school, career changes), being together brings us back to simpler times when our greatest concern was fretting over what to wear for a sorority theme party. Every time I see these girls, I feel like I’m a freshman in college again. If I could go back to any age, I’ve decided it would be 18. We had infinite energy and freedom and very little responsibility, but just enough to feel grown-up. And there were so many major “firsts” for me that year. First real boyfriend that I actually loved (Hi Jimmy B!), first frat party, first road trip, first time living away from home with roommates, first hazing session, first beer, first hangover (blech!), first drive-by shooting (witnessed one, didn’t partake in one), first time really having to consider what the heck I wanted to do with my life. And these girls never let me forget who I was at that age (lively, sweet, trusting, naïve, perpetually optimistic and annoyingly cheery…of course I’m none of those things now!). So, I consider hanging out with them to be the best research for my novel, since my MC is 18. Doesn’t that make this trip a tax write-off?


The last day of the trip, I sat at the pool working on my computer and watching the girls slinging Corona, dancing around the hot tub and playing beer pong while the iPod blasted The Pussycat Dolls songs out over the beach. We even learned a few Justin Timberlake dance routines and practiced together in the living room, just like we used to do when the Fly Girls performed on In Living Color. We’re hoping it leads to our own reality show. Although, it will probably be called The Cougar Dolls for obvious reasons. It’s nice to see that as time passes and life becomes more hectic and less predictable, some things will never change. No matter how old or wrinkly or incapacitated or demented we become, when we’re together we’ll always be kickin’ it old school!


- Eve

Hey, Hey, I Wanna be a Rock Star -- Jay

I’ve found my release!

For the past several months, I’ve been seeking a new hobby to occasionally distract myself from thinking about books. I have a habit of getting a tad obsessive, whether it’s about writing a new book or promoting my last book. And while that obsessive quality can be good, it also makes my brain feel like it’s been tossed into a blender at Jamba Juice. (Anyone for a Jay Jubilee with a wheatgrass shot and an Immunity Boost?)

Problem was, I only considered hobbies I could do by myself. But when I tried those, my mind never fully focused on that new hobby.

Solution? A group hobby!

As you may remember, last week my wife and I headed into a studio to begin recording a dozen of her original songs. And for three-and-a-half hours, my mind never wandered from that studio.

It was awesome!

It was the first time since high school that I played guitar with a live drummer. The energy created by a living, breathing, pulse-pounding metronome is un-frickin’-believable. On that first night, we recorded drum tracks to four of my wife’s songs: Stranger, In This World, Sunshine, and What About Me?

The drummer played in a soundproof room all by himself, communicating with us through microphones and a large window. In our room was the sound engineer, my wife, and me. My wife played her dumbek (a handheld drum) and sang, while I played the guitar. The drummer could’ve recorded his tracks without us, but you get a much more powerful and emotional sound when musicians feed off each other.

In fact, it’s a lot like writing. I could probably write my next book without the creative energy of Robin and Eve around, but I don’t think…

Wait! Does anyone else hear the whir of a high-speed blender?

Okay, back to the music…

Solo

Duo

Drumroll (through the window)
** two points if you can spot a copy of Thirteen Reasons Why **

- Jay

Mullet Onslaught -- Jay

One question I get asked a lot during Q&A sessions with teens is, "What were you like in high school?" I have a hard time with that question because I still haven't decided on whether or not I enjoyed high school. For some reason, that's made it hard to figure out what I was like. So I end up talking about what interested me in high school. And other than girls...it was music.

Yep. I wanted to be a rock star.

And I recently let it slip that there's a photo in my sophomore yearbook of the very first band I played in. Then someone dared me to put that photo up on my blog. If you've been following this blog for a while, you know that I never pass up a good dare.

So here ya go...


This is Mental Onslaught, featuring Mike on bass, Javier on drums, me on guitar, and my mullet on vocals (hey, it was 1991). Before we formed this band, none of us knew how to play a single instrument. So we basically played rock-paper-scissors to divide up the instrumental duties and then we each immediately signed up for lessons. But we still needed a singer. Unfortunately, everyone was too embarrassed to sing in front of each other...so I was nominated to that position simply because my dad used to sing in a bunch of bands.

C'mon...I'm sure a lot of famous bands started this way!

The deadline for the yearbook was fast approaching, so we snapped this photo and turned it in. (What you can't see are the handcuffs attached to each of our belt loops!) Unfortunately, Mental Onslaught soon disbanded...without ever learning to play an entire song together. But we each bounced from band to band throughout the rest of high school. In fact, after graduating, Mike and Javier joined a punk bad which toured and recorded a couple C.D.s.

But I'm the one getting paid to revisit and explore my teen years again and again. And maybe, eventually, that'll help me figure out whether or not I enjoyed being a teen.

Rock on!

- Jay


P.S. For those about to rock...me and my mullet salute you!!!

You Want a Piece of Me? -- Eve

I don’t know how other artists feel, but for me every story I write or picture I paint is a piece of me. Like a chunk of my flesh is slapped onto a canvas or piece of paper and hung on the wall for all the world to see. And judge.

Though I’m pretty silly most of the time, I take my art and writing very seriously. On the surface my paintings are fairly lighthearted, but each one reflects a mood or experience that I couldn’t quite shake. I can look at each one (of the hundred or so that lurk in my closets) and recall where I was, how I was feeling, and what life decisions, memories, and dilemmas my brain was processing when it was created. It’s a part of me. Like a limb or organ. During my first art show, a few years back, someone wrote in my guestbook, “I don’t like all the colors at once. It’s just way too much.” I went through the stages of grief: anger, defensiveness, insecurity, sadness, acceptance (that I’m a total no-good hack who should never wield a paintbrush again).

I know we’ve used the baby metaphor to death, but it’s so appropriate for us book writers. Prior to conception, there’s a lot of planning and confronting doubts and fears. When we’re deep into the pregnancy period of creating our books, we live, eat, and breathe our stories. After birth, when the books are delivered to our editors, the real nurturing ensues. But, even after our offspring leave the nest and settle into bookshelves around the world, we worry about them constantly. And it pains us to the core when they are misunderstood or people speak ill of them.

So, I cannot even imagine how difficult it will be to read reviews of my novel once it is published. Even a tepid review will probably feel like my kid’s first grade teacher is telling me that my beautiful, brilliant child is not as good or smart as my delusions led me to believe. It’s such a bizarre thing that we artists place our hearts and souls on display, and hope people don’t tear them apart. Maybe facing the criticism gets easier with time. Like, we reach a point where we swim in confidence and shun those who don’t understand us.

Or maybe we just learn to focus on the positive. Like, tonight, I flipped through that old guestbook from my art show and noticed that on the last page somebody wrote, “You have really nice legs!” And I felt much better about myself.

Take that, man who hates lots of colors! How you like me now?


- Eve

Color Me Purple -- Robin

"One night, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight."

I have read this first line of Harold and the Purple Crayon to my son regularly for years. But that was as far in the book as I could get because he always responded, “Nuh-uh,” then closed the book and grabbed his dinosaur encyclopedia instead.

Finally, just the other night, he carefully slid it out of the vertical stacks of books on his shelf and said, “Let’s read this one, Mommy.”

We sat on his bed and read it together, each enjoying it immensely, but each getting something totally different out of the book. My son liked the fact that it was a magic crayon. And he liked guessing what Harold was going to draw on the next page.

I enjoyed figuring out how Harold was going to get out of this ridiculous mess he’d got himself into! It had been years since I’d read the book and I’d forgotten how Harold got home. (But hey—if you need the name of any predatory dinosaur, I’m your girl!)

I figured that since Harold had drawn himself a boat when he found himself in deep water, he’d just draw himself a car and a nice detailed map in order to get himself back to his cozy bedroom. But that’s not what happened.

The story ended up being about perspective. That if you look at a problem in a different way, you might just figure it out. Harold created an entire city with many windows, but he realized that none of them were his. Then, he remembered how he used to see the moon through the window of his room. Which meant all he needed to do was draw a box around the moon…and he’d be back inside looking out.

When we got to that page in the book, I tried to explain to my son that Harold was now inside his bedroom looking out. His eyes got huge and I was afraid his brain was going to explode. I thought he’d never want to read the book again. But that’s not what happened.

The next morning, at 6:30 a.m., my boy tip-toed into my bedroom, placed the book next to me and whispered, “I want to draw a city…just like Harold.”

So he did...

- Robin

To Vagueness...and Beyond -- Jay

Last year, I told you about visiting Disneyland with my wife, and how competitive she can be. Well, it recently happened again. I won the first round of Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters...


...but she made me ride it one more time in order to put me in my place.


Ahh, marriage!

Okay, now on to the real meat of this post:

I love vague endings.

Not quirky-vague endings (which leave you scratching your head), but intentionally vague endings that enrich the storytelling experience. I love endings which allow us to use everything we know about the characters to determine what happens next. Or, at least, to guess what happens next.

For me, the perfect example of a successfully vague ending occurs in Lost in Translation. If you don’t like this movie, fine. I know there are a whole bunch of you out there. But I love it. Yet I never recommend it without saying, “There’s a really good chance you won’t like it. It’s kind of...vague.”

The movie is made up entirely of little moments. Little looks. Little gestures. Little phrases. And if you watch it without a willingness to appreciate all of its littleness, you’re not gonna like it. But if you fall in love with its littleness, then its vague ending will seem perfect. Because the ending is another little moment…which, this time, we aren’t allowed to fully witness. The ending is a whisper too soft, and too guarded, to comprehend. It’s a moment shared between the two characters, but it’s not meant for our ears.

What? The final line of the movie is never shared with the audience?

That's right. And it's perfect that way! How weird is that!?!?

But then, last week, Eve sent me the following YouTube clip. In it, someone used digital manipulation to decode that whisper. When I first began watching it, I started sweating. Should I continue watching it? Then I started ripping hairs out of my head. Should I continue watching it? Then I started shaking. Should I…?

I watched the whole dang thing.

And I was so mad. I was mad at Eve for throwing me into such inner-turmoil. I was mad at myself for deciding to ruin the magic of that little moment forever. I was mad at the whisper for being so…vague.

That’s it? That’s all Bill whispers into Scarlett’s ear?

And then I was happy. Because the entire movie, even with its revealed secret ending, was still perfectly vague.

Yes, sometimes the perfect ending is one which allows the viewer (or reader!) to decide what happens next…or what just occurred. For example, at the end of my next book, I decided to

- Jay

Christmas Eve (& Jay & Robin)

Jay and his wife had a Christmas shindig at their house on Saturday night. Though the event took place over several hours, "book talk" lasted no more than five minutes...a record for when the Disco Mermaids get together.

We went caroling in a well-lit (with Christmas lights!) neighborhood...


We bundled up to keep warm (and yes, Eve's wearing a Mrs. Claus jacket)...


The only way to put a temporary hold on a game of "Betcha can't get me!" was for Jay to ask Robin's son to stop and pose for a photo (his dad's a photographer, so he Loves the Lens)...


And then there was the White Elephant Gift Exchange. The prize for Most Steals went to Robin's son, who finally ended up with a life-size (well, for him) girlfriend...

Big Love in Big Sur

Before we begin this post, we'd like to settle something once and for all. No, the Disco Mermaids are not connected at the hips. Occasionally, we do attend writing events solo. For example, just this past weekend, Eve attended the Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop about two hours away all by herself. So there!

And now...onto the post:

After being away from Eve for much more than 24 hours, Robin and Jay started to feel tugs on their metaphorical Mermaid-umbilical cords. So, prompted by a strange urge, they hopped in a car and headed north on Highway 1.

"Hmm... Isn't this near Big Sur?"

Sure enough, they found themselves outside a dining hall, where faculty and students of the B.S.C.W.W. were eating dinner. The duo just happened to be carrying a vase of roses addressed to Eve, which Robin asked a waiter to secretly deliver while she and Jay watched from outside.

"I see her! And she looks totally confused."

The plan was to leave Eve baffled for several minutes, then sneak up behind her and catch her look-o-surprise on camera to share with all of you. Unfortunately, the clueless waiter (who we'll refer to as Thomas) told her the flowers were from a girl standing outside named Robin. When Eve stood up, Jay and Robin took off running. But Jay was too close to the window when Eve reached the lobby...and she caught him mid-stride.

[Since Eve wasn't camera-ready, this is only a dramatization of what she saw.]

So Robin and Jay came inside where it was warm. A bewildered Laura Rennert, agent to both Eve and Jay (Robin feels the need to have her own agent), commented on the unusual relationship of the Mermaids.

[With a 2/3 majority, Laura was voted our favorite literary agent.]

Eve introduced Robin and Jay to the amazing faculty, made up of authors, agents, and editors. Of course, we just had to get a photo with our favorite Little, Brown editor.

[Alvina Ling, as you know, is also a Blue Rose Girl.]

As with all good things, the visit came to an end. Robin and Jay needed to drive home before they got too sleepy (or their spouses got too worried). And Eve had revisions to work on before the next day's critiques.

"I'll be home soon. Miss me!"