Disco Drama

WARNING

You are about to take a brief detour

into the inner workings of the Disco Mermaids.

Mermaid 1 and Mermaid 2 are always bickering about something. But Mermaids 2 and 3? Never! Or so we thought. But then…it happened.

Of course, we knew we had to share it with you!

As you're aware, writing is a very personal experience. When you’re not feeling confident about your writing, even the tiniest sideways comment can be taken…you know…personally. And that’s what Mermaid 2 did to Mermaid 3 regarding something written on this blog. Then Mermaid 3 snapped at Mermaid 2. Late night e-mails went flying back and forth until they both logged off and went to bed in a tizzy.

The next day, Mermaid 1 innocently answered a phone call from Mermaid 3...who wanted to discuss Mermaid 2. Mermaid 1 responded that maybe Mermaid 3 should apologize for snapping. At that moment, Mermaid 3 received an e-mail from Mermaid 2...apologizing for pushing Mermaid 3’s buttons. And Mermaid 3 apologized right back.

Aaah…

Mermaid 1 breathed a sigh of relief. Mermaid 3 commented on how easy it was to snap at Mermaid 2, probably because we all share the same dream and understand each other at such a deep level.

Mermaid 1: It’s like we’re a married couple.

Mermaid 3: Right. Except there’s three of us.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled blog post.

The Two Musketeers -- Jay

Yes, we were missing a musketeer, but Eve just had to spend the night packing for Hawaii. So Robin and I went without her to see a high school production of The Three Musketeers. Did either of us know anyone in the cast? No. But since we’re currently working on teen novels, we thought it was a good idea to immerse ourselves in their world.

In a word, we had TonsOfFun! It was opening night, so the nervousness was palpable (a word that I’ve always thought sounded snooty, but is a lot of fun to say). By the end of Act I, it was easy to tell where each actor’s family was sitting. “Shh! Here comes Andrew.”

For me, it was quite a nostalgia trip. We sat in the back row, right in front of the window to the sound booth. That’s where, for two plays when I was a freshman, I missed way too many sound cues. For Robin, it was an eye-opener. At her high school, the whole town seemed to come out for the plays. Here, it’s mostly family and friends…and YA novelists.

But this play was just the beginning. In April, the Disco Mermaids are planning to attend the high school Mock Rock competition. In May, we’ll wander the halls during Open House. And if we can, we’d like to chaperone the prom. If we can’t, I’ll probably just buy corsages for Eve and Robin, take them out to a nice fancy dinner, and promise their spouses to have them home by dawn.

“All for one, and one for all!”

- Jay


BONUS POST: Check out the very, very, veeeeeeeeeeeeeeery end of this article in the latest Publishers Weekly.

Where's Evie? -- Eve

While diving deep into my revisions for Kidz In The Wood, I've been MIA lately, unable to be reached by phone or e-mail. Robin finally had to break into my house to find me! After neglecting my dogs, my taxes and American Idol for days upon days, I'm still not satisfied. It's been 3.8 YEARS, and it's still not perfect.

During yesterday's hour long run (I'm allowed out of the chair for one hour per day), I conversed with myself:

What is your goal? To write an original, exciting, poignant story that kids will want to re-read over and over.

Have you done that? Sadly, NO.

What is the main idea? Young, tough gang kids from L.A. leave their element and learn to have fun in the mountains. It has adventure, drama and comedy…it's an “Addromedy.”

What do you like about your book? The dialogue, the premise, LOVE the characters

What don't you like? The plot is cliché, unoriginal, uninspiring.

It suddenly hit me that I can keep the dialogue and characters, but amp up the story by focusing on one thing. The kids sort of form their own “gang” without realizing it. I didn't even realize it until now. I've always defended gangs because, from a psychological perspective, they make perfect sense to me. Street gangs were originally created to meet the basic primal needs that all humans share. Safety and security, love and belonging, confidence and respect, basic food and water. Gangs provide all these things, just like a family, tribe or church. Yes, some gangs deal drugs, burglarize and hurt people. But that's not what they were founded on, and I'm convinced that most gang members don't engage in this stuff.

I think I've figured out a way to have my story evolve much in the same way that contemporary Los Angeles street gangs evolved in the late 1960's (the history of which I find fascinating!). I'm taking these kids with no hope and nothing to lose, and throwing them into a situation where their basic needs can be met through bonding with others, and uniting for a common goal. The heart of the story develops from the human truth that commitment and loyalty to a group always comes at a price.

Hope I've finally figured it all out, 'cause I'd really like to join the real world again someday soon. Wish me luck!

- Eve

I'll delete this when my son can read -- Robin

Recently, I turned to my husband and said, “Honey, I finished my young adult novel! Are you proud of me? And have you always worn your hair like that?” It was then that I realized...we need to go on a date.

Hubby and I have not gone out to dinner, alone, in over 5 months. I was ready to eat anything not made of imitation vegetable chicken nugget meat, or smothered in cheese.

It was all planned out. We’d drop our 4-year old off at the gym for their kids' party from 5 to 9. Cool. We had four hours. We’d have dinner at a fancy-pants restaurant then cruise on over for our 7 p.m. reservation at the hot tubs at Sycamore Mineral Springs. Lovely.

We arrived at the sushi restaurant by 5:30 (the same sushi restaurant where my hubby procures his vegetable oil for his car, so it felt only fitting to eat the same oil we were freely driving around on). But there was a line out the door. We wouldn't make our hot tub reservation! So we hightailed it to a café just around the corner from the hot springs.

The $4 beer? Good. The food? Not so good. (Why did I pay $13 for something I could've gotten at Carl's Jr.?) Just as we were finishing our not-so-good meal, our cell phones started ringing. My husband answered his.

Hubby: Hello? What!? My son has had an accident?

(Oh-my-god...my stomach did flips, I almost hurled my Carl's Jr.-ish food back onto my plate. Had my boy chopped his arm off? Was it dangling by a tendon?)

Hubby: Oh. He pissed his pants. That's...just...great. Yes, we'll be there right away.

I pictured my little boy sobbing in the corner because of his wet pants, and wishing he had parents who would go through life more prepared. It was 6:30. It would've taken us almost an hour to go home, get clothes, and get them back to the gym.

So we went shopping at Mervyn's. We looked at each other over the clearance items for Osh Kosh jeans and said, "Is this romantic? Are ya feeling it, honey?" We spent $22 on pants, new underwear, and socks.

We hightailed it back to the gym, fully expecting our boy to be balled up in a corner, mortified. Nope. He was fine. Just put on a diaper and kept on playing. He looked at his new clothes and sighed, as if putting these things on were going to slow him down. I told him we could take him home if he wanted. Nope. He wanted to stay.

I met my husband in the lobby. It was 7:20. We missed our hot tub reservation and we only had $5 left. So we ended up at Foster's Freeze sharing an Oreo Twister while we waited for our boy to be done with his night out.

Lovely.

So what are you all doing Friday night? Anyone want to babysit?

- Robin

Shh! Listen... -- Jay

October 18, 2007...the book!

October 23, 2007...the audiobook!

It's official. Listening Library will be publishing the audiobook of Thirteen Reasons Why, and I am absolutely beyond thrilled. When I first came up with the concept for this book (check out my page at the Class of 2k7 for a brief description), I knew it would make a unique audio project . In fact, there are a few lines in the book that I added purely because I wanted to hear them come out of an actor's mouth.

There will be two narrators, one male and one female, telling the stories of Clay and Hannah. Hannah's voice will be altered slightly to sound like it's coming through the headphones of a cassette player. While most audiobooks don't have sound effects, they will be used very sparingly here...such as when Clay mentions he hears a car approaching on Hannah's tape.

Here is a brief excerpt from the beginning of Cassette 2: Side B, with Hannah's recorded voice in italics. Clay is sitting in a busy coffee shop as he listens to the tape.

- - - - -

Shh!…if you’re talking in the library.

Her voice, it’s a whisper.

Shh!…in a movie theater or church.

I listen closer.

Sometimes there’s no one around to tell you to be quiet…to be very, very quiet. Sometimes you need to be quiet when you’re all alone. Like me, right now.

Shh!

At the crowded tables that fill the rest of the room, people talk. But the only words I understand are Hannah’s. The other words become a muffled background noise occasionally tipped by a sharp laugh.

For example, you’d better be quiet—-extremely quiet—-if you’re going to be...

My SLO-Called Life -- Robin

I’m noticing flowers again.
Noticing the smell of sea spray.
Noticing the sunbeams streaming through the eucalyptus trees.
Noticing all the cat hair on my jacket.

Why am I noticing things all of a sudden? Because I’m done with my YA novel! It’s printed and paper clipped and pushed off on my critique group so they can work their magic.

It’s been ten months and I’ve finally lifted my head from the eerie glow of my computer screen to see what the world has to offer! And it’s…slow.

More like SLO. We live in the small, quaint town of San Luis Obispo and all the locals like to refer to themselves as folks “living the SLO life.” Yes, we’re even quaint with our sayings.

In SLO, we don’t honk horns unless we’re waving to our neighbor. We chit-chat with the cashier person in the grocery store. We write letters to the editor. We do everything…SLOwly.

Our livestock takes it slow…

Our melting ice cream is slow…

Even our Mardi Gras celebrations are...well…lame.

(Photos by The Tribune/Jayson Mellom)

So while I take it slow for the next couple of weeks waiting for my critique group to finish, I’m going to take up a new hobby to fill my spare time. But it has to end in two weeks when the critiques are in and I’m back to staring at my computer screen. Here are some of my ideas so far…

• Drinking green St. Patrick’s Day beer for 14 nights straight.

I was going to stop there because that one sounds brilliant to me, but Jay and Eve are always reminding me not to stick with my very first idea, cuz the first idea is usually cliché, so here’s one more.

• Drinking regular beer for 14 nights straight.

- Robin
(Thanks, hubby, for the pics!)