'The End' Never Felt So Good -- Robin

This past Friday was a banner day in DiscoLand! If you took that phrase literally, and actually wrote out a banner, it would read:

Congratulations, Robin! You finally finished your first teen novel!

Now shut up and get back to work.

Yep. Finished it. Done.

Okay, fine. So I’m done with my “first” draft. My friend Mary Hershey likes to refer to the first draft as the “discovery” draft. Which is so cute. But personally, I like to refer to it as my “schwetty” draft (I’m trying to cut back on my foul language…and I love that old Saturday Night Live skit with Alec Baldwin!).

As I sat in the coffee shop writing the very last line of my book, Jay walked in to meet me. “Shhhh! Sit down and don’t speak!” I said as I pointed to a seat across the room. He tucked his tail and hung his head while I finished my final words. Good boy, Jay.

When I finished, I punched myself in the shoulder feeling like I was king of that small section of the coffee shop. “You can come back over, Jay. Now read my last page and tell me I’m a genius.”

I sat across from him and watched his facial expressions, analyzing every eye twitch. He’s very twitchy. Finally, he looked up. Honestly, he looked like he was going to cry, which was the biggest compliment he could’ve given me (other than actually crying and telling me I’m a genius, but I take what I get).

While I know that I have a lot of work to do, it feels insanely cool to know that I actually made it through the whole story…and that the ending feels so good.

- Robin

Battlefield High School --Eve

Volunteering and researching two days a week at the high school has been entertaining and eye opening. One moment, I'll feel like I'm back at Canyon High, hanging with my friends, discussing the genius of Duran Duran, without a care in the world. The next moment, I'll feel like I'm crossing the yard at a Super-max prison.

The main teen angst issues are the same; love, friends, cars, parents, parties, popularity, college applications. But the striking difference is the prevalence of drugs, selling drugs, getting busted for drugs, showing up to class on drugs. Some kids approach me and ask if I'm a NARC. Of course I always say YES. At first it was funny and cute. Now, it just kind of freaks me out.

I'm always shocked when someone comes to class drunk or high. At least when I was in school the people who drank or took drugs did it in the privacy of their homes, or behind the school by the sewage ditch. Now the kids aren't embarrassed or afraid of getting caught. In fact, some WANT to get caught. They think jail is cool. Sexy.

The other day I tried mightily to scare the crap out of one kid who I really like. With a court date approaching on a potential felony conviction, he casually told me that he'd rather go to prison than have to stay in “stupid school”. Apparently he's got a steady diet of gangsta' rap videos that glorify the prison culture. Now, I listen to the same music and watch the same videos, but I also have a more advanced brain that enables me to see the difference between entertainment and reality. Having spent time in a juvenile prison camp (tutoring, NOT serving time), I also have firsthand knowledge of what those places are really like. No, they don't lift weights and watch “Booty Call” on the TV all day. In reality, they spend their time hiding in the air vents or praying they get thrown into solitary so no one can mess with them. When I say “mess” I'm not talking about beating up or stabbing each other. I'm talking worse. MUCH worse. After the talk, the kid seemed un-phased, and I told him I'd bring cupcakes when I visit him in the pokey.

In my day (yes, I sound like a little old lady) kids were mortified to get sent to the principal's office, let alone get arrested at school. But now kids wave drugs around, daring teachers to report them. And suddenly it's very cool to get busted and have a “court date”…Woo-Hoo!

Speaking of getting the crap scared out of you, the other day I saw ALPHA DOG, an outstanding movie about white middle class gangsta' wannabes chasing trouble around, trying to be cool. It really affected me because I see these kids every single day. There's got to be a killer (excuse the pun) YA book in that! So, the next day I called my sister, the Public Defender, and said, “ I must write a book about kids in prison.” So, I'll be spending a lot of time in Florida this year tagging along on Amy's court dates and jail visits. (After I complete my YA Romance, of course!)

I don't plan to write a cautionary tale or a preachy “message” book. In fact, I really just find this subject fascinating. MONSTER, by Walter Dean Myers is my favorite YA book of all time. And for years I've Tivo'd every prison documentary on The Learning Channel. But, I can't lie. Deep down, the old lady in me is hoping that a realistic book on juvenile prison life will serve as a natural deterrent for impressionable kids.

--Eve

I Love YA -- Jay

I didn’t realize how much I loved writing for teens till this past Monday when I came face-to-face with my audience. As Eve mentioned previously, she’s been volunteering in a couple of high school Creative Writing classes (at my old high school). The teacher had been my Peer Communications teacher and invited me to speak to his students about my journey to publication. I agreed, seeing this as a great place to test the waters of public speaking to teens...though I had no idea if I would come off as a bumbling fool.

And since Eve and Robin love a good laugh, they came along.

Not more than five minutes into the first class did I realize (to my surprise) that I felt completely in my element. The students laughed at all the right parts, asked intelligent questions, and were intrigued by the entire publishing process. The areas they showed the most interested in were how I dealt with rejection and the revision process. I read them some rejection letters Thirteen Reasons Why received before it sold. Then I described how my editor and I moved through the revision process, everything from reworking the ending to word choice. For example, my editor wondered why Hannah’s first kiss tasted like hotdogs and mayonnaise and I told her because that’s how my first kiss tasted. She thought the description was too jarring, so she asked if I’d simply change it to a hotdog-flavored kiss, but I thought chilidog was funnier (without being jarring) and she agreed.

I never set out to write for teens. Funny middle-grade, that was my shtick. But I stumbled upon an idea that I just had to write. And while I would’ve been happy selling any of my previous manuscripts, I’m thrilled to be known as a novelist for teens...and I can't wait to speak to more of them.

- Jay

Disco Retreat Pics

Evidence for all you cynics that we actually were working on our manuscripts...

Seeking outside inspiration

Problem solving

Brainstorming

Fondue Friday #3 - Retreat

Fondue Fridays

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

With deadlines (both self-imposed and contractual) looming on the horizon, we set out for Santa Barbara for the first ever Disco Mermaid Writing Retreat. We stayed at an inn with a beautiful patio view of the Pacific Ocean and spent the weekend cranking out future bestsellers. At one point, a mermaid said, "Hey, we should blog about what this experience is like." So we placed a laptop on a Lazy-Susan, flexed our fingers…and got bloggin’.

- - -

Jay: Okay, let’s start. But we gotta do this fast cuz Robin and I gotta drive home…while Eve crashes for one more night.
Robin: We had a very successful first retreat! What did we get done? Well, I kicked butt on my young adult novel and I’m actually just one chapter short of finishing it. Perhaps if I had stayed out of the hot tub this afternoon I would’ve finished. But…it’s a hot tub! And…we’re Disco Mermaids!
Eve: I can’t lie; I did not kick as much butt as Robin, and am a lot more chapters short of finishing my YA. However, I got a TON done, and learned a lot of little known facts about my fellow mermaids. Did you guys know that Robin only eats “limpy fries”… no crispy ones! Who knew?
Jay: Or that Eve doesn’t poop! Who knew?
Robin: Or that when Jay poops, he has to go down the hall because there wasn’t a strong enough fan in ours. Who knew?
Eve: Okay, what are we blogging about here? But seriously folks…I really don’t poop, and I am gasless. That said, Jay and Robin gave me some really nifty plot suggestions over breakfast this morning, and it changed my whole perspective on what I’m doing. I also got inspiration by staring out at the beach, and wrote some really HOT love (not sex) scenes with my characters sitting on the beach. Woo-hoo!
Jay: Just gotta say, I wasn’t the first mermaid to discover the bathroom down the hall. But yes, this weekend was amazing. For me it wasn’t as creative as for the two of you. Mine was mostly busy work. I took an entire middle grade novel I’d already written and changed it from past-tense to present-tense. Somehow, that simple (yet time consuming) switch improved my manuscript immensely! I can’t wait to send it to my agent later this week.
Robin: And yes, I was the one who originally discovered the joys of hallway bath rooming. Interestingly enough, I had a bit of an emotional reaction to the final chapters of my book. After writing a very heart wrenching moment, I stood up, ran to the bathroom (the one in our room wasn’t in use very much), sat on the toilet and bawled my eyes out. I came back out after a few minutes expecting my fellow mermaids to be sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to support me in my moment of vulnerability. Jay said, “Did you light a candle?” And Eve said, “Shhh! I’m sleeping here!” Love you guys. Really, I do.
Eve: I’m so sorry! But I wasn’t sleeping. I was deep in thought. It’s my creative process. Seriously, we probably had more fun than any mermaid should ever be allowed to have in a lifetime. We laughed, we cried, we became one. It’s amazing how well we support each other…I mean, who else could I sit with in a room for three days straight, while listening to Nickelback and Benedictine Monk chants at the same time, and have no dialogue for 8 hours straight except for me occasionally asking, “what’s another word for phlegm?” As a bonus, I just got a message from my agent who LOVED what I’ve worked on so far and called it “FANTASTIC!”

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Very unflattering pictures coming soon...

Happy Flappies!!!

The winner of the first ever Flappie Award was announced today. What was it? David LaRochelle's Absolutely, Positively Not... And who nominated that wonderful book? Jay did!

Woo-hoo!