Fondue Friday #2 - Blog or Dare?

Fondue Fridays

- where everyone dips in, and everything comes up cheesy -
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The three of us were looking for a new excuse to get together to talk about writing. Then someone shouted, “Fondue!” We couldn’t decide on one general theme to discuss, so we’re going to have a Potluck Fondue…with a twist. One Mermaid will ask another Mermaid, “Blog or Dare?” If they choose Blog, they have to comment on a given topic. If they choose Dare, anything goes. So we placed a laptop on a Lazy-Susan, flexed our fingers…and got bloggin’.

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Jay: Alright, I’ll start. Eve, Blog or Dare?
Eve: Blog. No, Dare. No, Blog!
Jay: What’s your most embarrassing author experience?
Eve: When I first started writing I attended a SCBWI retreat where we read our manuscripts in front of an editor and Sue Alexander. When I finished reading my dreadful three chapters Sue said, “If this is the best you got, you should quit writing.” Robin, Blog or Dare?
Robin: Um…Blog.
Eve: If you were stuck on a deserted island with one children’s book author, who would it be? And why?
Robin: I’d have to say Louis Sachar, because he’s the reason I first decided to start writing for kids. I read “Sideways Stories from Wayside School” out loud to my fifth grade class and they absolutely cracked up. I want to be him!
Jay: Gee, that was funny.
Robin: Fine, Jay. Let me give you some of this: Blog or Dare!?
Jay: Dare me, baby.
Robin: I dare you to go to GottaBook’s blog and leave the following question…Can I be in the next Harry Potter movie? (and ask with a thick English accent)
Jay: Oh, cuz Arthur Levine’s his new editor. Nice, Robin. Alright. I'll do it. He’ll probably cast me as Hermione. Hmm...Eve, Blog or Dare?
Eve: Dare!
Jay: Let’s see. Go to the SCBWI Discussion Board and ask if anyone knows of an editor who would be interested in a funny picture book about a puppy with cancer.
Eve: No problem. Tasteless? Yes. But funny! It’ll be a good experiment to see what kind of feedback I get. Robin, Blog or Dare?
Robin: Dare. I think…
Eve: You have to do it! Go to Gordon Korman’s website and click on “contact info.” E-mail him and tell him to check out the blog post you wrote about him last week on our blog.
Robin: Did it. Now I’m ’bout to puke. I think this game is over.
Jay: Okay, that was a really short Fondue.

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[The Disco Mermaids are officially cut off from consuming anymore chocolate chip cookies and Coca-Cola Zero.]

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To see Jay's comment on Gregory K.'s GottaBook blog, click here.

Eve's question can be found on SCBWI's Discussion Board under Publishing Tips, Techniques, and Questions.

Robin did receive a response from Gordon Korman...but she ain't talking!

It's The Process, Man --Eve

Yesterday I got an e-mail chain letter. It said if I passed it on to 8 other people right away, something wonderful and “long wished-for” would appear in the next 8 minutes.

Sweet! I thought. Maybe it won’t be Colin Ferrell at my door, but I have been waiting patiently to hear back from that dream editor at Hyperion about my novel. So after 7 1/2 minutes I wandered outside to get the mail and… sure enough………

THERE IT WAS!

My August issue of STUFF Magazine!! With Leslie Bibb on the front cover! Who is Leslie Bibb? You ask. No idea. Some scantily clad blond chick with HUGE fake, um, eyes.

But that 30-second adrenaline infused rush to the mailbox got me thinking. The heart pumping, nervous tingly sensation I used to feel when locking eyeballs in the hallway with a boy I was crushing on, is happening all over again! Only this time, the editor who has my ms is the boy, and we have to lock eyeballs through the mailbox. But still. LOVE that feeling!

Very few situations in life precipitate this feeling in one’s body. I used to get it when I was applying to Medical School. I ran to the mailbox every day and tore open envelopes from schools across the country, hoping that one of them would “love” me back. My pre-med friends and I obsessed; we played Spin The Bottle type games to see where we’d end up going to school. We needed hobbies desperately, I know.

Here’s the thing: Once I got into medical school, the whole idea lost its luster. The process of applying and fantasizing was more fun than actually being there. Similarly, once I “got” the boy I crushed on, he suddenly wasn’t so appealing anymore.

I often think about Robert Sabuda’s “Careful What You Wish For” conference speech. He reminded us that becoming published brings a whole new set of challenges. Marketing, deadlines, and sales will replace our current obsessions with character, plot, and schmoozing editors.

I love sitting in our little coffee joint with Jay and Robin (and other assorted OCD writer regulars) writing, re-writing, discussing writing until my brain hurts. I so enjoy the creative process. And I always want to have those butterflies in my stomach before we go to a conference or fantasize about being published, winning awards, and doing lunch with our dream editors.

I’m just afraid that after we’re published, that “crush” feeling will evaporate. Will we still feel the thrill? Or will we be sitting in the coffee joint mumbling about deadlines?

Of course, who am I kidding? After a long day of wringing my brain, I’ll still run to the mailbox sweating in hopes of seeing that acceptance letter from Hyperion!

Enjoy the process, man…

--Eve

Two Girls, a Guy, and a Pizza -- Jay

Oh, and there were some yellow foo-foo drinks, too. We were at Eve’s house, pre-typing this week’s Fondue Friday #2. Fortunately, I didn’t drink. But Eve and Robin did, which got them saying things they probably wouldn’t have…at least, not with me around. Robin let it slip that her and Eve recently called each other (though they each blame the other for initiating the call) and the topic was my fashion sense. I thought I was doing fine with my five other senses, but obviously I needed one more.

Their conclusion? Too much brown in my wardrobe.

With this blog eternally linking the three of us, and with the SCBWI conference coming up (especially our "special guest" spot in Lisa Yee’s workshop), they feel I need to show a little more…pizzazz. Some light blues. Or yellows. How about some pink? That, of course, was Eve’s suggestion.

So tomorrow, they’re taking me shopping for new shirts. And that’s fine. I’ll even wear them at the conference. But I already know the shirt I’m wearing for Lisa’s workshop. I dug it out of my closet today, put it on, and asked my wife how it looked on me.

“It looks fabulous,” she said.

And it’s brown!

- Jay

Recent Wonderful E-Mails

Printed below are two very exciting e-mails the Disco Mermaids recently received. One went to all three of us; the other went to Jay. Following each e-mail, we’ll tell you what made them so wonderful.

"Are you three going to be at the SCBWI in LA in August?"

Who wrote this e-mail? Lisa Yee, the author of Millicent Min, Girl Genius and Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time. Why did she want to know if we were attending the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators conference? Because she wants the Disco Mermaids to be special guests in her Why Bother to Blog? workshop. On her syllabus, Lisa refers to us as “Authors on the Verge.” Woo-hoo! The other special guest will be Gregory K. from GottaBook (a personal fave of ours!). He’ll discuss how he landed his first book contract because of his blog.

(Psst... Don't tell anyone, but we're still having a hard time believing Lisa actually asked us to do this. I mean, she won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award! Which basically means we wanna be Lisa Yee. All three of us!!!)

Speaking of authors on the verge, the following e-mail may be a sign that Jay’s a little bit closer to leaving his 30-Year-Old Vergin’ ways behind.

"Wanted to let you know that your manuscript arrived safely today; I AM SO EXCITED TO DIG IN. I hope to get to this very soon and will be in touch with you then. Thanks for making my day! "

When Jay gets happy and nervous at the same time, he begins sweating like Eric Carle stumbling into a colored tissue paper factory without his rapid-fire hole punch. And that’s what happened when the above e-mail arrived from an editor at Houghton Mifflin.

We’ll keep you posted…

Born to Rock...My World -- Robin

You may be wondering why I’ve scanned page 177 from Gordon Korman’s new book Born to Rock and immaturely hearted the page number.

Here’s the back story: A couple of years ago, Gordon spoke at the SCBWI National Conference and, being the social butterflies that we are (or “stalkers” as some prefer to call us), we managed to hang out with him in the hotel lobby for drinks. It was so much fun talking with him and I probably developed a harmless good-natured crush. After all, he’s a successful published author, funny…and bald (all things listed in my secret crush requirement book).

Well! You need to know that was the first year we won the costume contest by wearing glittery disco outfits (or “hooker” outfits as some prefer to call it) and I wore a pair of EXTREMELY tight gold pants. I actually borrowed them from Jay just minutes before the party started. They were the kind of pants you don’t let your mother know about (check out the picture). And Mom, look away.

Yep, that’s me. The tall one wearing the shimmery gold pants. The kind of girl some people might describe as “leggy” and “blonde” wearing an outfit that appeared to be “spray painted on.” At least, SOME people might describe it like that.

Flash forward to this week when I innocently read page 177 of Gordon’s new novel. Could that leggy blonde be…me!? According to my close friends that I surveyed with that question (which comes to about 72 now), it appears that I have finally been published…as a nameless, faceless, blonde chick in a teen book. Woo-hoo! I’m somebody now!

If the blonde that appears on page 177 of Gordon’s book is not me (but come on…how many tall blondes could the guy have thought about!!??) then I sheepishly retract this statement used for the sheer purpose of psychotic attention-getting (a rare condition also known as “Look at me! Look at me!”).

But I hear Gordon sold the movie rights to Born to Rock. Do I hear a casting call? Jay, give me those pants back!

- Robin

Okay, One More Adventure -- Jay

This past week, my wife and I watched our 10-year old niece and 7-year-old nephew. For my wife, the best parts were camping in Big Sur, swimming, boating, and watching them play their violins. For me, it was watching them discover my collection of Choose Your Own Adventure books! Those are the books that allow readers to choose what happens next from two or more options at the bottom of each page.

The entire vacation became a living Choose Your Own Adventure. “Which slide should I go down -- the blue or the red? One leads into the jaws of a giant Venus Flytrap. The other leads to a pot of gold.” “Bedtime? That’s it? But isn’t there supposed to be another choice? Hey, Uncle Jay, how about one more Choose Your Own Adventure?”

How could I say no?

- Jay

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To see my favorite post of Robin’s, click Robin.
To see my favorite post of Eve’s, click Eve.