Don’t get us wrong. We love chopped liver. Who doesn’t? We’re ECSTATIC that Jay was named the 26th Hot Man of Children’s Literature by Fuse #8. It was #1 on his list of lifetime aspirations. No, really. It’s all good.
It’s just that we—as a collective feminine presence on this blog—would like to have our day! What does Jay have that we don’t? (Please keep your answers to yourself.)
We realize he’s charming…he’s witty…he has a reasonable amount of hair. But come on! We’re charming and witty and hairy and, doggone it…we’re hot! (Okay, we were hot…once…in those pictures from our 18th birthday.)
Why must women continue to be oppressed in this society? Why can’t WE be recognized purely on the basis of our looks? All we ever hear from you folks is, “Oh Eve, you’re so smart!” “Oh Robin, you’re such a fantastic writer!” What do we have to do to get noticed? Parade around like Jay with heavy make-up and short skirts at writing conferences? (Again, keep your answers to yourself.)
Perhaps we should start a list of “Women in Literature Who Stand in the Wings Supporting Their Hot Men of Literature, Going Unnoticed And Graciously Accepting Their Place in Society.”
We will not go quietly! Hear us ROAR. From this point on, September 23rd will be known as WILWSITWSTHMOLGUGATPIS DAY!! Do they make a Hallmark card for that? Well, they should.
CONGRATULATIONS, JAY! You’ve always been OUR personal Hot Man. Now we can share you with the world. (If you’re into that kind of thing…) Rock on, H.M.O.C.L.!!!
Love you,
Mean it!
- Eve and Robin
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Root Canal Me Again! -- Jay
I recently told you about my long delayed visit to the dentist. Unfortunately, I had to go back a couple weeks ago for a root canal. More unfortunately, the tooth had four roots. Most people have two or three roots on that tooth so it took the dentist more time than he scheduled to drill the canals. So I went back this week to fill them in. Apparently it takes longer to fill my four canals than the one in Panama so I have to go back one more time to finish the job. Thankfully, the Bestselling Author Upstairs took pity on me and saved the day!
I left the dentist, got in my car, and started driving. My phone rang, I answered it (speaking through a very numb jaw), and before she could say much of anything, I told my agent I’d call her back after I found a place to park. Before I lead you on any longer, I did not just sell my first book. But an editor really likes my manuscript and requested a bio of me to take to a company meeting. I spent a couple hours on the bio and asked Robin and Eve to meet me at a coffee shop to critique it. They made it much stronger, I sent it to my agent, and now it’s out of my hands.
Something else we discussed at that coffee shop was our dePaola Code contest. We chose the winners and I went home to write up the announcement. Then I got an e-mail from Lisa Yee congratulating me and directing me to Fuse #8’s blog. Fuse #8, as I’m sure you know, is the mega-bloggin’ children’s librarian at the Donnell Central Children's Room in NYC. Her support was part of what made The dePaola Code take off. And that helped our blog take off. And that brought us to the attention of Lisa Yee. And that’s why Lisa asked us to speak at the national SCBWI conference. So basically…we love Fuse #8! One of her most popular features is pointing out people she considers Hot Men of Children’s Literature. And guess who she chose as her 26th H.M.O.C.L.?
Okay, sure, there aren’t a lot of men to choose from in children’s lit., but I’m not even published yet! How cool is that?!?! Well, my mom sure thinks it’s cool. I think her first words were, “Of course you are, dear. But why did she put you all the way down at number 26?”
It was late when I found out about this, so I ran down the hall to tell my sleeping wife. “Honey,” I said, “I’m a Hot Man of Children’s Literature!” Pulling the blankets over her head, she turned away from me and said, “I'm sure you are, but how is that going to help you sell a book?”
Eve’s always up late, I thought. She’ll understand. So I called her. “Hello?” she said. I was all excited and out of breath. “I’m a hot man…” Then she slammed down the phone.
Early the next morning, Robin saw Fuse #8’s blog and called me. “This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”
You bet it was…and I loved every minute of it!
- Jay
I left the dentist, got in my car, and started driving. My phone rang, I answered it (speaking through a very numb jaw), and before she could say much of anything, I told my agent I’d call her back after I found a place to park. Before I lead you on any longer, I did not just sell my first book. But an editor really likes my manuscript and requested a bio of me to take to a company meeting. I spent a couple hours on the bio and asked Robin and Eve to meet me at a coffee shop to critique it. They made it much stronger, I sent it to my agent, and now it’s out of my hands.
Something else we discussed at that coffee shop was our dePaola Code contest. We chose the winners and I went home to write up the announcement. Then I got an e-mail from Lisa Yee congratulating me and directing me to Fuse #8’s blog. Fuse #8, as I’m sure you know, is the mega-bloggin’ children’s librarian at the Donnell Central Children's Room in NYC. Her support was part of what made The dePaola Code take off. And that helped our blog take off. And that brought us to the attention of Lisa Yee. And that’s why Lisa asked us to speak at the national SCBWI conference. So basically…we love Fuse #8! One of her most popular features is pointing out people she considers Hot Men of Children’s Literature. And guess who she chose as her 26th H.M.O.C.L.?
Okay, sure, there aren’t a lot of men to choose from in children’s lit., but I’m not even published yet! How cool is that?!?! Well, my mom sure thinks it’s cool. I think her first words were, “Of course you are, dear. But why did she put you all the way down at number 26?”
It was late when I found out about this, so I ran down the hall to tell my sleeping wife. “Honey,” I said, “I’m a Hot Man of Children’s Literature!” Pulling the blankets over her head, she turned away from me and said, “I'm sure you are, but how is that going to help you sell a book?”
Eve’s always up late, I thought. She’ll understand. So I called her. “Hello?” she said. I was all excited and out of breath. “I’m a hot man…” Then she slammed down the phone.
Early the next morning, Robin saw Fuse #8’s blog and called me. “This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”
You bet it was…and I loved every minute of it!
- Jay
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
What a Couple of Winners!!!
Congratulations to Don Tate and Paige Keiser!!! They each win an autographed copy of The dePaola Code. Who were they autographed by? Why, by us, of course...and some genius named Tomie dePaola.WINNING JOKE by Paige:
Three Disco Mermaids walk into a bar with frogs on each of their shoulders. The bartender says, "Where did you get those?" The frogs say, "At the SCBWI National Conference. They were all over the place!"
WHY IT WON:
A cute twist on a classic joke…and clean, too! We received many jokes--some of which were a little inappropriate to publish in this somewhat kid-friendly forum (especially The Aristocrats inspired joke…though we may do some creative editing and publish that one soon!).
WINNING LOGO by Don:
(it's at the top of this post...ya can't miss it!)
WHY IT WON:
We love how the caricatures Don created resemble each of us perfectly. If you look closely, Jay has five chest hairs (how did he know!?), Eve has big, beautiful teeth, and Robin has big…well…let’s just say they’re big! What was evident to us was that Don looked back at the evolution of the Disco Mermaids through the years and incorporated our looks into one image that, in the words of someone who left a comment on his blog, “immortalized the wild and crazy disco mermaid spirit.” Look for his Disco Mermaid logo to appear on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and mousepads across the nation.
Thank you to all who entered our contest! Please check out the other logos that were submitted by clicking through the Disco Designs in the index to the right of this post. They were all beyond our expectations and so different! We plan to give each logo special recognition in an upcoming post.
But as for this post, once again, congratulations and thank you to Don Tate and Paige Keiser. What a couple of winners!!!
- Robin, Jay, and Eve
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Life Through Picture Books—Robin
So, I had a rough week. My mother-in-law passed away and I found myself having to explain to my four-year old what dying means. Before I had the “big talk” I decided to look for some picture books that would help me, because, let’s face it, I had no idea what to say.
Jay and a few of the wonderful librarians at our local library furiously put together a collection of books for me to look over. What I found was that the books on dying were very specific, i.e. books on the death of a grandfather or a Labrador retriever or a Siamese cat. Nothing on adorable grandmothers from South Carolina!
But I did take the advice at the back of one of the books that said ‘only answer the questions they have and keep it simple.’
Which I did. My son’s eyes got big and he said, “Oh.”
Whew. So I guess the questions will come later.
And, I realized, so will many more questions about the complex events in life and, I also realized, I’m not prepared!!
So I’d like to turn this problem over you, my writing friends, and ask you to get writing some picture books that will help me deal with all of my son’s questions in the future.
Here are just some of the many topics I need you all to get busy on:
• Why winning isn’t the goal, it’s just having fun, even though winning is fun.
• Why you should share everything with your friends, except for your toothbrush.
• Why you can’t say those four letter words, even though mommy likes them very, very much.
• Why your parents will never, ever let you drive a car.
• Why you can’t have any of those “adult drinks” that make them giggle and wake up with headaches.
• Why your first girlfriend will inevitably break your heart…I don’t know why…but she will…and you’ll never forget her.
-Robin
Jay and a few of the wonderful librarians at our local library furiously put together a collection of books for me to look over. What I found was that the books on dying were very specific, i.e. books on the death of a grandfather or a Labrador retriever or a Siamese cat. Nothing on adorable grandmothers from South Carolina!
But I did take the advice at the back of one of the books that said ‘only answer the questions they have and keep it simple.’
Which I did. My son’s eyes got big and he said, “Oh.”
Whew. So I guess the questions will come later.
And, I realized, so will many more questions about the complex events in life and, I also realized, I’m not prepared!!
So I’d like to turn this problem over you, my writing friends, and ask you to get writing some picture books that will help me deal with all of my son’s questions in the future.
Here are just some of the many topics I need you all to get busy on:
• Why winning isn’t the goal, it’s just having fun, even though winning is fun.
• Why you should share everything with your friends, except for your toothbrush.
• Why you can’t say those four letter words, even though mommy likes them very, very much.
• Why your parents will never, ever let you drive a car.
• Why you can’t have any of those “adult drinks” that make them giggle and wake up with headaches.
• Why your first girlfriend will inevitably break your heart…I don’t know why…but she will…and you’ll never forget her.
-Robin
Friday, September 15, 2006
What It Is -- Jay
“I write children’s books.”
“Are you published?”
“No. I mean…well…not yet.”
“What’s your book about?”
I love that last question because it implies, since I’m not yet published, I’ve only written one manuscript. Cuz how it works is you write one manuscript and sell that before starting something else, right?
In the past few months I’ve had to ask myself, “Dude, what is your book about?” or "what is it about to me?" for two different manuscripts. Both questions came as the result of editors offering to give me a second-look if I make some changes. And the keyword here is if.
With one manuscript, I chose not to make the changes. They would have altered what the book is and was intended to be way too much. It might’ve been a good book, but it would have been a very different book in both tone and theme. The reader would’ve left with a drastically different feeling about their reading experience.
The other second-look offer came for a chapter book series. A series! I would love to write a series. And the editor thinks it would make a great series…if. (Which is fast becoming a two-letter four-letter word.) Right now the manuscript is humorous with characters getting into somewhat sticky situations. If I make the changes, the manuscript will be hilarious with characters getting into ultra-sticky situations. When I conceived the series, I wanted it to be about situations my readers could actually see themselves getting into. But that wouldn’t be the case with the second type of series. It would be like saying, “Ms. Park, could you push Junie B. Jones into some Zack Files type situations?” It would work…and it would be funny…but it would be a different series.
And in this case, I’m okay with that. Mostly because I think the characters can remain the same and it’s the characters I’m excited to write about more than the situations. But it’s also because, Dude, this is for the chance to write a series! How awesome would that be?!?!
- Jay
“Are you published?”
“No. I mean…well…not yet.”
“What’s your book about?”
I love that last question because it implies, since I’m not yet published, I’ve only written one manuscript. Cuz how it works is you write one manuscript and sell that before starting something else, right?
In the past few months I’ve had to ask myself, “Dude, what is your book about?” or "what is it about to me?" for two different manuscripts. Both questions came as the result of editors offering to give me a second-look if I make some changes. And the keyword here is if.
With one manuscript, I chose not to make the changes. They would have altered what the book is and was intended to be way too much. It might’ve been a good book, but it would have been a very different book in both tone and theme. The reader would’ve left with a drastically different feeling about their reading experience.
The other second-look offer came for a chapter book series. A series! I would love to write a series. And the editor thinks it would make a great series…if. (Which is fast becoming a two-letter four-letter word.) Right now the manuscript is humorous with characters getting into somewhat sticky situations. If I make the changes, the manuscript will be hilarious with characters getting into ultra-sticky situations. When I conceived the series, I wanted it to be about situations my readers could actually see themselves getting into. But that wouldn’t be the case with the second type of series. It would be like saying, “Ms. Park, could you push Junie B. Jones into some Zack Files type situations?” It would work…and it would be funny…but it would be a different series.
And in this case, I’m okay with that. Mostly because I think the characters can remain the same and it’s the characters I’m excited to write about more than the situations. But it’s also because, Dude, this is for the chance to write a series! How awesome would that be?!?!
- Jay
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Last Chance!!!
Submit your joke or logo by midnight on Sunday, September 17th for your chance to win one of two signed copies of The dePaola Code.
Check out the logos we've received so far under Disco Designs to the right...
Check out the logos we've received so far under Disco Designs to the right...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
