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Get to the funny faster: Stand-up comedy and middle grade writing

By on May 10, 2013   /   Author Interviews  

Debra Garfinkle is one of the funniest writers I’ve ever known or read. So, why would she be taking a stand-up comedy class? Debra — author the Zeke Meeks series (writing as D.L. Green), the Supernatural Rubber Chicken books and five YA novels — shares a bit about the intersection of stand-up comedy and reaching middle grade readers.

zeke meeks TV turnoff weekYou’ve written about trying comedy for your “3/4 life crisis.”  What was the writer in you thinking about this venture?

Creative writing had always been my hobby, since I was a little kid writing poems and through my years as a lawyer when I wrote short stories to de-stress after work. After I sold my first novel, writing became more of a job than a hobby. I still enjoyed it and loved getting paid for my former hobby, but got stressed out about publishers, deadlines, promotion, etc. I wanted a hobby to do just for fun, so I turned to stand-up comedy.

I thought doing stand-up would suit me for several reasons: I’ve always loved going to stand-up comedy shows; most of my books are humorous and I write a humorous newspaper column, so I was used to writing humor; I had experience acting in high school and college plays and doing moot court in law school.

Stand-up comedy turned out a lot harder than I’d thought. I learned that good stand-up comics should make the audience laugh every 10 to 15 seconds. So in a six-minute set, that’s 24-36 jokes to write and perform. Also, what may seem funny in writing often fails in performance, so I’d have to write maybe ten jokes for every one that really worked. And it’s scary being on the stage by oneself, with no other actors, directors, or writers to blame when the set bombed. But when the set went well, it was wonderful to hear people laughing at jokes I wrote and performed.

How does comic timing on stage translate to on the page?

I think on the page, there’s more time to set up a joke. Readers can skim if they want. Stand-up audience are less patient. They don’t want to sit through a long set-up in order to hear the punchline.

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Debra Garfinkle (D.L. Green) with a Zeke Meeks’ fan.

Bill Word, my stand-up comedy teacher, used to say, “Get to the funny faster.” I try to keep that in mind when I’m writing children’s books. I think child readers are similar to a stand-up comic’s audience in that they mostly want to laugh and have a good time. Sure, I can slip in some meaningful messages, but my main purpose is to entertain. With that in mind, I try hard to delete extraneous things in the set-ups to my jokes.

Stand-up also helped me value callbacks (a joke that references something that happened earlier in the set) and tags (a second punchline added to the first punchline, so that one set-up makes the audience laugh twice as long).

Bill Word constantly said, “There’s something there.” We used to make fun of him for saying it so much, but it was very helpful. Even if we told the worst joke ever, we were encouraged to work with and play with it to make it better. Sometimes the worst joke ever eventually led to funny stuff. So I try to keep an open mind when I’m conceptualizing or drafting books, telling myself that there may indeed by “something there.”

Debra is published under the names D.L. Garfinkle and D.L. Green. You can read more about her books, writing, and treadmill desk at her website. Check out her book reviews written in haiku on her blog, too. They’re fantastic.

 

 

 

 

 

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Don’t Let Summer Reading Kill You!

By on May 8, 2013   /   Book Lists  

The end of the school year is right around the corner!

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For parents that’s no more carpools, no more packed lunches, no more homework battles! Right?

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Before you get ready sink into that hammock on the beach… what about summer reading?

Fun and relaxation are important. All work and no play really does make Jack a dull boy. But nobody wants to encourage the “summer slump”. Studies indicate that children lose two months of math and reading achievement when their learning stalls over the summer. Elementary school librarian and children’s lit expert Louise Simone says “Of course, keeping students engaged and using some part of their brains over the summer is a good thing. Reading does that.”

Some kids look forward to plenty of free time reading in the summer. But for others summer reading is like a death curse… hence John Scieszka and Lane Smith’s very funny middle grade novel-

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How can you minimize summer reading bloodshed? Consider these ideas-

1. Keep it real. Several years ago New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof proposed a summer reading list that’s a perfect template for how to make your own life miserable and squelch every last ounce of summer reading enthusiasm in your skeptical reader. Sprinkled among Kristof’s ridiculously predictable Harry Potter-ish recommendations were some good old classics like Little Lord Fauntelroy. Really?? Really???  Was he kidding? No. Then he proposed Lad, A Dog, written by Albert Payson Terhune almost one hundred years ago.

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Kristof praised the book, saying “this is a book so full of SAT words it could put Stanley Kaplan out of business.”

Indeed! Here’s a paragraph from the first page of Lad-

“The Master had fished the month-old puppy out of the cavern of his pocket and set her down, asprawl and shivering and squealing, on the veranda floor. Lad had walked cautiously across the veranda, sniffed inquiry at the blinking pigmy who gallantly essayed to growl defiance up at the huge welcomer—and from that first moment he had taken her under his protection.”

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I’m a big dog book lover (not to mention an admirer of high SAT scores). I’m TOTALLY in favor of smart books for kids! But forcing this book on your children guarantees growls of defiance.

Books you remembered from your own childhood? Or your great grandparent’s childhood? Skip them this summer. During the sizzling summer months kids are much more likely to read… and love… modern middle-grade novels, written with today’s pacing and relevant vocabulary. Check out Bobby Pyron’s A Dog’s Way Home

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or any of the other fantastic modern middle-grade novels we’ve compiled in reading lists here at From The Mixed-Up Files.

2. Participate!  Some schools have mandatory summer reading lists. Nearly every local library has a summer reading program. Whether you and your child are selecting summer reading books on your own or participating in an established (or required) program fun summer reading should involve parents as much as kids.

Consider reading along with your child. Discuss the book at meal time. Read aloud together, alternating pages. How about a neighborhood summer reading book club? For most people, and that includes kids, going it alone isn’t a lot of fun. Turning summer reading into family reading will pay dividends in ways you’ve never imagined. Read more about parents’ role in creating a rich summer reading experience in this thoughtful article written for the National Summer Learning Association by Harvard professor James Kim.

3. Take advantage of resources–  There’s so much available on the internet these days. Scholastic has wonderful summer reading resources. And check out WETA/PBS’s Reading Rocket’s summer reading tips and activities. Even ordinary moms have posted tried and true summer reading strategies on the net.  When in doubt go with experts like teachers at your own school, the educators at Scholastic, or your neighborhood librarians, and most of all your own good sense. Tune out the dictates of  random newspaper guys who thinks kids want to read Little Lord Fauntelroy for fun… unless your child is that one in a thousand who really gets into Victorian didacticism.

Which is the point of summer reading, actually. Perfect summer reading is tailored to the child. Explore new genres. Delve into great series. Stretch skills but sometimes fall back on old favorites. Let your child pick some books on his or her own. Select others based on your child’s own taste and ability. Summer reading shouldn’t be an unpleasant job for your child–or for you. Have fun reading books! Those lazy hazy days of summer will be a lot less crazy when you and your children settle down together with a stack of great books.

What will your middle-graders read this summer?

Nobody ever had to force Tami Lewis Brown to read in the summer… but she never had to read Lad, A Dog!

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The Chronicles of Egg with Geoff, Josh & Jen

By on May 7, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Giveaways, Publishing & Promotion  

I had an arguement with my 9 year old daughter the other day.  The Chronicles of Egg by Geoff Rodkey sat on the counter and we both grabbed for it, wanting to be the first to read it.  I tried to reason with her that it was my job to read it.  She argued that it looked really interesting and she would absolutely die if forced to wait a moment longer.

She won.

While I eagerly waited for her to finish reading book one, I had the pleasure of interviewing the author (Geoff), the agent (Josh) and the editor (Jen).  Keep reading to see what all the hub-bub is about, Bub!

 

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Geoff Rodkey is the author of the Chronicles of Egg middle grade adventure series and the Emmy-nominated screenwriter of such hit films as Daddy Day Care, RV, and the Disney Channel’s Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas.

Me: Thanks so much for joining us at MUF today, Geoff, Josh and Jen! I’ll try not to get tongue-tied with the alliteration in the room 😉  So, Geoff, what prompted you to write a series?

Geoff:  I’d been working as a studio screenwriter for over a decade, and I’d gotten pretty burned out, to the point where I was wondering if I still wanted to keep writing professionally. But I had an idea I really liked, for a sort of classic adventure story with a lot of humor –the kind of thing you’d get if you put Raiders of the Lost Ark andThe Princess Bride in a blender and then threw in some pirates.

I knew enough about the studio system to be certain that if I wrote it as a screenplay, no one would buy it, let alone make it (because it was a period piece with a 13-year-old protagonist, which are two things studios hate). But it seemed like it might make for a fun book. So I decided that before I gave up on writing and started applying to grad schools, I should try turning the idea into a novel.

By the time I was halfway through the first draft, I’d realized that not only was writing books much, much more fun than writing movies, but it might be the best thing I’d ever written. And as long as I could get it published, I no longer had any interest in going to grad school and getting a real job.

 

Me:  I’m glad you decided to write The Chronicles of Egg as a middle-grade book – and so is my daughter!  Josh, how do you feel about books pitched as a series?  

Josh left Harcourt in 1993 to get an MBA from Columbia Business School. After Business School, Josh spent 11 years owning and operating a minor league baseball team (the Staten Island Yankees). He left baseball in late 2006 and rejoined the book world on the agent side. Josh worked at Writers House until November 2009, building a list of adult novelists, YA and middle grade authors, and the occasional nonfiction writer; then joined Russell and Volkening. In May 2011 he partnered with Carrie Hannigan and Jesseca Salky (HSG agency), and has been actively and happily running his list.

Josh: I am very happy when books are pitched as a series–it’s a good thing to be able to pitch to a publisher. However, it’s very important that book be able to stand alone if necessary. It’s what I’ll be sending out to a publisher, and it doesn’t look good to have to say to a somewhat interested editor “Oh, that extremely important antagonist who is trying to destroy the world? He doesn’t show up at all until the second half of book 2.” Book 1 needs to stand on its own merits. Me:   *moves pivitol character to book one*  Jen, what about you? Are you more drawn to series than stand alone books? Or does it all just come down to the story? 

Jen: It’s absolutely the same ingredients that draw me in – but when I’m working with series it’s important to consider how much room there is for the world and characters to grow. You need to be working with an author who is dexterous enough to keep pushing the boundaries of the story.

Jennifer Besser first started working in the publishing industry at Miramax Books. She was also an Executive Editor at Disney Hyperion. Currently she is Publisher of G.P. Putnam’s Sons (an imprint of the Penguin Young Readers Group).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me:   When did you know you had a series in The Chronicles of Egg?  Was it right away or did it take a completed first draft to see the whole aspect of the world you were creating? 

Geoff:  Pretty early in the process. All the successful kids’ books I knew of — not just contemporary things like Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket, but the Great Brain books and McGurk mysteries that I’d loved growing up — were series books.

Since it made professional sense to have it be a series, and the world I was creating felt big and interesting enough to contain a multiple-book story, almost from the beginning I was thinking of it as three books rather than one.

 

Me:  At conferences I’ve attended I was always told not to pitch a book as a series.  So how do you know when a book should be a stand alone and when it should be more? Do you put a limit on the amount of books in the series?

Josh: Often times, the author already has the number of books at least theoretically in mind (and in fact there are times that an author will have an unspecified, could-go-on-forever idea, where the number of books will be limited only by the market and the author’s own imagination). Certainly there are times when you spend 400 pages with a character and say “Well, the author has really taken this as far as it will go,” and then you know you have a stand-alone (or if a series, one where the episodes will be connected by something other than the protagonist).

 

Me:  You must really love a story in order to read it over and over again. What intrigued you about The Chronicles of Egg?

Jen:  For me, the real homeruns start with voice – a character who feels utterly real, who speaks from the heart with authority. Egbert is such a character, plus he’s affable and hilarious and self-deprecating, characteristics that I find appealing in the real world.

 

Me:  Those are great characteristics, ones that definitely draw me to read a story. Geoff, what would you compare your writing experience to?

Geoff:  I’ve only written one series, so I don’t actually know what I’m talking about here. Writing The Chronicles of Egg has been much more pleasure than pain — I had as much fun writing it as people have reading it. But now that I’m winding up the Egg books, I’m starting to look ahead to the next series, and I suspect it’s not always going to feel this easy.

 

Me:  As an agent, how is working with a client on a series different than stand alone books?

Josh: Well, the main difference is that if I sell a series, the headaches are different. We don’t need, for example, to worry each year or year and a half about selling a next book—most often, series are sold as two or three book deals, where that is not the case in stand-alones. The headache, of course, is navigating the ups and downs with the publisher over a more long-term relationship in a series contract. You’ve received a commitment, but given up the flexibility of movement. Generally, it’s a perfectly fine tradeoff.

 

Me:  That is a tricky, but good position to be in.  I think most authors would be happy to have that problem 🙂  When working with both an agent and author how do you approach revisions and edits?  

Jen:  I’ve been lucky in my career, in that I’ve gotten to work with real pros. First, I deliver editorial notes, then the author takes some time to process them, then we jump on the phone or meet to discuss the best way to tackle the challenges. It’s very collaborative.

 

Me:  One final round of questions.  Geoff, name your least pleasant odor.

Geoff:  My eight-year-old’s feet. He’s a really cute kid, but the stink that comes off his feet is just inexplicable.

Me:  Ha! Stinky feet are the worst.  *plugs nose politely*  Josh, which do you prefer—Aliens or monsters?

Josh:  Monsters (but mostly the Victorian types–vamps, werewolves…not so much the bigfoots or Yetis).

Me:  *crumples up bigfoot manuscript* Alright, Jen, this is very, very important, so be sure to answer correctly.  Unicorns and glitter or fairies and wings?

Jen:  Sisters questing for glitter unicorns.

Me:  Sweet! That’s exactly what I was thinking.   Thanks for playing along.

It’s tough to be thirteen, especially when somebody’s trying to kill you.
Not that Egg’s life was ever easy, growing up on sweaty, pirate-infested Deadweather Island with no company except an incompetent tutor and a pair of unusually violent siblings who hate his guts.
But when Egg’s father hustles their family off on a mysterious errand to fabulously wealthy Sunrise Island, then disappears with the siblings in a freak accident, Egg finds himself a long-term guest at the mansion of the glamorous Pembroke family and their beautiful, sharp-tongued daughter Millicent. Finally, life seems perfect.
Until someone tries to throw him off a cliff.
Suddenly, Egg’s running for his life in a bewildering world of cutthroat pirates, villainous businessmen, and strange Native legends. The only people who can help him sort out the mystery of why he’s been marked for death are Millicent and a one-handed, possibly deranged cabin boy.
Come along for the ride. You’ll be glad you did.

After a narrow escape from Deadweather Island, Egg and his slightly deranged partner Guts head for the remote New Lands. They’re in search of the lost Okalu tribe, who hold the key to the mysterious treasure map that Egg can’t decipher. But the ruthless Roger Pembroke is hard on Egg’s trail, and the New Lands are full of new enemies—against which our heroes’ only weapons are their brains, their courage…and the two dozen swear words Guts just memorized in the local tongue.
They’re going to need help. But who can they trust? Is Kira, the beautiful and heavily armed Okalu refugee, their ally…or their enemy? Is Pembroke’s daughter Millicent on Egg’s side…or her father’s? Why on earth is the notorious pirate Burn Healy being so nice to them? And the biggest question of all: what shocking secret is Egg about to discover in the shadow of an ancient Okalu temple?

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As luck would have it, you have a shot at winning not one, but BOTH of these books!  And for our readers, who are also writers, Josh has offered to crit your query letter! How cool is that?!
If you’re a reader, enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you’re a writer, enter here:  a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Amie Borst and her 12 year old daughter, Bethanie, write fairy tales with a twist.  Their first book in the Scarily Ever Laughter series, Cinderskella, debuts October 26th, 2013!

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