Author Interviews

A Unique Situation With Author Lauren Baratz-Logsted

By on May 23, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Book Lists, Giveaways  

I’d like to introduce Lauren Baratz-Logsted. She’s one of the three co-authors of The Sisters 8 series.  Lauren has experienced two unique situations in the writing industry. One is writing with her husband and middle-grade daughter. The other you will read about later.  So grab a scone and a warm cup of tea and curl up for an interesting conversation!

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of over 30 books for adults (The Thin Pink Line; Vertigo), teens (Crazy Beautiful; The Twin's Daughter; Little Women and Me) and children (the nine-book series The Sisters 8 which she created with her writer husband Greg Logsted and their daughter Jackie). Before becoming a published author, she was an independent bookseller, a PW reviewer, a freelance editor, a sort-of librarian and a window washer. You can read more about Lauren's life and work at www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com, follow her on Twitter @LaurenBaratzL or visit the official Sisters 8 website at www.sisterseight.com.

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of over 30 books for adults (The Thin Pink Line; Vertigo), teens (Crazy Beautiful; The Twin’s Daughter; Little Women and Me) and children (the nine-book series The Sisters 8 which she created with her writer husband Greg Logsted and their daughter Jackie). Before becoming a published author, she was an independent bookseller, a PW reviewer, a freelance editor, a sort-of librarian and a window washer. You can read more about Lauren’s life and work at www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com, follow her on Twitter @LaurenBaratzL or visit the official Sisters 8 website at www.sisterseight.com.

Me:  Where did you get the concept for The Sisters 8  series?

Lauren:  In  December of 2006, when Jackie was still just six, we were visiting friends in  Crested Butte, Colorado, when a great blizzard hit that closed Denver Airport.  Our friends have no TV nor were there any other children around. This was fine  for the originally allotted time for the trip, but when the blizzard extended  our stay to 10 days, well, how many snow angels can a person make? Jackie had  always been proud of my career but never able to read any of the books because  they were for adults and teens. So, toward the end, to keep Jackie entertained,  I asked her what kind of book she’d like. Her: A book about sisters. Me: How  many sisters? Her: 8. (Trust me, she’d give a different answer today, having  gotten rather used to being the center of the universe.) Me: How old should they be? Her: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Me: That would be interesting, but what if we  made them something really rare like, say, octuplets? Before we knew it, my  husband Greg got into the act. We began brainstorming an entire book about  octuplets whose parents go missing one New Year’s Eve, leaving the eight  girls to solve the mystery of what happened to their parents while keeping the  rest of the world from realizing they’re living home alone. Our brainstorming  kept us entertained through the rest of of the trip and the long flight  back to Connecticut on Christmas Day. Jackie named all the sisters, I named the  cats, and Greg came up with all the crazy inventions like the talking  refrigerator and the flying watering can. Little did we know then that something  that started simply as a way to keep ourselves entertained would turn into a  nine-book series from a major publisher.

Me: That’s awesome. So can we call you the original Octomom? (just kidding, of course!) What role did each of you play in the writing process? And how was it to work together–fun, exciting, stressful?

Lauren:  When we got home from Colorado, just for fun I wrote the prologue and first  chapter. I read it to Greg and Jackie, and then we all discussed what  worked/didn’t work and what needed to happen next. That became the template for  the entire series. So I did the actual writing, but The Sisters 8 would not  exist without my co-creators. I can go through each book and see their  contributions to our invention and those contributions are massive. I think for  them it was always just fun and exciting – I’m the only one that would add  stressful! But that’s because I was the one who was responsible for keeping what  would eventually be over a thousand pages of continuous story in my brain. When  we were working on the series, sometimes we’d go out for what we called  “editorial brunches” to discuss things. But sometimes, the other two would be  throwing ideas at me so fast with me scribbling on napkins and I’d feel like  saying, “Can’t I eat my eggs first?” Still, despite the stresses of being “The  Pen” I wouldn’t change having done this for the world. Nothing in my writing  career has matched the joy of getting to work with my family on The Sisters 8  and I can’t imagine anything that ever will.

Me: I love that! There’s nothing more thrilling than to see children involved and excited about writing, books and creating.  Does your daughter, Jackie, aspire to be a writer as a career? 

Lauren:  Jackie is 13 now. She does enjoy writing, but she also enjoys acting and  singing, and she plays a mean electric guitar – all things that have guaranteed  well-paying careers with full benefits! She also likes shows about  house-flipping. Honestly, I have no idea what she’ll do for a career, and I  don’t think she does either, but whatever she chooses I suspect she’ll be good  at it and I hope she’ll be happy.

Me: It’s so hard to know what they’ll do. My daughter (and co-author) wants to go to the Olympics for archery. But it’s still fun to write together! It was hard facing rejections though.  Did your previous relationships with editors, agents and industry  professionals help ease concerns when working with a child author? Did  it require convincing or were they unconcerned (perhaps even excited) about working with Jackie?

Lauren:  I did have a prior relationship with our editor at Houghton Mifflin  Harcourt, Julia Richardson. She’d also been my editor at Simon & Schuster  where she’d bought three books from me and two from Greg. She’d even met Jackie  before. So, no, they were not concerned at all, only excited. When we went to  Boston to meet with everyone else at the company, they just loved Jackie, which  is an easy thing to do. She’s funny, bright, creative and easygoing, so what’s  not to love? A few months before the first two books came out, they had us do a  group book signing at the New England Independent Bookseller Association’s  annual conference. The night before, while out to dinner she talked me into  buying her a large stuffed lobster, which she put in front of her on the signing  table, signing books with a large feather pen she’d brought from home. People  just couldn’t stop smiling at her. And I do believe she was on to something.  Perhaps all authors should sign with stuffed lobsters. I know if Norman  Mailer were still alive, he’d be more accessible with one.

Me: Too cute! I’m keeping that idea in my back pocket!  So, The Sisters 8 series is traditionally published, but your Hat City series is  self published, correct? Tell us a bit about that experience.

Lauren:  The sad truth about traditional publishing is that even when something is  successful on some measures and The Sisters 8 has sold 200,000 copies, it still  can be not enough and the publisher has no plans to do more at this time. And  yet, every day, I receive emails from kids – and parents, grandparents, teachers  and librarians – telling me they love the series, sometimes even that they hated  reading before discovering the books, and that they want more. If it were up to  me, we’d be writing The Sisters 8 forever – and The Brothers 8! – and it’s  immensely gratifying to think that something we originally did for  ourselves has turned into a source of joy for so many. But it’s also been  heart-breaking, having all these kids who want more and not being able to give  it to them. So I decided to start a new series and publish it on my own. How  it’s different: everything is on me, which makes it tremendously scary and  tremendously wonderful all at the same time.

 

Me:  One last question:  Pistachio ice cream or lemon bars? Skittles or Dove chocolate? Elves and fairies or the creature from the black lagoon? (Okay, that was more than one…)

Lauren:  Greg is a huge fan of pistachios but in nearly 30 years together, I don’t  think I’ve ever seen him eat pistachio ice cream, and I can’t remember any of us eating lemon bars. Greg and Jackie are both Skittles and Dove chocolate, while  I’m just Dove. We are all elves and fairies and The Creature from The  Black Lagoon.

Me:  I think we’d get along famously! Thanks for joining us here today, Lauren!

Lauren has offered to give away not one, not two, not three but four (yes, FOUR) books in The Sisters 8 series!  Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below and leave a blog post comment and maybe you’ll be the lucky winner of the following four books! (open to U.S. only, please)

A rather large problem has befallen the Huit girls. (Sisters, actually. Octuplets to be exact.) One particular New Year’s Eve, the girls wait for their mommy to bring them hot chocolate and their daddy to return with more wood for the fire. But they don’t. Mommy and Daddy, that is. They’re gone. Poof! Maybe dead—no one knows for sure.
You must see the problem here. Eight little girls on their own, no mommy or daddy to take care of them. This is not a good thing.
So now these little girls, must take care of themselves. Get to school, cook the meals, feed the cats (eight of them, too), and pay the bills. They can’t ask for help, oh no. Any self-respecting adult would surely call in social services, and those well-meaning people would have to split them up. After losing their parents, being split up would be completely unbearable.
At the same time, the question remains:What happened to Mommy and Daddy? The Sisters Eight (as they are called, affectionately and otherwise) are determined to find out. Luckily, they do seem to have someone or something helping them. Notes keep appearing behind a loose brick in the fireplace.
It’s a good old-fashioned mystery with missing (or dead) parents, nosy neighbors, talking refrigerators, foul-smelling fruitcake (is there any other kind?), and even a little magic. Eight little girls, eight cats, and one big mystery—let the fun begin!

 

 

 

 

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Amie Borst and her middle-grade dauther, Bethanie, write fairy tales with a twist. Their first book in the Scarily Ever Laughter series, Cinderskella, debuts October 2013! You can find them at www.facebook.com/AmieAndBethanieBorst

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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.

ZekeMeeksfan

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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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!

 

Rodkey head shot 1 - Version 2

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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