The Familiars makes the School Library Journal Best of 2010 List

Click here to see the full list!

Best I've Read - 2010

The Familiars is happy to announce that it will be featured as one of the "Best I've Read" titles of 2010!



There are 9 Young Adult Blogs Participating:

Yara @ Once Upon a Twilight
Katie @ Mundie Moms
Stacey & Amber @ Page Turners Blog
Christin & Louise @ Between The Covers Blog
Kate @ A Reader's Ramblings
Heather @ Fire and Ice Photo
Jenn @ Late Bloomer Online
Cindy @ Books Complete Me
Kathy @ I Am A Reader, Not A Writer (ME)

The website for the event will be live on Friday, November 12:

http://bestiveread.blogspot.com

Script Magazine Interview

Adam and Andrew are interviewed in this month's SCRIPT MAGAZINE. Read it here!

The Familiars: A 2010 Association of Booksellers for Children New Voices Pick

See the entire list here!

Is your pet a Familiar... or NOT a Familiar?

A clip that shows what a Familiar is..... and what a Familiar isn't!

The Familiars - Review Round-Up

Compiled here is a comprehensive list of reviews for THE FAMILIARS.

School Library Journal - *Starred* Review Here

Publishers Weekly - Review Here

Alex Reads Books - Watch Video Review Here

Barts Books - Review Here

Bookalicious Pam - Review Here

Bookanista - Review Here

Book Aunt - Review Here

The Book Bag - Review Here

Bookbitz - Review Here

Book Ideas - Review Here

Book People (Book Kids Blog) - Review Here

The Brain Lair - Review Here

Donalyn Miller - Review Here

Electrifying Reviews - Review Here

Hip Librarians Book Blog - Review Here

Jenn's Bookshelves - Review Here

June Morgan - Review Here

Kelsey Ketch - Review Here

Little Corner of the World - Review Here

The Lost Entwife - Review Here

Mama Bookworm - Review Here

Miss Deb's Youth Fiction - Review Here

Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books - Review Here

Mundie Kids - Review Here

Slowest Bookworm - Review Here

Sommer Reading - Review Here

YA Bookshelf - Review Here

Amazon - Assorted Reviews Here

Barnes and Noble - Assorted Reviews Here

Halloween Blog Tour - Scavenger Hunt

As part of THE FAMILIARS Halloween Blog Tour, we are also having a special Familiars-themed Halloween Scavenger Hunt! At each stop along the blog tour, we will be asking a trivia question from our book. After you fill in your answer, the letter that falls in the place of the * can be placed in the corresponding number of the larger puzzle. So for the question numbered 1, the letter that lands in the space where the * is can be filled in where the 1 is in the larger puzzle below. The larger puzzle will form yet another clue, and anyone who answers it correctly will be entered into a drawing for an autographed book as well as a few other Halloween treats!

You can email your answers to thefamiliars@gmail.com. All entries must be entered by November 15.










And be sure to come back to see where we've been on the tour! These are not in order of stops; they were each assigned numbers randomly.

1. Satisfaction For Insatiable Readers (Posted 10-13)
2. There's A Book (Posted 10-13)
3. YA Bookshelf (Posted 10-8)
4. Jenns Bookshelf (Posted 10-27)
5. Sisters in Scribe (Posted 10-14)
6. Ellz Readz (Posted 10-15)
7. Kidlit Frenzy (Posted 10-27)
8. The Serpentine Library (Posted 10-25)
9. Georgia McBride
10. Bookhounds (Posted 10-24)
11. The Cajun Book Lady (Posted 10-24)
12. Alex Reads Books (posted 10-19)
13. The Children's Book Review (Posted 10-7)
14. The Bookette (Posted 10-17)
15. Mundie Moms/Mundie Kids (Posted 10-22)
16. Fantasy Book Review (Posted 10-27)
17. Tif Talks Books (Posted 10-23)
18. Book People (Posted 10-29)
19. The Fiction Enthusiast (Posted 10-26)
20. Shut Up I'm Reading (Posted 10-28)
21. Bookalicious Pam (Posted 10-8)
22. Gidget and Froggi (Posted 10-15)
23. Reading Vacation (Posted 10-8)
24. The Lost Entwife (Posted 10-29)
25. Bri Meets Books (Posted 10-26)
25. Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf (Posted 10-29)

"The Familiars" Gets a Director: Links Round-Up

The Hollywood Reporter

The Wrap

Coming Soon

Cinema Blend

Movie Web

Slash Film

Official Press Release

"The Familiars" movie gets a director

Exciting news everyone! "The Familiars," which is being adapted into a 3D animated movie, has found a director. Academy Award nominated Pixar director Doug Sweetland, who created the short film PRESTO, which appeared before WALL-E, has been hired by Sony Animation to helm "The Familiars."

We are absolutely thrilled to have such an incredibly talented filmmaker come aboard the project.

We've included the link so you can watch PRESTO here!

Halloween Blog Tour Announcement

With Halloween fast approaching, we thought it was only appropriate for "The Familiars" to celebrate their favorite holiday with a blog tour! We will be trick or treating through the blogosphere, so be sure to let us know if you'd like us to stop by your neighborhood.

Halloween Monsters Are Among Us
from "Squidboo"

Black Halloween Cat is the Witches Best Friend
Black cat is the most famous Halloween familiar

A familiar is a spirit of some kind often thought to be embodied in an animal and is used by witches or wizards to attend, serve, and guard said witch or wizard.

A familiar, was, and still is supposed to be a subordinate demon in the form of an animal. Such creatures, drew nourishment by suckling from the devil's mark, a witch's breasts, or other less sensitive parts on a witch.

The black cat is one of the most commonly recognized types of familiars, although they could be any color. A black dog was also said to be a favorite for witches.

At one time toads were one of the most popular of all familiars to be had by a witch or wizard. Of course, the Church said the toad was the preferred animal shape of Satan and his demons.

They were used to help prepare magic potions and it was made sure that the toad was present in nearly all of the spells and rituals, including the Sabbats.

The Familiars Might Help

We were so touched by this that we decided to post it here. From one of our school visits in Northern California last week:

"The Familiars Might Help"

Posted on September 13, 2010 by catinahaugen
Two authors visited school this week: Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson. Together they’ve written The Familiars, a story of three wizards’ familiars who must join together, find their strengths and rescue their wizards.

My eight year old, Joshua, was in attendance with his third grade class. I asked him the night before if he wanted a copy of the book. He responded with something vague about it being too much for him this year, maybe he could read it in fourth grade, or sure mom, if you want to.

So of course, as the mother who reads constantly, I bought this book for my son who doesn’t find reading to be a pleasure. Joshua is a non-fiction, get to the facts ma’am kind of guy. He reads about fishing, sunken boats, kid encyclopedias of various subjects, snake books, dinosaur books and the like.

So with The Familiars in hand, Joshua got it signed by the authors and promptly used the book as his share (it happened to be his share day in class). Then when I arrived home that night, I found he had used the book jacket as a bookmark (as he’s seen me do again and again) and was on page 20. I welled up a bit to see his bookmark choice. Every time he sees one of my books like this, we have the same conversation about book jackets, bookmarks and the uses/types/purposes of both. He never tires of discussing it.

The next day, when I called to check in with the family before leaving work, Jeff reported that Joshua fell asleep reading The Familiars and the book was on his stomach as he quietly snoozed on the couch. I almost cried. Falling asleep to a good book is delicious.

When I got home, I asked him how the book was. Good. Would you read a bit to me? Maybe later. Then (without thinking?) he held his book, stroked the cover and chatted with me about his day. Lovely. I know these exact mannerisms in myself.

Blog Tour - Complete Wrap Up

In celebration of our Book Birthday, here's the run down of our month long Blog Tour! 34 stops in 34 days. Whew. And now the real work begins. THE FAMILIARS hits bookstores today.

August 5 "Work Husbands" GUEST POST on Katie Talks About Blog

August 9 "Archimedes did it in a Bathtub, We do it in the Shower" GUEST POST on The Children's Book Review

August 10 "Hermione or Bella? Brains vs. Brood" GUEST POST on The Page Turners Blog

August 10 "Working With a Book Editor" GUEST POST on Mindful Musings

August 10 "Adam's Top 5 Fantasy Books" GUEST POST on Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

August 12 Interview with YA Fresh

August 13 "Why We Wish We Had a Thousand Rejection Letters" GUEST POST on Once Upon a Book

August 14 "The Fine Line Between Sharing and Shoving" GUEST POST on Confessions of a Bookaholic

August 14 "Where Hollywood Should Take a Page from the Book Industry" GUEST POST on Sarah's Random Musings

August 16 "Our Top 5 Animal Books" GUEST POST on Reading Vacation

August 16 "If We Weren't Writers, We'd Be..." GUEST POST on Brimful Curiosities

August 18 "Not Another Middle Grade Book" GUEST POST on YA Book Shelf

August 19 "The Overnight Illusion" GUEST POST on Tif Talks Books

August 20 "My Childhood Pet Breathed Fire" GUEST POST on Manga Maniac Cafe

August 24 "Why I read Twilight, watch Gossip Girl, and Listen to Justin Bieber" GUEST POST on Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

August 24 "Describing the Chandelier" GUEST POST on YA Highway

August 24 "My First Crush: The School Librarian" GUEST POST on Readspace

August 26 "Why We Write MG: 30 Going on 13" GUEST POST on Forever YA

August 27 "A Bunch of Random Things We've Learned Since Getting Published" GUEST POST on The Fiction Enthusiast

August 30 Interview on A Fanatic's Book Blog

August 30 "Why We Know Who Egged Rick Riordan's Car in High School" GUEST POST on Kidlit Frenzy

August 31 "The Big Book Hook" GUEST POST on Project Middle Grade Mayhem

August 31 "Butt Plus Chair" GUEST POST on Literaturely Speaking

August 31 "Telephone" GUEST POST on Market My Words

August 31 "The Books That Got Us Started" GUEST POST on There's A Book

September 4 "Are You Familiar With What A Familiar Is" GUEST POST on Alison's Book Marks

September 4 "When I Grow Up, I Want To Be..." GUEST POST on A Few More Pages

September 4 "Two Guys In A Coffee Shop" GUEST POST on Good Books and Good Wine

September 7 "Working With A Literary Agent: An Appreciation" GUEST POST on The Hiding Spot

September 7 "The Church of YA" on Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

September 7 "The Books on our Nightstand" on The Brainlair

September 7 "Familiars Throughout History" GUEST POST on Liyanaland

September 7 "5 Music Albums That Inspire Us When We Write" GUEST POST on The Book Scout

September 7 Interview with Georgia McBride on YA Litchat

Big, BIG thanks to all of the wonderful book bloggers we've met in the last few months. Your passion, generosity, and enthusiasm for YA, middle grade, and kidlit books is contagious and inspiring. We can't express how much we appreciate your support and help in spreading the word about The Familiars in the twitterverse and blogosphere. Now we hope to translate that to the real world!

The Church of YA

GUEST POST on Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Little did we know that writing a YA/Middle Grade series of books would send us headfirst into the Blogo-twitta-facebook-frienda-sphere! That every one of our literary escapes would be chronicled on goodreads and Shelfari. That we'd be YAlitchatting and kidlitchatting and catlitchatting. It turns out readers of young fiction not only like to read young fiction but talk about it, write about it, and commiserate about it 24/7. And it couldn't make us happier! We've found kindred spirits to debate whether they are Team Peeta or Team Gale, like-minded book lovers who find every series of unfortunate events a good thing, and fellow word devourers who are already waiting in line outside their local movie theater for the first installment of Deathly Hollows. We're all a devout group indeed, praying at the altar of Riordin, Meyer, and Paolini. Our rituals are the same: read, write, tweet, blog, and back to reading once more. Our temple -- the independent bookstore -- the one wedged between the local hardware store and shoe shop. And how exciting that soon we'll be traveling the country on a book tour putting faces to these screen names. So if you see us at your school or library or book store come say hi, and be sure to introduce yourself by your twitter handle.

The Books on our Nightstand

GUEST POST on The Brain Lair

Adam is Reading

“Westmark” by Lloyd Alexander
It’s a book I started when I was younger, but because of one assignment or another, I got sidetracked and never finished it. Set in vaguely colonial times, it tells the story of a young printer’s apprentice who goes on the run after his master is murdered. Alexander influenced writers like JK Rowling, Piers Anthony, and Holly Black.

“The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick
It’s big, thick, and filled with pictures. I like comic books. I like YA. I like a combination of the two. And it’s going to be a Martin Scorsese movie.

“Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse” by Rick Riordan
The third installment in the Olympians series. I’m half way through this book, and so far it’s on par with the others. Which means incredibly enjoyable.

Andrew is Reading

“Little Brother” by Cory Doctorow
A cautionary YA tale about a kid who gets mixed up with a terrorist attack on San Francisco. This book came up multiple times during our pre-pub tour while meeting with independent booksellers. Their word of mouth truly drives the buzz on what books to read. Neil Gaiman’s blurb is also so glowing that it made me buy it.

“One Day” by David Nichols
Episodic story that takes place on a single day over two decades between Dex and Em. I’m trying to get this in before the movie comes out. Sounds charming and like a fast read.

“What to Expect when you’re Expecting” by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel
One of the dozen baby books piled high on my nightstand. Yes, I am expecting. And no, I have not started reading any of the baby books.

Familiars Throughout History

GUEST POST on Liyanaland

Familiars are the animal companions to a wizard or witch. They are mentioned several times in the Bible, from Deuteranomy to Leviticus. Shakespeare's Macbeth had them, too. Familiars were common in Europe during the Middle Ages, and could be seen in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. They existed in popular culture since the 1800s. The earliest and most recognizable of these magical assistants were the black cats of a witch. You’ve seen them on Halloween posters rubbing up against the leg of a woman dressed in black. Surely you are aware of some of the more famous familiars, like Harry Potter’s owl, Hedwig, or Gandalf’s horse, Shadowfax, or Merlin’s owl, Archimedes. Disney’s animated films added many more familiars to the lore, including Jafar’s parrot, Iago, Ursula’s eels, Floatsam and Jetsam, or Maleficant’s crows.

One thing in common with all of these depictions was that familiars always seemed to be sidekicks, relegated to the background, never having their own story. We decided to take a traditional fantasy world, one whose conventions were at once familiar and recognizable, and shift the perspective to that of the animals. For the first time, the adventure would rest on the shoulders of the familiars. The mythology of familiars is one that in many ways had yet to be explored. Where did they come from? How did they get their magical powers? Do they even have magical powers? How are they linked to their witch or wizard? All of these were questions that we were curious about, and questions that we strove to answer. We hope that readers will never look at their family pet the same way after reading this book, perhaps wondering if they too possess some kind of magic.

Who’s your favorite familiar? And what kind of magical power do you imagine your family pet has?

Working With a Literary Agent: An Appreciation

GUEST POST on the Hiding Spot

We wanted to introduce you to our third writing partner. His name doesn’t appear on the cover of “The Familiars” or anywhere inside for that matter. But his imprint can be felt in the words on every page. He is Markus Hoffmann, our book agent at Regal Literary. Every step along the way of our journey to getting published, Markus has done more than simply sell our material. He has helped make sure it is propulsive, engaging, and richly detailed. Before our manuscript ever landed on the desk of a publisher, it was thoroughly developed and vetted by Markus. No “i” was dotted or “t” crossed without first passing Markus’s sharp eye or keen literary intuitiveness. We’re not sure if every agent goes through this process with their author client, but from what we’ve heard, most do not. He is our secret weapon (not so secret any more). He pushed us just the right amount, always challenged us to do our best, and we are confident that with him at our side, each book we write will get better and better. In a lot of ways he is the mentor who taught us how to be authors. His patience, knowledge of the market, and creative insight are all invaluable. His German accent mysterious and alluring. To Andrew, who still has not been to New York to meet him, he is but an enigmatic voice on the phone, wise and all-knowing. Adam, who has met him in person, has had some of the wizard-behind-the-curtain mystique revealed. But he is no less impressed by his impeccable taste and talent. We thank you, Markus, for embodying all that an agent should. Now if you’ll please review and add your magic touch to this guest blog post, it would be much appreciated.

5 Music Albums That Inspire Us When We Write

GUEST POST on The Book Scout

Music is a creative aphrodisiac. Especially music that is inspiring to you or activates your imagination. If Andrew is going to work-out, he’ll be more motivated listening to the Rocky4soundtrack. If he is going to brainstorm ideas or write, his imagination will flow more readily with some Postal Service or Peter Gabriel. Music sets a mood for your state of mind, and can be a powerful ally in the idea generating process. This is not a list of our favorite music – we’ll post that some other day – rather, it’s a few of the albums that we enjoy writing to (hence the lack of lyrically based music).


5. “Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too” by the New Radicals

“You Gotta Get What You Give” is an early anthem of our writing together. It is conceivable that we listened to this song over a hundred times in a row while cranking out one of our first scripts together. It was not just creatively rewarding, but had a rhythmic base beat that kept us energized through long stretches of typing and talking.

Listen Here

4. “Bachbusters” by Bach

The music of Johann Sebastian Bach realized by Don Dorsey on digital and authentic period synthesizers. One of the very first CDs that Adam owned and amazingly transcendent. The Italian Concerto in F Major still makes Adam think of reading “The Hobbit” for the first time, and instantly brings him to the Shire. That transportive music is interconnected with those words for him and if ever I need to go to a fantasy place, just hitting the play button on that compact disc takes him there.

Listen Here

3. “The Passion” by Peter Gabriel

This instrumental score doesn’t remind us at all of the Martin Scorsese film “The Last Temptation of Christ” in which it was used but rather hours behind the computer, writing together. There’s something hopeful and inspirational in its haunting, almost classical sound.

Listen Here

2. “The Orbs Adventures Beyond the Ultra-World” by the Orb

When Adam writes his science fiction opus, this will be the album he has on constant repeat. It’s both at times otherworldly and almost ambient. It samples movie vocals and even a clip from Flash Gordon and the constant repetitive nature to its melodies launches his imagination into overdrive.

Listen Here

1. The music of John Williams

Whether it’s Star Wars, Harry Potter, or ET, it’s hard not to be creatively inspired by the scores of Williams. When the film adaptation of “The Familiars” is complete, we could only dream of having the master of motion picture music compose its score.

Listen Here

What music inspires you when you write? Tell us here!

The Familiars Book Tour - Schedule (9/9 - 9/15)

Thursday, September 9th - San Francisco

Grant Elementary
Liberty School
Penngrove Elementary
4:00 pm After-School Signing at Copperfield's

Friday, September 10th - San Jose

Graystone Elementary
Don Callejon School
3:30 pm Hicklebee's Reading/Presentation/Signing Event

Monday, September 13th - Chicago

Hermes Elementary
Eagle Pointe Elementary

Tuesday, September 14th - Chicago

May Watts Elementary
Beebe Elementary
7:00 pm Anderson's Bookshop Reading/Presentation/Signing Event

Wednesday, September 15th - Dayton

Indian Riffle School
7:00 pm In Store Event at Books & Co. at The Greene

Right Under JK Rowling

As we are getting closer to the official launch day of our book, we thought we would share some photos.

In San Jose, there is a wonderful bookstore named Hicklebee's where the authors sign the walls. When Andrew and I visited, we got the opportunity to add our mark. We signed the door right below JK Rowling. It may be the closest we ever come to meeting the legendary creator of Harry Potter. Maybe, a little of her success will trickle down.

Two Guys in a Coffee Shop

GUEST POST on Good Books and Wine


Let me step into my time machine and take you back to the fall of 1998. I was taking a semester off from college, living in Los Angeles to pursue my dream of screenwriting. The Monica Lewinsky scandal was at its height, Felicity and Ally McBeal were on a first name basis with the greater public, and you couldn’t turn on your radio without hearing Alanis Morisette’s haunting theme song to the Nic Cage-Meg Ryan weeper, “City of Angels.” It was a hopeful time, filled with optimism and naivete.
Adam and I had started writing together earlier that summer. He was working as a Hollywood assistant while I was interning for writer-producer Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”). In the evenings, when we were both finished with our 9-7 work days, we would meet at various coffee shops to work on our screenplay, sometimes writing until 2 am, when the owner would mop up around our feet and ask us to leave. Even though we were young and possibly even delusional about getting our scripts sold, the magical thing about that time was we didn’t have any reason to think differently. It wasn’t until after years of being professional screenwriters that the voices grew in our heads, whispering at first, then screaming all of the reasons why an idea wasn’t good enough or why the screenplays we were working on would fail.

Then we decided to write our first novel. We knew very little of the book world. And you know what? We found ourselves transported back to those early days of sitting in the coffee shop, dreaming big with no negativity weighing us down. It allowed us to write freely, straight from the heart. It’s a lesson to all writers. Don’t let the cynical, doubting voices creep in. They can be toxic. No matter how long you’ve been writing, or how many times you’ve been rejected, there was a moment when we all began and thought nothing could stop us from success. Go back to that place.

Are You Familiar With What A Familiar Is?

GUEST POST on Alison's Book Marks

Familiars are the animal companions to a wizard or witch. They have existed in popular culture since the 1800s. The earliest and most recognizable of these magical assistants were the black cats of a witch. You’ve seen them on Halloween posters rubbing up against the leg of a woman dressed in black. Surely you are aware of some of the more famous familiars, like Harry Potter’s owl, Hedwig, or Gandalf’s horse, Shadowfax, or Merlin’s owl, Archimedes. Disney’s animated films added many more familiars to the lore, including Jafar’s parrot, Iago, Ursula’s eels, Floatsam and Jetsam, or Maleficant’s crows. One thing in common with all of these depictions was that familiars always seemed to be sidekicks, relegated to the background, never having their own story. We decided to take a traditional fantasy world, one whose conventions were at once familiar and recognizable, and shift the perspective to that of the animals. For the first time, the adventure would rest on the shoulders of the familiars. The mythology of familiars is one that in many ways had yet to be explored. Where did they come from? How did they get their magical powers? Do they even have magical powers? How are they linked to their witch or wizard? All of these were questions that we were curious about, and questions that we strove to answer. We hope that readers will never look at their family pet the same way after reading this book, perhaps wondering if they too possess some kind of magic.

Who’s your favorite familiar? And what kind of magical power do you imagine your family pet has?

When I Grow Up, I Want To Be...

GUEST POST on A Few More Pages

As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a writer. In elementary school, my friend and I set out to write the great American novel. It was an anthology of stories (some finished, some unfinished). A brief sampling from the Table of Contents: Chapter 6 – “Butch Winthro, Detective,” Chapter 9 – “The Mystery of Blane Dickson,” and my personal favorite, Chapter 17 – “Hawaiian Mudballs.” I recently revisited the stories, some printed out on my Apple 2C old school typewriter paper, others handwritten on the back of my friend’s newspaper route carrier collection records. Looking back at these early efforts, I’m simultaneously mortified and inspired. And in some cases, even kind of impressed.

Here’s an excerpt from one of the stories, “The Laser Files: A Mission.”

“7 people were chosen for a mission. Their mission was to destroy a strange creature in a space ship. The ship was launched 10 years ago to probe Pluto. The 7 people were—Blowtorch: a soldier of fortune; Hacker: a computer hacker; Hilt: a hand to hand combat expert; Papers: a weapons manufacturer; Teddy: a smart alek pilot; Divebomb: a demolitions expert; and Raven: their leader.

Their mission was to find weather the aliens were friends or foe. If they were friends, take them to earth. If foes, destroy them.”

I might have been a grade schooler at the time, but my love of writing stories never waned. I grew up to be what I always dreamed. Now, if only I had a clue what “Hawaiian Mudballs” was supposed to be about.

The Big Book Hook

Blog Post on Project Middle Grade Mayhem

Published authors love to give advice to aspiring writers. Whether they have one book to their name or a store shelf filled with best-sellers, they share their wisdom on everything that led them to their success. Write from the soul. Be determined. Read, read, read! Write, write, write! More generalizations flow like write from the heart, have great execution, and never giving up. These bon mots are more like self-help mantras than secrets to getting your book published.

So, what are we going to tell you that you haven’t heard before? Well, authors rarely talk about the importance of the idea. The big idea. A hook that will grab a reader, agent, or editor right from the query letter. Here’s an exclusive, firsthand piece of advice we’ll pass on from an anonymous publishing industry insider: hundreds of manuscripts come across his/her desk each year, and only a handful have a sellable big book hook. Meaning, the major publishing houses are looking for books with big ideas that can be featured at giant retailers, get adapted into movies, and become best-sellers. Not just stand-alone books, but series.

In Hollywood, the major movie studios are looking for 4-quadrant, tentpole, franchisable ideas. Ideas that appeal to the broadest possible audience, that can justify the biggest possible budget and marketing plan, and can have sequel after sequel. The book industry is searching for the same thing. If this sounds crass, or makes you wince because of its commerce over art leaning, it shouldn’t.

A few of the biggest (and best) books from the last few years:

"Harry Potter" – an average boy is rescued from his ordinary, unlucky existence to fulfill his destiny at a school for wizards.

"The Hunger Games" – in a futuristic society, a young girl must survive a deadly game in which teens fight to the death in front of live TV audiences.

"Twilight" – a teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.

Now, I don’t want to dissuade anyone from writing about their coming of age, or their dysfunctional family, or their marriage or divorce. But, as our insider shared with us, it is stories like these that make him/her happy that self-publishing is so much easier today. Because the big publishing houses have a much harder time getting their marketing machine behind the smaller, hookless ideas. (*Big disclaimer here: of course there are exceptions! At the end of the day, a wonderfully written manuscript is still the MOST important factor in getting published.*)

New York Times YA and children’s author Laurie Halse Anderson says write the flap copy before you write the book. This exercise is a fantastic way to iron out your big book hook and make it impossible for that agent or editor you’re querying to pass. After that, see if you can pitch your idea to your husband or wife or co-worker in a sentence or two. Did they get it? Could they turn around and pitch it to someone else? Take it a step farther and imagine the book cover, too.

We’re not encouraging you to write something derivative and soulless. We’re just saying find the character or theme or story that you’re passionate about and find a big hook to sell it on. The Transformers, a billion dollar grossing popcorn extravanganza, was originally pitched by Steven Spielberg as a story about a boy and his first car.

So, before you begin the long journey of writing your manuscript (and rewriting it over and over again until it is ready to be submitted), take a long, hard look at the idea. Does it have a big book hook? Could you see the cover on a display at your local bookstore? How about a movie poster at the neighborhood megaplex? If you can answer yes confidently to those questions, then congratulations. Now you’re just 60,000+ words closer to getting published.

Butt Plus Chair

GUEST POST on Literaturely Speaking

Oliver Stone has three words of advice for any aspiring writer: butt plus chair. We take that a step further and add one extra word: butt plus comfy chair. What you sit on can't be understated. Sure, we absolutely agree that much of writing is just sitting down to do it. But if you're going to put in 9 to 5 days behind a desk it helps to sit on something plush and preferably ergonomic. Andrew prefers a swivel chair with a high back, arm rests for his elbows, and lots of cushion for his bony rear-end. Adam prefers the larger, lower to the ground leather chair, one he can squirm about in impatiently as Andrew types; cushy and perhaps even sleepable. When so much of your day is sitting -- or standing and pacing -- but mostly sitting, it's nice to know that what you're sitting upon feels good. So our sincere advice to all those writers out there is don't sit on a hard wood or lie in your bed with a laptop. Let's fight scoliosis and carpal tunnel syndrome with good spinal support and wrist cushions. And after you get comfy, make sure you have a clear outline of where your book will be ending, and what kind of journey your main character will be going on, so you're not simply wasting all that chair time. Spoil yourself. Go pick up that writing chair you've always wanted. Remember, it's tax deductible.

Telephone

GUEST POST on Market My Words

There was an old game we would play on the bus back in my summer camp days called “Telephone.” I’m sure you’re familiar with it. You would start by whispering a sentence into someone’s ear, and then they would whisper it to the person sitting behind them, and so on throughout the bus. When the message reached the person in the last seat, they would repeat what they heard out loud. So, if you started by whispering, “I took my girlfriend to the zoo today and saw pigs wrestling in the mud,” the last person might announce something akin to “My girlfriend is such a pig that she should wrestle in a zoo.” And everyone busts into a fit of giggles.

Now imagine you’re a literary agent or an assistant editor or an editor. A writer pitches you their manuscript idea over the phone or in a query letter. In order to get that idea sold, you will have to relay it up the ladder to your boss, and then to their boss, all the way to the person at the top of the company who can say, “Yes.” It’s no different than the game of telephone you played on the bus when you were 8, except now there’s nothing funny about your idea getting mangled and people passing on your ideas.

I’ve read a lot of query letters from aspiring writers pitching the ideas for their book manuscripts or screenplays. And most of them would be darn near impossible to pitch up the ladder. Before anyone ever reads the first page of your manuscript, I can guarantee that you will already put yourself head and shoulders above your competition if you can summarize your idea concisely so that it can navigate its way through the telephone game.

How? With a winning log-line. This is a Hollywood term. I don’t know if people in the book world use it as often – maybe here it’s referred to as a synopsis – either way, the principle is the same. Log-lines are where good, sellable ideas begin. They are the short blurb in TV guides that tell you what a program is about and help you decide if you’re going to watch it. On a cold call or in a query letter, the log-line is what’s going to determine if the person on the other side is going to read your manuscript or not.

Yes, ultimately it will be all about good writing and execution. Of course. That goes without saying. But I think people underestimate how hard it is to even get that gatekeeper to read your material in the first place. So why not stack the odds in your favor, and have that killer one-liner to hook a reader?

The Books That Got Us Started

GUEST POST on There's A Book

Adam

“The Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual” by Gary Gygax
Before I ever started reading novels, in third grade this was my introduction to fantasy. A friend’s older brother turned me onto it and after I purchased it and brought it home, I read it cover to cover. There’s no story, just a list of magical monsters in alphabetical order, but each one was like a story to me. And an excellent primer on mythology, both Greek, Norse, and Babylonian.

“Spell for Chameleon” by Piers Anthony
In fifth grade, my dad gave this book to me. Up until that point, I wasn’t really interested in novels at all. I’d rather read my dragon magazines and make up stories of my own. But on his recommendation, I started it, and couldn’t put it down. It was funny and the world of Xanth was like nothing I had ever seen. Plus with surprise twists and turns it got me hooked on the art of storytelling.

“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
The first Tolkien I ever read, and yes, still my favorite even over “The Lord of the Rings.” The classic hero’s journey tale and the book which all other fantasies are indebted, including mine!

Andrew

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl
Notable not because it was the first book I ever remember reading, but because my 2nd grade teacher allowed us to keep a candy bar in our desk and take a bite each day during reading time.

“The Whipping Boy” by Sid Fleischman
A clever, twisty yarn that I returned to over and over again as a kid.

“Encyclopedia Brown” and “Two-Minute Mysteries” by Donald J. Sobol
I had a shelf full of “Encyclopedia Brown” books, and “Two-Minute Mysteries” take me back to family road trips and hours spent with my older brother trying to determine what happened to a man hanging from the ceiling over a puddle of water. (He stood atop a block of ice!)

Why We Know Who Egged Rick Riordan's Car in High School

GUEST POST on Kidlit Frenzy

Distractions. Every writer knows that their biggest enemy to putting words on the page each day is their own mind wandering. It's so easy to find yourself staring down at your iPhone or Googling that it's a miracle you get anything written at all. Take a sample morning for the two of us. First, we discuss if either of us saw any good movies this past weekend. Oh, you saw Inception? Who was that guy playing Eames? I'm not sure, let me IMDB it. Tom Hardy. Ooo, he's going to be Mad Max in the Mad Max remake. And he has a dog named Max! Let's wiki him and learn everything about his entire life.

Fifteen minutes later. Back to the book writing. But before getting through even a paragraph, the topic wanders to whether either of us has purchased Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid yet. No, but it's at the top of Andrew's to-read list. I wonder how many copies he's selling of this book. Twenty minutes pass, as we don't find the answer to that, but instead are led to browse Publisher's Weekly's list of 100 top selling books from 2009. How is PC Cast selling so many books? Who is PC Cast and why have we never read any of her books? Back to Riordan. Somehow we find ourselves on his official home page, learning everything there is to know about him. Did you know that in high school, he wrote an underground newspaper that criticized his school and especially its losing football team? But the football team got their revenge by egging his car.

Maybe we should get some writing done. No can do, it's time for a snack. Many delays will arise during out 9 to 5 workday. And many delays will arise for you as well. Let's be honest, you're reading this blog post right now! You should be writing. But we know how it is. We're probably doing something other than writing, too. Reading a tweet or watching a Youtube video. The key is just to stay focused. We have to cut through the swath of information we're constantly being bombarded with. For a couple hours a day, unplug the Internet. Turn off the wifi and put your iPhone on airplane mode. Adam's asking me right now how to get on Dooce.com some hot new blogger and tastemaker. I just want to finish this guest post and get back to writing.

Interview on A Fanatic's Book Blog

Link to the interview here!

1) What inspired you to choose animals as your characters instead of people?

The whole idea of writing about the familiars was born out of the fact that we were interested in telling a traditional fantasy story from a perspective that we had never seen before. Familiars in popular lore had always been sidelined to being assistants and helpers (ie Hedwig in "Harry Potter" or Shadowfax in "Lord of the Rings"). We wanted to see what would happen if they were forced to be the heroes!


2) Do you feel that it was easier or harder to write animal characters?

We think there are a few extra challenges to writing animal characters, in that they lack opposable thumbs. But beyond the physical limitations, we knew they had to be as rich emotionally as any human being.

3) What was one item (food or otherwise) that really helped you through the writing process?

We're not sure if this is an item per se, but a writing partner. Having another person to bounce ideas off of is better than staring at the blank screen alone everyday.


4) Do you have a favorite character?

Everyday, Adam has a different favorite character, he loves them all so much. Today, it's Grimslade, the bounty hunter who is a merciless and wonderful foil for Aldwyn. I'm always curious what new black magic he's going to pull out of his bag of tricks.

Andrew would go with Gilbert, who always makes him laugh.


5) Where is your favorite place to write?

Adam would go with Hawaii, but he'll settle with one of our two home offices. He's happy just as long as they're not writing at Peet's Coffee Shop, which makes his clothes reek so strongly of Brazilian Roast that he has to strip down when he gets home so not to make his 3 year old daughter cry.

Andrew also finds writing with the sound of any ocean nearby to be heaven, but he, too, can live with working at home.


6) What book(s) have influenced you most?

Adam: I have to say the dictionary. I love looking up new words. They fuel my love of writing.


7) What book(s) are you reading right now?

Andrew: Just finished The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I have pre-ordered Mockingjay and can't wait!


8) Can we expect more amazing books from you in the future? (I hope so!)

Yes! The Familiars: Secrets of the Crown (book two of the trilogy) will be coming to bookstores in September of 2011.

A Bunch of Random Things We've Learned Since Getting Published

GUEST POST on The Fiction Enthusiast

It turns out “The Familiars” is not a YA book like we first thought.

It’s actually an MG book, or middle grade. We didn’t even know there was such a thing. But yes, tween and teen lit are sub-divided into picture books, MG, and YA.

We learned what those Amazon sales rankings actually mean.

And #479,505 is not good.

Naperville, Illinois has a pretty dope hotel.

While on our pre-pub tour we stayed at Naperville’s very own Hotel Arista, an ultra-modern, eco-friendly hotel. The rooms were gorgeous, there was a TV in the bathroom mirror, and there was an incredible restaurant downstairs. It would have been even better if the two of us didn’t have to share that bed (jk).

There is a difference between an MS, a galley, and an ARC.

What that is exactly we still don’t know.

They will let you speak on the airplane intercom if you ask nicely.

At least they will on Southwest Airlines. You can watch Adam doing just this here.

We learned what “stacked words,” “orphan words,” and “widow words” are in copy editing.

They all have to do with setting the type in the final book so that there isn’t an imbalance on the page. It’s kind of like feng shuing your novel.

Autumn 2010 Indie Kids' Next List

See the link on Indiebound!

THE FAMILIARS has been selected by Indie Booksellers for their fall Next List! Thanks for the support :)

Why We Write MG: "30 Going on 13"

GUEST POST on Forever YA

When we decided to write our first novel, we weren’t thinking about who we were writing the book for. We just knew it was a story we wanted to tell. But looking back, it’s no surprise that we now find ourselves writing middle grade fiction. The truth is, we are two early 30-something guys going on 13. When Andrew was a seventh grader, he remembers going to see a midnight screening on the opening night of Tim Burton’s Batman. Two summers ago, he went to see the midnight screening for the opening of The Dark Knight. And while his voice is no longer cracking (most of the time), he still loves superheroes and comic books just the same. When Adam was a middle schooler, he would stay up late at night hungrily devouring The Lord of the Rings. Recently he found himself rereading the same Tolkien opus, only this time he was doing it after his young daughters went to sleep. The stories we love to tell are the ones we would have loved growing up and would still love today. This genre allows us to write all the wonderful fantasies we dream up in our heads. To bring the action figure shows we imagined as kids to the page. The bottom line is that who you write for is dictated by the story you tell. We hope that “The Familiars” is not just read by tweens and teens but adults, as well. These labels – YA/MG – they shouldn’t define a book. Look at “Harry Potter” or “The Hunger Games.” A great yarn should transcend the aisles of the book store. And whether you’re 13 or 30 you’ll love the book just the same.

Why I Read Twilight, Watch Gossip Girl, and Listen to Justin Bieber

GUEST POST on Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

It’s research. At least that’s what I tell friends and family who ask why I’m reading the Twilight books, or watching the CW, or listening to tween pop music. Yes, I’m a man in my early thirties. I’m married with a kid on the way. But for much of my career I wrote teen comedy movies and for MTV, and now I have transitioned into writing fantasy middle grade fiction. So it’s not entirely a stretch when I justify my tendencies toward adolescent entertainment as research for work. And what an awesome job I have, creating stories for an audience of tastemakers, many of who aren’t even old enough to have a driver’s license.

It’s true, I have to stay current on what kind of pop culture the pre-teen and teen demo are consuming. My secret… my hidden shame… is that I actually like it. I’m a superfan of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. I never miss an episode of American Idol or Glee. I listen to Taylor Swift (when my wife isn’t in the car). A perusal of my bookshelf or DVD collection or car CD player might give the impression that they belonged to a tweenager. But alas, they are the property of a fantasy football playing, red meat eating, superhero loving dude who also happens to enjoy The Hills. I don’t know if I’ll ever outgrow my affinity for youthful diversion. Just know that if you find me standing in line for Breaking Dawn… it’s research.

Describing the Chandelier

GUEST POST on YA Highway

One of the questions we most frequently get asked since becoming authors (after 10 years of screenwriting) is, “What’s the difference between writing books and writing for film?” Our answer: the chandelier. As screenwriters you learn that economy is key. It’s telling a story with a minimum amount of words. Writing a blueprint that will become richer once it’s brought to screen. When writing about an interior location, if you ever find yourself describing the chandelier, you’re in trouble. Because unless that chandelier is crashing down to the floor, you’re writing too much. That’s a production designer’s job – deciding if it should be metal or crystal, electrical or candlelit. But in a book, it’s all chandelier. That’s your job. Being the costume designer, production designer, hair, make-up, the actors, and the director. No description is too elaborate.

Another major difference between being an author and a screenwriter is that as a screenwriter you are far more disposable. A studio can hire you on for a project and then move on to other writers when you’re done, even if you did a great job. We’ve been on both sides of that equation, rewriting others and being rewritten ourselves. The film business views writers as cogs in a much bigger machine, which they are. In books, the author is as much the product as the books themselves. You may read every book by a favorite author just because their name is on the title. But an author is treated with – dare we say it – respect! Now what’s interesting is that in adapting our book to the screen, the film studio (Sony Animation) has been treating us more like authors than screenwriters. They have been hugely respectful of us, like no other film project we’ve worked on previously.

The truth is, we wouldn’t give up either hat – screenwriter or author. It’s like an athlete that plays two sports. You might use different muscles, but each makes you sharper. What sounds better: screenwriter/author, or author/screenwriter? You tell us.

My First Crush: The School Librarian

GUEST POST on Readspace

When I was 9 years old, I remember the thrill of leaving my classroom and heading down the short hallway to the library. My third grade teacher was uninspiring. She was more concerned with organizing her pencils and sucking on lasengers than engaging with her students. But I knew that three times a week, I would be transported away by the energetic words of Mrs. Schwabe, E.M. Baker’s school librarian.

Now, I wasn’t in love with her — that was reserved for the pig-tailed girl who lived three houses down from me, but the stories she told have stayed with me since those days collected in a circle, on the rug, looking up at her sitting in her big wooden chair. William Steig’s “Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” still holds a special place in my heart. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, with its different shaped pages, is as vivid now reading it to my own three year old daughter as it was then. I’m not sure if those morning trips to the book-filled walls of Mrs. Schwabe’s domain turned me into the author I am today, but she certainly inspired my love of reading.

Now, I’m excited to think how school librarian’s across the country, the gatekeepers of imagination, will be sharing The Familiars — yeah, my book! — with third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders — as librarians read the first words: “It all started with Aldwyn’s whiskers beginning to tingle…” I wonder if children will be transported the way I was.

Adam Jay Epstein

"My Childhood Pet Breathed Fire"

GUEST POST on Manga Maniac Cafe

When I’d walk home from elementary school, there would be a dragon sitting on my shoulder. Not a big one, just a pocket-sized one. Green scales and small red eyes. Wings that looked like a butterfly’s. He’d eat the occasional bird or squirrel, and possibly burn the hairs off the back of my neck if he coughed. Yes, when I was 10, I dreamed of having a familiar of my own. I remember some of my friends would pretend that their family dog or cat was magical, but my family didn’t have a pet, so I had to make one up. It wasn’t always a dragon. Sometimes, it was a flying horse or a pixie on a leash or a lightning-charged hawk. Who would have thought that my childhood fantasies would inspire a series of books? And yet now I know I wasn’t alone in having those dreams. Every person who reads The Familiars seems to have their own tales of magical pets or the ones they dreamed of. And with our book selling to a dozen countries around the world, it appears people of all cultures pretended they had an imaginary dragon on their shoulders, too.

Tell us about the magical powers you imagine your childhood pet had.

Blog Tour Posts

In case you want to catch up on our tour through the blogosphere (so far), here are the links!

August 5 "Work Husbands" GUEST POST on Katie Talks About Blog

August 9 "Archimedes did it in a Bathtub, We do it in the Shower" GUEST POST on The Children's Book Review

August 10 "Hermione or Bella? Brains vs. Brood" GUEST POST on The Page Turners Blog

August 10 "Working With a Book Editor" GUEST POST on Mindful Musings

August 10 "Adam's Top 5 Fantasy Books" GUEST POST on Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

August 12 "Interview with YA Fresh"

August 13 "Why We Wish We Had a Thousand Rejection Letters" GUEST POST on Once Upon a Book

August 14 "The Fine Line Between Sharing and Shoving" GUEST POST on Confessions of a Bookaholic

August 14 "Where Hollywood Should Take a Page from the Book Industry" GUEST POST on Sarah's Random Musings

August 16 "Our Top 5 Animal Books" GUEST POST on Reading Vacation

August 16 "If We Weren't Writers, We'd Be..." GUEST POST on Brimful Curiosities

August 18 "Not Another Middle Grade Book" GUEST POST on YA Book Shelf

August 19 "The Overnight Illusion" GUEST POST on Tif Talks Books

The tour continues until the book hits stores everywhere on September 7th!

The Overnight Illusion

GUEST POST on Tif Talks Books

Here’s a story that sounds too good to be true. Two guys write five chapters of a book with a detailed proposal, get a book agent within a month, sell the uncompleted manuscript within two days of going out to publishers, and sell the movie rights the next week. Well, it’s sort of true, and sort of a big fat lie. Because what it doesn’t mention is the 10 years of rejection and frustration before it. We started writing screenplays when we met during college, and we spent years working day jobs and writing into the wee hours of the night at various LA coffee shops, sometimes so long that we were asked to leave. We endured break-ups and miniscule paychecks all in sacrifice of living our dream. Finding our first film manager – which is kind of like a stepping stone to a film agent -- took years. When we got our very first meeting with a manager, we both got all dressed up and drove over to the manager's office, circling outside as we were early… only to receive a phone call that the meeting had been canceled. We sulked away in our khakis and button downs. Hollywood success would have to wait another day. And it did. Even when success in film and television came, it only seldom felt truly rewarding. We were constantly faced with having to reinvent ourselves, and every job felt like a miracle (which it still does). Then, about two years ago, we decided to try our hand at being novelists. And we were fortunate in that we already had a film agent who worked in the book world to help us secure a literary agent in New York. Our “overnight success” in the book world doesn’t account for the 10+ years of struggle in the Hollywood trenches. It’s as much of an illusion as one cast by Skylar, the magical blue jay in “The Familiars.”

Not Another Middle Grade Book

GUEST POST on YA Bookshelf

Back in 2000, when we were writing screenplays into the wee hours at various coffee shops around LA, the two of us decided to try our hand at a spoof of teen movies. As fortuitous timing would have it, that script would become 2001’s “Not Another Teen Movie.” This led to years of writing on the MTV Movie Awards, working with comedic talents such as Jimmy Fallon, Jack Black, and Andy Samberg. For much of the 2000s, we continued to write comedies geared towards the teenage audience. But the funny thing about the two of us becoming comedy writers was that we never really thought of ourselves as writing in that genre. We kind of fell into it. And in Hollywood, once you have success in a particular niche, studios pigeonhole you into a box. After “Step Up” turned out to be a sleeper hit, we got a call on Monday morning from two different producers asking us to write a spoof of dance movies. With the huge success of “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings,” it was inevitable that we would be asked to write a spoof of fantasy movies. And sure enough, we were.

But it wasn’t a spoof of those movies that we wanted to write. It was those movies. Fully aware that no studio or producer was likely to come offering us an adaptation of a fantastical book or property, we decided to create one ourselves. That’s what led us to write The Familiars. Finally, we were creating the kind of material that the two of us really came to Hollywood to create. Something imaginative and adventurous, like the fantasy books we grew up loving and Spielburg films we’ve watched dozens of times.

The moral of the story is simple. We’re writers, which gives us the unique ability to write. Someone puts you in a box, write yourself out of it. You control the way people perceive you. For years, we were the spoof guys and the teen movie guys. Well, now we’re the author guys who wrote that middle grade fantasy trilogy and are adapting it into a 3D animated movie.

The Familiars on Awesome Adventures

Check out the link here!


Official Book Trailer


Awesome Adventures Meet Adam and Andrew

Publishers Weekly Raves About "The Familiars"

The Familiars
Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, illus. by Bobby Chiu, Harper, $16.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-06-196108-3
After starving alley cat Aldwyn steals food from a fishmonger once too often, he is chased by a notorious bounty hunter intent on exterminating him. He takes refuge in a pet store that sells animal familiars to local wizards and is purchased by Jack, a young apprentice. Aldwyn likes his cushy new life in Stone Runlet with Jack and two other students, but he struggles to convince his fellow familiars--a blue jay named Skylar and a tree frog named Gilbert--that he's as magical as they are. When a prophecy foretells that three spell-casters from Stone Runlet will save the world, the formerly benevolent Queen Loranella kills the students' mentor and takes the young novices prisoner, leaving it to the familiars to rescue the children. Screenwriters Epstein and Jacobson's children's book debut is a grand adventure with entertaining characters and magic-induced fun, written in an appropriately cinematic style (Sony Pictures Animation has optioned the story). Even adults will appreciate a tale in which street smarts mix with book learning, and resourcefulness and confidence are matched by loyalty and respect. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)

If We Weren't Writers, We'd Be...

GUEST POST on Brimful Curiosities

Andrew: If I wasn’t writing novels and films, I probably would be a sportscaster, or working behind the scenes in sports broadcasting. You might be familiar with Bob Costas, who sits on the sidelines calling the action at Super Bowls or the Olympics. But there’s also a guy sitting off-camera next to him, giving him all sorts of stats and information that he parrots on air. I could have been that guy. It’s kind of a thankless life, traveling on the road to different cities for games every night, surrounded by dudes who love sports. I love sports, but not the way these guys do. My passion was for telling stories, and thankfully I was able to make a living as a writer. This way, I can watch ESPN before I go to bed, and that’s more than enough for me.

Adam: Since space pirate is unrealistic and probably not going to happen, I think if I wasn’t an author and screenwriter, I would be a video game designer. While gaming is not the same kind of traditional storytelling as writing books or films, rich narratives can be told through hopping, role playing, and even puzzle games. Plus it would be an easy way to get paid for my childhood obsession with arcades and home computing. Fortunately, for both Andrew and myself, these career back-up plans remained just that. But who knows, if things had been different, perhaps gamers would be playing “The Familiars” on their Nintendo Wiis or Playstations. Or maybe Bob Costas would be wondering if Lebron James was a real life wizard, and not a king.

What would you be doing if you weren't a writer?

Our Top 5 Animal Books

GUEST POST on Reading Vacation

Books about animals are as fundamental to growing up as your ABC’ and learning long division. Everybody’s got their favorite animal characters from when they were a kid, those that stuck with you and oft times felt more human than many of the human characters you read about. Books about dogs dying like Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows were too sad for our sensitive souls. Real, non-talking animals books like An Incredible Journey and Call of the Wild were kind of boring, and could have used a dose of magic. New school animal books like Redwall, Guardians of Ga’hoole, and The Warriors simply don’t hold much of a nostalgic place in our heart.

5. “Garfield” by Jim Davis and “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Waterson

Andrew goes with Garfield, the lazy, lasagna-eating, Monday-hating cat. He found something funny about his antics with John and Odie. Adam counters with Calvin and Hobbes. The philosophical, rambling stuffed tiger felt similar enough to Adam’s childhood stuffed monkey that it seemed downright autobiographical.

4. “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” by Robert C. O’Brian and “Watership Down” by Richard Adams

At a young age, reading these creepy tales gave us both a fright, but their dystopic animal worlds haunted us…in a good way. And bonus points for “The Secrets of NIMH” animated movie.

3. “Home for a Bunny” and “The Color Kittens” by Margaret Weiss Brown

The first two animal books that Adam read. One a naturalistic tale of a bunny that just wants to find a place to live; the other a surrealist picture book about two cats that mix paint to make all the colors in the world.

2. “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little” by E.B. White

White’s stories are timeless tales that both exemplify and transcend the animal genre. Choosing between them is a tough one indeed, but the edge has to go to “Charlotte’s Web” since Andrew played Wilbur in a grade school class play.

1. “Curious George” by H.A. Rey

Adam loved monkeys. Especially mischievous ones. He wanted to have his own, and it was nice to read a story about a monkey who was misbehaving…and getting into some pretty dangerous situations. These were early adventure tales that were pretty irresistible. While George never said a thing, you always knew what he was thinking.

Did we forget any of your favorites? Tell us what your number 1 animal book is.

Where Hollywood Should Take a Page from the Book Industry

GUEST POST on Sarah's Random Musings

With the release of our debut novel, THE FAMILIARS, fast approaching on September 7th, we have readied ourselves for a marathon, not a sprint to success. That is the nature of the book industry, or so we have been told. Especially children’s books and book series. It isn’t always the first book, or even the second, in a series that catches on. Sometimes it isn’t until the third book that things really take off. By then the cycle of hardcover to paperback has been given time to play out in bookstores, schools, and libraries, and audiences have been able to discover a series through word of mouth. Which brings me to Hollywood. Oh, how times have changed since the days of our childhood, when a movie like “Back to the Future” played at the local movie theater for what seemed like a year. Now, films live and die not just by their opening weekend, but by their opening day. Whether it’s the so-called Twitter effect or the nature of our viral world, if a movie doesn’t play on Friday night, it’s pretty much toast by Monday. (“The Growing Importance of Opening Weekend”: http://bit.ly/aqA1nK)

Of course, film studios are spending tens of millions of dollars blitzing the airwaves with advertisements for their summer blockbusters, while the publishing industry rarely has much of a marketing budget at all. But rather than lamenting the more grass roots, micro-budget push given to a book’s release, perhaps authors should be embracing it. In the book world, an author has the luxury of sitting back and waiting for their novel or series of novels to find an audience over months, or even years. In Hollywood, you’ve got maybe 24 hours to connect with a very fickle public being asked to shell out their hard earned dollars. We all want instant success, and the corporate entities bankrolling these products – be it a movie or a book – aren’t exactly known for patience. But as screenwriters looking forward to an unknown Friday in 2013 when The Familiars movie gets released, here’s a plea to Hollywood: take a page from the book industry and give a film time to find an audience. Maybe one day just isn’t enough.

The FIne Line Between Sharing and Shoving

GUEST POST on The Total Bookaholic

As we've become a part of the YA/middle grade blogosphere and twitterverse, we have seen a lot of authors use these social networking platforms to connect with readers and reviewers. Some successfully, and some less so. One thing that has proven abundantly clear, is that there is a fine line between sharing information about yourself and your book in an engaging way and shoving it down the throats of innocent cyber bystanders. We thought we might pass along some of the lessons we've learned about how to walk this delicate tightrope between good, solid viral marketing and being an obnoxious braggard.

Do: Read other people's blogs and comment on them.
Don't: Try to steer every comment you write on someone else's blog back to your book. The love triangle in "The Hunger Games" has nothing to do with which animal familiar you are most like. It's stretching and transparent.

Do: Tweet about fellow authors. Congratulate them on good reviews or exciting news!
Don't: Post only about your book's own successes, ie the starred review it got from The School Library Journal or the dozen countries that you've sold the international rights to.

Do: Write guest posts for smart bloggers that you enjoy.
Don't: Write self-aggrandizing posts that are merely poorly disguised attempts at sneaking in how Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, thinks your book is a "great idea" and "will be checking it out on 9/7."

All kidding aside, the key to a good online presence is being humble, reciprocal, engaging, and involved. And it doesn't hurt to mention how your book is going to be a movie produced by Sam Raimi either.

On Rejection Letters

GUEST POST on Once Upon A Book

"Why we wish we had a thousand rejection letters"

We’ve all heard how every author has a box of a thousand rejection letters, from publishers, agents, and literary magazines. Many even have the sealed envelopes with the words “Return to Sender” boldly stamped across it. But sitting on our shelf in our office, there’s no box of rejection letters. You know why? Because in Hollywood, when you’re a screenwriter, you don’t even get the courtesy of a rejection letter. They just never bother writing back. You send your script out to production companies, agents, and managers, and 99 percent of the time you simply never hear back. And occasionally, when you do, it’s to hear that they don’t accept unsolicited material.

In a sense, we envy the author who can save up their memories of struggle and have a wonderful paper trail of those who didn’t believe in them for when they become “overnight” successes. We instead are left with a series of undocumented failures. But no matter how many times you hear the phrase, “it all happened so fast,” or “it was the FIRST thing I ever wrote,” take it from us, it never is. So we always tell people to keep their fingers to the keyboard and their pens filled with ink, and to keep writing like we did, until the right person reads the right thing at the right time. It happened for us and it will happen for you.

Tell us about your best rejection letters here!

Interview at YA Fresh

Visit YA Fresh here!

Thursday, August 12, 2010
What's Fresh with The Familiars!

Is the kingdom's fate in the hands of an orphan cat?

Running fast to save his life, Aldwyn ducks into an unusual pet store. Moments later Jack, a young wizard in training, comes in to choose a magical animal to be his familiar. Aldwyn's always been clever. But magical? Jack thinks so—and Aldwyn is happy to play along.

He just has to convince the other familiars—the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the friendly tree frog Gilbert—that he's the powerful cat he claims to be.

Then the unthinkable happens. Jack and two other young wizards are captured by the evil queen of Vastia.

On a thrilling quest to save their loyals, the familiars face dangerous foes, unearth a shocking centuries-old secret, and discover a destiny that will change Vastia forever. Their magical adventure—an irresistible blend of real heart, edge-of-your-seat action, and laugh-out-loud humor—is an unforgettable celebration of fantasy and friendship.


Hello Adam and Andrew! So glad to have you share with us on YA Fresh! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

A & A: We began writing screenplays together just out of college. Our first script sale would become the 2001 Sony film, NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE. That led to years of steady film and television writing, on various features and the MTV Movie Awards (working with comedians ranging from Jimmy Fallon to Jack Black to Andy Samberg). Then, in 2008, we decided to write our first novel, THE FAMILIARS. It was picked up by Harper Collins in May of 2009, and optioned for film soon after. The journey from writing teen comedies to middle grade fantasy fiction has been quite a ride!

Readers and writers often like to get a behind the scenes peek of an author's writing routine. It would be great if you could please share your typical writing day schedule.

A & A: One of the unique things about this book is that we co-authored it. The two of us literally sat in the same room for months and months (we pretty much put in banker’s hours, 9-5 Monday through Friday) writing every word, sentence, and paragraph together. Andrew is the typist (because he’s frankly a much faster typer), while Adam sits beside him, or across from him in a nice, comfy chair, or sometimes paces around. After our initial conversation about the idea, we loosely outlined the first few chapters and just dove in. Then after writing about 45 pages, we meticulously plotted out the rest of the story. Of course we discovered many details along the way, but we had a basic sense of the major plot points and where the first book would end. Neither one of us were English majors in college or had any book writing experience previously, but we’ve both read a lot, watched a lot, and lived inside our imaginations since we were little kids.

Please tell us about your novel The Familiars and what we can expect from your characters.

A & A: The Familiars is our debut novel. It is being published by Harper Collins Childrens and will be released on September 7th. Back in 2008, when we hatched the idea for The Familiars, it all started with Adam asking Andrew, “Do you know what a familiar is?” Andrew said he didn’t. Adam explained, “A familiar is the animal companion to a witch or wizard, like Hedwig in ‘Harry Potter.’” Andrew immediately took to the idea. We loved that familiars were always in the background, doing very little. What if we told a story where the familiars were front and center? And they were the ones going on the adventure. And Adam’s simple question quickly led to the creation of Vastia and all the magical animals inhabiting it. Our three main characters are an orphan alley cat named Aldwyn who is mistaken for being a young boy wizard’s familiars; Skylar, a know-it-all blue jay with the ability to cast magical illusions; and Gilbert, a bumbling tree frog who can see visions of the past, present, and future in puddles of water… sometimes. We didn’t have to look very far for our inspiration for Aldwyn. In fact, he was right in Adam’s backyard. There was a stray black-and-white alley cat named Ben, missing a chunk of his left ear, who visited there every day. The rest seemed to just flow effortlessly. The Familiars is targeted at middle readers, ages 8-12, but we really believe it will appeal to anyone who loves animals, magic, or fantasy. It takes inspiration from “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” and hopefully puts its own unique spin on the classic hero’s journey.

Sounds wonderful! What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

A & A: We have recently completed book two of The Familiars, which will be out in September of 2011. And we have been concurrently adapting the screenplay for the 3D animated film, due in theaters in 2013!

Congratulations!! Thank you again for stopping by, Adam and Andrew. I wish you the best of luck with this awesome new series. Would you like to close with a writing tip?

A & A: The same three words that Oliver Stone gives to aspiring writers: “Butt plus chair.”

Mundie Kids 5 Star Review

Read the full review here!

Working with a Book Editor: An Appreciation

GUEST POST on Mindful Musings

Like a marriage, we have heard that some authors and their book editors can stay together for years and sometimes even decades. We would only be so lucky to have that kind of long lasting relationship with Barbara Lalicki at HarperCollins. Barbara was the very first person to respond to “The Familiars” after it went out to publishers, and she scooped it off the table before anyone else could read it. That kind of passion and enthusiasm has been her hallmark for the last year and a half as we have worked closely with her in preparing “The Familiars” prior to its release into bookstores. Barbara has read every word of “The Familiars” at least ten times and through a half dozen iterations. She still uses a number 2 pencil to make her line edits. And though reading her handwriting was at times as difficult as deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, once we did, we found a wealth of knowledge in those scrawled markings.

Editors do so much more than review the manuscript and edit the text. They are shepherds, guiding a book through cover, flap copy, advertising, marketing, and release. We are fortunate enough – as is “The Familiars” – to be in wise, caring hands. Not only has our book gotten better since crossing Barbara’s desk, but it has been positioned as one of Harper Collins big fall releases of 2010. She has distributed it to all the right independent booksellers and even met with the studio executives planning to bring the book to the big screen.

Thank you, Barbara, for so gently and lovingly welcoming us to the literary world. We plan on staying awhile, and if we’re lucky, you’ll continue to be there with your number 2 pencil.

"Hermione or Bella? Brains vs. Brood"

GUEST POST on The Page Turners Blog

While growing up, there were two types of girls that we fell for: Hermiones and Bellas. The smart, brainy girls who sat at the front of the class and the more mysterious loners who sat by themselves on the high school steps reading books. When it came time for us to write the character of Skylar, the female blue jay familiar from our book, we decided we wanted her to be a little bit of both. She's precocious and a bit of a know-it-all, but she also harbors secrets and dabbles in dark magic. She talks a lot about a lot of things, but rarely herself. She's got the brains and the brood, and even though she's beaked and feathered, she's the kind of girl we like. Not to knock all the cheerleaders out there, but a pair of reading glasses and a 400 page novel is what makes our hearts get aflutter. So for all you Skylar's out there, we've written a bird just for you.
Are you a Hermione or a Bella? Or if you're a little bit of both, even better.

Adam's Top 5 Fantasy Books

GUEST POST on Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

Fantasy fiction has created my love of reading from an early age. No other books captured my imagination the way that they did, and often I dreamt of living in those worlds as I sat in bed each night devouring the pages.

5. “Something Wicked this Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury
Not sure you would call this fantasy in the traditional way, but it’s filled with magic and scares and a fantastical world that lies just beyond our eyes in the neighborhood carnival. It scared me silly when I first read it. It was evocative and unique. And although it was tough to choose between this and “The Illustrated Man” as my favorite Bradbury tale, I had to go with this one, seeing as how picking an anthology seemed like cheating.

4. “The Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual” by Gary Gygax
Before I ever started reading novels, in third grade this was my introduction to fantasy. A friend’s older brother turned me onto it and after I purchased it and brought it home, I read it cover to cover. There’s no story, just a list of magical monsters in alphabetical order, but each one was like a story to me. And an excellent primer on mythology, both Greek, Norse, and Babylonian.

3. “Spell for Chameleon” by Piers Anthony
In fifth grade, my dad gave this book to me. Up until that point, I wasn’t really interested in novels at all. I’d rather read my dragon magazines and make up stories of my own. But on his recommendation, I started it, and couldn’t put it down. It was funny and the world of Xanth was like nothing I had ever seen. Plus with surprise twists and turns it got me hooked on the art of storytelling.

2. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkeban” by JK Rowling
My favorite of the Harry Potter series, although “Deathly Hollows” comes in a close second. The most emotional one for me and the only one that made me cry. Stories of parents and their children always connect in a special way for me. Also the tight, clever storytelling and brilliantly planted plot puzzle pieces come together in such a rewarding way in the end.

1. “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
The first Tolkien I ever read, and yes, still my favorite even over “The Lord of the Rings.” The classic hero’s journey tale and the book which all other fantasies are indebted, including mine!

When you're two authors..

(Adam) Sometimes, we blog or tweet the same things twice. Andrew was very excited about the German Cover of the Familiars. So was I. We both began posts about the cover at the same time in two different houses unaware that the other was doing the same. I left my computer to attend to my 6 month old daughter and posted when I got back. By then Andrew had already posted his. Hence the double post.

You may hear it twice, but between the two of us you will always get the news. :)

Now Presenting...The German cover of the Familiars

If you are a German reader, you can find Animal Wizards (The Familiars) at your local shop this December!

The Familiars - German Cover

Here is your exclusive first look at the German cover for The Familiars, where it will be called Animal Wizards!




And here's the US and UK covers!

Archimedes did it in the Bathtub, We do it in the Shower

GUEST POST on The Children's Book Review

When faced with the blank computer screen, why is it that sometimes the light goes on in our heads with the proverbial “aha” moment, and other times it’s nothing but tumbleweed? Archimedes, the Greek mathematician and inventor, is said to have shouted “Eureka” upon jumping out of his bathtub after discovering how to calculate whether or not his king’s crown was really pure gold: by measuring how much water it displaces. Thousands of years later, the exclamation can be applied to Einstein’s theory of relativity, Newton discovering gravity, or M. Night Shymalan coming up with the twist ending of The Sixth Sense. The question is, can we train our brains to be more open to these Eureka moments, or is that simply a neurological impossibility?

If you want your own Eureka moment, whatever you do, don’t be actively looking for it. Like a lonely single desperately searching for a mate, oft times the best chance of finding someone is by not looking at all. You can spend all day sitting in front of your computer or a pad of paper struggling to find a great idea, but nine times out of ten the real inspiration will hit you when you’re in the shower or right before you fall asleep.

Here are three techniques that we use to come up with ideas.

1. Keep a notebook next to your bed, in the car, and in the bathroom. This is the Holy Trinity. The three places where inspiration strikes with the greatest frequency and often the best results. Whether you’re starting to doze or just zoning out in mid-day traffic, it seems like these moments of Zen are some of the most consistent idea incubators we’ve come across.

2. Take a walk. This is one of our favorite times to think. Like John Adams or Benjamin Franklin taking their morning Constitutional, there’s something about being outside at peace with nature that allows great ideas to flourish. If you are feeling mentally stagnant, a nice long walk can do wonders for getting the creative juices flowing.

3. Take a shower. We’re serious. It’s like your very own Fortress of Solitude. All your pain and problems go away for those ten minutes, and just maybe, you walk out with your next book idea.

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Here are all 12 TECHNIQUES we use to GENERATE IDEAS

1. Keep a notebook next to your bed, in the car, and in the bathroom. This is the Holy Trinity. The three places where inspiration strikes with the greatest frequency and often the best results. Whether you’re starting to doze or just zoning out in mid-day traffic, it seems like these moments of Zen are some of the most consistent idea incubators I’ve come across.

2. Read everything. Books, newspapers, magazines, the Internet. Go to the library, a bookstore, or a newsstand. Be open to finding your inspiration anywhere. It could be a headline or an obit or a blog entry. Always be aware of the Zeitgeist. Sometimes the next great idea is right in front of us in plain sight, but more often than not, it’s hidden like some kind of encrypted code, and it’s up to you to be looking in the right places to find it.

3. Eavesdrop. Listen to everything and everyone around you. It could be a conversation at the table next to you in a restaurant, or somebody talking on their cell phone in front of you at the grocery store. Pay attention around cliques of teenagers at the mall or in a movie theater, or when you’re passing by old people on a park bench. Not only will this help you develop a better ear for dialogue, but you might just overhear something that sparks an idea.

4. Daydream. Let your imagination run wild in that boring staff meeting at the office or during that dry lecture in the classroom. When you’re alone or even when you’re with other people. Sometimes I play out whole conversations in my head, or dream up outrageous scenarios. Just be sure not to censor yourself when you translate those mental pictures to the page.

5. Take a walk. This is one of my favorite times to think. Like John Adams or Benjamin Franklin taking their morning Constitutional, there’s something about being outside at peace with nature that allows great ideas to flourish. If you are feeling mentally stagnant, a nice long walk can do wonders for getting the creative juices flowing.

6. Listen to music. Especially music that is inspiring to you or activates your creativity. If I’m going to work-out, I’ll be more motivated listening to the Rocky4 soundtrack. If I’m going to brainstorm ideas, my imagination will flow more readily with some Postal Service or Peter Gabriel. Music sets a mood for your state of mind, and can be a powerful ally in the idea generating process.

7. Bounce ideas off somebody else. I work with a writing partner, so I’m constantly spitballing with another person. But even if you don’t have a partner, use your friends and family as sounding boards. Without someone else pushing you, you might settle on an idea that hasn’t been challenged to be the best that it can be.
8. Go on a field trip. Get out of the house or office. Go to a museum or a toy store. Change your perspective. Let’s not forget that ideas can’t be created from the mind alone. We have to have experience, too. Real life interaction with the world.

9. Think of the most interesting people in your life. Remember, an idea can be a person. It can be a friend or a relative or even the front desk security guard working at your office building. Ask questions and listen. People love to tell writers how their life could be a movie. 99 percent of the time, they’re wrong. But something they share just might spark a really good idea.

10. Look at photographs or paintings. Pictures can tell amazing stories. If it’s an image of a location, remember that a place can be an idea, too. Imagine a backstory for the people in the photo, or an action that could occur in the place. Movies, after all, are just moving pictures.

11. Be a kid again. Think about what was cool to you when you were 10 and look at the world through those eyes. Anything was possible, you hadn’t developed a censor reflex yet, and curiosity was your greatest virtue. Being a writer is just playing make believe as an adult, and if you’re lucky, getting paid for it.

12. Take a shower. I’m serious. It’s like your very own Fortress of Solitude. All your pain and problems go away for those ten minutes, and just maybe, you walk out with your next screenplay idea.

The bottom line is pay attention. Ideas are all around us, everywhere. People, places, even words. It’s your job to be aware of everything, and always on the look out for universal, relatable situations that can be turned into movies. Or you can bring a unique, completely imaginative perspective to an idea. Either way, it is your responsibility to keep an open mind so that whenever, wherever, and however inspiration strikes, you’ll be ready to have a Eureka moment of your own.