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.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, August 13, 2010
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.
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!
"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!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
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.”
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.”
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
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.
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.
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