Once Upon an Interview: Greg Fishbone

Welcome to the second installment of Once Upon an Interview! (This is a new recurring segment on Sarah's Journal in which I ask other writers about my favorite obsession: fairy tales.)

Today's author interview is with Greg Fishbone. Greg is the author of THE PENGUINS OF DOOM (FROM THE DESK OF SEPTINA NASH), coming from Blooming Tree Press on 7/7/07. (How much do I love that title?)

ONCE UPON AN INTERVIEW WITH GREG FISHBONE:

What is your favorite fairy tale?

There's a story called "The Magic Fishbone" that's kind of obscure but it has such a cool name! A version written by Charles Dickens has been passed down in our family for generations. I always thought it would make such a great Disney movie...

Do you (either consciously or subconsciously) use fairy-tale themes or motifs in your writing?
Not so much recently but I have in the past. I once wrote this rockin' sci-fi version of Sleeping Beauty with aliens and spaceships and everything.

If the protagonist of your most recent novel met Cinderella’s fairy godmother, what would he or she do/say?

Septina Nash has her own kind of magic, so meeting a fairy godmother wouldn't phase her. I could see her asking what courses she should take to become a fairy godmother herself someday.

What would your protagonist do/say if he or she met Little Red Riding Hood's wolf?

If Septina ever had to deliver a basket of goodies to her grandmother, a Big Bad Wolf would show up to stop her. Guaranteed. As to what happens next, your guess is as good as mine.

What would you do/say if you met a fairy godmother or talking wolf?

"Of course I'll autograph your copies of THE PENGUINS OF DOOM. Just get in line behind the Jolly Green Giant, Elvis, the Trix Rabbit, and Chewbacca!"

If you could be any fairy-tale character, which one would you want to be?

It'd be cool to be Aladdin, with that flying carpet and genie-infested lamp.

What does your (or your protagonist's) happily-ever-after look like?

I think "happily-ever-after" is shorthand for "nothing interesting ever happened to these people again" and that's not for me. I need new challenges and adventures, and I think Septina would as well. In fact I know she would, since she's been bugging me to write a sequel.

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Greg Fishbone is the founder and president of the Class of 2k7. He's also a lawyer, a Bostonian, and a great guy. For more about Greg, please visit his website at: www.gfishbone.com

For more about THE PENGUINS OF DOOM, you can visit the Septina Nash website here: www.septinanash.com. To whet your appetite, here's what it says on the Amazon book page: "Dear Reader, In order to make this book I had to escape from a mad scientist, adopt a trio of wild penguins, become an Olympic freestyle skateboarder, collect a whole bunch of empty yogurt containers, and find my missing tripletsister. In order to enjoy it, all you have to do is read every page. Thanks for doing your part! Sincerely, Septina Nash, Main Character."

Thanks so much for joining us here, Greg!

Once Upon an Interview: Carrie Jones

Welcome to a brand-new segment on Sarah's Journal: author interviews! But these won't be your run-of-the-mill author interviews. In keeping with the fairy-tale theme of INTO THE WILD, these will be author interviews with a fairy-tale twist. Today, for the very first interview, I'm very excited to welcome Carrie Jones.

Carrie Jones is the author of TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND, coming from Flux/Llewellyn on May 1, 2007.

ONCE UPON AN INTERVIEW WITH CARRIE JONES:

What is your favorite fairy tale?
Puss in Boots, with the Master Cat as a character, because:
1. It’s a cat.
2. It inspired the title for a Crash Test Dummies CD.
3. I like to say "Meow."

Do you (either consciously or subconsciously) use fairy-tale themes or motifs in your writing?

Well, I think Stith Thompson said there were 40,000 different motifs. Yes, 40,000! So, you have to figure everyone who writes must be using some. Sure, it might not be the obvious glass slipper, but how about the evil stepmother? The lowly girl snagging the high born guy? And if you go by Katherine Briggs' definition of motifs as "strands that make up the tale" it seems every writer has to have them. How can you have a tale without strands?

In TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND, there's evil, there's good, there's a quest to figure out which is which. There's a blue guitar, which may not seem magical to most people, but I think it falls under the motif "magic object received from a fairy." Sure, it was given to Belle, the main character, from her dad when she was a baby, but her dad's dead, so I think that counts.

If the protagonist of your most recent novel met Cinderella’s fairy godmother, what would he or she do/say?

Belle would say, "I'm hallucinating aren't I? Or you're punking me, right? Because you can not exist. Although, oh, maybe you can exist, because who am I to say what exists or not. I mean, it's not like I know everything, the sum total of everything in the universe. But... I mean fairy godmother? Cinderella's fairy godmother? No offense or anything, but that's so weird."

She would then pause.

Then she would say, "Those are some really nice shoes."

What would your protagonist do/say if he or she met Little Red Riding Hood's wolf?

"Why are you so angry? Is it just low blood sugar? Because, I mean, there's a McDonald's right down the street and they have take-out. I'll buy."

What would you do/say if you met a fairy godmother or talking wolf?

"Hi. Would you like a fudge bar?"

This is pretty much how I greet everyone.

If you could be any fairy-tale character, which one would you want to be?

Well, I couldn't figure out how to answer this. So I went to the internet and took a quiz, which doesn't say which fairy-tale character I want to be, but which fairy-tale character I am.

So, according to the internet I am a fairy.
I've got to say I’m cool with that.
Magic mushrooms sprouting up where I walk? Sounds good.
Ability to do magic? Yep, I'll take that.
Sparkly dresses? Sign me up.
Now, which fairy to be......

What does your (or your protagonist's) happily-ever-after look like?

Happily Ever After looks like a place where everyone tries hard to be kind. There's a lot of guitars and fudge bars. If you're a bigot or you're mean, you get booted out. There's a really big boot that does this, it's that same boot from "There was an old lady who lived in a shoe, she had so many children, she didn't know what to do." Only, it's a boot, obviously. How could you fit that many kids in a shoe, or a flip flop or a stiletto heel? It has to be a big, warm boot, preferably UGGs.

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Carrie Jones is a founding member of the Class of 2k7, a graduate of Vermont College's MFA program, and a Maine resident. She's also super-sweet (which may or may not be related to her professed fondness for fudgicles). For more about Carrie, please visit her website at: www.carriejonesbooks.com

And if you'd like to know more about TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (ex) BOYFRIEND, here is the description from Amazon: "It isn't every day that my high school boyfriend, Eastbrook High School's Harvest King, tells me he's gay. It's not every day that the Harvest Queen is dumped in the middle of a road with the stars watching the humiliation and the dogs barking because they want to come help tear my heart out and leave it on the cold gray ground. It isn't every day that my entire world falls apart. Belle believes that Dylan is her true love-maybe even her soulmate. Until one cold night when Dylan drops the ultimate bomb: he's gay. Where, Belle wonders, does that leave her? Should she have some­how been able to tell? Is every guy that she loves going to turn out to be gay? This beautifully-written debut explores what happens when you are suddenly forced to see someone in a different light, and what that can teach you about yourself."

Thanks so much for appearing here, Carrie!

Inside Scoop on my Cover Art

A couple weeks ago, I answered a question on the Class of 2k7 blog about cover art. The question was: Does the art director read your entire book to get inspiration for the cover? Or does the editorial team just tell the art director what they want to see?

An interesting question, but I had absolutely no idea. So I went with my old standby -- the cutesy dodge -- and said:

I don't know, but I'm totally in love with my cover. I especially love the little creatures that are hanging out in the swirls. Best part about those little critters: they appear inside the book! At the start of each chapter, there's a silhouette of a creature. When I first saw the design pages, I called my husband at work and shrieked in his ear, "My book has bunnies!" I love it. It was designed by Jose Nieto at square zero.

But today, providing a much-needed remedy to my cluelessness, Jose replied to that post with a really cool answer. So here's the inside scoop on the inspiration for the cover art of INTO THE WILD, straight from artist:

In answer to your question... This is Jose Nieto, from square zero, the designer of Sarah's book cover. The answer is yes, I did read the book and loved it. The idea of the main character getting lost in (almost literally) a tangle of words suggested the concept. You can't tell from the image, but the swirly mass at the right edge of the cover is actually an uber-decorative letter R from an 18th century type specimen book. You can see the whole letter when you open jacket flap. Even though I developed my own concept for the cover, I did have a long discussion with the editor beforehand about overall goals -- audience, market, etc.

How cool is that? Thanks, Jose!

And just in case you missed seeing Jose's very cool design in one of the other bazillion places I've posted it, here's the final version of the cover:


Click the image to see it in glorious high resolution...

Review and Some Awkward Segues

This past week, I got a lovely review for INTO THE WILD from Jen Robinson (kidlit blogger, online reviewer, and 2006 Cybils judge) on her site, Jen Robinson's Book Page. Here's my favorite bit:

"What I like best about the book is the way Julie is a real 12-year-old girl, albeit living in unusual circumstances. She isn't some sort of idealized fairy tale princess... But she's loyal to her family and to her best friend, and she's capable of making huge personal sacrifice for people she loves."

Yay for Julie!

Click here to read the full review.

On an unrelated note (or more accurately, a note that's only related because it involves my book)... The February issue of Publisher's Weekly includes a listing of spring/summer children's book titles, and INTO THE WILD is in there! I know, I know, that's not really news, especially since it's been online for a while. But I just picked up a copy of the magazine yesterday, and even though I'm well aware that the book is coming out this summer, and even though I'd already seen the PW listing online, seeing it there in print was something totally different. Wow. Very wow. Part of me still doesn't believe this is really happening.

This issue also included listings for many of my fellow 2k7ers, which was also cool to see. (If you're wondering what the heck a 2k7er is, click here.)

On a note that's only related because I mentioned 2k7... The next issue of the Class of 2k7 e-zine is coming out on April 15th. If you haven't signed up yet, click here to subscribe. It will be full of lots of cool info about a pack of cool and kooky debut authors (including yours truly).

On a note that's only related because I mentioned "kooky"... Mary Poppins is a lot scarier than I ever knew. Click here to see the movie trailer for Scary Mary Poppins.

I Heart My 2k7 Tote Bag

Fun stuff in the mail today! I treated myself to some Class of 2k7 paraphernalia: a pin, a tote bag, and a T-shirt, and it all arrived today. I'm particularly enamored with the tote bag because the back of it lists the names of all the Class of 2k7 members (look, look, there's ME! Hee hee!).

In case you're wondering, the Class of 2k7 is a group of 38 debut children's and YA authors (myself included) who have joined together to be a sort of one-stop-shop for BLTs (which, I'm told, has nothing to do with bacon -- it stands for "booksellers, librarians, and teachers" -- Mmmm, bacon...). If you'd like some 2k7 swag of your own, here's the place to find it.

Anyway, I won't be wearing the T-shirt out of the house, since apparently "medium size" at CafePress means "just barely large enough to fit a Cabbage Patch doll," but I will be sporting the snazzy tote bag and pin at this weekend's SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Winter Conference. So if you see me, come say hi! I'll be the one casually fanning myself with INTO THE WILD bookmarks.

Seriously, though, I am really excited for this weekend. This will be my first time at a SCBWI conference, and I'm hoping to meet lots and lots of cool people. Are any of you going to be there?

Also this weekend is Kidlit Drinks Night, orchestrated by the fabulous Betsy Bird of the Donnell Children's Library and the Fuse #8 blog, and held in celebration of the Class of 2k7. The place should be crawling with 2k7ers (moi included) and we'll be partying like it's 2007! So at the risk of sounding way too 1983... Be there or be square!