Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Evolution of My Novel

I have a new book coming out in March 2011. Here's the exciting, thrilling, adventurous, pretty awesome true story of the evolution of the novel. Or not. But regardless, here's how it came about.

It all began here . . .
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No, no, wait! That's not true.

It began with a girl who loved to read . . .
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So, after many careers, I tried my hand at being an author. And I loved it! I wrote these three books . . .
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I thought I was done. That it was a trilogy of three novels, each from a different character's point of view. However, some kids asked me about "Marley," a Star Trek geek who had a minor role in Stanford's story. I wrote four more books, but the idea about a novel about Marley, who was a nobody, kept bubbling up.

Finally, I started scribbling down notes . . .

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Then I took those notes and begin to sketch out the story in my writing journals . . .
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I didn't want to write a sequel, or another story set in the same time frame, so I decided to write Marley Sandelski's story as a spin-off, taking place during the next school year. My editors, Arthur Levine and Cheryl Klein and Peepy were very excited about this . . .
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I did lots of Star Trek research . . .


Soon, I was writing in my office . . .
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Oops. That's not me. It's E.B. White. And that's not my office. This is . . .
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I use a WONDERFUL writing program called Scrivener. It allows me to organize my research and my drafts and files . . .
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I wrote several drafts . . .
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And then I got an editorial letter from Arthur and Cheryl with their comments . . .
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So I rewrote again.

And now, we are at the production stage. A copyeditor (an editor helps shape the overall book, the copyeditor is looking for mistakes in grammar, consistency, etc.) has gone over the manuscript electronically, and so has Cheryl.

It boggles my mind, because when I first started (my first book, MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS came out in fall 2003), we made all our changes with pencils and erasers on a hard copy. But now we are moving forward. Still, I have a dismal history when dealing with computer stuff, so this was scary to me.

I once did this, when I accidentally hit find/replace. Yes, I changed every blank space in AN ENTIRE NOVEL to the work "long." And then I hit SAVE. And then I cried.

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(The document was almost 300 pages LONG.)

Now, with that in mind, imagine my freak out factor with these directions on how to respond to/change the electronic edits . . .
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(It's standard stuff, but can you see why I freak out? Imagine the ways I can botch this!!!)

Deep breath. But okay, I am moving forward, because I don't want to be a dinosaur (unless I can be Trixie in Toy Story 3) . . .
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So here's what it looks like on my computer. Each color signifies another person's notes . . .
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A couple of times, when I wasn't sure about a word or an electronic handheld game, I asked my facebook friends for help . . .
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At this VERY moment, I'm still working on the document. It's due back to Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic on Tuesday. And at that point Arthur and Emily, who works with Arthur and Cheryl, will take over. Then, we move on to proofreading. Finalizing the cover art and title, etc.

I'll blog about that soon! In the meantime, wish me luck and let's hope I don't wipe out the entire document!

Oh! And if you are JC-Nashvegas - please contact me via my website. You WON a fabulous prize in the Bodacious Book Contest!!!!.

Photobucket Lisa Yee



Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.








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Monday, June 28, 2010

Bodacious Winners

The Almighty Attractive and Witty Animator/Author/Illustrator Celebrity Judges have spoken!!!

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(That's Bob Boyle on the left, and Mr. (Tom) Warburton on the right.)

Yes! They had the hard job of judging the practically sorta almost 5,998 caption entries that went along with this nice museum-quality photo that was taken at a Cuban dining event for animators who have had cool hit TV shows . . .

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Drumroll(s) please . . .

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and, the WINNERS ARE . . .

Honorable Mention You Were So Close and winner of Lisa Yee eating donuts in your honor . . .

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"I've heard of peep toe sandals but this is ridiculous." by hilaryhi


The Sort of Silver Peep Runner-up Second Place and winner of the cool stuff in the photo . . .

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I want YOU! To clean out my toenails." by alexajoyyoung

And The Golden Peep Grand Prize First Place Winner of this totally fabulous stuff, including the original Dan Santat drawing that you can see Dan Santat drawing here . . .

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"Well, it's better than having a boyle on your foot..." by bookiewoogie.blogspot.com

HOOOORAY!!! But wait. THERE'S MORE!!!

The winner of the first ever Tom Warburton's Perhaps You Should Read a Book Instead of Entering Caption Contests Eleventy Thousand Times But Appreciate The Effort Golden Jubilee Silver Cup Award . . . jlansky@comcast.com

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(Yes, you jlansky get an autographed copy of 1000 TIMES NO!)


And the winner of the first ever The Belching Donkey, otherwise known as The Bob Boyle Award of Excellence in the Field of Booze Related Captioning

"Officer, how can you say I've had too much to drink? Would a drunk man be able to do this? Bob, back me up here..." by JC-Nashvegas
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(Yes, you JC get an autographed copy of HUGO AND THE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LONG STRING!)


CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE WHO WON, ENTERED THE CONTEST, READ THE CONTEST ENTRIES, AND/OR ARE READING THIS SENTENCE!!!!

(Will the 1st and 2nd place winners, and the Tom Warburton and Bob Boyle winners, please email me via my website with your name and address so we may send the glorious prizes to you. Also, let me know who you would like your books inscribed to.)

Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.








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Saturday, June 26, 2010

While the Judges and Judging . . .

Okay, well while our handsome celebrity judges are pouring over each and every entry from the Bodacious Book Contest, Peepy and I thought we'd use this time to mish mash some stuff we forgot earlier.

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(This photo has nothing to do with this blog, but yes, that is Peepy's good friend, David Hasselhoff.)

Like, LOOK! It's me on the cover of a Scholastic Magazine!!!
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Well, okay, that's not me on the cover, but this is me interviewed in the inside of the magazine . . .
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Also, June is MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS Audiobook Month!!!!

Well, okay, it's not MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS Audiobook Month, but it is Audiobook Month! And behold what we got in the mail not too long ago . . .
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Yes, MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS audiobooks on CD!!!
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Also, Kidzworld named their TOP TEN BOOKS FOR BOYS for Spring and guess who was on the list? Here's a hint . . .
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And finally, there's in interview with Moi in the Atlanta Young Adult Literature Examiner this week!

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CLICK HERE to read the whole thing . . . and find out which Little Woman I identify most with!

Oh! And just a reminder of some of the fab prizes to be given away in the Caption Contest . . .
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Shown in photo(s):

Autographed copy of recently released paperback version of BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) (both the author and illustrator will sign it!!!)

Autographed copy of MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS audio book
Some tiny motorcycles and/or cars
Nice Krispy Kreme hat, suitable for all occasions
Non-regulation basketball that's really soft
Hatch-n-Grow Dinosaur Egg that possibly could be real, or not
Winne-the-Pooh 5-piece pencil sharpener set, suitable for all occasions
Kellogg's yogurt treat
(Dog not included)

PLUS . . . an original drawing from BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) illustrator Dan Santat.




(Disclaimer: The illustration in the video is not the one being given away for this contest. The book launch party advertised has already happened. And the donut is not calorie-free.)

PLUS . . . an autographed copy of 1,000 TIMES NO by author/illustrator/celebrity judge Tom Warburton.



PLUS . . . an autographed copy of HUGO AND THE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LONG STRING by author/illustrator/celebrity judge Bob Boyle.



Photobucket Lisa Yee



Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.








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