The Blog Tour Bus Makes a Pit Stop In Fuse Country

Graff. Lisa Graff.
She's lean, she's mean, she's a kick-ass writing machine. Which is to say, we've a very special guest here at A Fuse #8 Production today. Sit down and behave yourself, class. Lisa Graff, author of this year's The Thing About Georgie is stopping by here on her whirlwind blog tour. I am not the best interviewer (such skills belong far more to the 7-Imp camp) but I'll do my best for this lovely lass. After all, she is one of only five editors in my Editorial blogroll (off to the right).

For those of you unfamiliar with the plot of this book, here' s a review of the title as prepared by Big A little a. Onward!

FUSE #8: Why the burning, nay, overwhelming urge to write? And, more importantly, why children's books at all?

LG: I guess I write because I like to make up stories. I like looking at people on the subway or on the street, and trying to figure out who they are by the way they talk or how they twitch a finger. And since I’ll never know any of that for sure, I have to make it up. I write children’s books because I can’t imagine writing anything else. I love kids and telling stories about them. But I also love reading kid’s books. There’s no room for lazy storytelling or self-serving prose in children’s books, because kids won’t put up with that. You have to get in, tell your story, tell it well, and get out. A good children’s book is like a little gem—smooth, small, and perfect. And, um, shiny.


FUSE #8: You are part of a crazy group of gals knows as The Longstockings who blog regularly on a host of varied kidlit topics. Give me the skinny on how you came together as a whole.

LG: Well, all eight of us went to the New School here in Manhattan and got our MFAs in Writing for Children. It’s a very small program, so we all got to know each other pretty well. We’d meet every week and swap bits of our novels and critique them and offer suggestions, and somehow along the line we became friends too. When the program ended we decided we simply couldn’t bear to stop meeting regularly and workshopping, so we formed an official group. And then we decided to take on the World Wide Web, too, and start a blog. So far I think it’s going pretty well.

FUSE #8: I don't want to repeat any of the questions already asked on The Longstockings blog, but what the hey? What's the name of the children's book you'd like The Thing About Georgie to be mentioned with in a single breath? Which is to say, what's the best possible kidlit title someone could compare your book to?

LG: My all-time favorite kid’s book in the universe is Holes. Talk about a gem. I’m in love with that book—the way all the plotlines come together so unexpectedly and perfectly at the end, and the seamlessness of the storytelling. I’d pretty much die and go to Heaven if someone mentioned my book in the same sentence as Holes. Unfortunately, my book is completely different in terms of plot and characters and, well, everything, so probably the only sentence that would use both titles would be, “Hey, did you know that the chick who wrote The Thing About Georgie really likes Holes?”

FUSE #8: I'm stealing this particular question from the 7-Imp blog. Three authors you'd like to sit down and have dinner with.... go.

LG: Louis Sachar, obviously, because I just gushed about his book so that would be weird if I didn’t pick him. Also he seems down-to-earth and fun. Then I’d have to go with Katherine Paterson, because I think she’s a genius, and she is so wonderful at writing characters who do awful things but still manage to be completely lovable. I’m rather in awe of her. For my third author I pick George Bernard Shaw, because he’s witty and snarky and I bet he’d make fabulous dinner conversation.

FUSE #8: What's your next book? Or at the very least, some of the ideas that might be ah-percolating in your brain?

LG: My next book is called The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower, and it comes out early next year. It’s about a twelve-year-old girl who loses her scholarship to private school, so in order to earn her tuition she becomes a con artist for a summer. It’s very twisty-turny and fun. I actually just got the manuscript back from copyediting, and it’s covered in lots of pencil marks in all different colors with queries for me to answer… I should probably get cracking on that.

FUSE #8: Any advice you'd care to share with the umpteen-bazillion people out there who would kill to be in your my-book-just-got-published-by-Harper-Collins shoes?

LG: Read. A lot. I know everyone says that, and it sounds like the lamest cop-out answer ever, but it’s really true. You can’t be a writer if you don’t love to read. I think children’s writers especially can learn a lot from reading the kinds of books they want to write, and paying careful attention to everything—the structure of the story, the length, the words the author uses. I think we as writers can soak up a ton from studying what the greats have done before us.



And now a special treat. Act fast, my pretties, and be one of the first three people to send an e-mail to thethingaboutgeorgie@harpercollins.com with the name of A Fuse #8 Production in the subject heading. Tell Lisa that you saw her interview on this blog and IF you are one of the first three (which gives an unfair advantage to early birds and residents of Australia, I know) then you will be sent a complimentary copy of Graff's new book. Howzabout them apples, eh?

There's a Teen Drink Night Out There Too?

In my various canoodlings on the series of tubes sometimes known as the internet, I stumbled on this interesting little posting by one Cecil Castellucci (author of this year's Boy Proof).

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Move over NYC Kidlit Drink Nights. There are NYC Teen Lit Drink Nights carrying on right under our very noses. In actual fact, I believe the Teen Drink Nights came first. I recall Cheryl Klein once mentioning that the whole reason we even chose Sweet and Vicious as a good location was that editors and YA authors were already meeting there.

The real crime here? Seems to me that Coe Booth and Siobhan Vivian of the Longstockings blog should be posting recaps of these YA meetings. I mean, we're talking big teen authors here. Picture moments like Libba Bray discussing matters with E. Lockhart (a.k.a. Emily Jenkins). This constitutes useless gossip and as the harbinger of gossip in all its uniquely useless forms I, for one, wanna know when this kind of thing goes down. Heck, I didn't even know Libba Bray was local.

A Success!

A big thank you to every editor, librarian, author, Longstocking, and teacher that showed up for last night's Kidlit Drink Night. Fine company was had by all, and a couple new faces as well. I finally got to meet Sarah Beth Durst, a member of my Cybil Judging committee. Another new face was the first appearance of Lisa Greenwald, a Longstocking of distinguished repute and a person who now completes my life goal to meet all eight. On to the Blue Rose Girls! Score thus far: 2. I would mention all the lovely people that stopped by, but I would forget someone and that would be mean. Y'all know who you are. I appreciate it.

A special thank you is also going out to Heather Scott who gave me the very last "I Am Kiki Strike" t-shirt existing in the world today. The last one. Oh yeah, baby. I'm wearing it as I write this and it is, if I do say so myself, fantastic. Thank you, thank you, thank you Ms. Scott. I am now donning this for every ALA Conference I attend from here on in.