Elise Allen's Blog, page 9

Industry Scoop: New Dinosaur Trains!!!

Hey!  So I probably should have posted this awhile back, since it's been going on for a few weeks now, but there are NEW DINOSAUR TRAINS airing!!!!

It's the second season of Dinosaur Train, and we ("we" being creator Craig Bartlett; story editors Joe Purdy and myself; and a bunch of truly awesome freelance writers) finished writing them ages ago… but now they're airing! I'm excited about the shows this season; we had a lot of fun with them, and I'm looking forward to seeing them on the air.

So if you have kids who love dinosaurs and/or trains, check out the show on PBS and let me know what you think!

The Book Scoop: Unraveling Isobel

I am THRILLED to bring you today's blog post, because it's about a woman I hard-core adore… EILEEN COOK!!!!

Eileen kicks ass in a zillion ways.  I have loved every one of her books, which span several genres: the chick lit Unpredictable; three YA novels (What Would Emma Do, Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood, The Education of Hailey Kendrick); and the MG Fourth Grade Fairy series.

Her books also lend themselves to an awesome drinking game: every time the narrator makes a list, chug.  Eileen's MCs love lists.  (Underage readers can play this with sparkling cider; works just as well.)

Unraveling Isobel, Eileen's latest book, comes out January 3.  I for one have already ordered it, and can't wait for it to arrive.  I've also been assured by Eileen that the MC makes at least one list, so I'm ready to bust out the Gewertztraminer while I read.

Eileen was also kind enough to answer a probing question I posted on her blog, but before I get to that, let's see what the book is about:

Isobel's life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.

But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn't only her life that's unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she's seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel's fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

Uh-huh.  I'm hooked.  Totally.  You?

So being a super-cool mensch, Eileen put herself out there on her blog for any and all interview questions, and I asked her this:

This book is clearly a shift in genre for you, from contemporary YA to paranormal. Did you consciously decide to make that shift, or did the story simply come to you as a paranormal YA and you ran with it?

I'm not an interviewer by trade, but I thought it was a pretty good question.  Here's her answer:

There was no conscious decision to move from contemporary to paranormal when writing Unraveling Isobel.  The book came about in part because of my love of a good gothic type story full of creepy houses and family secrets.  I think I've read the book Rebecca at least a dozen times and I love everything by Kate Morton. I was also intrigued to write about a character who is experiencing something that she can't easily explain.  Is she seeing a ghost? Is she going crazy like her dad who has mental health issues? Is her step-dad trying to make everyone think she's crazy so she can be sent away? I liked the idea of her having to navigate this complicated situation and decide to believe in herself.

This book is different from my others, although the same snarky humor is there. I can't seem to escape that.  I'll be very interested to see what readers think.

I can pretty much guarantee I'll think it's fantastic.  To celebrate its incipient arrival, let's gab about our favorite Eileen books.  Let me know which of her books you've loved best, and why.  Bonus points if your comment includes a list!

Family Scoop: MY HANUKKAH TREE!!!!!

Do you love it?  I love it!   And it's Jew-y, right?  The garland has dreidels and Stars of David; almost everything is blue and silver… it's totally appropriate!

The presents aren't real — Miss M and I have been playing Percy Jackson, and we're pretending Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Leo, Piper, Hazel, and Frank are on the Argo 2 celebrating Christmas as they ride off to fight Gaea.  I swear that makes sense if you've read The Lost Hero and/or Son of Neptune.  She plays Annabeth, I play everyone else, and we wrap household items, put them under the tree, then pretend it's Christmas day and we're all opening our presents.  Totally makes sense, since we're picking up the Greek/Roman tradition of a solstice tree, right?

Do you have pics of your tree?  Share 'em!  I'd love to see them!

The Book Scoop: Schoolhouse Rocking the Book Option

Hey!  I DO have Chanukkah Tree pix to post (looking at the tree now and LOVING it!), plus I have a super-cool quickie interview with the fabulous Eileen Cook coming up…

But now it's 6:59am Monday and I've yet to post!

Clearly, I have the time management skills of Andy Reid.  (For you non-Philadelphia-Eagles fans, trust me, that's as self-deprecating as it gets.)

So what I'll do is link to an article of mine posted by the fab folks at the San Francisco Book Review.  It's about book options, and it's especially notable since I wrote it BEFORE the deal was done on Populazzi.

Speaking of Populazzi (since I do love to be speaking of Populazzi), you can win a copy at the blog of the wonderful Elizabeth Towns, right here.

Also, if you're thinking of giving the book as a Christmas present (or a Hanukkah present underneath the tree!), by all means let me know and I'll happily send you a signed bookplate made out to whomever you choose.

Drat — 7:05 and time to wake up Miss M!

More tomorrow!

Oy Christmas Tree…

My daughter and I are complete Christmas junkies.  Miss M's radio station of choice right now is 103.5, which plays ONLY Christmas music from Thanksgiving through December 25th.  We've already been to one giant public Christmas Tree lighting, where we sang carols, oohed and aaahed at the giant pine, and strained to see Santa.  We have plans for at least two more (oops, one more — turns out we just missed the Burbank tree lighting), and we never miss going to Disneyland for Christmastime, where we proudly wear our matching Mickey and Minnie Santa hats.  This week we've watched The Year Without a Santa Claus and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and spent nights driving around gaping in awe at the holiday lights in everyone's yard.

Have I mentioned we're Jewish?

I know there's a movement called Jews for Jesus.  That's not me.

But I'm totally a Jew for Santa.

I love love LOVE the trappings of Christmas, and every year I'm tempted to bring more and more of them into our Hanukkah.  Not that I don't love Hanukkah as it is, I do.  And we do it up — we have beautiful menorahs, we play dreidel, we make latkes (if by "make" you mean "heat up Trader Joe's"), we bust out the chocolate gelt…

…but we also hang icicle lights on the house.  Blue and white ones — very Hanukkah.  And I have no qualms about it because Hanukkah is "The Festival of Lights."  It fits, big time.

I've always drawn the line at a tree though.  Despite the fact that the tree comes not from the bible but from ancient solstice festivals, I still had a gut reaction that having a tree was just too Christmas.  I always satisfied my conifer lust by visiting friends and helping them decorate their trees; that did the trick.

Until this year.

I don't know what it is.  It could be the gorgeous Hanukkah tinselly garland I found — blue and silver, with glittery menorahs and Stars of David; it could be the ornaments Miss M made at Color Me Mine; it could just be my sick desire to have one more thing on my to-do list… but for the first time ever, I'm seriously considering a Hanukkah Tree.

Not a big one, mind you.  For some reason in my twisted little head, size matters.  A big tree, that would be weird.  I'm talking about a little tree.  Maybe two, three feet tall.  Four feet, tops.  With a blue tree skirt, the Hanukkah garland, blue and silver ornament balls, a Hanukkah tree topper (check out the picture — they exist!)…it would be really pretty.  And very festive.

Miss M's on board big-time.  My husband isn't sure, but he's not against it.  Out of curiosity I brought it up at a meeting the other day with a producer-friend who's very religious.  I wondered if he'd take issue with a non-Christmas-celebrant co-opting the tree, but he loved the idea.  He's a big mythology buff, so he's all about the tree's ties to ancient Greek and Roman celebrations.  The Greek/Roman tie?  It makes Miss M want to have a tree even more, since she's a HUGE Percy Jackson fan.

I'm still on the fence, but if I do it, I'll do it soon.  And I'll post pictures.  Probably of Riley sitting by the tree in his reindeer ears.  Did I mention he has reindeer ears?  He looks REALLY cute in his reindeer ears.

Gotta toss it to you.  Whatever winter holiday you celebrate, are there decorative trappings you put up every year?  Do you have a tree?  Do you greedily inhale and revel in the glitter and baubles of the season (like me), or do you cringe in anticipation of them, and breathe a sigh of relief when they start coming down on January 2?

As always, I look forward to your thoughts!

 

 

 

 

 

Scoop Soup: Why I Love Living in a Tourist Mecca

If only I could drive and take pictures at the same time without causing a major accident…

The picture here with the post is NOT what I would have taken, but it's a reference.

Silver Guy.

He's everywhere tourists are: Venice Beach, the Vegas Strip, Kalakua Avenue… everywhere.

So last night I'm driving home from a pitch meeting, and I'm going up Highland to get to the 101.  I have to pass Hollywood and Highland (the tourist-mecca mall that includes the Kodak Theater, where they do the Oscars), and as I'm stopped at the light I see something whiz by that doesn't compute in my brain… until it does.

It's Silver Guy… cruising home from work on his shiny yellow bike.

It's tough to pull off "living statue" when you're huffing and puffing on a ten speed.

Totally wish I'd had my camera-phone out in time.

 

The Book Scoop: Dolphin Bookshop

Time management is clearly not my friend — I'm FINALLY finishing my posts about the Stages on Pages tour!!!!

November 12th was my last appearance (for this go-'round) with Stages on Pages, and we went to Dolphin Bookshop in Port Washington, NY.  This time our happy troupe consisted of myself, Gretchen McNeil, Stasia Kehoe, Sheela Chari, and Jessica Martinez. 

Dolphin Bookshop is adorable, as are its surroundings.  I wish I'd had more time in the area to walk around and check out everything in the area.

Our chat was held in a section of the store that will be a coffee shop in a few months, and I can't wait to go back and see it in action.  Everyone at Dolphin was delightful to us, and we had a terrific audience — lots of informal chatting back and forth between our panel and the group.  In a completely random turn of events, we met a wonderful librarian named Jo Beth… who happens to be the cousin of my college roommate… who had come to the Manhattan Stages on Pages event!  The two hadn't swapped stories, either — it was a complete coincidence!  We also met the terrific book blogger Jessie from Remarkable Reads, who impressed us all with her knowledge of the YA world.

The visit felt like a crazy whirlwind — I had Miss M-sitter confusion that had me sprinting for the train to Port Washington at the last second, and at the end of the appearance we had to race to catch the train back to Manhattan.  Still, I loved the bookstore and the people, and I absolutely want to go back again!

I loved the Stages on Pages tour, and very much hope to tour with them again in 2012.  It makes me wonder something though… what are your favorite books that include the performing arts?  They don't have to be YA, and the performing arts don't have to be the main thrust of the book, just featured in some way that resonated with you.

Also, if you're looking for a present this holiday season… think Populazzi!  I'm happy to send out personalized bookplates.  Just let me know who the book is for and anything special you want me to say (I apologize in advance for my hideous handwriting), and I'll get a bookplate out to you right away!

 

The Book Scoop: The Voracious Reader

Yeesh!  I got all tied up with work stuff last week and didn't complete my east coast recap!  I told you about Children's Book World in Haverford, and Books of Wonder in Manhattan, so today it's all about The Voracious Reader in Larchmont!

This was another Stages on Pages tour stop, and my co-horts at this one were Gretchen McNeil, Sheela Chari, Roseanne Parry, Stasia Kehoe, and Jessica Martinez.  We scored a major treat at this bookstore, because owner Francine made us pots of an insanely good Earl Grey tea that she correctly dubbed "heaven in a cup."

At The Voracious Reader, Stasia (our ringleader) and Francine tweaked the Stages on Pages formula a little, and invited the community to be part of the appearance.  It makes perfect sense — we're Young Adult authors who were all teens in the performing arts, so why not include current teens in the performing arts?  So in addition to the six of us doing our (figurative) song and dance about how theater/music/dance inspires our writing, local teens performed their (literal) song and dance!

We shared the stage with one solo singer, one duo, an actress, and a string quartet.  I ended up doing my spiel after the solo singer, Jenna Doherty, and she was not an easy act to follow — she was terrific.

As the evening wound down and we signed books, I got to chat with a few of the teen performers.  I loved their energy and passion — brought me right back to high school and college, when everything about a future in the arts was bright, shiny, and magical.  It's still bright, shiny, and magical, but with a nuts-and-bolts-of-the-business side that never had a place in my teen fantasies.

Huge thanks to Francine at The Voracious Reader, and even huger thanks to the teen performers who brought their zest for the arts to our Stages on Pages event.  Honestly, I have only one complaint about the event.  See the picture up above?  The insanely cute King Charles Cavalier Spaniel?  His name's Franklin, and according to The Voracious Reader's website, he's there every Friday.  We were there on a Friday, and had Franklin been there as well, I guarantee he'd have been on my lap the entire appearance.  As it was, my lap was notably Spaniel-free.

Clearly, we were robbed of some quality Franklin time.  I'll have to go back and rectify that.  I'll bring doggie treats.

The Book Scoop: Books of Wonder

Elise Back East Week continues with a super-quickie (because it's super late!) recap of my first appearance in Manhattan… at Books of Wonder!  I was especially thrilled to appear here since it was just a few days after I completed the NYC Marathon, and I relished the chance to show off my official shirt.

Books of Wonder was my first east coast stop with the Stages on Pages tour.  The concept of the tour is simple and beautiful — it brings together authors with a history in the performing arts, and we discuss how that influences our writing.

The number of Stages on Pages authors varies with each stop, and at Books of Wonder we had nine!  Here's the rundown:  yours truly, Gretchen McNeil, Sheela Chari, Roseanne Parry, Stasia Kehoe, Jessica Martinez, Barbara Dee, Sophie Flack, and Sara Lewis Holmes.

The turnout was spectacular, and the staff couldn't have been more wonderful to us.  Next time you're in Manhattan, absolutely take the time to visit this bookstore.  Not only will you go crazy for the book selection and the incredibly gracious staff, but I've heard the cupcakes are out of this world.

Which brings us to today's question: cupcakes.  They're very trendy right now, and many would say overrated.  Yet I had the Magnolia Bakery cupcakes while I was in New York, and I'm telling you they live up to the hype.

So tell me — do you have a favorite cupcake?  One that's far superior to anything else you've tasted?  If so, where do you get it, and what makes it so stellar?

 

The Book Scoop: Behind the Pages

It's all about the Elise Back East this week on the blog!  Yesterday I posted about my appearance at the wonderful Children's Book World in Haverford, and today it's all about flying to Boston to appear on Diane Goshgarian's Behind the Pages.

I first met Diane many years ago, when she interviewed me about my marathon guide book.  I was thrilled when she offered to have me on the show for Populazzi, and even more thrilled when she told me how much she enjoyed the book.  I highly respect Diane's opinion — not only is she a voracious and insightful reader, but she is also an author.  Her book The Arbitrary Sword is a gut-wrenching work of historical fiction, set around the Armenian genocide.  It's a period I knew nothing about before I read the book, and Diane brought it to life both brutally and beautifully.

Getting to and from Boston from Philly in a single day meant flying.

The Good: My dad is a pilot by hobby, has access to a plane, and was happy to zip me up to Boston for the show.

The Bad: I am both aviophobic and claustrophobic, so flying in a small plane…

…yeah, that about sums it up.

But hey, I'm all about facing my fears.  I even climbed into the cockpit for takeoff, and only gritted the top layer of enamel from my teeth as we left solid ground.

Speaking of teeth, turns out the short Philly-Boston hop is the perfect length for a tooth whitening session.

Can you see the clear mouth guard?  It kinda blends in, but it made me talk like Daffy Duck for the entire trip, which Miss M thought was hysterical.

The coolest part of the flight?  Manhattan from above.  It was just three days after the NYC Marathon, and looking down at the whole expanse of my run was incredible.

Once we landed in Boston, I scrubbed the whitening goo from my teeth and zipped off to the studio… where I tried to tamp down another fear of mine, appearing on camera.

Have we discussed my one line on the show California Dreams?  Me on camera is not always a good thing.  Unscripted, I do somewhat better — I had a lot of great TV spots when The Traveling Marathoner came out — but I always get nervous beforehand.  There's a reason I'm a writer — I'm much better when I can corral my thoughts on paper, nip and tuck them until they sing.  In conversation my brain zooms along even faster than my babbling mouth, and there's real danger I'll repeat myself, talk in circles, and pepper my speech with brilliant "and I'm like"s, "I mean"s, and "um"s.

Happily, Diane's spectacular, and I felt completely comfortable talking to her, even on camera.  She asked brilliant questions about many of Populazzi's characters, and in no time at all the twenty-nine minute interview was over.  Now, I've yet to see it, so there's certainly the chance I indeed came off like Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch.  I'll post the interview when I get a copy and you can let me know.

Your turn — have you ever been interviewed on camera for anything?  If so, were you nervous, or perfectly comfortable?  Did you like how you came off in the finished product?  What if anything would you do differently next time?