Lisa Yee's Blog, page 18
July 11, 2011
Hanging out with Tim Burton, sort of
Not too long ago, I took my Peep here to see the cool stuff Tim made . . .
We saw this . . .
And this . . .
And this . . .
And this . . .
And this . . .
And then, this . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
We saw this . . .
And this . . .
And this . . .
And this . . .
And this . . .
And then, this . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
July 8, 2011
The WARP SPEED Trash Bag Fashion Show
In WARP SPEED, my novel about a Star Trek geek who gets beat up everyday, Marley Sandelski is forced to take a Home Sciences class. The good is that his partner is Emily Ebers (who has her own novel).
The bad is that they have to make a couture outfit out of trash bags . . . and Marley has to model it.
Not too long after, I visited St. James School. Their marvelous librarian Kelly McNamara sent me these creative thank you letters . . .
But wait, there's more!!! The St. James Book Club decided to have their own Project Trash Bag Fashion Show/Contest.
Here are their awesome creations!!!
Judges, what do you say?
Yes! I agree . . . they are ALL winners!!!
After, the Book Club had a party, complete with "war balls," a sweet dessert from the Revolutionary War (and featured in WARP SPEED) . . .
Now, there's someone else who is quite the fashion maven. Correct. Peepy. A while back she and I created this marvelous wedding gown to help celebrate my former publicist's nuptials . . .
And finally, here's another photo for our on-going-almost-always-series of "Interesting Stuff From Lisa's Office" . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
The bad is that they have to make a couture outfit out of trash bags . . . and Marley has to model it.
Not too long after, I visited St. James School. Their marvelous librarian Kelly McNamara sent me these creative thank you letters . . .
But wait, there's more!!! The St. James Book Club decided to have their own Project Trash Bag Fashion Show/Contest.
Here are their awesome creations!!!
Judges, what do you say?
Yes! I agree . . . they are ALL winners!!!
After, the Book Club had a party, complete with "war balls," a sweet dessert from the Revolutionary War (and featured in WARP SPEED) . . .
Now, there's someone else who is quite the fashion maven. Correct. Peepy. A while back she and I created this marvelous wedding gown to help celebrate my former publicist's nuptials . . .
And finally, here's another photo for our on-going-almost-always-series of "Interesting Stuff From Lisa's Office" . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
July 5, 2011
Yay for YA in Bloom!!!!!
Last weekend, despite this article stating that when it comes to YA (Young Adult) books, there's nothing to read but depressing stuff, there was a joyful celebration of the genre.
YA in Bloom, presented by Bridge to Books, was held at Vroman's in Pasadena.
Fittingly, I had my launch party for my YA novel, ABSOLUTELY MAYBE, there!
(One of these "Maybe" launch party attendees was a featured author at YA in Bloom. I won't say who, but here's a hint: Andrew Smith, lower right. Also, can you find Jay Asher?)
My WARP SPEED and BOBBY THE BRAVE launch parties were also held at Vroman's!
Alyson Beecher and Alethea Allarey , the creative forces behind the event, had their collective fingers and toes crossed that, maybe, hopefully, oh please, please . . . maybe there would be 25 or 30 attendees?
They were wrong.
The event SOLD OUT and almost 100 educators, readers, writers and bloggers came for the lunch and lively talk about YA books . . .
(This was only half of the room!!!)
Here are Alethea and Alyson (far right and left, of photo -- not politics) with featured authors Cindy Pon, Jessica Brody, Andrew Smith, Angelina Jolie, Nancy Holder, and Katie Alender . . .
And we talked about writing and our favorite cereals (Lucky Charms) and candies (See's California Brittle) and other fun stuff.
Speaking of food, there was a scrumptious lunch . . .
And, of course, in honor of Peepy, there was a yellow cake . . .
It was so great to get all these YA book lovers together . . .
(That's Cindy Pon with Andrew Smith discussing mankind's search for meaning, the proper use of semicolons, and which cake they were going to eat.)
Kris Vreland and Nicole White talked about how to hand sell a book and there was a fabulous raffle and hundreds of dollars of books were given away to school, libraries and attendees . . .
Later, there was a book signing and Peeps and I got to see lots of new friends . . .
And no one left empty-handed -- everyone got a bag stuffed with book stuff and even a Vroman's discount!!!
(Peep not included.)
On a sad note, this was the very last day, the very last afternoon for Vroman's longtime Children's Book Department Manager, our friend and Celebrity Indie Bookstore Judge, Kris Vreeland.
But the GOOD NEWS is . . . Kris will now be at the wonderful Once Upon a Time in Montrose, CA!!!!!
And finally, in keeping with our semi-regular series "All That Stuff in Lisa's Office," here's another photo . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
YA in Bloom, presented by Bridge to Books, was held at Vroman's in Pasadena.
Fittingly, I had my launch party for my YA novel, ABSOLUTELY MAYBE, there!
(One of these "Maybe" launch party attendees was a featured author at YA in Bloom. I won't say who, but here's a hint: Andrew Smith, lower right. Also, can you find Jay Asher?)
My WARP SPEED and BOBBY THE BRAVE launch parties were also held at Vroman's!
Alyson Beecher and Alethea Allarey , the creative forces behind the event, had their collective fingers and toes crossed that, maybe, hopefully, oh please, please . . . maybe there would be 25 or 30 attendees?
They were wrong.
The event SOLD OUT and almost 100 educators, readers, writers and bloggers came for the lunch and lively talk about YA books . . .
(This was only half of the room!!!)
Here are Alethea and Alyson (far right and left, of photo -- not politics) with featured authors Cindy Pon, Jessica Brody, Andrew Smith, Angelina Jolie, Nancy Holder, and Katie Alender . . .
And we talked about writing and our favorite cereals (Lucky Charms) and candies (See's California Brittle) and other fun stuff.
Speaking of food, there was a scrumptious lunch . . .
And, of course, in honor of Peepy, there was a yellow cake . . .
It was so great to get all these YA book lovers together . . .
(That's Cindy Pon with Andrew Smith discussing mankind's search for meaning, the proper use of semicolons, and which cake they were going to eat.)
Kris Vreland and Nicole White talked about how to hand sell a book and there was a fabulous raffle and hundreds of dollars of books were given away to school, libraries and attendees . . .
Later, there was a book signing and Peeps and I got to see lots of new friends . . .
And no one left empty-handed -- everyone got a bag stuffed with book stuff and even a Vroman's discount!!!
(Peep not included.)
On a sad note, this was the very last day, the very last afternoon for Vroman's longtime Children's Book Department Manager, our friend and Celebrity Indie Bookstore Judge, Kris Vreeland.
But the GOOD NEWS is . . . Kris will now be at the wonderful Once Upon a Time in Montrose, CA!!!!!
And finally, in keeping with our semi-regular series "All That Stuff in Lisa's Office," here's another photo . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
July 1, 2011
California, Kauai, New York and Canada
I've visited Carver Elementary in San Marino before and have always had a blast.
Recently, I was so flattered to learn that three of the students selected me for their "Famous Californian" report.
Though, I loved reading what they wrote, my favorite parts were the portraits . . .
Something else that was delivered to my mail box not too long ago was a petition. It was a first for me -- because it was a petition for me to write more books about Kanani Akina, the 2011 American Girl from Kauai . . .
I won't be writing more Kanani books, however, there is good news for American Girl fans. I just finished an online story about Kanani visiting her cousin Rachel in New York! (Here's what happened when I visited NY and the American Girl Store.)
Say, what's that? Why, it's my outline for Kanani's story . . .
I know it looks like a mess, but it really helped me! Kanani's serialized story will only be available online and for the great price of . . . FREE!!! To read about her adventures in the Big Apple, check the American Girl website, starting at the end of July!
I'll be sure to post a link here on my blog when the story debuts.
In the meantime, many of you know that I adore off-beat art. Not too long ago, I went to the MorYork Gallery in Los Angeles. This is what I saw . . .
Everything you see above is made from recycled materials, like jigsaw puzzle pieces. CLICK HERE for more examples!
And look at this art collection -- oh, wait! Those are some of my Winnie-the-Poohs. Yes, I have the second largest collection in the United States. (Or at least I did when I last checked.)
Most of MY COLLECTION is now housed in the White River Heritage Museum in White River, Canada. I'll tell you about it some time.
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
Recently, I was so flattered to learn that three of the students selected me for their "Famous Californian" report.
Though, I loved reading what they wrote, my favorite parts were the portraits . . .
Something else that was delivered to my mail box not too long ago was a petition. It was a first for me -- because it was a petition for me to write more books about Kanani Akina, the 2011 American Girl from Kauai . . .
I won't be writing more Kanani books, however, there is good news for American Girl fans. I just finished an online story about Kanani visiting her cousin Rachel in New York! (Here's what happened when I visited NY and the American Girl Store.)
Say, what's that? Why, it's my outline for Kanani's story . . .
I know it looks like a mess, but it really helped me! Kanani's serialized story will only be available online and for the great price of . . . FREE!!! To read about her adventures in the Big Apple, check the American Girl website, starting at the end of July!
I'll be sure to post a link here on my blog when the story debuts.
In the meantime, many of you know that I adore off-beat art. Not too long ago, I went to the MorYork Gallery in Los Angeles. This is what I saw . . .
Everything you see above is made from recycled materials, like jigsaw puzzle pieces. CLICK HERE for more examples!
And look at this art collection -- oh, wait! Those are some of my Winnie-the-Poohs. Yes, I have the second largest collection in the United States. (Or at least I did when I last checked.)
Most of MY COLLECTION is now housed in the White River Heritage Museum in White River, Canada. I'll tell you about it some time.
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
June 27, 2011
It Gets Better - Authors and Illustrators Unite
Sometimes you write and write and write, and wonder, is anyone really going to want to read this? Does what I'm doing even matter?
And then you get something like this in the mail . . .
It was a packet of letters from the 5th graders Hardy Elementary School in South Lyon, MI. They wrote about what my books meant to them, and what they'd like me to write about next . . .
Their teacher, Susan Maurus, sent along these words . . .
Here are her students . . .
Katie Kehrer, who was Ms. Maurus's student teacher wrote . . .
"We used your books so many times to teach lessons to put bullying to a stop or show students how their actions rub off on others."
I've heard that WARP SPEED, which is about a Star Trek geek who gets beat up every day, is opening up lots of discussions about bullying. I've gotten letters from kids who are being bullied, from teachers who have students come forward about abuse at home, and parents saying that the book has helped their child.
My friend, author Phil Bildner came up with the idea to bring children's/YA authors and illustrators together as one voice to help campaign against bullying via the It Gets Better Project.
(Above: That's Phil, on the right, and his partner Kevin Lewis and me when we invaded Brooklyn Flea.)
Out of Phil's idea, Authors and Illustrators Unite was created. 35 of us contributed short messages of inspiration and hope. Here's a list . . .
Kathi Appelt, Jay Asher, Phil Bildner, Coe Booth, Bruce Coville, Matt de la Pena, John Holyfield, Ellen Hopkins, James Howe, Gordon Korman, Jarrett Krosoczka, Nancy Krulik, Loren Long, Betsy and Ted Lewin, Kevin Lewis, Emily Lockhart, Peepy, LeUyen Pham, Olugbemisola Rhuday, Dan Santat, Cynthia Letiech Smith, Sonya Sones, Jordan Sonnenblick, The Texas Sweethearts, Don Tate, Tanya Lee Stone, and me.
For my clip, I started writing down notes, but I knew I only had about seven seconds. Yet there was so much I wanted to say . . .
In the end, I pared it down and shot my segment . . .
My segment was edited together with the others . . .
And "here's what we had to say:
I asked Phil about the making of It Gets Better - Authors and Illustrators Unite. Here's what he had to say . . .
LISA: What was your inspiration was for creating the video?
PHIL: I think Kobe Bryant's homophobic sideline tantrum this spring was my tipping point. In fact, I see it as a tipping point for the entire movement, if you can call it a movement. Here you have everyone from Hillary Clinton to Lady Gaga saying "it gets better," and then you have this idolized basketball player spewing hate. For me, enough was enough. It was time to walk my talk, so to speak.
LISA: Was it hard to get the authors and illustrators onboard?
PHIL: Everyone rose to the occasion. I asked people if they were interested. Then I asked a few more. And a few more. And others suggested names. Once I had the names and contacts, I sent one email laying out the instructions and timeline. Then I sent out one reminder email. That was it. Everyone truly came together.
LISA: Of all the clips, do you have a favorite?
PHIL: I don't think one author/illustrator had the most compelling or special clip. I spent so much time with all of them over the last few days that it's impossible to say "this one is the most poignant," or "this one is the best." Together, all the clips form a beautiful mosaic.
LISA: If you added up all the authors in the video, and multiplied them by 5.2, and then added in all the illustrators, multiplied by 7.4, and then divided that by the number of minutes in the video, what would that come out to?
PHIL:
Okay, then! Now you've got the inside scoop of It Gets Better - Authors and Illustrators United!!!
For a more in-depth look at the video, here's School Library Journal's interview with Phil.
Also, I'm proud to one of 70 authors who have contributed true stories about bullying to an anthology called DEAR BULLY: Young Adult Authors Against Bullying. Edited by Megan Kelly Hall and Carrie Jone, some of the authors involved is this project, Mo Willems, Nancy Werlin, Megan McCafferty, and Jon Scieszka. The book will be out in August, and I'll talk more about it then.
If you, or someone you know, are being bullied or abused, talk to someone -- a friend, a teacher, a librarian, someone.
It gets better.
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
And then you get something like this in the mail . . .
It was a packet of letters from the 5th graders Hardy Elementary School in South Lyon, MI. They wrote about what my books meant to them, and what they'd like me to write about next . . .
Their teacher, Susan Maurus, sent along these words . . .
Here are her students . . .
Katie Kehrer, who was Ms. Maurus's student teacher wrote . . .
"We used your books so many times to teach lessons to put bullying to a stop or show students how their actions rub off on others."
I've heard that WARP SPEED, which is about a Star Trek geek who gets beat up every day, is opening up lots of discussions about bullying. I've gotten letters from kids who are being bullied, from teachers who have students come forward about abuse at home, and parents saying that the book has helped their child.
My friend, author Phil Bildner came up with the idea to bring children's/YA authors and illustrators together as one voice to help campaign against bullying via the It Gets Better Project.
(Above: That's Phil, on the right, and his partner Kevin Lewis and me when we invaded Brooklyn Flea.)
Out of Phil's idea, Authors and Illustrators Unite was created. 35 of us contributed short messages of inspiration and hope. Here's a list . . .
Kathi Appelt, Jay Asher, Phil Bildner, Coe Booth, Bruce Coville, Matt de la Pena, John Holyfield, Ellen Hopkins, James Howe, Gordon Korman, Jarrett Krosoczka, Nancy Krulik, Loren Long, Betsy and Ted Lewin, Kevin Lewis, Emily Lockhart, Peepy, LeUyen Pham, Olugbemisola Rhuday, Dan Santat, Cynthia Letiech Smith, Sonya Sones, Jordan Sonnenblick, The Texas Sweethearts, Don Tate, Tanya Lee Stone, and me.
For my clip, I started writing down notes, but I knew I only had about seven seconds. Yet there was so much I wanted to say . . .
In the end, I pared it down and shot my segment . . .
My segment was edited together with the others . . .
And "here's what we had to say:
I asked Phil about the making of It Gets Better - Authors and Illustrators Unite. Here's what he had to say . . .
LISA: What was your inspiration was for creating the video?
PHIL: I think Kobe Bryant's homophobic sideline tantrum this spring was my tipping point. In fact, I see it as a tipping point for the entire movement, if you can call it a movement. Here you have everyone from Hillary Clinton to Lady Gaga saying "it gets better," and then you have this idolized basketball player spewing hate. For me, enough was enough. It was time to walk my talk, so to speak.
LISA: Was it hard to get the authors and illustrators onboard?
PHIL: Everyone rose to the occasion. I asked people if they were interested. Then I asked a few more. And a few more. And others suggested names. Once I had the names and contacts, I sent one email laying out the instructions and timeline. Then I sent out one reminder email. That was it. Everyone truly came together.
LISA: Of all the clips, do you have a favorite?
PHIL: I don't think one author/illustrator had the most compelling or special clip. I spent so much time with all of them over the last few days that it's impossible to say "this one is the most poignant," or "this one is the best." Together, all the clips form a beautiful mosaic.
LISA: If you added up all the authors in the video, and multiplied them by 5.2, and then added in all the illustrators, multiplied by 7.4, and then divided that by the number of minutes in the video, what would that come out to?
PHIL:
Okay, then! Now you've got the inside scoop of It Gets Better - Authors and Illustrators United!!!
For a more in-depth look at the video, here's School Library Journal's interview with Phil.
Also, I'm proud to one of 70 authors who have contributed true stories about bullying to an anthology called DEAR BULLY: Young Adult Authors Against Bullying. Edited by Megan Kelly Hall and Carrie Jone, some of the authors involved is this project, Mo Willems, Nancy Werlin, Megan McCafferty, and Jon Scieszka. The book will be out in August, and I'll talk more about it then.
If you, or someone you know, are being bullied or abused, talk to someone -- a friend, a teacher, a librarian, someone.
It gets better.
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
June 23, 2011
Ransom Riggs and His Peculiar Right Foot
A while back I heard from a fellow with the awesome name of Ransom Riggs. It seems he was working on a project and needed to find authors who were terrible writers when they were kids. John Green had told him about me.
Er, thanks, John.
(Here's Moi and John, who is standing on a chair, with our agent, Jodi Reamer.)
Oh! And here's an interview I did with John, eons ago when we were both practically children.
Anyway, Ransom set aside that project to work on another one, namely a YA novel with the awesome name of MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN.
It's an amazing book and was recently reviewed in Entertainment Weekly and People magazine, and is already a NY TIMES bestseller!
Here's a spooky book trailer that Ransom and I made! (Well, okay, only one of us made it, and that person's name has a "R" in it) . . .
On Sunday, we went to Ransom's very first book signing at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA . . .
Peepy thought that she was the main draw, but then Ransom took the stage . . .
This is what he looked like when he read . . .
Meanwhile . . . this how he sounded and what his foot was doing during the reading . . .
(Ransom was sitting on his other foot)
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
HEY! HEY! HEY! Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers, book lovers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
Er, thanks, John.
(Here's Moi and John, who is standing on a chair, with our agent, Jodi Reamer.)
Oh! And here's an interview I did with John, eons ago when we were both practically children.
Anyway, Ransom set aside that project to work on another one, namely a YA novel with the awesome name of MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN.
It's an amazing book and was recently reviewed in Entertainment Weekly and People magazine, and is already a NY TIMES bestseller!
Here's a spooky book trailer that Ransom and I made! (Well, okay, only one of us made it, and that person's name has a "R" in it) . . .
On Sunday, we went to Ransom's very first book signing at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA . . .
Peepy thought that she was the main draw, but then Ransom took the stage . . .
This is what he looked like when he read . . .
Meanwhile . . . this how he sounded and what his foot was doing during the reading . . .
(Ransom was sitting on his other foot)
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
HEY! HEY! HEY! Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers, book lovers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
June 20, 2011
I Want My Hat Back
Dan Santat said I have to blog this. I think he told me that because it makes me look dumb, and Dan thinks that's funny.
Anyway, here it goes.
Okay, so I was at BEA (BookExpo America) in NY last month. And he wasn't.
This is young Dan, not at BEA . . .
The convention was great fun and I got to see lots of old friends and new ones.
But I also got to roam around the convention floor and pick up ARCs (Advanced Readers Copies) of upcoming releases BEFORE the book(s) debut.
So get this. Dan asks (well, he begged, actually) me to get him two ARCs.
Then, being me, I forgot which ones he wanted. So I texted him, and (t)hat's when the confusion started . . .
Okay, it was clear that I was to get WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick . . .
The book is brilliant and made my cry on the airplane back to Los Angeles . . .
(Those are a combo of tissues and napkins, on the right. The napkins had red logos on them. I don't want you to think I was bleeding on the plane.)
Anyway, the text about I WANT MY HAT BACK discombobulated me. At first, I thought that Dan had lost his hat and wanted it back.
Neither of the people above is Dan. However, one is Dan's agent and mine, Jodi Reamer, and we are both wearing hats that do not belong to Dan. It's exactly the sort of thing we do at our Annual Summit.
Oh, I digressed. Let's go back to NYC and over to Candlewick where I looked for Dan's hat. I even ASKED SOMEONE if they had Dan Santat's hat. (They said no.)
Then, I left and later recalled Dan also wanted me to see if any ARCs of books he had illustrated were at BEA, and I texted him again . . .
Can you see? Can you see from that text it sounded (to me) like he had illustrated I WANT MY HAT BACK.
I returned to Candlewick, embarrassed because Dan didn't lose his hat and said to someone, "Do you have I WANT MY HAT BACK? My friend Dan Santat illustrated it."
I was told (nicely), that they did not have that book that he illustrated, but they had I WANT MY HAT BACK that Jon Klassen wrote AND illustrated. There were no more copies left, but the really, really, nice person said she'd send me one.
And she did!!!
Oh, man. The book was sooooooooooo unbelievably wonderful, that even though I got it for Dan, I decided to keep it. (Do you ever do that? Get something for someone and then keep it for yourself? Please tell me you do, and that I'm not the only one.)
Okay, flash forward. Dan and I have lunch and I give him 50% of what he asked for, but then tell him, he can't have the HAT book.
However, kind person that I am, I did allow Dan to try on the book . . .
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Speaking of hats, Dan's not the only one who looks swell in a hat.
Here's someone else who could rival Princess Beatrice in the hat department. (All the hats Peepy is wearing were gifts from her fans)
And finally, in the continuing saga of Stuff in Lisa's Office, there's this . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
Anyway, here it goes.
Okay, so I was at BEA (BookExpo America) in NY last month. And he wasn't.
This is young Dan, not at BEA . . .
The convention was great fun and I got to see lots of old friends and new ones.
But I also got to roam around the convention floor and pick up ARCs (Advanced Readers Copies) of upcoming releases BEFORE the book(s) debut.
So get this. Dan asks (well, he begged, actually) me to get him two ARCs.
Then, being me, I forgot which ones he wanted. So I texted him, and (t)hat's when the confusion started . . .
Okay, it was clear that I was to get WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick . . .
The book is brilliant and made my cry on the airplane back to Los Angeles . . .
(Those are a combo of tissues and napkins, on the right. The napkins had red logos on them. I don't want you to think I was bleeding on the plane.)
Anyway, the text about I WANT MY HAT BACK discombobulated me. At first, I thought that Dan had lost his hat and wanted it back.
Neither of the people above is Dan. However, one is Dan's agent and mine, Jodi Reamer, and we are both wearing hats that do not belong to Dan. It's exactly the sort of thing we do at our Annual Summit.
Oh, I digressed. Let's go back to NYC and over to Candlewick where I looked for Dan's hat. I even ASKED SOMEONE if they had Dan Santat's hat. (They said no.)
Then, I left and later recalled Dan also wanted me to see if any ARCs of books he had illustrated were at BEA, and I texted him again . . .
Can you see? Can you see from that text it sounded (to me) like he had illustrated I WANT MY HAT BACK.
I returned to Candlewick, embarrassed because Dan didn't lose his hat and said to someone, "Do you have I WANT MY HAT BACK? My friend Dan Santat illustrated it."
I was told (nicely), that they did not have that book that he illustrated, but they had I WANT MY HAT BACK that Jon Klassen wrote AND illustrated. There were no more copies left, but the really, really, nice person said she'd send me one.
And she did!!!
Oh, man. The book was sooooooooooo unbelievably wonderful, that even though I got it for Dan, I decided to keep it. (Do you ever do that? Get something for someone and then keep it for yourself? Please tell me you do, and that I'm not the only one.)
Okay, flash forward. Dan and I have lunch and I give him 50% of what he asked for, but then tell him, he can't have the HAT book.
However, kind person that I am, I did allow Dan to try on the book . . .
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Speaking of hats, Dan's not the only one who looks swell in a hat.
Here's someone else who could rival Princess Beatrice in the hat department. (All the hats Peepy is wearing were gifts from her fans)
And finally, in the continuing saga of Stuff in Lisa's Office, there's this . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
June 16, 2011
Who Ate What
When I was a kid, I had a cheese sandwich on Wonder Bread for lunch everyday for two years.
Sometimes there would be a Twinkie or Snowball thrown in there, too . . .
Since then, I've changed my eating habits. I like varied foods, spicy and exotic is fun, and I even adore Brussel sprouts, a food I eschewed as a child . . .
Now that I am an author, it's mandatory that I eat lunch with other authors and illustrators on a regular basis. (Yep. Those are the union rules.) So then, here's an EXCITING new game called "GUESS WHO ATE WHAT WHEN THEY HAD LUNCH WITH LISA!!!"
Here are three meals . . .
Can you guess who ate these?
Here are some clues: Betty Birney, Sonya Sones, Dan Santat.
(Fun Fact: 66-2/3% of these authors/illustrators have home offices in their backyards.)
To find out if you are correct about who ate what, here are the meal-partakers themselves telling us about their gastronomic adventures:
Sonya says . . .
Betty admits . . .
And Dan declares . . .
The Sonya Sones meal took place at Coles, a really cool writer-esque restaurant in downtown Los Angeles . . .
For more food that KidLit book creators eat, check out THIS BLOG that Tom Warburton posted during the LA TIMES Festival of Books.
Oh! And on the topic of food, did you know what one of my jobs used to be? Here's a hint . . .
YES! I am the person who used to write the Red Lobster menus!!! (And that's me on the upper left, holding a plate.)
Did someone say, "SCBWI"??? I think they did. But even if they did not, are you going to the 40th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference?
I am, and I'm even teaching a master class . . .
You never know what will happen there. Like the time Peepy tried to get a book deal and the meeting with Mark McVeigh did not go as planned.
However, violence rarely occurs, and more likely, you will be amazed and inspired. I know I was when I first started attending, and I still am. (Attending, and being amazed and inspired.)
The lovely Martha Broenbrough interviewed me recently about the conference, and why I am the fifth Beatle, and Bad Guys and Bullies, and my secret to winning the lottery every time. (Well, some of those things.)
CLICK HERE to read the interview.
BTW, there's always a lot of drama going on in my office. I've decided to show you Scenes from My Stuff every blog, or at least when I remember, or maybe sometimes, every other blog, or whatever.
Here's the first one . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
Sometimes there would be a Twinkie or Snowball thrown in there, too . . .
Since then, I've changed my eating habits. I like varied foods, spicy and exotic is fun, and I even adore Brussel sprouts, a food I eschewed as a child . . .
Now that I am an author, it's mandatory that I eat lunch with other authors and illustrators on a regular basis. (Yep. Those are the union rules.) So then, here's an EXCITING new game called "GUESS WHO ATE WHAT WHEN THEY HAD LUNCH WITH LISA!!!"
Here are three meals . . .
Can you guess who ate these?
Here are some clues: Betty Birney, Sonya Sones, Dan Santat.
(Fun Fact: 66-2/3% of these authors/illustrators have home offices in their backyards.)
To find out if you are correct about who ate what, here are the meal-partakers themselves telling us about their gastronomic adventures:
Sonya says . . .
Betty admits . . .
And Dan declares . . .
The Sonya Sones meal took place at Coles, a really cool writer-esque restaurant in downtown Los Angeles . . .
For more food that KidLit book creators eat, check out THIS BLOG that Tom Warburton posted during the LA TIMES Festival of Books.
Oh! And on the topic of food, did you know what one of my jobs used to be? Here's a hint . . .
YES! I am the person who used to write the Red Lobster menus!!! (And that's me on the upper left, holding a plate.)
Did someone say, "SCBWI"??? I think they did. But even if they did not, are you going to the 40th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference?
I am, and I'm even teaching a master class . . .
You never know what will happen there. Like the time Peepy tried to get a book deal and the meeting with Mark McVeigh did not go as planned.
However, violence rarely occurs, and more likely, you will be amazed and inspired. I know I was when I first started attending, and I still am. (Attending, and being amazed and inspired.)
The lovely Martha Broenbrough interviewed me recently about the conference, and why I am the fifth Beatle, and Bad Guys and Bullies, and my secret to winning the lottery every time. (Well, some of those things.)
CLICK HERE to read the interview.
BTW, there's always a lot of drama going on in my office. I've decided to show you Scenes from My Stuff every blog, or at least when I remember, or maybe sometimes, every other blog, or whatever.
Here's the first one . . .
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
June 13, 2011
Meet My Dog
It all started with this . . .
Son wanted a dog, and like Bobby Ellis-Chan in BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY), he had asthma . . .
In the book, Bobby can only imagine how wonderful it would be to have a dog, like his friend Chess's . . .
BTW, here's my amazing illustrator, Dan Santat . . .
Dan's graphic novel debuts in July, and there's a DOG in SIDEKICKS!!!!
Oops. Back to dogs. Our entire family is allergic to fur. So, we got a Labradoodle. These half lab, half poodles were originally breed as guide dogs for blind people with allergies!
Puppy was very naughty. The first picture is of her after she tried to eat a micro-bead pillow. The other photos are self-explanitory . . .
Well, she calmed down since then, and only eats the occasional book. The great thing about being a writer and having a dog is that they remind you to walk away from the computer and run around now and then . . .
Not long ago, author/dog lover, Bobbie Pyron interviewed me and my dog. CLICK HERE to read all about Puppy, and to find out her real name!!!
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
Son wanted a dog, and like Bobby Ellis-Chan in BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY), he had asthma . . .
In the book, Bobby can only imagine how wonderful it would be to have a dog, like his friend Chess's . . .
BTW, here's my amazing illustrator, Dan Santat . . .
Dan's graphic novel debuts in July, and there's a DOG in SIDEKICKS!!!!
Oops. Back to dogs. Our entire family is allergic to fur. So, we got a Labradoodle. These half lab, half poodles were originally breed as guide dogs for blind people with allergies!
Puppy was very naughty. The first picture is of her after she tried to eat a micro-bead pillow. The other photos are self-explanitory . . .
Well, she calmed down since then, and only eats the occasional book. The great thing about being a writer and having a dog is that they remind you to walk away from the computer and run around now and then . . .
Not long ago, author/dog lover, Bobbie Pyron interviewed me and my dog. CLICK HERE to read all about Puppy, and to find out her real name!!!
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
CLICK HERE to find out about Lisa's newest book, WARP SPEED!!!
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
June 9, 2011
Three Authors and an Editor and a Big Flea
Thanks to my nifty Time Machine, even though I am back in Southern California, I'm still in NYC!
Yes, after that rousing KidLit Drink Night, the next day was devoted to more food and fun! Why? Because I rendezvoused with these mystery guys . . .
(You are looking at the shoes of three authors and an editor.)
You are correct! It's amazing author Phil Bildner and amazing Disney senior editor Kevin Lewis.
Kevin's one of those classic over-achievers and is also an author. In fact, he wrote one of Son's favorite books when he was younger (um, that is when both Son and Kevin were younger).
Where did we meet? Why here, of course . . .
Excuse me? But where exactly is that, you ask.
Why, it's the Brooklyn Flea -- as in flea market!
There was so much to see, and it was great because the three of us love looking at old books!
(Fun fact: Kevin was the editor of Tony DiTerlizzi's SPIDER AND THE FLY)
There was no shortage of great food . . .
Peepy liked the donuts best . . .
On the topic of donuts, recently it was National Donut Day!!! Of course, I did my part to support this non-partisan food fest. It was, after all, my patriotic duty.
Oops. We digressed. Back to Brooklyn.
I had the pulled pork sandwich and fresh watermelon juice . . .
Fortified, we continued our exploration . . .
It was all well and good, until Kevin's obsession with large vintage metal object became too much for Phil to handle . . .
I would have to say that I side with Kevin on this. Given what my office looks like, and all. I mean, one can't have too much stuff, right?
Luckily, by the end of the day (ice cream helped) we were all friends again!
Speaking of Warp Speed (pretend we were!), here are some really cool things people have been saying about it. Click HERE and HERE to see.
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
Yes, after that rousing KidLit Drink Night, the next day was devoted to more food and fun! Why? Because I rendezvoused with these mystery guys . . .
(You are looking at the shoes of three authors and an editor.)
You are correct! It's amazing author Phil Bildner and amazing Disney senior editor Kevin Lewis.
Kevin's one of those classic over-achievers and is also an author. In fact, he wrote one of Son's favorite books when he was younger (um, that is when both Son and Kevin were younger).
Where did we meet? Why here, of course . . .
Excuse me? But where exactly is that, you ask.
Why, it's the Brooklyn Flea -- as in flea market!
There was so much to see, and it was great because the three of us love looking at old books!
(Fun fact: Kevin was the editor of Tony DiTerlizzi's SPIDER AND THE FLY)
There was no shortage of great food . . .
Peepy liked the donuts best . . .
On the topic of donuts, recently it was National Donut Day!!! Of course, I did my part to support this non-partisan food fest. It was, after all, my patriotic duty.
Oops. We digressed. Back to Brooklyn.
I had the pulled pork sandwich and fresh watermelon juice . . .
Fortified, we continued our exploration . . .
It was all well and good, until Kevin's obsession with large vintage metal object became too much for Phil to handle . . .
I would have to say that I side with Kevin on this. Given what my office looks like, and all. I mean, one can't have too much stuff, right?
Luckily, by the end of the day (ice cream helped) we were all friends again!
Speaking of Warp Speed (pretend we were!), here are some really cool things people have been saying about it. Click HERE and HERE to see.
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.
Do you love Young Adult novels? Then come join me and other authors, bloggers and educatiors on June 25th at Vroman's in Pasadena! CLICK HERE for more info.
Follow Lisa on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Lisa Yee
Subscribe to Lisa Yee's Blog and get her fresh baked blogs e-mailed to you!
Email:
Or you can click this for a RSS feed...
