Adam Jay Epstein's Blog, page 7
August 18, 2010
Not Another Middle Grade Book
GUEST POST on YA Bookshelf
Back in 2000, when we were writing screenplays into the wee hours at various coffee shops around LA, the two of us decided to try our hand at a spoof of teen movies. As fortuitous timing would have it, that script would become 2001's "Not Another Teen Movie." This led to years of writing on the MTV Movie Awards, working with comedic talents such as Jimmy Fallon, Jack Black, and Andy Samberg. For much of the 2000s, we continued to write comedies geared towards the te...
Back in 2000, when we were writing screenplays into the wee hours at various coffee shops around LA, the two of us decided to try our hand at a spoof of teen movies. As fortuitous timing would have it, that script would become 2001's "Not Another Teen Movie." This led to years of writing on the MTV Movie Awards, working with comedic talents such as Jimmy Fallon, Jack Black, and Andy Samberg. For much of the 2000s, we continued to write comedies geared towards the te...
August 17, 2010
August 16, 2010
Publishers Weekly Raves About "The Familiars"
Link to the review here
The Familiars
Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, illus. by Bobby Chiu, Harper, $16.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-06-196108-3
After starving alley cat Aldwyn steals food from a fishmonger once too often, he is chased by a notorious bounty hunter intent on exterminating him. He takes refuge in a pet store that sells animal familiars to local wizards and is purchased by Jack, a young apprentice. Aldwyn likes his cushy new life in Stone Runlet with Jack and two other students, bu...
The Familiars
Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, illus. by Bobby Chiu, Harper, $16.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-06-196108-3
After starving alley cat Aldwyn steals food from a fishmonger once too often, he is chased by a notorious bounty hunter intent on exterminating him. He takes refuge in a pet store that sells animal familiars to local wizards and is purchased by Jack, a young apprentice. Aldwyn likes his cushy new life in Stone Runlet with Jack and two other students, bu...
If We Weren't Writers, We'd Be...
GUEST POST on Brimful Curiosities
Andrew: If I wasn't writing novels and films, I probably would be a sportscaster, or working behind the scenes in sports broadcasting. You might be familiar with Bob Costas, who sits on the sidelines calling the action at Super Bowls or the Olympics. But there's also a guy sitting off-camera next to him, giving him all sorts of stats and information that he parrots on air. I could have been that guy. It's kind of a thankless life, traveling on the road to diff...
Andrew: If I wasn't writing novels and films, I probably would be a sportscaster, or working behind the scenes in sports broadcasting. You might be familiar with Bob Costas, who sits on the sidelines calling the action at Super Bowls or the Olympics. But there's also a guy sitting off-camera next to him, giving him all sorts of stats and information that he parrots on air. I could have been that guy. It's kind of a thankless life, traveling on the road to diff...
Our Top 5 Animal Books
GUEST POST on Reading Vacation
Books about animals are as fundamental to growing up as your ABC' and learning long division. Everybody's got their favorite animal characters from when they were a kid, those that stuck with you and oft times felt more human than many of the human characters you read about. Books about dogs dying like Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows were too sad for our sensitive souls. Real, non-talking animals books like An Incredible Journey and Call of the Wild we...
Books about animals are as fundamental to growing up as your ABC' and learning long division. Everybody's got their favorite animal characters from when they were a kid, those that stuck with you and oft times felt more human than many of the human characters you read about. Books about dogs dying like Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows were too sad for our sensitive souls. Real, non-talking animals books like An Incredible Journey and Call of the Wild we...
August 15, 2010
Where Hollywood Should Take a Page from the Book Industry
GUEST POST on Sarah's Random Musings
With the release of our debut novel, THE FAMILIARS, fast approaching on September 7th, we have readied ourselves for a marathon, not a sprint to success. That is the nature of the book industry, or so we have been told. Especially children's books and book series. It isn't always the first book, or even the second, in a series that catches on. Sometimes it isn't until the third book that things really take off. By then the cycle of hardcover to paperback ha...
With the release of our debut novel, THE FAMILIARS, fast approaching on September 7th, we have readied ourselves for a marathon, not a sprint to success. That is the nature of the book industry, or so we have been told. Especially children's books and book series. It isn't always the first book, or even the second, in a series that catches on. Sometimes it isn't until the third book that things really take off. By then the cycle of hardcover to paperback ha...
August 13, 2010
The FIne Line Between Sharing and Shoving
GUEST POST on The Total Bookaholic
As we've become a part of the YA/middle grade blogosphere and twitterverse, we have seen a lot of authors use these social networking platforms to connect with readers and reviewers. Some successfully, and some less so. One thing that has proven abundantly clear, is that there is a fine line between sharing information about yourself and your book in an engaging way and shoving it down the throats of innocent cyber bystanders. We thought we might pass along s...
As we've become a part of the YA/middle grade blogosphere and twitterverse, we have seen a lot of authors use these social networking platforms to connect with readers and reviewers. Some successfully, and some less so. One thing that has proven abundantly clear, is that there is a fine line between sharing information about yourself and your book in an engaging way and shoving it down the throats of innocent cyber bystanders. We thought we might pass along s...
On Rejection Letters
GUEST POST on Once Upon A Book
"Why we wish we had a thousand rejection letters"
We've all heard how every author has a box of a thousand rejection letters, from publishers, agents, and literary magazines. Many even have the sealed envelopes with the words "Return to Sender" boldly stamped across it. But sitting on our shelf in our office, there's no box of rejection letters. You know why? Because in Hollywood, when you're a screenwriter, you don't even get the courtesy of a rejection letter. T...
"Why we wish we had a thousand rejection letters"
We've all heard how every author has a box of a thousand rejection letters, from publishers, agents, and literary magazines. Many even have the sealed envelopes with the words "Return to Sender" boldly stamped across it. But sitting on our shelf in our office, there's no box of rejection letters. You know why? Because in Hollywood, when you're a screenwriter, you don't even get the courtesy of a rejection letter. T...
August 12, 2010
Interview at YA Fresh
Visit YA Fresh here!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
What's Fresh with The Familiars!
Is the kingdom's fate in the hands of an orphan cat?
Running fast to save his life, Aldwyn ducks into an unusual pet store. Moments later Jack, a young wizard in training, comes in to choose a magical animal to be his familiar. Aldwyn's always been clever. But magical? Jack thinks so—and Aldwyn is happy to play along.
He just has to convince the other familiars—the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the...
Thursday, August 12, 2010
What's Fresh with The Familiars!
Is the kingdom's fate in the hands of an orphan cat?
Running fast to save his life, Aldwyn ducks into an unusual pet store. Moments later Jack, a young wizard in training, comes in to choose a magical animal to be his familiar. Aldwyn's always been clever. But magical? Jack thinks so—and Aldwyn is happy to play along.
He just has to convince the other familiars—the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the...
