Lisa Yee's Blog . . .

December Blog-ed-ness Has Arrived (at last)!!!!

lisayee — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 17:47:52 GMT

Wow, it's been a looooong time since my last blog. I would have blogged sooner, and I don't want to make any excuses, but aliens abducted me and I was orbiting Mars and the view was so pretty, plus there was a lot happening on my desk, and I got distracted.

And then Newbery and Prinz committee member and kidlit scholar Rob Bittner visited from Canada and distracted me with food . . .

So okay, let's see what Peepy and I have been up to. Yes! We visited the Twin Cities to keynote at the Minnesota SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators). It began with a faculty dinner . . .

Then this the next day . . .

It's always fun seeing author Bruce Hale and Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Associate Editor Emily Clement and discussing math and metrics and stuff . . .

Why, lookit -- there's the ever popular picture booker, Kelly Light!

My writing workshop students were muttering bitterly to themselves because I made them write and write, and then write even more. And more. And more* . . .

*They did a fabulous job!!!!

Hello? Excuse me, but where do children's literature types hang out in the Twin Cities? Apparently at local favorite haunt Psycho Suzi's . . .

Ah hem. Someone was given Minnesota swag!

If you like books (and who doesn't???), you MUST visit the Kerlan Collection at the University of MN. This children's literature and research collection is curated by the amazing Lisa Von Drasek a.k.a. ALVD . . .

Here you'll find, thousands of original papers from some of the biggest names in children's literature. Plus, my papers are there, too . . .

We interrupt this blog to bring you yet another Dan Santat lunch. This time we are celebrating the publication of BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) in China. (Um. I wore the same sweater to lunch knowing that it would be jammed between incidents during my Kerlan visit. Yes, that's it.)

And now back to your regularly scheduled Kerlan update . . .

My dear friend, and fellow Sid Fleishman Humor Award Winner David LaRochelle was with me at The Kerlan . . .

Here's more . . .

Paula Danzinger blurbed my first novel!!!

Later, it was lunch with David, author Cheryl Blackford and Lisa Lisa . . .

After, David and I visited the famed Red Balloon children's bookstore, talked to bears, and then had a tasty snack . . .

On another day, it was food 'n' fun with children's lit scholar and professor Sarah Park Dahlen . . .

Sarah asked what I'd like to see and I said, "The library! Children's books! Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy!" And so we did (two of the three). Here's the Minneapolis Central Library . . .

Then it was time for a Wild Rumpus and ice cream!!!!

Back in Southern California a gaggle of authors and illustrators met for dinner to impress Australian author Rachel "R.A." Spratt, who misbehaved and put Peepy in peril . . .

After dinner it was time for lunch with authors Susan Patron, Amy Goldman Koss and Ann Whitford Paul . . .

What's that?!!! Why, it's Kelly Milner Halls' newest book, GHOSTLY EVIDENCE. And look who has a story in it!!!

Close to home, we visited Clairbourn School and super librarian, Anita Knight. Here we are with author/illustrators Dan Santat (I think he's stalking me) and Salina Yoon . . .

(The Lisa Yee Lego was made with a 3D printer!!!)

I spoke to the middle school students . . .

Then before or after or later there was lunch with author Michael Reisman . . .

Speaking of postcards for my upcoming YA novel, THE KIDNEY HYPOTHETICAL or how to ruin your life if seven days, there are these . . .

What's that? Oh, a (yet another) literary lunch with Dan Santat and a literary dinner with my agent, Jodi Reamer . . .

What? What's that? Lunch with someone other than Dan? Yes! It's author Amy Goldman Koss!!!

This year I judged the PEN USA awards (along with Amy) and attended the fancy schmancy awards ceremony in 90210 . . .

Oh yeah, the Girls are all here. Lena Dunham with celebrity Peepy and Moi . . .

There's Amy Poehler. She gave the Lifetime Achievement Award to me!!! Oops. I meant Norman Lear . . .

That's John Cusak on stage (not sure why he was there) . . .

Look!!! It's PEN winner Margarita Engle who wrote the magnificent THE LIGHTNING DREAMER, CUBA'S GREATEST ABOLITIONIST. The book made me weep, and it made my heart sing. GO READ IT!!!!

What's that? Why it's literary PEN swag . . .

Yoo hoo! It's Children's/YA judges, Amy Goldman Koss, with Margarita and Moi . . .

(Insert a clever transition of your choice here)

Suddenly, it was time for the . . . Hollywood Children's Book Fair!!!!

Beautiful and brilliant Book Fair producer Anji Williams presented me with this!!!

And there's author(s) Cecil Castellucci and Scott Bly and Kristen Kittscher. . .

We emoted on the stage, reading from MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS with author Scott Bly playing Stanford Wong . . .

What's that? Another Dan Santat lunch?

Google, gaggle, gobble . . . yes!!! I took part in the International Reading Associations VERY FIRST Google Hangout (to spice things up, the events that appear in this blog are not in chronological order) . . .

Whoop! I hopped a plane and headed to Texas -- Austin, to exact, for YALSA!!! And look who I ran into, author/professional YoYo-er Jonathan Auxier and Rob Bittner . . .

I got carried away with YA author Andrew Smith, and was reunited with other YA-ers Malindo Lo, Sara Zarr and Justina Chen, and oooooh, spooky author RL Stine and Scholastic's non-spooky Lizette Serrano . . .

Now, here's the haps. Jonathan Auxier saw me in my Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly costume . . .

(Above: Me and animator/author/illustrator Bob Boyle with Dan Santat)

He bet me that if appeared on our YA panel dressed as Holly, he would sing all his comments to the tune of Moon River.

And I did, and he did!!!

Here's proof . . .

The view from the stage . . .

And here are the other panel members . . .

Oops, got carried away by Andrew Smith again . . .

And it's Audrey with Kelly Milner Halls and Bruce Coville, and Chris Barton . . .

Finally, it was time to head home. (Austin was my last trip of 2014.) Who better way to share airport BBQ with than RL Stine?

And finally, finally, someone (ME!!!) helped NPR select the Best Children's/YA Book of 2014 . . .

Here are the best of the best. And to see which ones were my picks go here for picture books/kids books and here for YA, and roll your curser over the titles to see who picked what, and why the book was selected!

For example:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

(I LOVE this photo of me and a fan at the Hollywood Children's Book Fest)

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What's that? Yes! If you'd like an autographed book (they make great holiday presents!), order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Lisa's Super September Blog!!!

lisayee — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:45:46 GMT

It seems like I was just home from Laramie, WY and studying the stars, when it was time to hit the road again.

This time, it was off to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Summer Conference, hence to be known at the SCBWISCXYZ.

The SCBWI is the largest group of children's book writers and illustrators in the world, with over 22,000 members. I've been going to the conference for 14ish years, starting from before I was published. Now I attend as a Board Member and faculty. (I know! I can't believe it either.)

The night before the conference kicks off there's a faculty dinner. It's always fun to mingle and mash, although poor Peepy kept getting photobombed. Yes, she is that popular.

Jay Asher and Cecil Yung, and Ilene Cooper and Julie Straus-Gabel, jumped into Peepy's shot . . .

Sara Rutenberg looked refreshed as the conference first got underway . . .

Aaron Becker finally got his photo taken with his favorite Peep . . .

But then, wanting more, he photobombed her with Megan McDonald and agent Jen Rofe, and then Arthur Levine and Martha Brokenbough did, too . . .

The next day was the March of the Faculty, where we went on stage and introduced ourselves to the 12 million-ish conference attendees . . .

Opening keynoter Meg Rosoff was AMAZING . . .

Agent Andrea Penfold baked cookies for Peepy, and Golden Kite winner Tim Federle paid his repsect(s) to her . . .

Then Peepy was photobombed AGAIN, this time by Tim, Newbery winner Linda Sue Park and Jen, AND Newbery winner Susan Patron, Sonya Sones and SCBWI Queen, Lin Oliver . . .

Speaking of Lin, she did a marvelous job (as always) hosting the conference, along with Stephen Mooser (hidden) . . .

Perks of Being a Wallflower author/director Stephen Chobosky couldn't wait to meet Peepy, and then jumped into her shot with Jay Asher . . .

I had a book for Stephen to sign, but didn't feel like trudging all the way up to my room to get it. So I asked him to sign a slip of paper, and he did . . .

Not to brag, but I have the best students. If you don't believe me, look . . .

Every year for the past 246 years, my editor, Arthur Levine and I have a conference lunch . . .

The food fest continued with dinner with Linda Sue Park (looking small because we hadn't added water yet) and her editor Dinah Stevenson . . .

We love looking at the illustrator portfolios. While the judging took place, EB Lewis photobombed Peepy, while Arthur photobombed EB . . .

Of course, Marla Frazee and others industry insiders had to join in . . .

At the grand gala there was plenty of food and fun . . .

Lobby photobombing looks like this -- with Sara Etienne, Ken Min, Michael Reisman and Bob Boyle, Salina Yoon, Jen Rofe, Jamie Weiss Chilton and more . . .

Later, during the multi-day conference, Peepy was still being photobombed wherever she went. Like from Newbery-er Cynthia Kadohata, and Ed Massesa, and who's that? Oh, JUDY BLUME (!!!) . . .

It continued with Ruth Bradshaw and Dan Santat, and Stephen Mooser . . .

More? Yes. Paul O. Zelinsky, Eugene Yelchin and Laurent Linn . . .

Oh hello, it's three Asian American authors, one Peep, this blogger, and two Newbery winners . . .

After the conference, there was a SCBWI Board of Advisors meeting. Want to know what goes on behind closed doors? This . . .

(That's right. Ellen Hopkins.)

New board member, Laurie Halse Anderson, misbehaved, too . . .

Judy Blume couldn't stop photobombing, and editor Bonnie Bader was just getting started . . .

It was all too much for Sara Rutenberg . . .

And at last, Peter Brown, who had been stalking Peepy throughout the entire conference, finally got his photo taken with her . . .

The stress of all the photobombs made Peepy wish for calm. So we headed to Hawaii just in time for two hurricanes . . .

Anticipating everything being closed, we stocked up on food . . .

The hurricanes turned into storms, which later turned into beautiful weather . . .

Still, the stocking up on food continued like poke and grilled garlic shrimp, and bbq, and . . .

We visited the Palace and ground, twice . . .

There was this . . .

Look! It's the Hawaii State Library!!!! (We LOVE libraries. Aloha, Suzanne!)

Aloha, beaches!!!

The food fest continued . . .

Mmmmmm . . . shave ice!!! In my American Girl books, Kanani's family owns a shave ice/bakery/candy store!

Yes, I walked on lava, plus got to see the #1 Hawaiian Monk Seal expert in the world, Dr. Charles Littnan --- We met when I wrote about the monk seals in the Kanani books . . .
. . .

Um, more food . . .

More beach . . .

More fun . . .

Aloha also means good-bye . . .

However, soon it was time to go home, do laundry, and then head back to New York . . .

Why were we there? For Scholastic Teacher Week, of course! We were on a diversity panel. Peepy met a friend in the Green Room before we went on, and I got to reconnect with panelists Varian Johnson and Sharon Robinson, and moderator Cheryl Klein (with Peepy) . . .

We were joined by by Sonia Manzano, Maria from Sesame Street!

There was a book signing, and Scholastic Store General Manager Michael Strouse arranged for the Teacher Week bags to match my dress . . .

After, it was lunch with my agent, Jodi Reamer. Dan Santat couldn't join us, but the series he illustrated did . . .

Of course, we had to eat, right?

Later, it was off to see Cabaret . . .

After, Alan Cumming, who starred in the show, along with Michelle Williams, insisted on having his photo taken with Peepy . . .

We ended our NY jaunt with a trip to Juniors. I couldn't decide on the cheesecake or chocolate cake, so I got both . . .

Then it was back home to collapse.

Speaking of collapsing, I was going to add hot links to everyone's names and such. However, the last time I did it (and it took HOURS) for whatever reason the links didn't work. So this time, I'm not doing it to see if maybe they will work magically.

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Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Lisa's Totally Exciting and Interesting July Blog

lisayee — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 17:28:06 GMT

Whoa! How did it get to be July already? Didn't we just have June blog?

Recently, National Public Radio asked me to come up with books involving travel for their Summer "Book Your Trip" series . . .

You can read my recommendations and others HERE. (Click on the transportation icons to read about books that have that mode of transportation as part of its storyline.)

LOOK! Here are some of the books I wrote about . . .

Some of you may remember when I did this by accident . . .

(I accidentally replaced ALL the blank spaces in my novel with the word "long." And then, in a panic, I hit "save.)

Well, brilliant young thespian Finn Davis did a reading of it -- and it's ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!!!!

You can LISTEN HERE. (I couldn't figure out how to embed audio, so I made a video of his recording, and my piggy friend, Kevin Bacon, helped me.)

Because St. Louis is awesome, Peepy and I went back specifically to visit TWO amazing places. The first was the newly renovated St. Louis Public Library.

The last time I was at the library, it was for the Read It Forward program, and Absolutely Maybe was the featured book! Here's a look back . . .

This time, I was totally discombobulated because when I entered the Teen Room, I saw a giant poster of one of my books!

Of course, Peepy wanted to talk to Nathan Schubert who works in the Teen Lounge . . .

Look! The illustrator of my Bobby books, my lunch pal Dan Santat did this . . .

And here's more library . . .

Now, if you visit St. Louis, Ted Drewes has the most awesome frozen custard, isn't that right, Katie Wools? (I had a "concrete" of lemon custard mixed with pineapple and Heath Bar.)

On our way to our second YOU-HAVE-TO-VISIT-THIS-PLACE, we passed a hat shop . . .

Then it was time for CITY MUSEUM!!!

It's an old shoelace factory, and they still manufacture them . . .

I've been there twice before as seen here and here . . .

But wanted to go back again. Here's why . . .

So many salvaged and saved parts of St. Louis have retired here . . .

Bugs!!! Robots!!!!

Carny stuff!!! Kitsch stuff!!!

Ooooh, you can make things . . .

This awesome City Museum art-person is also a member of the League of Lady Arm Wrestlers. How cool is that?

If you like exploring and climbing, you can hike up and then go down a TEN STORY SLIDE IN THE DARK . . .

And climb/crawl up wire tunnels up to the sky where the airplanes fly and giant bugs live . . .

See? What did I say? Awesome, isn't it?

Later, we ventured over to The Loop . . .

We bought art from a vending machine for $5. (The last time I bought vending machine art was HERE where I also had the best BBQ of my life). We also admired the cake(s) that are all over and decorated for the city's 250th birthday and had a local root beer . . .

Dinner was at Chuck Berry's Blueberry Hill. He was jealous of Peepy . . .

This was dessert . . .

And so was this . . .

(The iron burn in the carpet was already in the hotel room. The GOOEY BUTTER CAKE was not. However, the burn mark remains. The Gooey Buttercake is now gone.)

Now, lest you think my life is all fun and games, I have oodles of important meetings I must attend. For example, my agent, Jodi Reamer, and I have an Annual Summit at an undisclosed location . . .

Here's proof of prior Annual Summits, here and here and here and . . . well you get it.

This time, as always, we discussed work, and did math, and refused to fun since we are all business. . .

We also eat and take selfies, for business reasons, of course . . .

Who did I eat those scallops with? (Besides my agent?) Why, Julie Strauss-Gabel, that's who. Julie is John Green's editor and I'm only mentioning that because of shameless name dropping . . .

(Here's a way back interview I did with John Green before he became John Green.)

But back to food. Here's a lovely shot of Julie, Jodi and me before we had a slug-fest over the chocolate cake in the pink princess treasure chest . . .

Speaking of eating, Mo Willems was in town via Paris where he currently resides. Peepy's been to Paris, too. Here she is on the set of Hugo . . .

Oops. Digression. Back to Mo. He was heading to ALA. However, between flights he met Bob Boyle and Tom Warburton and Moi for sushi . . .

Speaking of character development (pretend we were), here's a short video of me babbling about how I create my characters for my books. CLICK HERE.

Look! Leigh Bardugo had a book launch party for Ruin and Rising<.a> at one of my fave indies, The Last Bookstore.Check this out.

And here's the party!

There was a hobnob of authors present. Here's me and Victoria Forester, and me and Michael Reisman, and me and Lissa Price . . .

And finally, a tearful farewell to Scholastic's own John Mason, director of library and educational marketing. I first met John in 2003 when my novel Millicent Min, Girl Genius debuted, and he was with me through the publication of all eight of my Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic novels. Happy retirement, John. You will be missed . . .

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Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

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...

Lisa's Super Fancy and Smart June Blog

lisayee — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 17:16:18 GMT

Want an agent? Want to know how I got my Writers House agent, Jodi Reamer . . .

Here's how.

So then, not long ago I was in NY . . .

Of course, one of the places "Peepy I visited was the New York Public Library . . .

Luckily, Peepy did not get lost this time. Instead, we marveled over THE ABCs of IT: WHY CHILDREN'S BOOK MATTER exhibit . . .

Here's what we saw . . .

We interrupt this tour to bring you our newest pillow. It's Alice in Wonderland. I know! I got it here.

And now back to the NY Public Library . . .

You should go. Hurry. It ends September 26, 2014.

Last month we celebrated the 95th Birthday of Children's Book Week . . .

Last year, I was honored to host the Awards Gala, as blogged here.

(Above: With Henry Winkler)

This year, our National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Kate DiCamillo hosted. Here's a video I made to help celebrate. BTW, that dragon head on my head was custom made for me by a fan!

Then a couple weeks ago I visited Northampton, MA, where oodles of children's book people work their magic. Don't believe me? Here's proof of residency . . .

National Book Award winner, the beautiful and talented Jeanne Birdsall . . .

Pssst ... fun fact. Jeanne moonlights as my body guard. Yes! She is the captan of Team Yee, and a couple-ish years ago, when a sketchy person tried to get to Peepy, she intervened and saved us!

TED Talk sensation, author/illustrator Jarrett Krozsocka and I work out on the stair machine . . .

If you haven't seen Jarrett's Ted Talk yet, you must. Here it is.

Bestselling author Angela DiTerlizzi (practically) made this Very Hungry Caterpillar susho for me . . .

Newbery Honoree Grace Lin shows me how to take selfies . . .

Author/gallery owner and Northampton Poet Laureate Richard Michelson offers to give me all the Dr. Suess art for free . . .

Wonderful YA/MG author Ellen Wittlinger and I eat breakfast for lunch . . .

Later, I stopped by the Montague Bookmill. Love that place! For you booklovers, here are more photos from my last visit.jeann

Then it was off to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Artwhy ch . . .

Oh, and lest you think I only eat with authors on the East Coast, not true. Look . . . here I am having lunch with international bestseller Lissa Price . . .

And this year's Thurber House Children's Writer-in-Residence Kristen Kittscher . . .

Look! It's Newbery Committeer Rob Bittner (he's my Guardian Angel), with Nathan Pachal and overly way too too prolific author Andrew Smith . . .

Fib much? It's sushi time with THE 14 FIBS OF GREGORY K. author, Greg Pincus!

Even though California Bookstore Day was last month, I think it should be everyday, don't you? Here's Moi with Once Upon A Time owner Maureen Palacios . . .

A few days ago, I saw the play Death of an Author . . . and survived!

Oops! If you missed the book launch party for Dan Santat's THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE, don't despair, you can still get the book at your local bookstore!

And finally, some sad news. My American Girl doll Ivy Ling will be retired. The good news is that you will still be able to get the book, GOOD LUCK, IVY from American Girl.

(BTW, I am aware that I am wore the same dress to the play and to the book launch and in the photo above. It's not like I don't have anything else to wear, but I don't have anything else to wear.)

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Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

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...

A Rambling Rant on Race and Writing

lisayee — Sat, 03 May 2014 15:22:40 GMT

It started with THIS. A call to the public to post why we need diverse books. So I did this and posted it on Twitter and Facebook . . .

Then some of my Facebook friends asked me a question. And I posted that, too.

I was heartened to see how passionately people felt about this subject, and how many shared their thoughts. And now, here are mine . . .

As one of my editors, Cheryl Klein, noted in the Facebook comments, I have written outside my race multiple times in my novels Absolutely Maybe, Warp Speed, and others. Hell, I have written outside my religion, my sex, my sexual orientation, my political beliefs, my geographical upbringing, my height. Why? Because I am an artist, not a autobiographist (is that a word?).

I am not an Asian author. I am an author who is Asian. There is a difference.

I believe that it is every artist's right to determine what they create and not have that dictated to them. I've heard that I've let readers down because my books were not "Asian enough." WTF? One critic wrote that I had missed the mark because my middle school characters did not discuss race. Um. No.

Being Asian doesn't make you an expert on all things Asian, any more than researching does. I've written three books for American Girl featuring Asian Americans. Each time, we also consulted with experts on things like Chinese school (because even though I am Chinese, I never went to one).

You have to get it right -- whether you are writing about your race or someone else's. This also goes for religion, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, ownership of particular breed of dog, everything. There is nothing more insulting to a reader than if a writer gets things wrong. You will instantly lose your credibility, and your readers will abandon you, and some people will think you are stupid.

It is arrogant to think that just because you sympathize with someone or something, that makes you an expert.

Don't automatically assume you know exactly how someone else feels. Because you don't, any more than I would know exactly how a LGBTQ kid or a Holocaust survivor feels.

Do not presume -- but do dare to imagine.

And then talk to people. Talk to people who know more than you do about your subject. Talk to them in person. On the phone. Through emails and letters. Googling is not enough.

As for needing/wanting more authors who are POC (and by the way, I hate that phrase - People of Color, but I suppose it's not as bad as what it really means -- PWANW a.k.a. People Who Are Not White) yes. Yes, we need them. Yes.

Why? Because there is an innate knowledge that one can gain from experience, from living a life one writes about. But more than that, look at this. Look at this again. And again. This upsets me . . .

When I was growing up, there were no Asian American authors I knew of. I had no role models. There were no books about people like me, a third generation Chinese American girl growing up in the suburbs. The most famous Asian American I knew of was Connie Chung, and she wasn't a writer. So, yes, we do need more POC authors, and more LGBTQ authors, and more diverse authors.

That's not to say that one cannot write outside their race/ethnicity, but it is to say that the numbers of POC authors are dismal. We need to encourage publishers, book buyers, readers, to be less exclusive and more inclusive.

Phew. This has been a long rambling rant, and I've probably contradicted myself several times over. If so, it's because I am still trying to figure things out.

So, can a person write outside their race/ethnicity?

Yes.

Do we need more POC authors?

Yes.

And I done with my rant about race and writing?

Yes. For now.

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

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...

A Spring Explosion from Peepy, James Thurber and Moi

lisayee — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 17:50:12 GMT

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of staying at Thurber House, where humorist/author James Thurber spent part of his youth.

It was a homecoming of sorts for me, having been the 2007 Thurber House Children's Writer-in-Residence. It was so wonderful to see my old friends (as in I've known them for seven years) Pat Shannon and Meg Brown . . .

I stayed in the attic apartment, and since Pat had gifted me with a pack of purple marshmallow Peeps, it was only fitting that I blow them up in the microwave -- with an assist from James Thurber and Peepy . . .

But first, this. Near Thurber House, in the Germantown section for Columbus, OH, is a most marvelous used/new bookstore, The Book Loft.

And here's Thurber House . . .

Here are some of the authors who have visited Thurber House . . .

Now, in honor of Easter Peeps and Spring and whatnot, there's this . . .

Want to see a video of Peeps being blown up in the microwave? Here's one!

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Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

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 Ultimate Children's/YA Challenge -- The Reamer Rib-Off

lisayee — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 17:56:01 GMT

I was in New York recently, and so was my pal and BOBBY illustrator Dan Santat. Our mutual Writers House agent, Jodi Reamer, has dined with us on many occasions . . .

Only this time would be different. Yes! Jodi set up a mega meat challenge -- The Reamer Rib-Off.

Dan vs. Alec Shane (Jodi's assistant and junior agent). I was there as a celebrity judge. Well, okay, I was there as a judge. Also in attendance as referee was editor Connie Hsu, who just left Little Brown and is now at Roaring Brook. What we witnessed was nothing short of amazing (and gross). So I thought that pictures would tell the story better than words . . .

(Alec Shane)

(Dan Santat)

At one point the chefs and staff at Blue Smoke came out to cheer the carnivores on . . .

It kept going . . .

Dan won with a total of TWENTY THREE ribs. Alec weighed in at NINTEEN . . .

There were prizes . . . .

And like a true champion, when the Reamer Rib-Off was over, Dan had dessert . . .

===========================

Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

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Lisa Yee

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March Blogged-ness, Here Now!!!!

lisayee — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:25:34 GMT

So then, when last we blogged this was going on . . .

Since then, lots has been happening, only we've been . . .

1) Too busy
2) Too lazy
3) Too sleepy
4) Too, too

and therefore, have fallen off the blog wagon.

However, we're back!

Okay, why? What's up, you ask, or I ask, or someone asks. Well, here's the haps . . .

Recently, Peepy and flew into San Jose . . .

And visited Christa McAuliffe School . . .

Principal Rick Yee (no relation to Moi that I know of), was a good sport. Plus, I tricked him. And he read the part of Stanford Wong onstage with me as we acted out a library/food scene from Millicent Min, Girl Genius . . .

I had such a blast and it's fair to say that Peepy did too . . .

The weather was FREEZING back in Los Angeles. Well, it was in the 60s. So when I met up with my American Girl editor, Jennifer Hirsch, to hike up to the Griffith Park Observatory, I wore a coat. She's from Wisconsin, so to her the weather was lovely . . .

It's aways great visiting the Observatory, and part of Absolutely Maybe takes place there!

On Read Across America Day, Peepy and I headed over to Temple City's Emperor Elementary were we were warmly welcomed . . .

My parents had joined me that evening, and I was so glad because uber librarian Tim Rodriguez surprised me with a Congressional Recognition!!!

Who's that at the Women's Business Summit? Why, it's me (Peepy's sleeping) and Pasadena Advertising's Suzanne Marks. I discussed social media and math. But only one of those.

Recently, I chaperoned the South Pasadena High School Academic Decathlon Team to California State Finals in Sacramento. They took 7th place out of over 500 teams. Not bad for a school who attended their first competition just last year.

While in Sacramento, I got to do some sightseeing in Locke, the historical Chinatown area . . .

And back home, food-wise, this happened . . .

Speaking of Daylight Savings Time (I have still not recovered from it), these illustrators have adjusted nicely and are able to stay awake when sharing a meal with me . . .

But not these guys . . .

(That's Dan Santat, and that's Bob Boyle.)

And this is Bob Boyle and Dan Santat and me starring in an Oscar-caliber mini-movie-documentary-about-Bob-Boyle!!!

Look! Who's that? Why, it's me being a dragon or a reader or an author or someone.

Why? Because voting is starting for the Children's Choice Book Awards!!! (I'll post the video I did for this year's Children's Book Week, later.)

In the meantime . . . CLICK HERE NOW!!!! and be part of Children's Book Week!!!

===========================

Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Super Fancy End-of-2013 Blog-o-Rama

lisayee — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 19:14:38 GMT

Wheeeeee!!!!

Well, hello welcome to our annual End-of-Year-Blog-Round-Up!!!!.

Before we begin rounding up (er, technically, wouldn't it be rounding down?) the year, here are a couple of TOTALLY AWESOME things that happened in December:

Firstly, NRP. That's right. National Public Radio. My favorite radio station.

I was sooooo thrilled when they (they being NPR) asked me to come up with a list of my favorite children's books of 2013.

I was especially thrilled because I LOVE NPR. I've even been on it before! Here's uber librarian Nancy Pearl naming her favorite first lines . . . and guess whose book is among them? (Hint: Millicent Min, Girl Genius).

(Above: That's Nancy Pearl and me. Um. I hadn't changed my PhotoBooth photo thingy setting and thought I was taking a single photo, not four. Then I figured it out.)

So anyway, it was really, really, really hard to pick my favs of the year because there were so many. But ultimately, I chose books that gave me that oomph feeling when I read them. Here are a few of my favorites of 2013 . . .

Here's NPR's blog where the book selectors, including Moi, explain how we made our picks.

And here are the Best Books of 2013. To see/read about my choices, roll your arrow-thing over the book covers on this link.

Oh! Oh! Talking about great books, I also went to my pal Marla Frazee's book launch at Vroman's for God Got A Dog . . .

In other December fun-tastic stuff, I was invited by Qlovi and the Children's Book Council to participate in an INCREDIBLE reading event. Here are the Qlovi people. (I know! They are so smart, young and attractive. These are REAL people, not models, although they could be models.)

Anyway, a dozen authors were selected to read and talk with 12,731,890 (more or maybe a little more or a little less) students from all around the United States LIVE via Google+ Hangout.

Okay, so I was a bit nervous as you can imagine. Not about taking live to 12,284,193 students, but about the whole internet camera computer thing. As you know, I have the power to bring down the interwebs . . .

So the kind Qlovi folk sent me a really nice video camera . . .

And after several tests, I realized the best position for it was on top of Lucky Charms . . .

But I am so used to looking at my Mac Photo Booth camera, I had to give myself a reminder to look at the Lucky Charms camera when I was on talking . . .

It was sooooooo fun! I didn't break the interwebs. No one got hurt. And I made lots of new friends all over the United States. I read from Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time . . .

Here are some of kids I spoke to . . .

And now . . . the round-up/down of 2013. It was a really busy year, so it was hard to pick just one blog per month. But here we go . . .

January's blog pick covered our visit to Scotland where we hung out where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, met the Harry Coo, and explored Monty Python territory!

One of February's blogs was a follow up to our space shuttle Endeavor adventures. Peepy got to hang out with astronauts!

March saw our visit to Singapore and it's glorious sights, a spectacular bookstore, and food, food, food!!!!

April's blog" chronicled our trip to Dubai and a desert safari . . .

May was a celebration for Children's Book Week, and we were honored to host the Children's Choice Book Awards. This blog takes you behind-the-scenes with a who's who in children's literature . . .

In June we met up with our editor and agent in NYC, plus hung out with a Rolling Stone writer to explore good eats in Queens . . .

July was a lazy month, and we revisited the best prank ever played on us . . .

August witnessed the annual collision of authors and agent editors . . .

In September we snuck into Amulet creator Kazu Kibuishi's studio . . .

October was a mix of Einstein, math, donuts, friends and a new newspaper . . .

November took us to Orlando and St. Louis and an incredible museum . . .

December (go back to top)

WISHING ALL OF YOU A FABULOUS 2014!!!!!!

===========================

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Check out Lisa's online newspaper, STET. It's your daily dose of books and bad dogs and outer space stuff!!! CLICK HERE for STET.

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Lisa's Super Fancy and Thankful Blog!!!!! (November Edition)

lisayee — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 18:28:20 GMT

Yes, it's that time of year again! November's Super Fancy and Thankful November Blog!!!

So then, let's be bold (lazy) work without an outline, shall we? First up, but not necessarily in chronological order, I went to St. Louis to speak/teach at the Missouri SCBWI. However, we got purposely sidetracked and ended up at the most marvelous City Museum!

The museum is a defunct shoelace factory that was artfully re-imagined . . .

Speaking of artists, here's my lunch pal, author/illustrator (and draw-er of my Bobby books) Dan Santat crawling gracefully through one of the many tunnels and tubes at City Museum . . .

And here we are swinging from ropes, participating in the ball pit, and enjoying a peaceful train ride . . .

Then there was this . . .

There's even a ferris wheel on the top of the building . . . oh! Look what I spy. Why, it's Katie Wools, illustrator and Lisa/Dan wrangler . . .

So then, since we had a dinner to attend, we ate GOOEY BUTTER CAKE. Nom nom nom, this local favorite isawesomelywildlygood!!!!

Hello? Who's that? Why, it's Delacorte executive editor Krista Marino and author Matt de la Pena at dinner, wondering where their GOOEY BUTTER CAKE is . . .

The next day, it was off to the conference. Boom! Boom! Boom! There was a high school marching band competition happening at the same time. Same place.

But did that bother my students? Nope. They looked so happy . . . until I made them revise and revise and revise and revise. Well, I was teaching a class in revision, after all.

What's that? Lunch. Dan made a lemon bar chocolate brownie sandwich. Yum.

Soon it was time for my closing keynote speech. Awww, all these people raised their hands when I asked, "Who would give me 70% of the payout if you won the lottery?"

The next day, I taught a master class on how to write Bad Guys and Bullies. However, this Nice Gal, Rodeen Literary Management agent, Lori Kilkelly, brought me . . . MY VERY OWN GOOEY BUTTER CAKE!!!!

Sigh. Because I refused to share, my students reacted badly . . .

Later, it was deep dish pizza at Pi Pizzeria with Dan and Katie and Krista and author Jody Feldman and Moi . . .

Later, we checked out Chuck Berry's Blueberry Hill which looked sort of like my office . . .

Before the airport, we hit (as in pigged out) Ted Drewes for frozen custard . . .

When it came time to head home, we saw a TV celeb -- the man with the baseball cap. Hint: One of the dads from Modern Family, the one who sells real estate, Phil.

Back in Los Angelese, it was all about Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986 . . .

We admired the graffiti in the LA Arts District . . .

And we so totally admired our Mexican Chocolate Pie from The Pie Hole . . .

That's not the only great food we had in November. Look, it's a bunch of authors and illustrators having brunch (you know who you are) . . .

Hey! Did you get your Harry Potter postage stamps yet? I did, They're really cool, but controversial . . .

What? Yes, that's right! We also visited Orlando, Florida for the FAME conference. Scholastic Book Fairs sponsored our visit . . .

I gave a couple of presentations . . .

. . . while Peepy and teacher Mike Cohen disagreed over what to eat for lunch -- salad or GOOEY BUTTER CAKE . . .

And then last weekend, I got to attend my pal Ann Whitford Paul's book party at local indie Skylight Books. Here's Ann with 'Twas The Late Night Before Christmas illustrator, Nancy Hayashi . . .

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!!!

(The lovely fruitful turkey created by editor Elizabeth Law's mom, Betty.)

===========================

Autographed books make delightful holiday gifts. You can order yours from Vroman's and tell them who you'd like Lisa Yee to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

Check out Lisa's online newspaper, STET. It's your daily dose of books and bad dogs and outer space stuff!!! CLICK HERE for STET.

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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October's Super Fancy Happenings and Happy Things

lisayee — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 18:17:34 GMT

Whoa. It's been a looooong time since my last blog. I've been busy doing this and that, and this . . .

Yes, that's STET my fascinating and free daily online newspaper!!!! CLICK HERE to read it, or to subscribe. Did I mention that it's fascinating and free?

Okay, so I'm thinking that instead of blogging weekly, like I used to do, or sporadically, like I've been doing, I'm going to try a monthly blog, beginning with this one!

Lisa, what else have you done this month, you ask. Or he/she/they ask. Well, how about this -- I got to spend a Hollywood afternoon with my east coast friend, author/journalist Sarah Darer Littman . . .

Here's what else has been going on . . .

(We were on a Comic-Con panel a couple years ago talking about Warp Speed.)

Over at Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena, I spoke to a group of students from Chandler School . . .

While digging through my old things, I unearthed this memo from ABC, when I used to be a writer/producer at Disney, and this Red Lobster drink menu, when I was a menu writer . . .

Speaking of menus, Greg Pincus and I celebrated his debut novel with a custom-made donut from Donut Friend. Oink* . . .

(*The oink is referring to the donuts, not Greg.)

Later, I attended Greg's uber fun book launch party at Flintridge Bookstore. (It's so wonderful to see the bookstore doing so well, especially after this happened a few years ago.) Here's the party . . .

Um. Because of all the donuts and cookies and pie, Peepy and I had to go to the dentist . . .

Being at the dentist was not nearly as fun as a four-and-one-half-hour opera. Seriously, Einstein On The Beach was a blast! Well, after the first half hour when I was soooo confused and couldn't figure out what was happening. Then, when I just went with it, I LOVED it . . .

This was my favorite part. A women repeating this endlessly . . .

You'll have to trust me. It was mesmerizing. But it's one of those things you have to experience in person.

I will be the first to say, I love this place. It's the Last Bookstore. Beautiful, don't you think? (We've been there before.)

In honor of Halloween, here's a Peep battle . . . Pumpkin vs. Ghost . . .

(To see more Peep explosions, here's a video we made.)

Why, look! My fav Halloween candy . . .

And finally -- La la la la . . . what's that? Huh? Really? YES! It's the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of my first novel. (Squeee!!!)

(Pretend the is a cake for the Millicent Min, Girl Genius.)

Since October 2003 when Millicent Min first came out, I've written nine more books . . .

It's been a wonderful decade, not only writing, but traveling all across the United States and overseas, to talk about my favorite subject -- books!

Thank you to everyone at Scholastic, especially Arthur Levine for discovering me, and being my friend and editor. And Cheryl Klein, my other editor, you are amazing . . .

(Here are Arthur and Cheryl discussing one of my books.)

Thank you to Jennifer Hirsch, my American Girl editor, seen here hard at work when we were researching for the Kanani books in Hawaii . . .

Here's a shout out to Jodi Reamer, my agent, seen here hanging around her Writers House office . . .

(Or maybe it was at one of our "annual summits.")

And finally, to my readers -- a heartfelt thank you for all your support. It's been a wonderful ten years, and I look forward to the next ten.

===========================

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

Want to check out Lisa's website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Sneaking a Peek at Kazu Kibuishi's Studio

lisayee — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:39:10 GMT

I love seeing where creative people work, don't you?

This week I had lunch with these bookish folk(s) . . .

That's Kris Vreeland from that glorious children's indie bookstore Once Upon a Time, my lunch buddy Dan Santat (he of the 87,413 books out each year), and Kazu Kibuishi creator of Amulet and the illustrator of the 15th Anniversary HARRY POTTER books.

(Above: During lunch Kazu drew a picture for my daughter).

Later, we visited Kazu's studio. His workspace is so much less, er, dense than mine. Let's compare, shall we?

His space . . .

My space . . .

(Disclaimer: It looks different now. Um, less creatively cluttered.)

Disclaimer: Kazu has a real staff and I have an imaginary one. Hence the discrepancy of size between our work environs. Here's more of his studio . . .

Why, look! It's Kazu with HARRY POTTER editor Arthur Levine (He, that would be Arthur, not Kazu, is my editor, too!)

Put all seven of the books together and the spines look like this . . .

Psst. Wanna know a secret? Kazu has drawn people who worked on the series and hidden them on the book covers. I won't reveal who/where everyone is. However, I will point out Ms. Rowling's cameo . . .

Look! It's J.K. Rowling's workspace . . . well, it was at one time . . .

To see more photos of where J.K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter, and to witness me defacing the bathroom there, and to behold an autographed J.K. Rowling novel that is all mine, CLICK HERE .

(Above: This is a cow I met in Scotland. It has nothing to do with creative spaces, though it might argue otherwise.)

Okay! Back to the United States. Before we left Kazu's studio, he signed books for Once Upon A Time customers . . .

Speaking of signing books, my pal Sonya Sones has been touring and touting the release of her latest, greatest YA, To Be Perfectly Honest . . .

Did you know that Sonya is also a fabulous photographer? If you don't believe me, just look HERE! And to see my collection of famous author and illustrators with my Peep, click HERE!!

Do you want to be smarter and more informed than the next person you see? Then read STET, my daily books and bad dogs and bodacious stuff newspaper! (And, if you opt for a free subscription, your IQ will automatically be raised by 10 points. Offer good will supplies last. Not available in some locations.)

===========================

Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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James Thurber and Me, and (Maybe) You, Too

lisayee — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:11:30 GMT

Lisa. Lisa, where have you been everyone’s asking. (Okay, no one asked that, but pretend they have.)

Well, I’ve been creating STET, my totally free and mucho interesting daily online kidlit/bookish/outer space/bad dogs newspaper . . .

(To see STET or subscribe, CLICK HERE.)

Plus, I have been thinking, One Day I will . . . post a new blog . . .

(This cool art installation was leaning up against Vroman’s, the closest indie bookstore to my house.)

Speaking of indies, this week I went to a new one. (It’s not actually new, it’s been around for 1-1/2 years, but it was new to me). It’s called The Pop-Hop . . .

Look what I bought, James Thurber’s Alarms and Diversions . . .

I am a HUGE James Thurber fan. Here are some of my books. Er, some of his books, that are mine . . .

So a few years ago when I was selected to be the Thurber House Children’s Writer-in-Residence, I was beyond thrilled.

One month of living in James Thurber’s childhood home in Columbus, OH, writing and reading, and writing and teaching, and writing and writing and writing.

And now . . . in honor of Thurber and writers everywhere, I am revisiting past blogs about me and James (Thurber would want me to call him that) and posting it here. (The links will take you to the blogs and photos that I wrote/took while living at Thurber House.)

Ready? Set . . . Thurber!!!

I remember when I got the call. It was sooooo exciting! (Squeee.)

The historic house, though haunted, was (and still is) TOTALLY cool . . .

(That's me and my friend Julia deVillers. If you have a friend visit you, Thurber House rules are that you must wear matching outfits at all times.)

I had my own swell two-bedroom apartment in the attic where the bed fell on James's father--AND the run of rest of the house at night! (Thurber House is a museum and literary center during the day.)

(Above: James Thurber's room where James and I wrote, though not at the same time)

The rumors about the house being haunted are true. In fact, when I was interviewed, I was asked, “Are you afraid of ghosts.” (I am not.)

Here’s the (friendly) ghost, or at lease the one who visited me. (Actually, I did have a real ghost experience. But I’m not ready to talk about that.)

I’m not saying that the ghost pushed me, but when I went running there was an incident. Yes, I stopped a bad fall using my face and end up in the hospital looking like a delightful fall color palatte . . .

(The last time I told my kids I was going to go running, they told me to wear a helmet.)

Back at Thurber House, I was missing my dog, but I felt better when I sat in the garden among Thurber’s dogs . . .

The the hospitality was incredible. There are lots of friendly people in Columbus, OH.

The young Thurber writing camp authors were uber enthusiastic . . .

(Ummm . . . it took us a while to figure out the screen, but once that was up, we really got going!)

At the Dowd Center. the kids will amazed me with their creativity. Later, Scholastic donated 500 books to their library . . .

I loved walking around town (not running) and taking in the sights. There's art everywhere! . . .

The Columbus Main Branch was only a couple blocks away . . .

And the award-winning Worthington Libraries are a book-lovers dream . . .

I had to watch Peepy at all times, so she wouldn’t get in dangerous situations . . .

These amazing women ran Thurber House during my tenure . . .

The men weren’t so bad either . . .

Look! It’s the stairs to the private writer's apartment . . .

And the official plaque . . .

If you are a children’s book author, or know one, tell them about THIS. (It’s how you/they can apply for the 2014 residency.)

I envy the next Thurber House Children’s Writer-in-Residence. You are in for a wonderful adventure!

===========================

Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Little Lost Peep

lisayee — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 17:26:08 GMT

For our next Sporadic Summer Blog, we board our time machine and head back to visit a blog that ran in November 2008.

Why? Because zillions (or four) of people have been asking me, "Where's Peepy? We haven't seen her in a while." And the answer is, she is at the spa. However, millions (or three) people have also asked, "Have you ever lost Peepy?"

Well. Yes. Here's what happened, way back then . . .

Here is the last know photo of Peepy before she went missing at the New York Public Library last week . . .

I didn't discover her gone until after I met up with author Eric Luper and Betsy Bird, Ultimate Blogger and Effervescent Children's Librarian. Betsy had kindly offered to let us see the BRAND NEW Children's Center before it was open to the public. Peepy was most pleased to be invited, too.

Here's Betsy . . .

But when I went into my bag to bring Peepy out . . . SHE WAS GONE. MISSING. VANISHED!!!!

I was so sad. I wanted to cry. Really.

Still, I went ahead and saw the most marvelous children's library, but honestly, I was missing my Peep the entire time knowing how much she would have loved this . . .

I had to stop and reflect at the display case that housed the Original Winnie-the-Pooh, since I myself have the second largest collection of Poohs in America. (Mine are housed in the White River Pooh Museum in Canada.)

Pooh was not there. And Peepy was not with me. I was depressed.

After our tour, I told Eric that even though it was raining and dark, I JUST HAD TO FIND MY PEEP. She could be ANYWHERE, but I HAD TO TRY.

So we raced back out to the lions who stand guard outside the library . . . but no Peep.

Recently, when I read Eric Luper's blog, author Greg Neri posted this . . .

It was a false lead.

Anyway, Eric and I ran up the stairs into the Main Entrance of the Library and LO and BEHOLD and OMG!!!!

There, in the grip of a Security Guard was some bright YELLOW THING. He was squeezing it over and over and over again . . . like it was a HAND EXERCISER!!!

I shouted (in the library), "THAT'S MY PEEP! YOU HAVE PEEPY!!! THAT'S MY PEEPY!!!"

I think I scared him. But I didn't care. It was PEEPS!!!!

The guard, the nice one holding her, not the mean one who was using her for exercise equipment, said that someone found her leaning against a wall. (Thank you kind stranger for rescuing Peepy.)

I was soooooo relieved. I always knew that the library was full of happy endings. And for Peep and Moi, it was just that.

(Peeps is refusing to say what happened. Whether I lost her, she ran away, was kidnapped, or whatnot. But I know I'll get it out of her eventually. Also, I must note that I now have a very humbled Peep.)

===========================

Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Where Authors and Agents and Editors and Illustrators Collide . . .

lisayee — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 17:41:47 GMT

Yoo hoo! Over here! Yes, it's Lisa's Sporadic Summer Blog. And if you don't believe me, here's the really expensive official logo . . .

So then, this event happens only once a year. Can you guess what it is? (Think. Think. Think. Think.) You are so smart! Yes, it's the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrator's Summer Conference. Hence to be known at the SCBWISC. (SCBWI is the largest group of children's authors and illustrators in the world. Over 23,000 members. Although, the summer conference is limited to about 1200.)

I have been going to the SCBWISC for 12 or 13 or 14 years. I can't recall, but what I do recall is this. The conference jump started my career. Prior to going, I had NO CLUE about the publishing industry. I had been pulled out of the slush pile by Arthur Levine, but was such a dope and didn't know that the odds of that were pretty slim.

At my first conference everyone was talking about Arthur and HARRY POTTER, which he edited. (Here's a J.K. Rowling quest we went on last winter.) I also learned that when an editor says they would like to see your book, you don't tell them, ". . . but I'm really busy."

And now, here we are, working on novel number eight!

Okay, we were actually having lunch, but we did talk about the novel.

Later we ran into Asian American authors!!!

(From left: Jo Whittemore, Lucy Liu, Emily Jiang and Cindy Pon.)

We also caught up with old friends like Jay Asher (he is is not Asian) . . .

(His book, 13 Reasons Why, is now in 14 trillion different languages. As opposed to 14 trillion of the same language.)

Squeee! It's talented Simon & Schuster art director Laurent Linn . . .

Hello, Richard Peck. Yes, that Richard Peck. The fabulous Newbery-winning Richard Peck . . .

We went to workshops like industry insider Emma Dryden's amazing Reinvention and Reimagination . . .

And one on sorting out the confusion of Royalty statements . . .

(I thought the statements were going to be things like, "Does this tiara make me look fat?")

The closing keynote was INCREDIBLE. It was given by my pal Jarrett Krosoczka, author/illustrator/radio host/cool dude. Not to brag, but I can spell his name without having to look it up. THAT'S how close we are.

Soon it was time to run around and get the keynote speakers and faculty autographs . . .

Jarrett is always happy to be near me . . .

And here is he, happy again at party a couple of years ago at the Washington Post that is now owned by Jeff Bezos -- like he doesn't have enough to to already . . .

(That's author/illustrator Loren Long looking sad with us. Why? Because)

Nice shoes! Caldecott-ian Marla Frazee wearing fancy clothes at the autograph party . . .

Lookit! It's Caldecott winner Paul O. Zelinsky (He has nice shoes, too. You'll have to trust me on that.)

Every year since authors were invented, agent Steve Malk has hosted his annual bash. Here's the invite. Behind it is CAA Headquarters a.k.a. the Death Star building . . .

We weren't supposed to take photos inside, so these aren't photos. Instead, they are highly realistic drawings . . .

(That's my lunch buddy Dan Santat with Marla Frazee.)

When it was time to go, the lights went out . . .

After the party, I headed to Canter's Deli with NY TIMES bestselling authors Ransom Riggs and Tahereh Mafi.

Right after Ransom's first novel was released, I interviewed him and watched him eat a sandwich. And now that novel is being made into a movie by Tim Burton -- how cool is that?).

(Above: Tahereh and Ransom marvel over the wonders of the iPhone, as Dan Santat hides under the table.)

We have one of these things in common:
1) All four of us can make a seven layer cake using three ingredients
2) All four of us have competed in Iron Man competitions and won
3) All four of us are represented by Jodi Reamer, from Writers House

To figure out the answer, add 127 + 4, then subtract 111, multiply by zero, and add 3.

Speaking of Jodi Reamer, from Writers House, I ventured into Beverly Hills for a meeting/candyfest . . .

During the conference I was slipped this note from a mom. (Her daughter was too shy to give it to me herself.) It made me sooooo happy!

For more about the conference, check out the official SCBWI Conference Blog.

After the conference, there was a SCBWI Board of Advisors meeting. I blurred out the faces of these board members because I forgot to ask them if I could take their picture. However, you can guess who they are . . .

Thank you SCBWI for all you do!
===========================
Disclaimer: No proofreaders were harmed (or even used) in the creation of this blog.

If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Warp Speed Ahead, and Back Then!!!!

lisayee — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 17:17:08 GMT

Guess what book is in paperback on July 30, 2013?

Here's a hint . . .

(Full disclosure: That is not the paperback version. That is the hard cover version.)

Yes! WARP SPEED!!!!

So, in the spirit of my Sporadic Summer Blog, let's Warp Speed backward and pretend that this 2011 launch party happened tomorrow. Ready, set, blog back . . .

So, the night before the WARP SPEED + BOBBY THE BRAVE (SOMETIMES) Launch Party, I made one of my lists. (I'm a compulsive list-maker. Otherwise, POOF! It's outta my head forever.)

The next day, I set my grapefruit half down on -- you guessed it! My list.

I'm sure I forgot to bring something important, like bags of money for all the guests. Oh well, luckily I had my super secret launch party team watching my back. Yes, that's right. My mom and dad. They provided all the food!!!

Vroman's in Pasadena provided the books . . .

(See the small trees? Those are bonsai and my dad created those.)

Soon, the guest started arriving. I always freak out before book parties because I'm afraid no one will show up.

I was wrong. Hooray!!!

First I talked about WARP SPEED and how the book came to be. I also read from the novel . . .

Of course, since Marley, the protagonist, is a Star Trek fan, everyone did the Vulcan sign -- you could tell that some people did this all the time, and others, er, not so much . . .

Because Marley loves Star Trek, and his best friend, Ramen, loves Star Wars, and their mutual friend Max loves Batman . . . I asked . . .

I'd say it was a tie between Batman and Star Wars, with Star Trek coming in a semi-distant third. (This surprised me.)

Speaking of surprises, as I showed slides of the guys who helped me with some of the book's research ("Hi, Ed!" "Hi, Curtis!"), I mentioned that my Star Wars/Batman expert was in the room, and asked if anyone could figure out who it was . . .

Not to brag, but I have the smartest book launch guests. They figured out that Matt "DM" Cunningham was standing in the back! (Yes, that's him in the Bat-shirt.) I'll be blogging about the other dudes soon, too.

Next up was a reading from BOBBY THE BRAVE (SOMETIMES). I read the part of Bobby Ellis-Chan, a boy who questions his bravery, and amazing illustrator of the Bobby series (and pal), Dan Santat, played the cat with 27-toes who scares Bobby . . .

We had so much fun, it was hard not to crack up!!!

Dan's also the person who shot the launch party video. You can hear him during the blooper reel making me laugh . . .

While Dan was setting up to talk about how he lost 25 pounds with the help of his iTouch app, plus how he illustrated BOBBY THE BRAVE (SOMETIMES), I had a contest to give away one of my dad's bonsai trees. Can you say . . .

(That's Hawaiian for their state fish, the trigger fish, and is in ALOHA, KANANI.)

These brave people gave it a try . . .

It was soooo close that the winner was decided by who had the closest birthday coming up! (Jason Sperber, who blogs at RiceDaddies, also won a bonsai since he spent his birthday at the launch party.)

After Dan spoke it was time to sign books . . .

There was more fun to come, here's a hint . . .

===========================

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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A Mac Classic Prank, Revisited

lisayee — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 07:18:35 GMT

Last night I saw a TV promo for one of those practical joke shows. You know, where an innocent person gets duped. And I thought, "Geez, what kind of dolt could fall for a prank so easily?"

Then I realized, it would be this sort of person . . .

(The person on the left would fall for a prank. The person on the right is -- squeeee -- Judy Blume, who would not panic the way I would.)

Yes, that's right. I fell hard for a prank that my friend and fellow author pulled on me. And now, in the spirit of my SPORADIC SUMMER BLOG . . .

. . . we are taking laziness to a new level and running a blog that first appeared five years ago. Ready? Here we go . . .

Um. As some of you may know, I have an unhealthy love/hate relationship with Apple. I love Apple. Apple hates me.

Apple probably hates me because of this . . .

(Above: Michael, my Mac fixer, is not happy with me or my desk computer.)

and this and and this . . .

(Above: Michael, my Mac fixer, is not happy with me or my laptop. He bites the Apple.)

Then there was this incident that occurred on my Mac . . .

And the time I did this to this . . .

. . and repaired it with this . . .

Well, last week I received this and TOTALLY FREAKED OUT . . .

OMG.

Then I read the last sentence again. Do what it says and you'll see. It wasn't from Apple. It was sent by this person. And I totally fell for it.

Classic.
Mac Classic.

-----------------

Tweet. Tweet. What was that? Tweet . . .

It's your chance to Tweet and be Tweeted by New York Times Bestselling Illustrator Dan Santat and Me over at The July Sharp-Shu Book Club Meeting on July 31st at 7 pm CDT. Hope to see/read you there!!!

===========================

Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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The Sporadic Summer Blog Debuts!!!!!

lisayee — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 17:41:12 GMT

Lisa, you ask, or I ask, why haven't we read your blog in a couple of weeks? Wasn't your blog weekly?

Well . . . yes. It was. However, this summer we will be blogging here and there, now and then, hither and fro, and when the mood hits. Why? Cause it's summer and we are lazy! Therefore, introducing, for a limited time only, THE SPORADIC SUMMER BLOG!!!

Look, there's even an official logo-ish-specialty-font . . .

Wait! Who's that? It's a super reader from Australia . . .

It's Amy!!! I met her grandmother when we were both on this nighttime dessert safari in Dubai . . .

Okay, so then where was I last week? Not Dubai. Here's a hint . . .

Still not sure? Here's another hint -- I was at the American Girl Store at The Grove in Los Angeles to sign these books . . .

Of course, Peepy ran around and greeted new friends and old. Her first stop, of course, was to see Julie and Ivy . . .

I can't believe it's been six years since I wrote GOOD LUCK, IVY.

Oh, look! And there's Kanani!

When I wrote those books, I had to go to Hawaii to research . . .

Oops. Back to the present. Peepy made it a point to spend time with her other friends . . .

What will I be doing this summer? That's right. I will be hanging out with my friends . . .

I'll also be reading and writing and writing, and reading, and writing! With lots of visits to Indie Bookstores and libraries. Recently, I stopped by the Monrovia Public Library . . .

And finally, let's hear it for Kristen Kittscher and THE WIG IN THE WINDOW. She had a fabulous launch party at Vroman's . . .

(Yes, that's me as a blond, along with Lilliam Rivera, Cylin Busby and Cecil Castellucci.)

Pssst . . . like books? Then you're going to like THIS.

It's your chance to Tweet and be Tweeted by New York Times Bestselling Illustrator Dan Santat and Me over at The July Sharp-Shu Book Club Meeting on July 31st at 7 pm CDT. Hope to see/read you there!!!

Stay tuned for the next SPORADIC SUMMER BLOG coming sometime!!!!

===========================

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Visiting Mark Twain, Quizzing Pittsburgh, and Big Hair

lisayee — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:01:56 GMT

As many of you know, I meet with lots and lots of readers. Not long ago when I was in New York, I got to visit with this one . . .

Oops. I'd better clarify that. I didn't meet with Mark Twain (above), but I did visit this school in Brooklyn . . .

Speaking of Mark Twain, one of these people won the most recent Mark Twain Prize for American Humor -- and the other person is me!

(Yes! That's Carol Burnett.)

And still speaking of Mark Twain, there's this terrific bio of him written by the amazing Sid Fleischman . . .

Here's Sid balancing one of my books on his head . . .

(Disclosure: I won the first Sid Fleischman Humor Award!)

After leaving Mark Twain, the school, not the man, We visited Pittsburgh (we were just there weeks earlier), and took part in the WPCTE English Festival, where I was the featured author . . .

(The professional-looking sign says, "Featured Author.")

There was some panic (on my part), because my MacAir wasn't syncing to the projector whatsit. As you may have heard, I am cursed when it somes to Mac products.

So we borrowed a P.C. and exhaled when that worked . . .

Here are some of the kids!

Later, the students took part in literary competitions such as Super Trivia . . .

BOBBY VS. GIRLS (ACCIDENTALLY) was on of the books they were quizzed on . . .

There were lots of our books for sale. When they ran out, we signed notebooks!

Speaking of the "Bobby" books, not long ago we had lunch with Bobby's illustrator, Dan Santat, and Caldecott Honoree, John Rocco . . .

John's latest book is about wild hair . . .

We are familiar with that too!!!

(Here's why everyone is pink.)

Hey! Any American Girl fans out there? You may know that I've written THREE American Girl books! And soon, I'll be at the American Girl Place at The Grove in Los Angeles -- June 25th from 1:30 - 3:30 pm. Come and say "hi" (or "aloha")!!!

===========================

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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NY, NY, Fun, Fun . . . Lotta Libraries, Flushing Food, Agents and Editors and Authors and More!!!

lisayee — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 17:34:38 GMT

I spent my Memorial Day weekend visiting the Sequoia National Park . . .

While there, I visited with General Sherman!

Oops. Wrong General. I meant, General Sherman, the biggest tree in the world. Also, here's a totally candid shot of me doing boulder push-ups . . .

However, prior to communing with nature, we were in NYC to host the Children's Choice Book Awards (as seen Here and Here), where we admired other people's shoes and hobnobbed with the likes of Henry Winkler, whose latest acting gig is in Arrested Development (more on that later) . . .

But we also had some time to meet up with friends who(m) we had met on other adventures.

Remember a while back when Peepy and I covered the Space Shuttle Endeavor's journey to Los Angeles . . .

Well, one of the other social media-ites was entrepreneur Cindy Chin. She's a New York local, so we met up at MOMA for lunch, and a quick run through the galleries . . .

(Gorgeous! And the paintings are nice, too.)

As we were heading back to our hotel we got arrested by a giant banana!!! Arrested Development this is . . .

(Yes, that last photo is of people waiting in line for a free frozen Bluth banana.)

Last year, when we were at the South Dakota Festival of Books, we met author/Rolling Stone senior critic/NPR commentator Will Hermes (for such a laid back guy, Will certainly does a lot) . . .

(That's Will on the left and Newbery-ish Gary Schmidt on the right.)

So, yay! We met up with Will at Grand Central Station.

Food was on our agenda, so we ventured to Flushing Queens Chinatown . . .

I spotted the Dreaded Durian . . .

I had tasted in in Singapore a couple months ago. It was AWFUL. I imagine this is what Harry Potter's Death Eaters nibble on for snacks . . . and why they are in such foul moods all the time.

Speaking of Harry Potter, check out this new cover by Kazu Kibuishi -- seen there with Harry Potter editor, Arthur Levine . . .

Oops. Let's return to the stink, shall we? Durians are so stinky, they are not allowed in hotels or on public transportation . . .

Me, I would rather eat worms that taste a Durian again . . .

Peepy insisted we move away from the Durian, so we did . . .

Being a book lover, we weren't about to miss the Flushing branch of the Queens Library . . .

Will knew about this really great Chinese restaurant -- Biang! Wow, the food was delicious -- tangy and tingly, smooth, chewy, a cacophany of tastes and flavors . . .

On another day, I was in Brooklyn, so of course I had to visit to the Brooklyn Library -- and who should I run into?

Sara Zarr! National Book Award Sara Zarr? I know Sara Zarr! Imagine coming all this way and running into a pal from another part of the country!

As we left, we ran into another friend -- author Bennet Madison!!!

Later, I visited the Main Library in downtown Manhattan to talk to the Lego lion . . .

Peepy was skittish about the library, having once gotten lost there . . .

After, it was time for dinner at Koi with my agent, Jodi Reamer. We had fough over a guyt a couple of days earlier, but made up . . .

The famous Strand Bookstore was on our list of places to visit . . .

An editorial lunch was on the calendar with my editor Arthur Levine. He passed me the notes on my upcoming Young Adult novel . . .

After, we walked back to Scholastic headquarters where I was meeting with author Lauren Tarshis, who's also the editor of Storyworks magazine . . .

(Um, Lauren and I were so busy gabbing, I forgot to take her photo. However, I commissioned a museum-quality artist to draw this portrait of her.)

Here's a recent story I wrote for SCOPE magazine. It will also appear in STORYWORKS! It was inspired by viral videos, like this one.

Oops. Digression! Okay, and finally, before going into Scholastic headquarters, we ran into author/editor/overachiever David Levithan and his dueling coffees . . .

Next Blog: Visting Mark Twain School in Brooklyn and the Western Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English Book Festival in Pittsburgh!
===========================

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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The Literary Elite Party with Mr. Darcy, Plus The Making of the Gala Video

lisayee — Mon, 27 May 2013 08:45:18 GMT

So then, we just hosted the Children's Choice Book Awards Gala!!! (CLICK HERE for the behind-the-scenes scoop). After the show the fun continued into the night.

That's right! There was a dessert party!!! Who's that with Peepy? Why it's winner Nick Bruel . . .

Of course, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy had a lovely time. He always does. Here he is with finalist Kim Baker and former National Ambassador of Young People's Literature Jon Scieszka
. . .

Newbery winner Katherine Applegate got all Harlequin Romance-y (she used to write those books!) and gave Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy a kiss. Agent Nancy Galt did the same.

Newbery medalist Lois Lowry showed him a good time . . .

As Caldecott winner Brian Selznick had his moment with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, MacMillian VP/Asso. Publisher Angus Killick waited patiently for his turn . . .

Scholastic VP Publicity, Tracy van Staaten, who coined the phrase "got Peeped," hung out with her two favorite peeple, until Charisse Meloto, Exec Direcor of Print/Digital for Scholastic, wrestled Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy away from her . . .

The evening's Impact Award winner, NPR's Michele Norris, wasn't about to leave without taking to these two . . .

Book award finalist Shelley Rotner wasn't about to leave without her Darcy moment . . .

The nightclub lighting made for disco moments as bestselling authors Meg Cabot and Michael Grant boogied with Mr. D . . .

Meanwhile, glorious bags of swag from the Children's Book Council were being readied for the Gala guests . . .

Inside were finalist books, chocolate!!!

Lots of people were talking about the video that my 15-year old son Ben directed, starring Moi. Here's how we did it. We started with a concept -- that I may not be worthy to host after luminaries Jon Sciezka and Jarrett Krosoczka. I wrote the script and then we broke it down into scenes . . .

The opening shots involved donuts . . .

And worms . . .

Ben came up with the idea of featuring the finalist books with stop motion . . .

The picture book finalists played Hide 'n' Go Seek . . .

Here's Ben setting up the shot for the Teen book finalists . . .

I came up with the idea of having Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in the video . . .

After my scenes were shot, Ben had to piece everything together . . .

Then I added the voices and sound effects, including Mr. Darcy's!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TWO-MINUTE VIDEO that opened the Show.

At the end of the evening, my agent, Writers House's Jodi Reamer was chatting with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Jodi and I usually get along quite well. However, that evening we had a little tiff over who Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy belonged to . . .

Who won? Why, this person . . .

In case there is any question about it . . .

===========================

Oh, look! If you'd like an autographed book, order from Vroman's, tell them who you'd like me to sign it to, and they will mail it to you!"

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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Email:

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Behind-the-Scenes and On-the-Stage at the Children's Choice Book Awards

lisayee — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:44:27 GMT

Did you have a wonderful Children's Book Week? I sure did!

Last week, Peepy and I flew to NYC to host the Children's Choice Book Awards -- 1,138,675 children and teens voted for their favorite books!

We consulted our fashion stylist(s) and both decided to wear gowns. My daughter created Peepy's gown out of an old skirt and gum wrappers . . .

Mine was vintage thrift store ($15!!!) . . .

(I brought two pairs of shoes.)

I also brought Colin Firth(s) as Mr. Darcy with me . . .

Why? Well, because he was in the short video that kicked off the show. (Son, who is only 15-years old, was the director/editor of the video!!! I'll be blogging a "making of" the video in a week-ish.)

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO including this soon-to-be-classic scene of me eating worms . . .

Colin, plus a backup Colin, was packed in my suitcase. JetBlue was doing random luggage checks. I was so afraid they'd go through my suitcase and find this . . .

The original venue for the Gala was shut down 48 hours before the show!!! Luckily, there are geniuses who cannot be discombobulated running the Children's Book Council, and a new place was found just in time!

We got there early and signed Children's Book Week posters . . .

Soon it was time for rehearsals . . .

Look! It's multiple-multiple-award-winning Tomie dePaola . . .

It was fun hanging out with uber bestsellng novelist Meg Cabot and Caldecott medalist Brian Selznick, who designed the posters . . .

Harlequin Romance Author/Newbery winner Katherine Applegate's daughter selected this lovely yellow purse for Peepy! (That's Katherine's husband, YA author Michael Grant, letting Peepy borrow his phone for an important call from her sylist) . . .

Brian Selznick as Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy and I rehearsed going onto the stage after the opening video . . .

Whoa! It's Meg Cabot and Jon Sciezka, who hosted the first Children's Choice Book Awards Gala AND was our first National Ambassador of Young People's Literature . . .

And there's Henry Winkler with Jon . . .

This is what backstage looked like. See that cloth on the table? The crystal awards were hidden under it!

I was cold before the show, so Henry shared his jacket with me . . .

National Ambassador of Young People's Literature, Printz Award winner, four-time Caretta Scott King Honor Awards, two-time National Book Award Finalist -- well, you get the picture -- Walter Dean Myers, had met Peepy before, but Peepy insisted on another photo with him. Plus, she wanted to give him writing tips . . .

Here's everyone on stage, including Lois Lowry, getting directions and then rehearsing . . .

We did some interviews before the show began . . .

Can you guess whose shoes are whose?

(They include Meg Cabot, Lisa Yee, Henry Winkler and Jon Sciezka's.)

What about these shoes? Could they belong to my daughter and Brian Selznick???

After rehearsals, and before the show, the audience feasted and mingled. It was a who's who of children's literature at the event. Every major publishing house was represented. Yep! Lots of authors and agents and editors and publishers and paleontologists and illustrators (one of those things isn't true - maybe) . . .

Then the show began!

Because I am so short, I stood on a box. However, I am also a klutz, so that's why I gripped the podium throughout the evening.

When the presenters were speaking, and the winners were giving their speeches, I sat on a chair on the stage and had the best view!

Tomie dePaola kicked off the first award of the ending by presenting Kindergarter to Second Grade Book of the Year to Nighttime Ninja. Here's illustrator Ed Young accepting on his and author Barbara DaCosta's behalf. . .

Henry Winkler announced Nick Bruel's Bad Kitty For President as winner for Grades Three to Four . . .

Lois Lowry presented the award for Fifth and Sixth Grade Book of the Year to Rachel Renee Russell for Dork Diaries 4 . . .

Meg Cabot was up next, and in honor of her Princess Diaries books, I had hidden a crown under the podium to wear when I introduced her . . .

Then Meg announced Fault in Our Stars as Teen Book of the Year. Author John Green could not make the event since he and his wife are expecting a baby soon. So he said I could have the award. (Or maybe not.)

Katherine Applegate presented Author of the Year to Wimpy Kid's Jeff Kinney . . .

Brian Selznick presented Illustrator of the Year to Robin Preiss Glasser . . .

Walter Dean Myers presented Michele Norris with The Impact Award for championing children's literature and for creating NPR's Backseat Book Club . . .

What a wonderful evening!

YOU CAN WATCH THE ENTIRE AWARDS SHOW HERE!!!!

And all of this could not have happened without the marvelous Robin Adelson and her team at the Children's Book Council -- and Peepy and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy . . .

But wait . . . there was more. A lavish dessert party after. But that will be on my next blog, plus exploring New York, New York!

(Above: Newbery winner Lois Lowry parties with Peepy and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.)

===========================

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

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...

It's Children's Book Week!!!! Peepy in Pittsburgh!!! And More!!

lisayee — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:30:11 GMT

Drumroll, please . . . IT'S CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK!!!

So exciting!!!! I wish it were Children's Book Week 52 weeks of the year!

Tonight (I am blogging this on Monday morning) is the big Children's Choice Book Awards Gala, which I will be hosting. Squeeeee!!!

Son and I have been working on a video which will premiere there, plus I'll blog about all the behind-the-scenes happenings, and photos of the winners on my next blog.

In the meantime, since it's a all about books and children (then again, when isn't it on this blog?), last week I visited Pittsburgh, PA. It was an interesting flight. Here's my breakfast at the airport . . .

This dog sat in front of me, under his owner's chair. (They were both on vacation, he was not a comfort dog.) Then when I got out of the airport, my ride was waiting for me . . .

Oops. That wasn't my ride. This was! (That's Sara Brooke the librarian at The Ellis School.)

Just like in the movie THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, we crossed the bridge into Pittsburgh . . .

A scrumptious dinner and the friendly book lovers from Ellis were awaiting us . . .

Our room at the Inn on Negley was uber cozy . . .

The next morning it was off to school . . .

We spoke at two assemblies and, as always, Peepy made new friends . . .

Of course, everyone at this all-girls school knew who Peepy was. In fact, she was everywhere before she even showed up!!!

It was so cool to see all the signs they made for us . . .

As always, we checked out the library . . .

We signed lots of books . . . and one Peep . . .

I taught a writing workshop to the talented sixth graders . . .

Peepy loved the little houses . . .

Here's what The Ellis School had to say about my visit . . .

We had a late flight out the next day, which was fine with us because . . . we got to eat oh-so-delicious CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA PANCAKES at Pamela's with our friend, author Jonathan Auxier . . .

Plus, we stumbled across a great indie bookstore!!! Here's Kards Unlimited, which has BOOKS (and cards) (and other cool stuff) . . .

And finally, I loved this comment I got regarding WARP SPEED . . .

Be sure to check out my next blog and find out all the behind the scenes scoop about the Children's Choice Book Awards, featuring these KidLit star presenters and the winners!!! (I'm hosting the Gala, so I'll have the best view in the house!)

===========================

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

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Famous Authors and Illustrators, Here (USC), There (NYC), and Everywhere . . .

lisayee — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:11:05 GMT

Childen's Book Week is coming soon!

The Children's Choice Book Awards Gala will help kick off the week, and I am sooooooo excited to host the show in New York City. (Squeeeee!!!) Plus, I get to hobnot with the literati glitterati presenter -- in addition to Tomie DePaola, the presenters include, Lois Lowry . . .

Katherine Applegate . . .

Brian Selznick . . .

Meg Cabot . . .

Our National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Walter Dean Myers . . .

And Henry Winkler . . .

Plus, there will be lots more surprises in store. This is the final week of voting. You have until May 9th, so if you or your students, friends, family, haven't voted yet, CLICK HERE!!!

Speaking of books (that's rhetorical, because we are always speaking of books), here's more from the LA TIMES Festival of Books! So last blog, ALL THIS happened, and more. . .

And picking up where we left off, Lemony Snicket or Daniel Handler or neither or both, were on stage with Jon Klassen who played himself (as did Peepy) . . .

They were hysterical. I cannot begin to describe in words what they did, so you will just have to see them in person for yourself . . .

On Sunday to meet up with KidLit pals, like Linda Urban, Katherine Applegate and Gary Schmidt (who was clad in plaid when we saw him last), who were on a panel that also included Kathryn Fitzmaurice

Then it was off to sign books at the USC Civic Engagement booth . . .

We were so happy to run into Aaron Hartzler and have him sign our copy of RAPTURE PRACTICE . . .

Author Linda Urban had a reunion of sorts. A few years ago we were on a middle grade book panel together at the LA TIMES book fest! This time, we had had our own secret panel where we discussed geometry and global warming and other lofty things. Or maybe we talked books and writing and writing and more books . . .

Here's the Publisher's Weekly photo round-up of the book festival. Peepy made it in one photo, but I did not. Now that's all she talks about!

Pssst. Hey! Ever wonder about the difference between Middle Grade and Young Adult books? Well, National Book Award winner Jeanne Birdsall has sorted it all out for us in this marvelous HORN BOOK essay.

And not only can Jeannie write, but she can throw a mean right hook, too!!!!

CLICK HERE to find out about the chaos, above.

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

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Lisa Yee

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The LA TIMES Festival of Books and Awesome Authors and Illustrators

lisayee — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:54:58 GMT

The LA TIMES Festival of Books started on a great note. Why? Because of this . . .

That's right. We had reserved parking!

Like last year, and the year before, the festival was held at my alma mater, USC. From the parking structure, we could see the dorm where I was a resident advisor . . .

Plus we saw this . . .

We had to get a closer look at the blue truck, and whoa, wow! GEEK OUT! It was a Library Store on wheels!!!

We wandered around a bit, and said hi to Tommy Trojan, and tried to ignore an improperly dressed big guy . . .

We also said "hi" to Stuck's Oliver Jeffers . . .

The we said "hi" to This Is Not My Hat's Jon Klassen . . .

Then we said "hi" to Oliver Jeffers and Jon Klassen . . .

Soon it was time for our reading and book signing at the USC Civic Engagement Booth . . .

I read from BOBBY THE BRAVE (SOMETIMES) . . .

Reading is Fundamental (RIF) was there and so were other reading fans!

Some of our fav indie bookstore and booksellers were at the fest, too! Like Kris from Once Upon a Time. Maureen was busy when I snuck up behind her and asked, "Er, do you know if there are any books here?" Hahahaha, snort!!! Teehee, sometimes I crack myself up. Um. You had to be there.

Dan Krall was signing at Once Upon a Time . . .

Rachel Howard from Scholastic Publicity got to see her favorite Peep. The last time we saw Rachel, it was at another book festival, here . . .

Over at Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop, we ran into Scott Speer and Sherri Smith . . .

Peepy was quite taken with the t-shirts after Amanda showed them to her . . .

Of course it made sense that SCIBA's Andrea Vuleta was hanging around the indie bookstores!

Shhh . . . here's where the secret bathrooms are. Only us alumni know about them . . .

Who's that? Why it's Loren Long and Otis, and Peepy, of course . . .

Did someone say "snack"? It was off the Green Room where all the authors were hanging out . . .

Fellow snackers included Suzanne Selfors and Tom Angleberger, who/whom we just saw in Chicago!

Wait! It's Dan Santat! What do these four have in common?

(Yes, the all love Peepy. And they are all wearing . . . socks! And hats.)

After we were snacked up, we went to listen to the Dan Santat Suzanne Selfors Annie Barrows Tom Angleberger panel . . .

Yay! We got to meet Ivy and Bean's Annie Barrows . . .

Later it was back to the Green Room where we ran into Ransom Riggs and Tahereh Mafi. Guess what we have in common? That's right, we are all represented by Writers House agent Jodi Reamer!

How does one end a great day at a great book festival? How about with a great meal at Versailles???

Oops. Not that one. This one.

Here we are with Dan Yaccarino, Tom and The Other Dan . . .

NEXT BLOG: More LA TIMES Festival of Books and an explanation of why Lemony Snicket is flailing . . .

THIS JUST IN . . . WARP SPEED has been nominated for the Sunshine State (that would be Florida, where I lived for 17 years) Young Readers Award!!!! And speaking of WARP SPEED, this week, Beth Gaudette from the Thomaston Public Library in Connecticut told me that their Mother Daughter Book Club read the book. In it, there's a scene where kids make clothes out of garbage bags, and that's what these talented girls did!!!

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

Want to check out Lisa's NEW AND IMPROVED website? Simply CLICK HERE.

Interested in having Lisa speak at your school, library or conference? CLICK HERE for more information.

Lisa Yee

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