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 Meet
the Author: featuring Jen's Jewels
your ultimate source of tidbits
and tantalizing scoop happening in romance, chick-lit,
mystery, and suspense!
Also see Previous
Interviews |
Dan Gutman
January 15,
2009
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 My
clock is ticking and no, it has nothing to do
with babies per se. It concerns my youngest son.
A couple of weeks ago, Sam turned eight. For those
of you with older children, you know where I am
headed. Gone are the days of holding hands in
public. Forget about blowing kisses when he gets
out of the car for school. And above all, I can’t
use any terms of endearment in front of his friends.
Luckily, I have not yet been banned from our favorite
nightly ritual. There’s nothing quite like
snuggling with him for a good bedtime story. His
infectious belly laugh is the perfect medicine
for washing away the day’s stress. I know,
I’ll be getting my walking papers soon,
but until then, I am going to relish every precious
moment I have left.
It seems only fitting to be launching my first
children’s author Jen’s Jewels column
this month. And of course, there’s no better
person to bestow this honor upon than my son’s
favorite, Dan Gutman. A fellow New Jersey native,
his witty repartee has been making kids laugh
for years.
As part of this interview, HarperTrophy,
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
has donated five books for you, my lucky readers,
to win. So, don’t forget to look for the
trivia question at the end of the column. And
as always, thanks for making Jen’s Jewels
a part of your reading adventure. 
Jen: Please tell us a little about your educational
and professional background that led to your pursuit
of a career in writing.
Dan: I never took a writing class in my life.
I studied psychology at Rutgers. I even went to
graduate school for two years. But I decided that
I didn't want to be a psychologist. So I thought,
what do I like to do? I always enjoyed writing
letters to my friends, so I decided to give writing
a shot. That was around 1980.
Jen: Was there a particular life-changing experience
that validated in your mind this career choice
or was it more like a “let’s see where
this takes me” kind of journey?
Dan: Well, I started out writing for grownups,
and I was a dismal failure. I was awful, and I
wasn't making a living at it. But then...see your
next question!
Jen: What made you decide to write children’s
books?
Dan: My son, Sam, was born in 1990. With Sam,
I started reading a lot of children's books for
the first time since I was a kid, and I decided
to try to write one. And as soon as I started
writing for kids, I thought--THIS is what I'm
good at!
Jen: I would think that writing
computer-based stories as you did early on in
your career versus children’s books which
you do today would be like comparing apples to
oranges. What I want to know is how did you manage
to pick up the lingo without sounding like you
were trying too hard? (“Oh, snap!”,
a catch-phrase from My Weird School,
is often used in our house!)
Dan: I fell into the computer thing by accident.
I was working on a magazine about video and computer
games. But I didn't know ANYTHING about computers.
I was a total fraud, and I had to try very hard
to hide that fact. I don't have to try at all
to relate to kids. That comes naturally. And my
own kids, of course, have helped a lot too. I
get a lot of the catch phrases and stuff from
them. But I got "Oh, snap!" from a camp
for physically handicapped kids where I worked
for four summers during college. The kids in my
bunk used to say that.
Jen: Also, when I read your books aloud to my
youngest son, I wind up laughing as much as he
does. Your books appeal to both audiences simultaneously.
What’s your secret?
Dan: The secret is to have the brain of a 53 year
old and the maturity level of a 10 year old.
Jen: As you know, writing any novel is a labor
intensive process that incorporates many facets
of development including characterization, themes,
and voice to name a few. Children’s books
are much shorter and the language is obviously
simpler. What is your major focus when you begin
writing a children’s book? And, what overall
strategies work best for you? Do you plot first?
Outline?
Dan: I try to come up with a "big idea."
Like, I try to take an ordinary kid and put that
kid into an extraordinary situation. A kid runs
for president of the United States. A kid gets
the chance to take one foul shot for a million
dollars. A kid finds the most valuable baseball
card in the world and discovers he has the power
to travel through time with it. These are the
kinds of stories I think kids can fantasize about.
And yes, I plan out the whole story in advance
before I write anything. I'm a big planner, and
outliner. I figure that people who can just stare
at a blank computer screen and start writing must
be geniuses.
Jen: From a technical standpoint,
during the creative process, did you collaborate
with Jim Paillot (your illustrator in the MY
WEIRD SCHOOL DAZE series) as to exactly where
the illustrations would appear throughout the
book? And, do the illustrations affect the writing
of the story in any way or is it more of an after-the-fact
kind of procedure?
Dan: Actually, Jim and I have never even met.
He lives in Arizona and I live in New Jersey.
For the most part, I write the story and he decides
what to draw and where to put it. Sometimes I
will write him an email if I think something needs
to be pictured. And I try to make the stories
very visual so Jim will have plenty to work with.
But the covers have to be drawn even before I
write the book. So Jim (who is brilliant, by the
way) will create the look of the character, and
sometimes I will use something he drew when it
comes time to write the story. I might let him
know that the computer teacher Mrs. Yonkers will
be dancing around with a big hunk of cheese on
her head, for example, and he will put that into
the cover. One time (Mrs. Dole is Out of Control!)
he had to change the cover because I decided that
Mrs. Dole would be Ryan's mom. Ryan is African-American,
so Jim had to redo the cover to give her darker
skin!
Jen: Tacking onto the last
question, how is an illustrator selected? Did
you personally choose Jim or did HarperCollins
make that call?
Dan: I had nothing to do
with it. HarperCollins picked Jim, and
I'm glad they did. He is terrific. Each cover looks
different, but similar.
Jen: Your latest release,
MY WEIRD SCHOOL DAZE #4: COACH HYATT IS A
RIOT!, is the fourth book in your highly
popular series. For those readers new to this
series, how did you arrive at the premise? Who
are the main characters? What makes your series
unique?
Dan: I got the idea for
the My Weird School series when my daughter Emma
was in second grade. She was really enjoying the
Junie B. Jones books, and I wanted to try
a series for that age group. I thought it would
be cool if there was something like Junie B.
Jones told by a boy. All the books in My
Weird School, you may have noticed, are dedicated
to Emma. The first title, “Miss Daisy
is Crazy,” came from the old song “Tutti
Fruiti.” It goes, “Had a gal named
Daisy, she almost drove me crazy.” The main
characters are A.J. (who is the narrator), his arch-enemy
and love interest Andrea Young, Andrea's crybaby
friend Emily, and A.J.'s friends Michael, Ryan,
and Neil the nude kid (who was actually the "new"
kid but everybody thought it was "nude.")
By the way, when I was a kid, there was a girl in
my class named Andrea Young, and she was a real
smarty pants. I hope she never sees these books.
What makes the series unique? I guess the rhyming
titles and the idea that the kids are normal while
the adults are all insane. I think kids enjoy
reading about adults doing weird things.
Jen: From Ella Mentry School to Vomitorium, your
play on words is quite entertaining. Do you try-out
your phrases on your children to see if they’ll
sink or swim? Do the kids give you any input for
the storylines?
Dan: A lot of that comes from my kids. Like, I
overheard my daughter say the word "poodlenasta,"
which is noodles and pasta. Instantly, I knew
I had to use that. And often, yes, I'll think
of some silly word or phrase and run it by the
family. I like the sounds of strange words. I
think I heard "vomitorium" at a school
I visited once. They had an "auditorium,"
a "cafetorium" and a "vomitorium."
Jen: Unlike adult fiction where stand-alone titles
dominate the market, children’s books often
wind up as series. How are you able to keep each
story fresh while writing twenty or so books with
the same set of lead characters?
Dan: Beats me. Every time I finish a book, I think
there's no way I can come up with another one.
But when I sit down to write it, the thoughts
somehow flow.
Jen: In MY WEIRD SCHOOL DAZE, with which character
do you most identify and in what ways? (I have
to admit. I’m so Andrea)
Dan: I'm a combination of A.J. and Andrea. I'm
more like Andrea, but I always wished I was more
like A.J. People like him seem to have all the
fun.
Jen: What is the biggest challenge for children’s
authors today? In your opinion, how has the market
changed? Do you think that e-books are a viable
option for kids? Or is there something to be said
for a good old-fashioned well-thumbed book?
Dan: For me, the biggest challenge is keeping
all the balls in the air. I need to write a MY
WEIRD SCHOOL book every three months, a baseball
card adventure once a year, plus I do some other
projects and do a lot of speaking engagements
too.
I don't really know how the market has changed.
I don't pay much attention to that stuff. That's
why I have an agent!
Down the line, I guess e-books will be a big
thing with children's books. But there will always
be people who prefer to hold a book in their hands,
and I hope there will always be books on paper.
I wouldn't want to take an e-book into the bathtub
with me, that's for sure.
Jen: Please tell us about your website. Do you
have e-mail notification of upcoming releases?
Do you participate in book talks and/or school
visits outside of the New Jersey area? If so,
how would my readers go about contacting you?
Dan: I don't have it together enough to email
people that a new book is coming out. Once a year,
I update my site and list the new books that will
be coming out that year.
I used to travel all around the country visiting
schools. But I got sick of airplanes, airports,
hotels, and all the hassles that go with travel.
So now I only visit schools I can drive to. But
I did make a DVD version of my school presentation
for people who are farther away. You can see a
preview of it on my web site. The site also has
some of my rejection letters people will enjoy
reading, a chapter from a book that hasn't come
out yet, a trivia quiz about my books, bio information,
me ranting about global warming, and lots of other
stuff. It's like having a TV station all about
me broadcasting 24/7!
I get a lot of email and it is really hard to
keep up. I know the day is coming when I won't
be able to reply to each email, but until then,
people can go to my web site and click a button
to send me an email. I really do appreciate my
readers. And thanks for doing this interview.
Your questions were excellent!
I hope you have enjoyed my interview with Dan.
Please stop by your favorite bookstore or local
library and pick up a copy of MY WEIRD SCHOOL
DAZE #4: COACH HYATT IS A RIOT! today.
Better yet, how would you like to win one instead?
Be one of the first five readers to e-mail me
at jensjewels@gmail.com
with the correct answer to the following question
and you’ll win! Good luck!
Name the lead female character in the
MY WEIRD SCHOOL DAZE series.
Next time, I will be bringing to you my interview
with New York Times Bestselling Author Suzanne
Brockmann. You won’t want to miss it.
Happy Reading!
Jen
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Jennifer
Vido
When a twist of fate landed Jennifer Vido
at the "Reading with Ripa" roundtable
discussion with Kelly Ripa and Meg Cabot,
she knew that her career as a French teacher
would never be the same. A graduate of Vanderbilt
University, Jennifer is a member of Romance
Writers of America and reviews books for the
major publishing houses, such as Random House,
Penguin, and Hyperion. Currently, she is a
columnist and reviewer for www.freshfiction.com,
where her popular monthly column, Jen's
Jewels, also appears. As
a national trainer for The Arthritis Foundation's
Aquatic and Land Exercise Programs, she
is an advocate for those like herself who
suffer from arthritis, the nation's #1 cause
of disability. In addition, she serves as
Vice-chairperson of the Board of Trustees
of the Harford County Public Library where
she resides with her husband and two sons.
She may be reached at jensjewels@gmail.com and
JenniferVido.com
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