In the Coop with Lisa Yee

A Three Silly Chicks Interview

Lisa Yee is the comic-quirky-brilliant author of MILLICENT MIN, GIRL GENIUS and STANFORD WONG FLUNKS BIG-TIME. The Three Silly Chicks are absolutely crazy about her, even though she occasionally tortures peeps.


How do you know when what you write is funny?

My daughter claims that I'm always cracking myself up. It's true. For example, I'll be in the grocery store and remember something weird, like the time broccoli came out of my nose, and start laughing. This causes the people near me to slowly move away.

I am aware that things I find funny, others might not. (My husband thinks that objects that come out of other people's noses are disgusting. BTW, it is my theory that in relationships there is always one person who doesn't mind looking at someone's scab, and another who totally squeamish.) Oh dear. I'm drifting. Back to funny. I guess I'm always afraid people won't get my sense of humor. It's so quirky. So I test it out on my family. If they laugh, then it's good. If I have to explain it to them, then it's not.

Do you have any tips for writing funny books?

The best way to write a funny book is to write an unfunny book first. By that I mean, the story has to hold up without the humor. There needs to be emotion and pathos in it. Well, not all funny books, but the ones I like best. The ones that are about a character we care about, and not just a slapstick situation.

To test this, take out your best jokes or funniest parts. Does the story still hold up? If yes, then you've created a wonderful foundation to build the humor on.

Has being funny ever gotten you into or out of trouble?

Yes.

What are some of your favorite funny books?

On the adult side: I am a HUGE fan of Anne Lamott and David Sedaris's essays. I enjoy the twisted humor of Edward Gorey, and the quirky characters from James Wilcox's books. Anne Tyler is hysterical, in a very quiet way. And I recently read QUEEN OF THE ODDBALLS by Hillary Carlip. I liked it so much I sent her a fan letter.

On the kid side: SOMETIMES I'M BOMBALOO by Rachel Vail and Yumi Heo wonderfully combines visual humor with irony. D.L. Garfinkle took an embarrassing situation and crafted it into a LOL story with STORKY. You can't beat Calvin and Hobbs for sheer delight. I adored the humor, emotion and angst in ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NOT . . . by David LaRochelle. And I love all things Beverly Cleary.

If you could live in one of your books, which one would you choose?

Both my first two novels (and number three, SO TOTALLY EMILY EBERS) take place in the imaginary town of Rancho Rosetta in Southern California. They are overlapping stories. I idealized Rancho Rosetta because I felt the kids had enough angst in their lives, and I didn't want to have to have them worry about safety and bad guys and taxes and pollution and whatnot and therefore.

However, my forth novel, CHARM SCHOOL DROPOUT (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2008) takes place in Kissimmee, FL and Hollywood, CA. So, I guess of those places, I'd live in the imaginary town of Rancho Rosetta and hang out with Millie, Emily and Stanford.

Who do you like more, The Marx Bros or Three Stooges?

The Marx Brothers. I love wordplay.

What was your best Halloween costume?

One year, in college, I wore one of my mom's old pink taffeta cocktail dresses, long gloves, and lots of (fake) pearls. I hardly ever dress up, so it felt very chic and irreverent at the same time. I suppose if I wore that today I'd look like Gwen Steffani, minus the blonde hair, musical abilities, and clothing line.

What is your Dream Job for a Day?

To be an author on the day the first hardcover copy of your book arrives in the mail. Oh wait, that's really happened!!! (It is sooooo surreal and totally cool.)

Clown V. Mime Deathmatch. Pick your winner.

Oh dear. This is a tough one. I don't suppose they can cancel each other out? Hmmmm, I have to really think here. I am scared of clowns, but mimes also freak me out. I get really quiet around mimes. But I don't get all clown-y around clowns. Not sure if that is significant. I guess if I had to choose, the mime would win. And then, to celebrate the victory, I would take him/her to a movie. Only, not a silent one. To sit next to a mime during a silent movie would be torture.

Funniest dead person you’d like to meet?

Dorothy Parker.

BONUS QUESTION! Halloween Candy: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Thoughts?

I am totally in favor of Halloween candy. Love those tasty fun-sized treats. I just hope my kids never find out that I eat their candy when they are in school. Shhhhh. I do it for love though. Too much sugar is bad for children.

I guess the good would be anything chocolate. The bad would be anything with hair stuck on it or the word "filet" on the package. And the ugly would be, well, the same as the bad.

In the Coop with Cyn and Greg Leitich Smith

We think Cyn and Greg are the cutest Christmas couple around! Cyn's fab books include Indian Shoes and Rain Is Not My Indian Name. Greg has written the wonderfully funny middle grade novels Ninjas, Piranhas and Gallileo and Tofu and T-Rex. Santa Knows is their first collaboration. We hope it's the first of many!

You are husband and wife and you've written a book together. We think this is a little insane. Can you explain the process?

Cyn: Greg and I had been talking about how there just can't be enough uproariously funny picture books, including those with boy protagonists—or at least there should be more, and I was speculating about how hard it was to hold to the “magic” of childhood in today’s high tech, super rational world.

So I wrote a rough draft, explaining that Santa’s “magic” was really the product of “elf science and technology.” We mere humans just aren’t brilliant enough to fully understand…yet.

In my house, Greg is the one with the two electrical engineer degrees, so I went to him first to help me explain the more nuts, bolts, and interdimensional portal aspects.

Greg: After we generated the first draft, we sent it off to our agent, who sent it to a couple of publishers, who—sadly—were clearly not ready to face the truth about Santa Claus. Finally, our agent sent it to Mark McVeigh at Dutton, who replied with a four-to-five page revision letter, single spaced (which needless to say was longer than the manuscript). We talked about it and generated a new draft over cocoa and Christmas carols.

How do you know when what you write is funny?

Greg: We’re holding Ed McMahon prisoner in our basement. We read something to him, and if he laughs, you know it’s got to be funny.

Cyn: Shhh.

Do you have any tips for writing funny books?

Greg: You have to write what you think is funny. You can’t rely on some notion of what you think “kids” think is funny. Also, the humor has to work thematically. No matter how funny a scene is, if it’s ultimately irrelevant to the story, then it doesn’t belong.

Cyn: For me, the humor springs from the characters. If they’re funny, the story is funny. It’s more about them than me.

What are some of your favorite funny books?

Greg: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar (Dutton, 2005); The Wizard, The Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey by Lisa Papademetriou (Razorbill, 2005); Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman (Hyperion, 2002).

Cyn: Exempting books by my honey and those gorgeous silly chicks, on the picture book front, I'll add: Altoona Baboona by Janie Bynum (Harcourt, 1999); Chance by Dian Curtis Regan, illustrated by Dee Huxley (Philomel, 2003); Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Simon & Schuster, 2000); Hop Toad by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Karen Lee Schmidt (Harcourt, 2003); What a Truly Cool World by Julius Lester, illustrated by Joe Cepeda (Scholastic, 1999).

I also echo Greg's novel choices and add: Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee (Arthur Levine, 2003); The Amazon Papers by Beverly Keller (Harcourt, 1996); Burger Wuss by M.T. Anderson (Candlewick, 1999); Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler (Dutton, 2006); Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won The Girl by D.L. Garfinkle (Putnam, 2005); and Terry and the Pirates by Julian F. Thompson (Atheneum, 2000).

I could go on, but let me just add that I also admire Joan Bauer's ability to interweave humor and sensitive themes.

Who do you like more, The Marx Bros or Three Stooges?

Greg: The Marx Brothers. Largely because WGN in Chicago used to play Duck Soup every New Year’s Eve.

Cyn: Neither. Jeepers. I’m a girl.

What was your best Halloween costume?

Cyn and Greg: Our critique group traditionally holds a Halloween meeting in which we come dressed as characters. Last year, we came dressed as Santa (Greg) and an elf (Cyn).

Greg: The coat was really hot (I think it was about 80 degrees over Halloween here in Austin).

Cyn: I only wish I could wear bells every day.

What is your Dream Job For a Day?

Cyn: I would like to be one of those creepy people painted silver who strike thoughtful poses on the streets of Paris.

Greg: Pretty much what I’m doing now, only I’m independently wealthy, have staff, and have much more time to write. J

Clown V. Mime Deathmatch. Pick your winner.

Greg: Ideally, they would self-destruct, but if I were forced to choose, I’d pick clown, but only because I have fond memories of Bozo’s Circus from when I was a kid in Chicago.

Cyn: Mime (see above Paris dream job).

Funniest dead person you'd like to meet?

Greg: William Shakespeare.

Cyn: Gilda Radner. Hint to the universe: picture book biography?!

Happy Birthday, Chicks! And the Winner Is . . . .

Happy Birthday!

Three Silly Chicks!

Dear Readers,

It's our first blogging birthday, and we want to thank you for coming to visit our coop during our first year. We've had so much fun and can't wait to keep on rolling with lots of wonderful book reviews, contests, pie fights, pie eating, bean dip, and of course wonderful interviews with super-talented funny authors and illustrators!

We hope you've enjoyed the year, too, and will keep stopping by the coop to visit!!!

Thank you so much!

The Three Silly Chicks


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And now, it's time to reveal our Mystery Guest! Drum roll . . . . .

The Mystery Guest is the Amazing Mo Willems!

But wait! Can we prove it? Why yes we can! Let's consider the evidence:


1. Mo Willems is bigger than a breadbox. This is true. We actually placed Mo in a breadbox to see if he would fit. He did not (in one piece). He did, however, leave footprints in our Wonder Bread and complain that we needed a bigger breadbox. Preferably one with airholes.


2. Mo Willems has more hair than Kenny Chesney and less hair than Chewbacca. See for yourself:



3. Mo Willems is living. (Though he is a little bit squished up and now has bits of Wonder Bread stuck between his toes. Sorry, Mo!)


4. Mo Willems writes and illustrates kids' books. And the world is a better place because of it!

5. Mo does not write in rhyme. At least not at this time. At least we haven't seen any rhyming books by him. (But then, we didn't really check, so maybe we were cheating a bit on this one!) Bad Chicks.


6. Mo Willems is for the birds. And our favorite bird is the Pigeon.


7. Mo Willems is not a grouch (except when stuffed into a breadbox), but he probably knows one! And of course, we're talking about Oscar the Grouch here! As many of you know, Mo has 6 won Emmy Awards for his writing on Sesame Street. And you know we Chicks love Sesame Street! Big Bird is our hero.


We're so excited to welcome Mo to the coop! We will post our interview on Monday! (And it's a hoot!)

And now, the MO-ment we've all been waiting for!

It's time to announce the winner of our Mystery Guest Contest!

There were so many good guesses from our lovely readers. (And some less good ones, but we loved them all!) Six of you guessed correctly: Tammi, Linda Skeers, Jenny, Renee, Lisa Yee, and Pamela.

Your names were entered into a drawing conducted by the same people who pick the winners for the Oscars out of a hat! (And you thought someone voted on them!)

And the Oscar (or the Super Duper Bag O'goodness from the Three Silly Chicks) goes to Jenny!

Congratulations, Jenny! Just send us your snail mail addy to Three_Silly_Chicks@yahoo.com, and we'll send you your prize!

Also, Chris, Lisa Yee, Linda Skeers, Joann, & Cyn all win Chick Magnets for being the first five folks to enter our contest! Send us your addresses, folks! And thank you for playing!!!!

A Celebration and a Contest, too!

What's going on?

The Three Silly Chicks are fluffin' up our feathers, cleaning off our glasses, breaking out the tortilla chips, and getting ready to celebrate!

"Why?" you ask. "Because," we answer, "our anniversary is almost here!"

We began our blog on September 14, 2006 and what a year!

We've read so many great & funny books and interviewed some of our favorite funny writers and illustrators: Lisa Wheeler, Lisa Yee, Aaron Reynolds, Cyn & Greg Leitich Smith, Kevin O'Malley, Esme Codell, David Lubar, Kara & Jenna LaReau, John Manders, Dori Chaconas, Margie Palatini, Kelly DiPucchio!

Interviewing fantastic, funny people is our favorite thing (next to bean dip), so we can't wait to interview more fantastic, funny people!

But first, we feel like having a party and nothing puts us in the party mood faster than bean dip! Sadly, nothing ends a party in a small coop faster than bean dip.

So we're going to have a contest, instead! And here it is:

Mystery Guest

Are you ready for our Mystery Guest?

1. Contest begins NOW!
2. Guess the secret identity of our Mystery Guest! (Click on "comments" down below to leave your guess.)
3. All correct guesses will be entered in a drawing for the grand prize*
4. Grand prize winner will be announced on September 14!
5. First five entries will win a Chick Magnet**
6. First Clue: Our Mystery Guest is bigger than a bread box

* Grand Prize is one of the following:

• A vat of bean dip
• An emu
• An emu in a vat of bean dip
• A super-duper-bag-o'-goodness from the Three Silly Chicks. Bag includes autographed copies of books by Andrea Beaty, Carolyn Crimi, and Julia Durango. Also includes assorted items from our drawer of silliness (not to be confused with our silly drawers as shown here.)

** Chick magnets are not guaranteed to attract chicks, hot babes, hot Emus or hot tamales. May present a choking hazard to Emu, ostriches, and other humorously large birds. Chick magnets are guaranteed to look extremely cute and hold scraps of paper on your refrigerator door so you can ignore them while searching for bean dip.