Sparkles and Sticks

Maureen Johnson, Stephanie Perkins, Gummy Bears, and Me.

If you follow me on twitter, you probably know that last night my friends Ashleigh, Chelsea, and I got to meet the fantabulous writers Maureen Johnson and Stephanie Perkins. 

They were there to talk about their new books: The Name of the Star and Lola and The Boy Next Door.

About 40 fans gathered to meet Maureen and Stephanie.  It was a pretty good sized turn out for a signing at this particular bookstore, but was still intimate enough to make it feel more like a pizza and gummy bear party with Maureen and Stephanie rather than a "performance" in which we screech and throw our undies at them when they make eye contact with us. 

(I wasn't kidding about the gummy bears and pizza!)

They didn't read from their books, but they spent well over an hour answering all kinds of questions from the audience.  I meant to take more pictures and tweet while they were talking, but they were so interesting and funny that I forgot to bother with such distractions.

I loved hearing them talk about how they write their books.  Stephanie told a great story about how she took French lessons, ate French food, and watched youtube videos of tourists climbing the steps of Notre Dame when she wrote Lola and The French Kiss.  Maureen told us all about how she went on a Jack The Ripper tour in London, read tube-workers newletters, and acted like a terrorist taking photos of old, closed off doors in the tube in London when she was working on The Name of the Star series.  They also told stories about how to set your hair on fire when you're in a play, how to make your friends jealous by telling them that the videos of cute boys that you are watching is research for your next book, and how to always "punish, punish, punish!" your charaters, or your story will not be interesting.

They also answered my question: "When do you start telling even just a very few, close people about a new story you are working on?" with a general "Maybe a teensy weensy bit to a very select one or two people in the begining, but nothing much until the first draft is over."  I am very pleased with their answer and cannot wait to tell my dear, enthusiastic husband to butt out of my writing. : )

After the pizza and chat, it was time to get our books signed.

(Waiting to get my books signed.)

They signed my books, and took a really cute photo with me. 

(Me with my new creative heroes.  We fight literary crimes with laptops, research skills, and our imaginations!)

Of course, they both spelled my name wrong.

To be fair, the post-it that the bookstore people wrote on for my Lola book did look like my name was "Jaima" and not "Jaime."  I would include it in this photo as evidence, but I have already lost it.  It's just funny to pair a wrongly spelled name with this sweet inscription!

But Maureen?  You should have known better! : )

The good news is, I go to booksignings to talk to authors I admire, not to get signatures in my books.  My name is not the reason I am looking forward to reading these books.

.my creative hero- danny wallace.

Danny Wallace is one of my creative heroes because he comes up with some of the most silly, insane ideas that you could possibly imagine.  Then, instead of telling him self that he'd fall flat on his face and look like a complete moron if he tried to execute one of his ideas.... he just does it.

Like placing an ad in a London newspaper that says "Join Me."

Like deciding to say "Yes" to every question that anybody asks him.  For a year.  

Sometimes the purpose of the project is evident at the start of his adventures, sometimes it shows up later.  Either way, he follows it confidently and genuinely through to the end.  Then when its all over, he writes a book about it.  And sometimes that book is made into a movie.  And some times that movie stars Jim Carey.  (Or more importantly, Zooey Deschanel.)

So, Danny Wallace is one of my creative heroes because he has the confidence and courage to follow through with his creative convictions.

Also, he's a hot English dude with spiky hair and glasses. 

And, he's really funny.

.my creative hero- joss whedon.

(photo cred.)

Not to get too fan girl on you or anything, but Joss Whedon* sort of changed my life last year.

*For all you weirdos who live in a cave in Pylea and don't know, Joss is the the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and now Dollhouse.  He has a ridiculously loyal fanbase and makes amazing shows that people still talk about years after they have gone off the year.  Proof: this blog post.

Well, to be fair, it actually kind of started with Twilight .  *ducks rotten tomatoes that people are throwing at me right now.*  Last summer I spent just about a whole week lounging on our back porch, drinking red wine, and reading the entire series of the Twilight books.  They sucked me in the way that any good vampire seduces his victims.  And after I had finished all four books I was requesting "More vampires, please."

The only other vampire story I could think of was Buffy, so I added it to my Netflix queue and began watching.  I almost stopped requesting more discs after the episode where Xander is seduced by a demonic bug teacher (there is this scene where she eats a bug sandwich and bugs totally gross me out) but I decided to recognize my severe aversion to bugs, not watch that episode again, and keep on keeping on with Buffy stories.

After that, Buffy kind of took over my life, for lots of reasons.  I was living in a new area and everyone I knew (besides the people I lived with) lived at least 30 minutes away.  It was dark and wintry, so there wasn't much opportunity to go outside.  I was making all my Christmas presents, so I spent a lot of time sitting in the house bent over needles and yarn, and Buffy offered some company.  But most importantly, this was a time in my life where I needed a really, really good form of escapism.  The wit, impossible romances, deamons that are nearly impossible to kill, and the way that the last few sounds of the show always carried over into the first note of the credits (cliffhanger-like), kept me hidden from my own problems just fine.  And yes, a certain tortured British immortal  who likes to call himself "The Big Bad" helped too. : )

After I finished watching all the Buffy DVD's (and then bought them and watched them all again), I knew I had a new taste in stories.  I sought out modern fantasy, fairy tales, and scifi.  Whether they were books, movies, or tv shows, I wanted those stories.  And as I consumed those stories, their influence spilled over into my own creative work.  I started making vampire journals, slayer stuff, and monster toys that come with their own clever little stories.  Virtually every thing I made was magic inspired.

So, that's why Joss Whedon is one of my creative heroes.  His addictive and rich talent for storytelling opened me up to a whole world that I am drawing endless inspiration from.

.creative heroes- tim gunn.

Who doesn't adore Tim Gunn?

Tim Gunn is one of my creative heroes is because of his approach to mentoring the creative process.  He manages to draw the designer's attention to aspects of their work that he thinks need attention without crushing their spirits or destroying their vision for that piece. 

And his mantra: "Make it work" is excellent advice for anyone with a creative soul.  After all, don't we come up with some of our best work when we have to make do with limited resources? 

.my creative hero- tom hanks.

Tom Hanks is not just one of my creative heroes, he is kind of an ultimate hero of mine.  I have been watching his movies ever since I was a little kid and have thought of him sort of as my favorite uncle that lived only in movies.  I have never heard anyone say anything bad about him (whether in magazines, reports from other actors, or fans who were lucky enough to get to meet him): his reputation as a great actor and great person is impeccable.

The reason I view him as a creative hero?  He uses his creativity to tell important stories.  

To remember important people.

And he makes some fun movies too. : )

 

What is your favorite Tom Hanks movie?

.my creative hero- elsiecake.

Like many of the cute crafty chicas out there, one of my creative heroes is Elsie Flannigan, aka "Elsiecake."

(photo cred: elsie)

I first heard about Elsie years ago from my friend Nikki.  She was a huge fan of Elsie's scrapbooking style.  I checked out Elsie's blog, but I was not really considering myself much of an artist or crafter at the time, so I didn't linger long.

But, over time my artistic dry spell ended and I found my way back to Elsie's blog.

There are a million amazing and flattering things that I could say about Elsie's art.  She's fresh, innovative, unique, and incredibly prolific.  But the main reason that I call Elsie one of my creative heroes is because I learned how to be inspired from her.

Now, I am not just saying that I am inspired by her and the things she makes (though I am!).  But when I would read her blog posts about the things that inspire her, I somehow learned how to open my eyes to the world around me.  By watching her see new things in her world, I learned how to see inspiration in my own world.

I learned to open my own creative eyes.

So, thanks Nikki, for telling me about Elsie.  And thanks to Elsie, for teaching me so much without even knowing it! : )