Debby Garfinkle: Gordon, there are a lot of YA authors here tonight.

Debby Garfinkle: Mary Pearson, Marlene Perez, Cynthia and Greg Leitich-Smith, Linda Joy Singleton...

GorKor: Sounds good. Hi, all!

LindaJoySingleton: I enjoyed hearing you at Nationals, Gordon

Debby Garfinkle: We'll start formally in one minute.

Mar: Gordon, I think we'll be at the same library association thing in Washington in the fall.

GorKor: You mean WLMA?

Debby Garfinkle: Okay, I will introduce Gordon and then ask questions.

Debby Garfinkle : I’m thrilled to introduce Gordon Korman to you. He wrote his first book, This Can’t Be Happening at MacDonald Hall, when he was twelve years old, and it was published when he was fourteen. Since then, he has written 55 books (and he’s younger than me, though that’s not saying much). His recent novels include the very funny young adult novel Son of The Mob and a sequel, and Jake, Reinvented, which is a young adult book inspired by The Great Gatsby. Gordon’s newest books are the “On the Run” adventure book series from Scholastic.

Debby Garfinkle : I will ask Gordon questions for the first half hour, and then will open it up to the rest of you. Gordon, please type "GA" when you're done speaking, so I won't accidentally interrupt you. GA is short for go ahead. Clever, eh?

GorKor: Gotcha ga

Mar: (yep, That's it WLMA)

Debby Garfinkle: Gordon, when you write, do you start with a character, a problem, a theme, a setting, or something else?

GorKor : Sometimes it's a character, but lately it has been more of a premise -- something I think will set up a good story, but also (I have to confess) something that will attract attention GA

Debby Garfinkle : Is that because of how well Son of the Mob did? I remember you saying it caught on so hugely partly because of the success of The Sopranos.

Debby Garfinkle: Also because it's a fantastic book, of course.

GorKor : Well, I don't think it's a specific tie-in to a specific movie or show (although that one didn't hurt). But my biggest fear with a book isn't that people won't like it, but that they won't notice it. I guess I think it's insurance against being overlooked GA

Debby Garfinkle: Do you think humor gets "overlooked" when it comes to awards and reviews?

GorKor : That's my soapbox these days. Maybe they'll give me an award just to shut me up. But in a word, yes. I think we do overlook humor when critical attention is given out. By definition, it just seems lighter. GA

Debby Garfinkle: Yay for you and your soapbox! Some people say humor is the hardest kind of thing to write. Do you agree?

GorKor : I wouldn't have said so years ago, because it was what I just did naturally. But now that I have some experience writing un-funny books, I find that there's a whole lot less pressure when you can just tell the story without worrying about comedic payoffs GA

Debby Garfinkle: Do you have any advice for writing good humor? Or do you think people either have the talent for it or they don't?

Debby Garfinkle: Do you try to have a certain number of "comic payoffs" in every book? What is a "comic payoff?

GorKor : That's so hard to say. And of course, humor is such a personal thing. What's funny to some won't be funny for others. My guess is if it comes naturally to you, go for it. But don't try to force it. It almost never works out that way GA

Debby Garfinkle : Which do you prefer writing? Midgrades or young adult books? Comedy? Action? Serious, as in Jake Reinvented? Do you have a favorite book of all of yours?

GorKor : Whoops - 2nd question. No, there's no set number of payoffs. Just where it fits. A lot of times, the humor is just in the irony of the telling. I love Chris Crutcher's writing. He's hardly a humorist, but his prose style has a lot of humor in it. GA

GorKor: I'm behind here. I get the most satisfaction from YA

Debby Garfinkle: Why is that?

GorKor : It's just more fulfilling on an adult level. The books are more complex, and I don't have to hold back for readability or content. GA

Debby Garfinkle : You found writing success at an early age. Do you think that has hampered you in any way? And have you ever considered a different career?

GorKor : I got published so young, I don't think I recognized it as success at first. It's only looking back that I realize how fluky some of those early successes were. But at the time, I took it in stride, so I didn't put much pressure on myself. GA

Debby Garfinkle: Did you ever consider a different career than writing?

GorKor : Not really. Early on, I toyed with writing as a hobby, but by the time I was in college I was pretty set on this as a career. GA

Debby Garfinkle: Do you have a writing routine?

GorKor : I write every day, pretty much during regular hours. My kindergartener gets on the bus at 8:55, which easily sets me up for a 9AM start. Then I work through the day. I'm also one of those guys who does a fair number of school visits, which amounts to a side job GA

Debby Garfinkle : I write humor, and I always feel that people meeting me expect me to be funny, and I'm disappointingly not in person. Are you a funny guy in person? (Or is it just me?)

GorKor : I used to try to be funnier in person, but I realized I was pushing it. Now I just try to be myself, and let the humor come out if it's appropriate. I can also be pretty serious. I take what I do very seriously. I once heard that tragedy writers are far funnier as a group than humorists, who can tend to be sad sacks. GA

Debby Garfinkle: LOL from a sad sack! I was wondering if you have any manuscripts sitting in drawers that didn't work out well. Or have you sold everything since you were 12?

GorKor: I have a couple of projects in drawers -- doesn't everybody? And I have a couple of books that were rejected at one publisher only to find a home at another. But as a rule, I've been very lucky. GA

Debby Garfinkle: How has the publishing industry changed over the years, in your opionion?

GorKor : Yeah, in a number of ways. I think it's too bad that backlist has sort of faded from the scene, but it's not productive to moan and groan about woulda, shoulda, coulda. We're working writers, and we have to function in the industry that's here today. GA

GorKor : You have to find what works for you. Writing middle grade adventure series was never something I could have imagined ten years ago, and that's a very large part of my career now. YA was fairly dead in the eighties and nineties, and now it's the hottest thing out there. I have a lot of admiration for guys like RL Stine, who tried numerous genres before finally hitting it big. GA

Debby Garfinkle: Thank you. Last question before I open it up to the crowd: What are you working on now?

GorKor : The ON THE RUN series is a six-book adventure series, coming out over the next year. Next comes BORN TO ROCK, a YA novel about a kid who discovers his biological father was a punk rock star from the eighties.

Debby Garfinkle: Is Born to Rock humorous? That sounds like fun!

GorKor : Definitely. Except for the adventure series, everything I write is supposed to be funny. JAKE REINVENTED is the sole exception to that, but JAKE was supposed to be funnier than it came out. We all have our experiences where a book just turns out differently than we've planned, right? GA

Debby Garfinkle : Thank you so much, Gordon. Okay, let's have questions from the "peanut gallery." Snicker. Please type a "?" if you have a question, and I will call on you in turn. Please have your questions ready when I type your name.

Lisa Yee : Oh god. Sorry that I logged in about 12 times. Still trying to figure this all out. Hey Gordon, are you happy writing for kids/YA or have you ever considered writing for adults? And if so why, or why not?

Debby Garfinkle: Ok, please answer Lisa's question, then Cynthia ask your question.

GorKor : I used to think I would "mature" into adult novels, but now I'm happy with kids' stuff. I confess -- some of it's laziness. I have two publishers and a track record in kidsbooks, but in adult I'd be starting from scratch. GA

CynthiaLS: This is GregLS's question; first of all, he mentions that his editor...

CynthiaLS: Amy Hsu at Little Brown has loved your work, which is part of the reason why she bought his...

CynthiaLS: so he (and I, his wife) thank you for his career. That said..

CynthiaLS: we'd like to know, given any particular premise, why you decide to do it as a humorous v. serious novel...

GorKor : I'm so flattered by that!! Thanks for saying so. Like many of us, my own career feels so tenuous sometimes that it's hard to believe that what I write has any effect on the industry beyond myself and my editor(s) ...

GorKor : SON OF THE MOB indeed could have been an edgier book. I'm guessing that I would have gone for too much humor and screwed it up if it hadn't been for the experience of writing ISLAND, my first adventure series. That taught me when NOT to be funny, which I think was the most important factor in the writing of SON OF THE MOB GA

MaryP : Gordon, what kind of books do you like to read? Favorite authors? Genres? Is there a book in particular that has affected your writing?

GorKor : A few have been Catch 22, the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving. My favorite kids' writer du jour is Jack Gantos GA

MaryP: hm love Jack Gantos too. Thanks.

E Lockhart : Hi Gordon, we met at the Hyperion table at the Authors Guild thingee. I am wondering if, apropos of what you said about hoping your books find attention, you think of your books from a marketing perspective, and if so, in what way?

Debby Garfinkle: I loved Jack Gantos' memoir.

GorKor: It's something you can overthink - absolutely. But it's nice to give your publisher a way to promote your book. That doesn't mean phoning with suggestions every day, but if the novel itself suggests its own marketing, I think the publisher will be more likely to market it...

GorKor: But I don't obsess on it. A good story is far more important than a hot topic. To be honest, SON OF THE MOB was never a juicy topic to us. In fact, we thought people would find it politically incorrect. We published it despite rather than because of the topic

Dorian: I missed the beginning so I hope this isn't redundant, but would you advise young writers today to try publishing early like you did. In other words, do you think it's possible for others to find their voice early the way you did. And, my son says to tell you he loved Nose Pickers from Outer Space. High praise from a reluctant reader who refuses to read his own mother's novel.

GorKor: Thanks! NOSE PICKERS wasn't exactly my hi-brow moment, but I'm very proud of those books ..

Dorian: LOL, well my son isn't exactly hi-brow either.

GorKor : I think it's great to start writing early, because it works to have something of a body of work that might attract publishers and especially agents before you need to start paying the big bills of mortgages and tuitions etc >GA

Dorian: Ah, yes tuitions. Thanks.

Hope : Related to marketing, do you think there is such a thing as a "boy book" or a "girl book"? At my library, Son of Mob definitely appeals to both male and female readers!

GorKor : That's nice to hear. But I'm guessing that most of the great crossover male/female YA books today are fantasy. I think it's definitely true that, except for fantasy, the modern YA bestseller has been much more of a girl-book thing. GA

Hope: Thanks! And thanks for this whole chat!

Lisa Yee: Gordon, do you line up your projects and then write then all the way through one at a time, or work on novels simultaneously?

GorKor : I usually have one novel and one original paperback adventure project on the go simultaneously. I try not to switch back and forth too often, but lately the delivery dates have demanded more of that than I normally like to do GA

CynthiaLS: I wanted to follow up on the PC thing w/ Son Of the Mob...

CynthiaLS: As someone who's writing an English/Italian/American/Texan vampire...

CynthiaLS: was this a discussion you had with your editor (b/c I noticed the mob was diverse)

GorKor : It certainly was. We didn't get too bogged down on it, but we wanted some diversity in the vending machine biz. My editor is Italian, and her mother is one of those people who objects to the Sopranos, Goodfellas, the Godfather on exactly those grounds GA

Debby Garfinkle: Could I ask one last question? When should you NOT be funny in a humorous book? Following up with your remark before.

GorKor : It obviously depends on the book, but sometimes comedy needs a straight man, and in a novel, the straight man is the believable backdrop of ordinary life. If you make every element of a story and/or setting funny, you will deaden the humor, since there's no longer a baseline for it to stand out against ...

Debby Garfinkle: very interesting.

GorKor : In SON OF..., the scene that was important for me was when Jimmy Rat first mentioned that Unlce Shank, a Luca enforcer, had a thing about cutting off deadbeats' fingers. My whole being screamed out to put something funny after that ...

GorKor : But that would have spoiled the seriousness of Vince's situation. It has to be the REAL mob his family is running, or else his is lessened, and the whole story is less funny GA

Debby Garfinkle: Well, this is the official end of the chat. Thank you so much, Gordon. I am applauding you virtually.

MaryP: Thank you, Gordon! You were terrific. clapclapclap!

GorKor: Thanks, all. This was a lot of fun!

CynthiaLS: Wahoo! Bravo! Bravissimo! (from Cyn & Greg)

MaryP: And you were terrific too, Debby! Thank you! Woo hoo!

Dorian: Yes, great chat and thanks for sharing your insight.

Debby Garfinkle: I love your books, and my daughter does too. She wants to buy another copy of No More Dead Dogs because hers is so worn out.

GorKor: We should encourage this kind of thinking

WriterRoss: No More Dead Paperbacks <g>

Debby Garfinkle: LOL

GorKor: And thank YOU, Debby

MaryP: Night all! Thanks again! Hope you come back Gordon! Most Tuesdays someone is here.

GorKor: Bye, all