Image: jerrymahoneybooks.com We're so thrilled for this next interview with Jerry Mahoney, the author of the incredible book My Rotten Stepbrother! Before reading the interview, here are a few things about Jerry Mahoney:
Jerry Mahoney is the author of the middle grade series MY ROTTEN STEPBROTHER RUINED FAIRY TALES (Capstone, August 2017), in which an obnoxious boy points out the plot holes in his stepsister’s favorite stories and the two of them are forced to travel into the tales to fix them and restore their Happily Ever Afters. The series includes four books centering around CINDERELLA, BEAUTY & THE BEAST, ALADDIN and SNOW WHITE. Jerry has also written the middle grade novel BUTTHEADS FROM OUTER SPACE, which will be published in Spring 2018 by Sky Pony Press.
Jerry’s parenting memoir, MOMMY MAN, was published by Taylor Trade and named INDIEFAB’s silver award winner for Family & Relationships in 2014. Publishers Weekly called it an “uproarious look at the world of surrogacy.” Jerry’s parenting writing also won him the Gold Medal in personal essays from the Parenting Media Association and got him invited to conferences in Portland, San Francisco and Alexandria, Virginia. He was named one of Babble’s Top 10 humor bloggers of 2013.
Jerry has also been an active producer and story editor for reality television and game shows. His work includes Let’s Ask America (syndicated), World’s Most Amazing Videos (FOX), Most Daring (TruTV), Beauty & the Geek (The CW), Manswers (Spike), Next (MTV) and many more.
In 2009, Jerry won the grand prize in the Bluecat Screenplay Competition for his script Gladly McGee. Jerry is a graduate of Columbia University, where he won the Bennett Cerf writing prize, and of the USC Graduate Screenwriting Program, where he won the Jack Oakie Comedy Writing Award.
Jerry Mahoney is the author of the middle grade series MY ROTTEN STEPBROTHER RUINED FAIRY TALES (Capstone, August 2017), in which an obnoxious boy points out the plot holes in his stepsister’s favorite stories and the two of them are forced to travel into the tales to fix them and restore their Happily Ever Afters. The series includes four books centering around CINDERELLA, BEAUTY & THE BEAST, ALADDIN and SNOW WHITE. Jerry has also written the middle grade novel BUTTHEADS FROM OUTER SPACE, which will be published in Spring 2018 by Sky Pony Press.
Jerry’s parenting memoir, MOMMY MAN, was published by Taylor Trade and named INDIEFAB’s silver award winner for Family & Relationships in 2014. Publishers Weekly called it an “uproarious look at the world of surrogacy.” Jerry’s parenting writing also won him the Gold Medal in personal essays from the Parenting Media Association and got him invited to conferences in Portland, San Francisco and Alexandria, Virginia. He was named one of Babble’s Top 10 humor bloggers of 2013.
Jerry has also been an active producer and story editor for reality television and game shows. His work includes Let’s Ask America (syndicated), World’s Most Amazing Videos (FOX), Most Daring (TruTV), Beauty & the Geek (The CW), Manswers (Spike), Next (MTV) and many more.
In 2009, Jerry won the grand prize in the Bluecat Screenplay Competition for his script Gladly McGee. Jerry is a graduate of Columbia University, where he won the Bennett Cerf writing prize, and of the USC Graduate Screenwriting Program, where he won the Jack Oakie Comedy Writing Award.
1. What was your favorite activity to do as a child? Did you have a favorite book?
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I loved reading. I rode my bike to the library every chance I got, and I would always take out 5 books, which was the most they'd allow at one time. My favorite author was Judy Blume, and I read everything by her that I could get my hands on. My favorite was "Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing." One of the best things now that I'm a dad is that I can read all my old favorite books to my kids. "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" is just as funny now as it was then. I had to stop reading a few times because I was laughing so hard!
2. Did you ever consider becoming an author as a child? If so, what was your first story about?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I was in high school before I really started thinking about becoming an author, and when I did, my first stories were kids' books. I drew comics in the margins of my school notebooks, even though I'm not a very good artist and could never illustrate a book now. One of the first "books" I remember writing was a picture book I drew myself and stapled together from sheets of loose paper. It was called "My Teddy Bear (My Best Friend)." It may sound really sweet, but it was actually very dark and silly. This kid pledges his eternal love to his adorable teddy bear, even though the teddy bear keeps doing really mean things to him, like messing up his Rubik's cube and ruining the ends of movies.
3. What’s your favorite part of writing a book?
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The most fun part is when I first get an idea that I like. Then I start brainstorming, coming up with characters and jokes. At that stage, I'm full of ideas, and I don't have to worry about where they go or how to make them work. I just enjoy shaping the idea and imagining all that it could end up being.
My other favorite part is when the book comes out and the box arrives from the publisher with my author copies. That's when it finally feels real, when I can hold my book in my hands. Of course, in between those two parts comes all the hard work!
4. What’s an average day for you when you write?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My day is pretty evenly split between whatever project I'm currently working on, coming up with new ideas I might want to write next and working on revisions and promotion for books I've already written. (That last part includes doing interviews like this!)
In every day of writing, there are times when I'm inspired and times when I'm banging my head against the computer in frustration (not literally, of course!).
5. Are there any obstacles you had to overcome as a writer, and if so, how did you overcome them?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The biggest obstacles for me were all in my head. I worried that I wouldn't come up with good enough ideas, or that I wasn't a good enough writer to write them. I think every writer goes through that kind of self-doubt. The way I overcame them was by not giving up. Writing is like everything else, in that the more you do it, the better you get. If you want to be a weightlifter, you don't start off with a 500 pound barbell and then say, "Oh, I can't lift it! I'm no good!" You start off small and work your way up.
I've written plenty of things that no one else will ever read, but even the worst thing you write makes you a better writer. I wouldn't be a published author today if I gave up every time I struggled.
6. If you could go back in time and give yourself advice before you started writing, what would you say, and why?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mostly, I wish I had started writing childrens' books earlier. It's been the most fun, fulfilling writing I've ever done. Young readers are so much more willing to get wrapped up in fantastical worlds. If I wrote a grown-up book about aliens with butts on their heads or kids becoming characters in a fairy tale, grown-ups would say, "This is silly. This could never happen." Kids hear a premise like that and go, "That sounds ridiculous… I can't wait to read it!" When I'm writing a kids' book, I feel like I can let my imagination take me anywhere, and my readers will be happy to join me on the ride!
7. My Rotten Stepbrother series is a hilarious, amazingly well written series. Do you ever re-read your books after they’ve been published? Do you ever re-read the fairy tales they’re based on?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I definitely read all the original fairy tales before I wrote each book, usually multiple versions of them. Most of these stories have been told over and over, across dozens of cultures and over hundreds or years. I tried to pick out the details that stayed consistent throughout, the ones readers were most familiar with. For example, in the original version of Beauty & the Beast, Belle has two sisters. Most people don't know that, so I didn't include them in my version.
I don't usually re-read my books once I'm done with them, unless I'm trying to come up with ideas for another book in a series or to come up with ideas for a school visit or a reading. I'd rather read another author's work, see what stories they have to tell and what they can teach me that'll end up making my own writing better.
8. Maddie and Holden are amazingly well written, and well rounded. Are they inspired by anyone you know? How did you come up with these hilarious polar opposites?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks! I like to say that Maddie and Holden come from two sides of my own personality. There's one part that loves being swept up in fantasy and magical worlds like the ones in fairy tales. That's the Maddie side of me. Then, there's a side that looks at things critically and says, "Hold on. This doesn't make sense." That's my inner Holden coming out. I think we all have a Maddie and a Holden inside of us, to some extent. Some people lean more one way than the other. I definitely know some people who are pure Holden, and they can be pretty frustrating to be around. It's better to have a balance of the two. :)
9. In your books you destroy common fairy tales. How do you choose what fairy tale to destroy next. Also, is it easy or hard to destroy fairy tales and why?
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I choose the fairy tales that I think will be the most fun to write and that I think readers will be the most interested in reading. I picked Cinderella as the first one because I think it's probably the best known. Everyone knows the main details, like the Fairy Godmother, the glass slipper and being home by midnight.
It's hard deciding what to change in each story. Some have so many possibilities, like Beauty & the Beast. I wondered why no one in Belle's village knew about the giant castle outside of town or the cursed prince who lived there. What was he the prince of anyway? I thought about having Holden raise those questions, but in the end, I liked the other ideas I came up with better.
Plus, I don't think I or anyone could ever really destroy a story. All these fairy tales are timeless, and part of what makes them so is that so many writers have done their own interpretations of them and people still go back and read the originals. It's like when a famous singer does their own version of a classic song. You can enjoy their version, and at the same time, it reminds you how good the older version is. Holden would like to destroy these stories, but the good thing for fairy tale lovers like Maddie (and me) is that he never will!
10. Do you have any new children’s books in the making? If so, could you please share a few hints?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My new book, BUTTHEADS FROM OUTER SPACE, just came out, so I'm very excited about that. It's about two kids who write a blog to invite aliens to come visit them, and when some aliens show up, they turn out to be rude, wild and outrageous. It was a very fun book to write.
I also just finished writing a scripted podcast called THE WEIRDNESS. It's from a company called Gen-Z media that does the most amazing podcasts for kids. It's about two kids who meet Bigfoot and go on an adventure around the world trying to save other mythical creatures from a mysterious monster that's kidnapping them all. It should come out this summer, so look out for that!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I loved reading. I rode my bike to the library every chance I got, and I would always take out 5 books, which was the most they'd allow at one time. My favorite author was Judy Blume, and I read everything by her that I could get my hands on. My favorite was "Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing." One of the best things now that I'm a dad is that I can read all my old favorite books to my kids. "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" is just as funny now as it was then. I had to stop reading a few times because I was laughing so hard!
2. Did you ever consider becoming an author as a child? If so, what was your first story about?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I was in high school before I really started thinking about becoming an author, and when I did, my first stories were kids' books. I drew comics in the margins of my school notebooks, even though I'm not a very good artist and could never illustrate a book now. One of the first "books" I remember writing was a picture book I drew myself and stapled together from sheets of loose paper. It was called "My Teddy Bear (My Best Friend)." It may sound really sweet, but it was actually very dark and silly. This kid pledges his eternal love to his adorable teddy bear, even though the teddy bear keeps doing really mean things to him, like messing up his Rubik's cube and ruining the ends of movies.
3. What’s your favorite part of writing a book?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The most fun part is when I first get an idea that I like. Then I start brainstorming, coming up with characters and jokes. At that stage, I'm full of ideas, and I don't have to worry about where they go or how to make them work. I just enjoy shaping the idea and imagining all that it could end up being.
My other favorite part is when the book comes out and the box arrives from the publisher with my author copies. That's when it finally feels real, when I can hold my book in my hands. Of course, in between those two parts comes all the hard work!
4. What’s an average day for you when you write?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My day is pretty evenly split between whatever project I'm currently working on, coming up with new ideas I might want to write next and working on revisions and promotion for books I've already written. (That last part includes doing interviews like this!)
In every day of writing, there are times when I'm inspired and times when I'm banging my head against the computer in frustration (not literally, of course!).
5. Are there any obstacles you had to overcome as a writer, and if so, how did you overcome them?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The biggest obstacles for me were all in my head. I worried that I wouldn't come up with good enough ideas, or that I wasn't a good enough writer to write them. I think every writer goes through that kind of self-doubt. The way I overcame them was by not giving up. Writing is like everything else, in that the more you do it, the better you get. If you want to be a weightlifter, you don't start off with a 500 pound barbell and then say, "Oh, I can't lift it! I'm no good!" You start off small and work your way up.
I've written plenty of things that no one else will ever read, but even the worst thing you write makes you a better writer. I wouldn't be a published author today if I gave up every time I struggled.
6. If you could go back in time and give yourself advice before you started writing, what would you say, and why?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mostly, I wish I had started writing childrens' books earlier. It's been the most fun, fulfilling writing I've ever done. Young readers are so much more willing to get wrapped up in fantastical worlds. If I wrote a grown-up book about aliens with butts on their heads or kids becoming characters in a fairy tale, grown-ups would say, "This is silly. This could never happen." Kids hear a premise like that and go, "That sounds ridiculous… I can't wait to read it!" When I'm writing a kids' book, I feel like I can let my imagination take me anywhere, and my readers will be happy to join me on the ride!
7. My Rotten Stepbrother series is a hilarious, amazingly well written series. Do you ever re-read your books after they’ve been published? Do you ever re-read the fairy tales they’re based on?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I definitely read all the original fairy tales before I wrote each book, usually multiple versions of them. Most of these stories have been told over and over, across dozens of cultures and over hundreds or years. I tried to pick out the details that stayed consistent throughout, the ones readers were most familiar with. For example, in the original version of Beauty & the Beast, Belle has two sisters. Most people don't know that, so I didn't include them in my version.
I don't usually re-read my books once I'm done with them, unless I'm trying to come up with ideas for another book in a series or to come up with ideas for a school visit or a reading. I'd rather read another author's work, see what stories they have to tell and what they can teach me that'll end up making my own writing better.
8. Maddie and Holden are amazingly well written, and well rounded. Are they inspired by anyone you know? How did you come up with these hilarious polar opposites?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks! I like to say that Maddie and Holden come from two sides of my own personality. There's one part that loves being swept up in fantasy and magical worlds like the ones in fairy tales. That's the Maddie side of me. Then, there's a side that looks at things critically and says, "Hold on. This doesn't make sense." That's my inner Holden coming out. I think we all have a Maddie and a Holden inside of us, to some extent. Some people lean more one way than the other. I definitely know some people who are pure Holden, and they can be pretty frustrating to be around. It's better to have a balance of the two. :)
9. In your books you destroy common fairy tales. How do you choose what fairy tale to destroy next. Also, is it easy or hard to destroy fairy tales and why?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I choose the fairy tales that I think will be the most fun to write and that I think readers will be the most interested in reading. I picked Cinderella as the first one because I think it's probably the best known. Everyone knows the main details, like the Fairy Godmother, the glass slipper and being home by midnight.
It's hard deciding what to change in each story. Some have so many possibilities, like Beauty & the Beast. I wondered why no one in Belle's village knew about the giant castle outside of town or the cursed prince who lived there. What was he the prince of anyway? I thought about having Holden raise those questions, but in the end, I liked the other ideas I came up with better.
Plus, I don't think I or anyone could ever really destroy a story. All these fairy tales are timeless, and part of what makes them so is that so many writers have done their own interpretations of them and people still go back and read the originals. It's like when a famous singer does their own version of a classic song. You can enjoy their version, and at the same time, it reminds you how good the older version is. Holden would like to destroy these stories, but the good thing for fairy tale lovers like Maddie (and me) is that he never will!
10. Do you have any new children’s books in the making? If so, could you please share a few hints?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My new book, BUTTHEADS FROM OUTER SPACE, just came out, so I'm very excited about that. It's about two kids who write a blog to invite aliens to come visit them, and when some aliens show up, they turn out to be rude, wild and outrageous. It was a very fun book to write.
I also just finished writing a scripted podcast called THE WEIRDNESS. It's from a company called Gen-Z media that does the most amazing podcasts for kids. It's about two kids who meet Bigfoot and go on an adventure around the world trying to save other mythical creatures from a mysterious monster that's kidnapping them all. It should come out this summer, so look out for that!
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