First Draft Episode #212: Jen Wang

Jen Wang, Eisner Award-winning author and illustrator of The Prince and the Dressmaker, In Real Life, and Koko Be Good stops by to talk about her new middle grade graphic novel, Stargazing.

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

• The seminal Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson was one of the only Western comics that Jen read as a young artist

• In high school Jen started a webcomic called Strings of Fate and took is super seriously!

• Jen’s first publishing experience was contributing to Flight, an anthology put together by her webcomic peers and edited by Kazu Kibuishi, who has gone on to author and illustrate the Amulet series, Copper, and he illustrated the re-release of the Harry Potter series.

• Jen’s agent is Judy Hansen of the Hansen Literary Agency, who represents many of the top graphic artists and illustrators out there today

• Jen’s first editor at First Second, Calista Brill (author in her own right of Tugboat Bill and the River Rescue, Cat Wishes, and Little Wing Learns to Fly) is still her editor today!

• She was also fortunate to work with book designer Colleen AF Venable (also the author of Melvin the Sloth is About to Do the Best Thing in the World and  while she was with First Second

• After Jen’s first book, she adapted “IRL,” a short story for Cory Doctorow, one of the founders of BoingBoing and author of Little Brother and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.

• One of her freelance cartoon jobs was illustrating Tom Angleberger’s books, including Tom Angleberger’s Fake Mustache.

• Veronica Roth’s new collection of short stories, The End and Other Beginnings: Stories From the Future, has one of the best titles ever, IMO (hear her First Draft interviews here and here)

• In 2019, Jen was awarded multiple Eisner Awards, for best writer/artist, and for best publication for teens.

• Jen enlisted the help of her friend, Lark Pien -- colorist for books like Printz-winning American Born Chinese and Boxers and Saints, written and illustrated by MacArthur Fellow Gene Luen Yang -- to work on Stargazing and help her get the book in on time.

I want to hear from you!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. 

Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too;  Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works.

Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free!

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First Draft Episode #211: Gabby Rivera

Gabby Rivera, author of Juliet Takes a Breath, which is out in hardcover on September 17, and writer of the America Chavez series for Marvel Comics.

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

• I couldn’t find Gabby’s first article for Bustle, but she recently wrote about love for the online outlet again, with, “The Truth About ‘Big Love’ is You’ve Got to Manifest It For Yourself.”

• The Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City is where Gabby discovered her creative self and explored her sexuality

• Artist Mahogany L. Browne, author of Black Girl Magic and Woke Baby, was the host at the Nuyorican when Gabby was finding herself there

• Through The New York City Latina Writers Group Gabby got the chance to work with Alicia Anabel Santos and her mentor, Vanessa Mártir, co-author of Do Something! A Handbook for Young Activists

• The Made in NY PA Training Program

• Cunt: A Declaration of Independence by Inga Muscio

• Ariel Gore, writer of We Were Witches and Hexing the Patriarchy: 26 Spells, Potions, and Magical Elixirs to Embolden the Resistance) reached out to Gabby when she was putting together Portland Queer, which won the LAMBDA Literary Award for best anthology

• The Dreamyard Project

• Gabby’s experience of moving back in with her parents to finish Juliet Takes a Breath is similar to the story Stephanie Garber shared about Caraval on this very podcast! Listen to Stephanie’s episode here

• Lori Perkins, founder of the L. Perkins Agency and Riverdale Avenue Books

• When Patricia Arquette accepted the Oscar for Boyhood, she stirred controversy with her speech

• High Art with Allie Sheedy and Gia with Angelina Jolie were some of Gabby’s first LGBT movies (and her mom’s exposure to lesbianism was The Singing Nun’s “Dominique”)

• Autostraddle is one of the largest lesbian source of news

• Roxane Gay tweeted about Juliet Takes a Breath

• Gabby worked at GLSEN, the LGBT education nonprofit

• Wil Moss and Sarah Brunstad were Gabby’s editors at Marvel

• Jo Volpe at New Leaf Literary

• Blankets by Craig Thompson was one of the first graphic novels Gabby read

• The quote I reference from Amy Poehler is from an episode of her “Ask Amy” series for Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls: “Great people do things before they're ready. They do things before they know they can do it. … Doing what you're afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that- that's what life is.”

• Some artists of color who inspire Gabby are Trinidad Escobar, author and illustrator of graphic memoir Crushed, and Lawrence Lindell, writer and illustrator of From Black Boy, With Love 

• Gabby was reading My Beloved World, the autobiography of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, while writing Juliet Takes a Breath

• Don’t miss Gabby’s TED Talk!

• Gabby is writing a new comic series with Boom Studios, who made Lumberjanes

• The Sadie Nash Leadership Project

I want to hear from you!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. 

Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too;  Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works.

Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free!

Rate, Review, and Recommend

How do you like the show?

Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you!

Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post!

Thanks again!

First Draft Episode #210: Josh Gondelman

Josh Gondelman, comedian, TV writer for shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Desus and Mero, and debut author of memoir Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results, talks about coming up in comedy, fumbling his breakout moment with the viral Modern Seinfeld Twitter account, and learning that being a “nice” person isn’t the same as being a good person.

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

• In addition to Nice Try, you should also check out Josh’s standup specials: Dancing on a Weeknight (2019); Physical Whisper (from 2016); and Everything’s the Best! (2011).

• Nancy Kerrigan was the subject of one of the most bizarre crimes in all of sports (really worth watching The Price of Gold, an excellent 30 for 30 documentary about the Kerrigan-Harding incident), which was documented in the film I, Tonya, which Josh’s parents did not see out of loyalty to Kerrigan

• Early on Josh performed in the chorus of The Music Man

• We decide that literary humor is to comedy as Garrison Keillor is to Chris Rock

• Josh wrote a spec script for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

• Josh was contributing to places like McSweeny’s and New York magazine when he first moved to the city

• Josh co-founded the @SeinfeldToday Twitter account with his friend Jack P. Moore (playwright and sitcom writer for shows like Dear White People), which went viral and got him lots of professional opportunities

• Josh made an impression on Jim Gaffigan with a joke about the wisdom of the justice system in D2: The Mighty Ducks when he was getting his feet wet as a standup in New York City

• Josh talks about establishing authority as a standup onstage, which reminded me of Pete Holmes addressing how he looks (more like a youth pastor than a comedian) on his 2013 special, Nice Try, The Devil. You can see a great example of Josh doing something similar in his 2019 sets on Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show with James Cordon. Josh also got advice and encouragement about this from fellow comedian Pete Lee.

• Josh got a big win when he was able to write for Billy on the Street, featuring Billy Eichner

• One of the notable segments from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was an early one about net neutrality, with a bit at the end (which Josh credits to Geoffrey Haggerty, a comedy writer for shows like The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) calling for viewers to write in to the FCC. So many viewers wrote to the FCC that its system crashed, and the government investigated whether the onslaught of feedback was from actual citizens or a coordinated DDoS attack.

• Tim Carvell, head writer for The Daily Show who left with John Oliver to create Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

• Josh is now the producer and writer for Desus and Mero on Showtime. Before he wrote for them, he was a fan of Desus and Mero’s podcast, Boedga Boys, and their TV show, Desus & Mero, on VICELAND.

• Josh does pep talks on Twitter from time to time, and initially was approached to write a book based on that premise. But he resisted that idea because internet darling Jonny Sun (playwright, academic, and author and illustrator of Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too -- listen to Jonny Sun’s episode of First Draft here) had already illustrated the famous Twitter pep talks written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (actor, composer, and playwright of Hamilton and In the Heights) for the book, G’Morning, G’night!: Little Pep Talks For Me & You.

• I was reading Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, at the same time as Josh’s memoir, which actually was a beneficial co-reading experience (FTR I also recommend Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are on audiobook! It’s read by Lauren Fortgang and she does a great job!)

• Josh was on a panel with journalist and author Liz Plank--whose most recent book, “For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity”, is on sale now!--about shifting concepts of masculinity

• Nikki Glaser, a comedian and radio host who Josh admires, gave him pivotal advice early in his career

I want to hear from you!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com.

Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too;  Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works.

Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free!

Rate, Review, and Recommend

How do you like the show?

Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you!

Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post!

Thanks again!

First Draft Episode #208: David Yoon

David Yoon, debut author of Frankly in Love, talks about how writing a rom-com turned into writing about his greatest fears; portraying aspirational male friendships; and working to be able to write from a place of unconditional love.

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

• The addictions of writers like Truman Capote and Gertrude Stein are often romanticized. In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert tackles the masculine language of pain and suffering surrounding art, dispelling the myth that writers need those things to be creative

• When David watched Frozen, he wanted to know what happened with the parents

• David’s favorite advice is from Margaret Atwood: “Read, read, read. Write, write, write.” He adds: Go to therapy.

I want to hear from you!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. 

Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too;  Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works.

Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free!

Rate, Review, and Recommend

How do you like the show?

Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you!

Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post!

Thanks again!

First Draft Episode #208: Mary H. K. Choi

Mary H. K. Choi, New York Times bestselling author of Emergency Contact, and host of podcasts Hey, Cool Job and Hey, Cool Life!. Her newest YA contemporary book, Permanent Record, is out now! We talk about addiction and fiction, loving and writing boys who fight against toxic masculinity, and fighting against “I’ll be perfect when…” thoughts.

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

• Stephen King, John Grisham, and airport novels were some of the first things Mary picked up when she moved to Texas and became a reader

• Mary compares moving, learning to read, and realizing she could *remember* what she read as Bradley Cooper discovering the mind-expanding possibilities in Limitless (movie)

• Mass Appeal was the graffiti magazine Mary went to work for, and they now do documentaries, including the recent Wu-Tang doc, Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men (tv series)

• “Like. Flirt. Ghost: A Journey Into the Social Media Lives of Teens,” an article Mary wrote for WIRED, is fantastic and everyone should read it

• Hold the door open for other writers. Be like Hodor

• “Mary H. K. Choi Wanted to Write a Book Where ‘High-Key Nothing Happens,” by Joanna Mikas and Tracy Ma for The New York Times

• Bo Burnam, comedian and writer and director of Eighth Grade (movie)

• Shanna the She-Devil (comic book) and Lady Deadpool (comic book)

• Mary wrote D. J. Khaled’s The Keys (book)

• Edward Orloff with McCormick is Mary’s current agent

• Zareen Jaffery is Mary’s editor at Simon & Schuster. Zareen has also worked with Jenny Han on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Summer I Turned Pretty series (listen to her episode of First Draft here), and with Siobhan Vivian on The Last Boy and Girl in the World and Stay Sweet (hear Siobhan on a live panel episode of First Draft here). However, Morgan Matson’s editor is actually Justin Chanda, also at Simon & Schuster (listen to Morgan’s First Draft episodes here and here)!

• “I love my mom a not-normal amount and it makes me crazy,” an article Mary wrote for Aeon about her mom which went viral

• The Joaquin Phoenix movie, Her, is akin to how Mary felt exploring the idea of falling in love over text

• Mary references Justin Bieber’s first appearance on The Ellen Show. Watch it and be transported to a time when he was a mere bb

• There are some similarities between Permanent Record and the Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts film Notting Hill, which is a classic

• Mary and I are now both obsessed with Brené Brown, author of Daring Greatly and The Gifts of Imperfection

• The New York slang that Mary uses in the book is a love letter to Desus & Mero (who went from YouTube channel to their podcast, Bodega Boys, to a VICE and now a Showtime TV show) and Mary’s friends who run the podcast Chillin Island

• Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs is awesome but it does not include mental health

• Mary is a part of Overeaters Anonymous

• Holly Black talked to me in her episode (listen here) about the depressive state she fell into after publishing her first book

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at firstdraftwithsarahenni@gmail.com. 

SUBSCRIBE TO FIRST DRAFT WITH SARAH ENNI

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too;  Michael Dante  DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works.

Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free!

RATE, REVIEW, AND RECOMMEND

How do you like the show?

Please take a moment to rate and review First Draft with Sarah Enni in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your honest and positive review helps others discover the show -- so thank you!

Is there someone you think would love this podcast as much as you do? Please share this episode on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or via carrier pigeon (maybe try a text or e-mail, come to think of it). Just click the Share button at the bottom of this post!

Thanks again!