Interview With Jody Feldman

by debbi michiko florence

Jody Feldman holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri which has led her to write a television special, a travel book, speeches, all means of advertising, and now – more fulfilling than that giant fortune cookie message she was assigned to create – The Gollywhopper Games (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2008), her first children’s novel.

Targeted to 10-14 year olds, The Gollywhopper Games leads readers through the challenges, puzzles and stunts of a nationally televised, once-in-a-lifetime competition along with the contestant who wants to win it for more than the prize at the end. The Gollywhopper Games has been named a Booksense (now Indie Bound) Spring 2008 Pick, a Midwest Booksellers Association Connections Pick, the 2008 Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards Honor Book for Children’s Literature, and is an ALA/YALSA BBYA (Best Books for Young Adults) nominee.

Jody Felman lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she's not supposed to be playing video or computer games until she finishes her next novel.

Please tell us about your journey to published author – how long did you work on your novel before you sold it. And do tell us about The Call! :)

You know those authors who start a novel in March, submit to and secure an agent in June then sign a major contract in July? That’s not my story. Mine is the utter opposite. I started writing The Gollywhopper Games in 1989. It was released in 2008.

The question that often follows: “So you were writing that book the whole time?”

No. I am a fast writer. I finished what I thought was a salable draft within six months. I submitted, received rejections, put the story away for years-long chunks of time and worked on my plotting, my character development, my voice and other necessary skills. I did that by moving forward and writing more than a dozen other novels, all of which I submitted at one time or another, but most of which will remain locked away forever.

While I learned to take each rejection on each novel in stride, deep down every time, I was a little heartbroken, and I always questioned whether or not I’d ever get the call. What I discovered in this very happy ending, it takes only one person to love your book enough to represent it to the world.

After seeing Jennie Dunham present at the 2002 SCBWI Conference in Los Angeles, I submitted The Gollywhopper Games to her. Eight weeks later – when I was in the middle of cleaning my house, cooking a birthday dinner and suddenly putting together a different dinner for a friend whose mother passed away that day – Jennie called to offer representation. I barely had time to talk to her. And since I was already in a whirlwind with the adrenaline pumping, I didn’t get that normal rush. However, when she called me three-and-a-half years later (yes, 3 ½ years … sales are not automatic even with an agent) to tell me we had an offer, I was driving on the highway in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. Jennie loves to tell the story that I nearly swerved off the road. I don’t remember saying that, but one doesn’t always remember all the details when going through an out-of-body experience.

The Gollywhopper Games is a fun story in the vein of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You mention the connection in your acknowledgements, saying that you wrote this story for the boy in the library who wanted a book similar to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Can you tell us a little about the process of writing this story? How did the idea of a huge puzzle game competition come about?

It didn’t take long for me to discover that there’s a huge gap between inspiration and a workable idea. When I got home from my volunteer school-library stint that day, I was ready to sit down and write a book that fifth-grader might want to check out next. Even though most of the early process is now fuzzy, I do recall listing what 10-12 year-old boys liked. But this mental list kept filling with pizza and doughnuts and candy, and Roald Dahl had already claimed the franchise on edibles. My next thought, football, would have been a natural for me – I’ve loved the game every since I was three years old. However, I didn’t want this to be strictly a boy's book. Finally, the fluidity of brainstorming took over, and football game morphed into games into toys into toys and games. And then I remembered an article I’d read years ago about a Japanese competition in which the participants filled the stadium. That’s all I could recall but, together, that though process lead to the spark that fueled The Gollywhopper Games.

How did you come up with all those fantastic puzzles in the book? Are you a puzzle/game fan?

One of my fondest memories is curling up next to my mom on lazy weekend afternoons and helping her solve crossword puzzles. I still remember the first brainteaser puzzle my uncle posed to me. I was about 10 years old, and I was smitten with those.

Years later, I started subscribing to Games Magazine with its first issue. I still receive it. The magazine and its sister publication, World of Puzzles, is filled with challenges from little mysteries to crosswords and everything in between and beyond.

I’d say I’m just a little better than average in figuring out riddles and puzzles, but I always love the challenge.

Tell us a little about Gil – how did his story come to you? Gil is someone I cared about from the start. He has is own reasons for wanting to compete in the game and my heart went out to him when I learned how much on the “outside” he feels.

Gil grew much as a character over the rewrites. He first took shape as a boy to be pitied, much like Charlie Bucket. And while we still meet him as an outsider, he couldn’t, however, remain that pitiable character and still be a competitor; still take on his personal challenges as well as the those he faced in The Games. He needed a great amount of inner strength, he needed to rediscover a self-confidence, and he needed to believe in himself. I finally recognized that I was the only one who could give all that to him.

And just perhaps, as I revised this story time after time, a bit of my personality leaked through into Gil. Even though I often felt defeated with rejection after rejection, I knew that I would continue to succeed even if it was just on a personal level.

The story, while reads quickly, is complex. How long did it take you to write this novel? What were the particular challenges you had to overcome?

I credit my journalism/advertising background with my ability to crank things out very quickly. I once wrote a 35,000-word book in two weeks. That said, quality takes much longer. So while I did finish The Gollywhopper Games in several months, there’s a reason it didn’t see a bookstore shelf for all those years. Before it could get there, I needed to follow a self-taught regimen in Novel 101 and Revision 405, textbooks and instruction courtesy of many wonderful sources ... including my editors at Greenwillow who pushed me, among other things, to keep the pace moving.

I do think it is sort of interesting that the whole middle of the book – The Games themselves -- remained virtually intact from first draft through to final publication. It was the frame that totally befuddled me because, I believe, I didn’t know enough about character development. When I finally realized my ignorance, well, let’s just say it forever changed the way I write.

I love the fantastical setting where the games are played. That must have been fun to create. How did you go about creating the setting? How did you keep everything straight?

I knew I needed to think big. Fun. Colorful. National TV worthy. And while the elements of the settings may seem as if they were complicated to create (warning: author weirdness ahead), they just flew from the air into my brain. Just like that. No warning. Very little time delay. Waterfall? Wonderful! Giant broccoli? Why not? Bring on the royalty! However, once I had an idea for a particular bit, it was nearly impossible to erase from my mind even when I knew it didn’t really work. In a couple cases – like with the crazy hats and the international flags – I was stuck with those bits until I resorted to mental TNT to bomb them out.

As for keeping everything straight … it’s just a matter of writing a quick cheat sheet.

What are your favorite games/puzzles?

Paper and pencil games … anacrostics (called Double Crostics in Games Magazine).

Oral games … brainteasers (as in Crack the Case).

Computer games … those in the vein of Myst.

Computer time-killers … Snood, Spider Solitaire and MahJong.

Board games … don’t play them much anymore, but as a kid, I favored Risk over Monopoly.

Spectator sport … football.

Participatory sport … golf.

What are you working on now?

I recently submitted a book to my agent, hoping she feels this last revision is strong enough to pass on to my publisher. I love, love, love Travis, my main character. He’s a real risk-taker. An early scene has him hanging off a building.

And as I’ve always done, I (attempt to) forget about what’s finished and out there, and I move on to the next book. I am in the early stages right now, and for each book that means a different thing. This time, “early stages” means brainstorming, researching a topic with currently no apparent connection to the story, and constructing one major puzzle that continues to be just outside my mental grasp right now. Sorry for the scarcity of details at this point. I can tell you I plan to have three POV characters – two boys and a girl.

What’s the most surprising thing that has happened to you since your book came out?

It happened in an elevator this past August at the SCBWI Conference in Los Angeles. A woman I’d never met pointed at my nametag and said, “The Gollywhopper Games!” I know I smiled, but I was so surprised, I have no idea how the conversation went after that.

I do grasp the concept of publishing a book; you put it out there so people will read it. But when people actually do read it, I’m simply honored that they chose mine from among all the wonderful stories.

How can fans and teachers contact you?

jody@jodyfeldman.com

I will answer. And if I don’t, it never made it to my inbox. Try again!

Thank you!