#AOL Build Series Studios

[katmcpheeuniverse]

Katharine McPhee attends the AOL Build Speaker Series to discuss "Scorpion" at AOL Studios in New York on April 18, 2016 in New York City.

[gettingscrazy]

AMBER HEARD Arriving at AOL Build Series Studio in New York (December 03, 2018)

[ddcastarchive]

Charlie Cox attends the AOL Build Speakers Series at AOL Studios In New York (2016)

[hotnew-pt]

O diretor de 'Gladiador II', Ridley Scott, recua sobre a IA após chamá-la de 'tecnológica' #ÚltimasNotícias

Hot News NOVA YORK, NY – 04 DE JANEIRO: O diretor de cinema Sir Ridley Scott comparece à AOL BUILD Series: Drew Goddard e Sir Ridley Scott, “Perdido em Marte” no AOL Studios em Nova York em 4 de janeiro de 2016 na cidade de Nova York. (Foto de Desiree Navarro/WireImage) (Desiree Navarro/WireImage) Bem-vindo ao boletim informativo de Inteligência Artificial da Fox News com os últimos avanços em…

[mermaidinthecity]

AOL BUILD Speaker Series: Pride And Prejudice And Zombies at AOL Studios in New York City - January 27, 2016

[newstodayjournal]

Paul Reubens, Legendary Pee-Wee Herman Actor, Dead at 70

Very sad news today out of the entertainment industry: Paul Reubens, a veteran actor who will forever be remembered for creating and portraying the character of Pee-wee Herman, has passed away from cancer. He was 70 years old. Paul Reubens attends the AOL Build Speaker Series to discuss “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday” at AOL Studios In New York on March 25, 2016. (Getty) “Last night we said farewell to…

[osarothomprince]

How women answer 5 questions may be financial wake-up call: Suze Orman

Suze Orman speaks during AOL’s BUILD Speaker Series at AOL Studios In New York. Jenny Anderson | WireImage | Getty Images At the end of each episode of her long-running eponymous CNBC show, Suze Orman would close out with the phrase, “People first, then money, then things.” Women took that to mean they should give…How women answer 5 questions may be financial wake-up call: Suze Orman

[tomhiddleslove]

Tom Hiddleston leaving AOL Build on March 06, 2017 in New York City.

[datshitrandom]

Some of my personal favorites

Part 2

[iwouldvebeendrake01]

Zawe Ashton during an interview with AOL Build Series at Build Studio in New York City (2019)

[katmcpheeuniverse]

Katharine McPhee of "Scorpion" attends AOL Build Speaker Series at AOL Studios in New York on April 18, 2016 in New York City. 

[fycarmensandiego]

A chat with author Melissa Wiley

In 1996, HarperCollins published six Carmen Sandiego chapter books, featuring VILE villains from the then-current "Deluxe"/"CD-ROM"/"Classic" generation of computer games and a new lineup of Acme agents, headed by a Black female Chief (Lynne Thigpen ha impact), and focusing on kid detectives Maya and Ben.

The series included two books each by two writing teams and one solo act, Melissa Peterson. I got in touch with Melissa, who now uses the pen name Melissa Wiley, and she graciously answered some questions about writing the Carmen books and beyond.

To get you caught up to my knowledge before the interview, here's Melissa's website, and here's her bio as printed in the two Carmen books (accompanied by the caricature above):

Melissa Peterson is the author of several books for young readers. Born in Alamogordo, New Mexico, she has lived in eight different states and visited Germany and France. She has never ridden a dolphin, but she did eat a great deal of sour cherry ice cream outside the cathedral in Cologne. [Note: These are both references to plot points in Hasta la Vista, Blarney.] Her research for Hasta la Vista, Blarney included many hours playing Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? An official ACME Master Detective, she lives in New York City with her husband and young daughter.

FYCS: Thanks so much for agreeing to this interview.

Melissa Wiley: What a fun blast from the past! The Carmen books were my first professional writing gig and I had so much fun working on them.

That's so exciting to hear! With that being the case, how did you get involved with the books?

I was an assistant editor at HarperCollins, working for the wonderful Stephanie Spinner. I started out as her editorial assistant at Random House right after grad school and moved to Harper with her a year later, shortly after [my husband] Scott and I got married. Stephanie knew that I wanted to be a writer, and she often sent in-house writing assignments my way (lots of cover copy). When I left Harper in 1995 to have a baby, Stephanie recommended me for several book assignments, including the two Carmen Sandiego novels. That project had been underway for several months—Harper was doing a tie-in with the game and TV show. There were six books in total; two were assigned to me and four went to other writing teams [Ellen Weiss and Mel Friedman, and Bonnie Bader and Tracey West]. I often joke that I got my first modem, my first baby, and my first book deal in the same month!

I loved working with my Carmen Sandiego editor, Kris Gilson. The two books were a blast to write and a great learning opportunity for me. Ellen Weiss remains a good friend of mine. She's a true gem of a person!

Have your experiences writing the Carmen books influenced your work since then?

With Carmen, I discovered how much I love writing humor. Before that (in grad school), my poems and stories were on the serious side. I had so much fun with the playful, sometimes goofy tone of the Carmen Sandiego books that I definitely shifted afterward to more of a focus on humor in my books. I still find writing from a place of playfulness to be my most satisfying kind of work.

Were you familiar with Carmen Sandiego before writing the books?

I loved the computer game! I'd seen several episodes of the show—it's all a bit blurry now and hard to say which I encountered first—and really enjoyed it, but I especially loved the game. Instant classic!

How much guidance did you receive from HarperCollins / Brøderbund? Were the plots your own, or were you given plot outlines?

We were given the basic descriptions for the two kid detectives, and I had a couple of meetings with the editors and the other writers to flesh out the characters a bit more—give them personalities. I don't think Mel was in the meetings, but Ellen was there, and Tracey and Bonnie.

Then I wrote outlines for my two books and the other writers outlined theirs. I was assigned one "Where in the World" mystery and one "Where in Time" mystery. I think I submitted several plot ideas for each—the big challenge was thinking up interesting objects for Carmen and her henchmen to steal. The Blarney Stone and cocoa beans were my favorite ideas and I was thrilled that they got picked!

How did you research the books?

Those were AOL days, and the web wasn't yet a place for intensive research, so I spent a lot of time in the library. For The Cocoa Commotion, I conducted phone interviews with staff members at the Hershey chocolate factory—lots of fun. But I never did get to visit the Blarney Stone!

What was your favorite part of working on the books?

Researching the history of chocolate! Naturally I had to do a lot of sampling in order to describe it properly. ;)

Your author bio in the books mentions that the scene in which Maya and Ben eat sour cherry ice cream in Cologne, Germany was inspired by an actual experience of yours. Did any other experiences of yours make it into the books? Have you had any other travel experiences that notable? (Note: I'm originally from Northern Michigan, so travel experiences involving tart cherries are a high bar to clear for me.)

Ohhh, that sour cherry ice cream! I hope I get to taste it again someday. Apart from eating a lot of chocolate, I can't remember any other personal experiences that informed the books. If I were to write one today, I'd make sure to set a scene in Barcelona. My husband and I spent a week there in 2008 and it was an incredible trip. The paella! The Gaudí buildings! Art on every corner! I'd love to go back someday.

The bio also features a caricature of you with your baby daughter...

That drawing was made by the brilliant comic book artist Rick Burchett, who was working with Scott on Batman comics at the time. Scott was an editor at DC Comics and Rick was one of his favorite artists to work with. When I needed a bio illustration for the Carmen Sandiego books, we commissioned Rick to draw it. I love that piece so much! The baby is my oldest, Kate, who was born right around the time I started working on the books. We still have the original art!

You've written over 20 children's books for a variety of ages, in a variety of genres. Do you have any favorites among them?

That's so hard to say—I'm fond of all of them and I dearly loved creating worlds and adventures for Charlotte and Martha in my Little House prequels—but The Prairie Thief and The Nerviest Girl in the World are extra-special to me. I grew up in Aurora, Colorado and had a summer job at a wildlife refuge on the prairie, a landscape that served as the setting for Prairie Thief. I loved getting to weave secrets into the prairie setting that means so much to me.

Your most recent book, The Nerviest Girl in the World, was published last August. Can you tell us a bit about why you wrote it?

I lived for 11 years in La Mesa, California, a small town just outside San Diego. While I was there, I learned that in the very early days of silent film, there had been a film studio in town. Eventually the studio moved to Santa Barbara, but it was exciting to discover that before Hollywood was the center of the American film industry, little old La Mesa was a moviemaking place. I began reading everything I could find about the studio, and when I learned that many of the cowboys in those early Westerns were real cowboys and ranchers, an idea for a book began to take shape—the story of an adventurous girl who stumbled into work as a daredevil film actress along with her cowboy brothers.

Of course, I'm legally compelled to ask the question that literally every interview currently includes: how has the pandemic changed your job?

LOL! Yes, it's the question right now, isn't it! Well, I've worked at home since the Carmen Sandiego days, and I homeschool my kids, so in the biggest ways our lives weren't hugely affected by the shutdown. But I used to do a lot of my writing in cafés, and I miss that like crazy! I had to think up all sorts of new strategies for staying focused at home this past year. I'm hoping to get back to the coffee shops this summer!

Something I found really interesting is that you have a Patreon, which you explain you started to help pay for medical bills. How has that experience affected your work as an author?

I've played with lots of kinds of content on Patreon and really enjoy having a space to share behind-the-scenes stories. It's a more intimate and personal space than social media, so I feel free to let my hair down and be really frank.

Thanks so much for these fantastic questions! I had so much fun reminiscing about the Carmen Sandiego adventure!

[dcamerons]

Dove Cameron attends AOL Build to discuss her new film ‘Descendants’ at AOL Studios on July 27th, 2015 in New York City, New York.

[mermaidinthecity]

AOL Build Series at AOL Studios in New York City - August 6, 2015

[observantistic]

EVAN RACHEL WOOD AOL's BUILD Speaker Series at AOL Studios in New York City January 16, 2015

[osarothomprince]

How women answer 5 questions may be financial wake-up call: Suze Orman

Suze Orman speaks during AOL’s BUILD Speaker Series at AOL Studios In New York. Jenny Anderson | WireImage | Getty Images At the end of each episode of her long-running eponymous CNBC show, Suze Orman would close out with the phrase, “People first, then money, then things.” Women took that to mean they should give…How women answer 5 questions may be financial wake-up call: Suze Orman