November Newsletter | Julie Vick

Happy November!

It has been a bit of a month over here as I got a (thankfully mild) breakthrough COVID case, but I am feeling better now and am looking forward to a hopefully more mellow second half. I've recently been mostly gravitating toward comfort watching shows like Great British Baking Show, Repair Shop, and a loop of satisfying videos like this one on social media. In the comfort comedy department I just started Joe Pera Talks With You (shout-out to Jennie Egerdie for the rec), which is a show with very short episodes of gentle humor in an unusual format that is hard for me to describe, so I just recommend you check it out.

This month I'm jumping on the holiday gift guide bandwagon -- I asked some funny female authors (and myself) to recommend funny gift books. I've also got a Q&A with Jennie Egerdie, author of Frog and Toad are Doing Their Best (and fun fact, her book also makes a great gift).

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Gift Book Recommendations from Funny Female Authors

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1. Tiffany Midge, Author of Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's

Midge's Book: For anyone who enjoys satire, McSweeney's, or thoughtful essays, Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s is a powerful and compelling collection of Tiffany Midge’s musings on life, politics, and identity as a Native woman in America. Artfully blending sly humor, social commentary, and meditations on love and loss, Midge weaves short, stand-alone musings into a memoir that stares down colonialism while chastising hipsters for abusing pumpkin spice. She explains why she does not like pussy hats, mercilessly dismantles pretendians, and confesses her own struggles with white-bread privilege.

Midge's Recommendation: Mia Mercado is a national treasure. Her humorous essays collection "Weird but Normal" is like spending a leisurely afternoon over mimosa brunch with a best friend, laughing your ass off, and sharing all the intimate episodes of your life.

Follow Tiffany Midge on Twitter.

2. Devorah Blachor, author of The Feminist's Guide to Raising a Little Princess

Blachor's Book: Smart, hilarious, and thought-provoking, this book tells the story of a feminist parent navigating her daughters' princess-obsessed years. Author Devorah Blachor takes a non-judgmental, positive approach to this very funny, yet sometimes very complicated, situation. The Feminist's Guide to Raising a Little Princess would make a great gift for any parent of a toddler.

Blachor's Recommendation: I recommend New Erotica for Feminists by Brooke Preston, Caitlin Kunkel, Fiona Taylor and Carrie Wittmer. This is an extremely funny book which turns cultural tropes upside down and manages to skewer literature, history and erotica while making you laugh out loud.

Follow Devorah Blachor on Twitter.

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3. Jessica Delfino, Author of Dumb Jokes for Smart Folks

Delfino's Book: Dumb Jokes For Smart Folks is a book of riddles, rhymes, one liners, quips, bits, puns and yuk yuks for people of all ages, but especially over probably tweendom. (There is a section at the end that is “off limits” to anyone with good taste and class.) It’s a great gift for anyone who really likes wordplay, creative mental leaps and of course, puns!

Delfino's Recommendation: You’ll Grow Out Of It, by Jessi Klein. I met Jessi when we were both performing in the downtown comedy scene of NYC and watching her do stand up was always so fun, because she had an interesting and of course very funny way of looking at things. Her book is an extension of that. You may know her as the voice of Jessi on (and a creator and writer of) the show, “Big Mouth,” (and she’s also written for a million other big deal comedy things) and if you’ve ever seen that show, you know how funny she is.

Follow Jessica Delfino on Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.

4. Ali Solomon, Illustrator of I Am "Why Do I Need Venmo?" Years Old

Solomon's book: I am "Why Do I Need Venmo" Years Old is the perfect gift for anyone turning a year older, no matter what age they started. It's for the person who doesn't believe that age is a number, but rather a small defining moment that everyone can relate to.

Solomon's recommendation: Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell's Murder Book. As someone who is also obsessed with the headlines Law & Order is ripped from, this humorous graphic memoir is perfect for the true-crime-lovin' set.

Learn more about Ali on her website or follow her on Instagram.

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5. Libby Marshall, Author of Penny Pitching Tips for the Morally Bankrupt

Marshall's book: Featuring elderly serial killers, a man trying to date after losing his wife to The Salem Witch Trials, and a Chuck E. Cheese haunted by the spirit of Princess Diana, Penny Pinching Tips for the Morally Bankrupt is a fantastically funny, wonderfully weird, and surprisingly sincere collection of short stories that was named one of Vulture's Best Comedy Books of 2021 (So Far). It would be a great gift for anyone with a dark sense of humor, a taste for the surreal, or who keeps a bottle of champagne ready for the day Henry Kissinger dies.

Marshall's recommendation: Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots. Told from the perspective of a bored temp who is recruited to be a henchperson for a supervillain, this book is perfect for anyone who's watched a superhero movie and wondered how much it cost the city to repair all the damage that the so-called "heroes" did.

6. Julie Vick (You might already know who I am)

My book: Babies Don't Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?) is a humorous guide to navigating early parenthood as an introvert that would make a great gift for the new or expecting parent in your life. Publisher's Weekly said, “This will be an invaluable resource for introverts about to become parents, though anyone with kids will appreciate Vick’s perspective on the absurdity of parenthood.”

My recommendation: Michelle Woo's new book Horizontal Parenting offers ways for parents to entertain their kids while lying down. As any parent knows, a book like this will be invaluable on days where you are feeling exhausted (which is a lot of days).

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Q&A with Jennie Egerdie, Author of Frog and Toad are Doing Their Best

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This month I also asked Jennie Egerdie about her new Frog and Toad parody book and for some laughter recommendations.

What is the origin story of your book?

Initially, my book started out as a short humor piece on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. The piece went viral at the end of August last year, which was wild. I leveraged the attention to meet with agents and see if anyone was interested in pitching a book with me. I signed with my fantastic agent Laura Mazer, wrote a thorough book proposal for Frog and Toad are Doing Their Best, and we sold it to Running Press. The whole thing, from publishing the initial piece to selling the proposal, took about 3-4 months and a lot of stress-snacking.

Your book does a great job of capturing the voice of the original Frog and Toad books. Can you talk a bit about what your process was for capturing the voice?

Thank you! I'm thrilled you think I did a great job!
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Some parodies "flip" the tone of the source material for comedic effect. Because I wanted to retain the kindness of the original books (which I feel lives in how each character reacts) I didn't want to drastically change the tone as much as alter/exaggerate the character's situation.

I first reread the original books carefully to get a sense of pacing and each character's voice. I focused on little mannerisms, how Frog and Toad would explain (or not explain) their wants. I thought a lot about how each character would react to various realities of life in 2020/2021. Ultimately, I feel like I put a lot of myself and my own relationships into the book. Maybe it works because I'm naturally a lot like Toad!

What role does humor play in your life and/or writing?

Humor helps me processes information by forcing me to pay attention to details and listen to my gut. Laughter is an involuntary response, so I use it as a metal detector. If I find something funny, there’s a treasure of information there for me to dig into.

Like most people I know, I also use humor as a coping mechanism and for social deflection. It’s a versatile survival tool. But I think my funniest writing comes from being dialed into my surroundings and emotional state, not from blocking it out.

What is something you can recommend to readers that makes you laugh?

People watching. We (humans) are ridiculous and it’s awesome. Take the time to sit somewhere in public, even for a few minutes, and pay close attention to the littlest actions. Delightful.

Another thing that ALWAYS makes me laugh is The Rhyming Song from the original Muppet show. The premise is simple: They must perform the rhyming song, they’re not ready for the rhyming song. I could go on and on about how this is a great metaphor for taking risks and enjoying failure, but that’s not why I love it. I love it because it’s simple, silly, and Fozzie Bear’s reactions make me so laugh so hard I cry. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSXLmBTTop0​

Thanks, Jennie! Follow Jennie on Twitter and go out and get her book!

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News from me this month:

• I talked to the funny and talented Lindsay Hameroff for Frazzled about my book writing process and introverted parenting here.
• I did a virtual parenting humor author panel with Old Firehouse books at the beginning of November, if you missed it, you can watch it here.
• I am teaching a one-day virtual parenting writing class on January 22nd -- "The Days are Long, but the Writing Time Short: Writing, Pitching and Publishing Your Parenting Experiences." Get more details and register here.

That's it for this month -- see you in December!