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Humor and Genius:
an Exclusive Authorlink Interview With Lisa Yee

by Linda Johns
February 2004

Millicent Min:
Girl Genius
(Arthur A. Levin Books
ISBN: 0-439-42519-0)
Buy this book via Amazon.com.

“I have been accused of being anal retentive, an overachiever, and a compulsive perfectionist, like those are bad things …” says our 11-year-old hero, Millie, in Millicent Min: Girl Genius, a delightfully funny—not to mention smart—middle grade novel by Lisa Yee. Millicent’s off-the-charts IQ doesn’t get in the way of the rest of us (those of average brilliance) getting close to her and rooting for her to be an ordinary kid.

In a journal format, Millicent tells us candidly about what it’s like being 11, being in high school, taking a college-level poetry class and having to tutor a monkey-brained boy named Stanford Wong. The author lets us feel just how deeply this young genius wants to have a friend. A real friend.

We talked with author Lisa Yee, who also owns a design/marketing company called Magic Pencil Studios, about creating Millicent Min: Girl Genius.

"I was lucky enough
to be pulled out
of the splushpile. . ."
—Yee

AUTHORLINK: You mention on your web site that Arthur Levine urged you to write this book. How did he know this idea was brewing?

YEE: I was lucky enough to be pulled out of the slush pile by Arthur Levine. Truly, a miracle. I had written another book, a picture book, about my grandmother. Arthur liked it, but said it was a strange format and asked if I had anything else to send him. I sent him a manuscript for another novel, which he liked, but the characters were too broad and comic for him. So then I asked him if he'd be interested in a book about a child genius. He said it sounded intriguing and we went from there!

“ . . . I just wrote out little paragraphs describing each chapter and some sample dialogue.”
—Yee

AUTHORLINK: Do you typically use an outline in your writing process? If so, how did that step help you in writing Millicent?

YEE: As a writer for Magic Pencil Studios, a design/marketing company my husband and I own, I absolutely always started with an outline for assignments. However, when it came to my own writing, fiction writing, I refused to use an outline thinking it would hinder the creative process. Wrong! Before getting my contract, my editor said, I know you can do this, but you need to submit an outline to me so I know that you know where to book is going.

I was very insulted at first, probably because I had no idea where the book was going! So I went to the bookstore and looked up books on how to write fiction outlines. I didn't see any that made much sense to me, so I just wrote out little paragraphs describing each chapter and some sample dialogue. I sent that in as my outline and got a contract.

Once the contract came through I had about three months for the first draft of the novel. Boy, did that outline come in handy then!

"Finding
the right voice
(and format) was
the hardest part about
writing the book."
—Yee

AUTHORLINK: What kinds of techniques did you use to develop Millicent's character so fully? It seems like you have such a solid view of every year of Millicent's life. Is that all in your head and it comes out as you were writing, or did you specifically map out what her life might have been like?

YEE: I would love to say that it all just flowed quickly and painlessly from my soul. Unfortunately, the would not be true. The basic character idea came easily, but her background was something that I had to chart to make sure everything would make sense.

AUTHORLINK: How did your experiments with format ultimately help you shape this novel?

YEE: Finding the right voice (and format) was the hardest part about writing the book. When I first started I was very self conscious about my writing. I was writing in a more stilted manner because my editor kept saying he wanted "literature" and that word hung over me like an anvil.

Then Arthur asked, "How come your e-mails are so breezy and funny, and yet you seem to tense up when you write fiction?" So I really thought about that and realized that when I e-mail people, I don't think. I just write. Typos and all. So I rewrote the entire novel in an e-mail format, and that really freed me up. Once that was done, I had the main character's voice down. So then it was easy to rewrite it in journal format.

"Knowing that
I am going
to revise (and revise
and revise) lets me write without getting
too uptight."
—Yee

AUTHORLINK: Do you ever need to turn off your internal editor? Were there concerns about readers being able to keep up with Millicent’s vocabulary and thoughts?

YEE: Yes, yes! I had lots of problems with Millicent's vocabulary and voice. I kept asking my editor, "Tell me the target audience for this book." And he would say, "No, just write the book, be true to your character and don't worry about age ranges." That was maddening for me because in advertising and marketing everything is about target audiences, etc. So finally, I just wrote a book I wanted to read. I figured the target would be smart people and I thought maybe it would be a YA book. I really wasn't sure.

I was really surprised when it was dubbed a middle school novel. But I've also seen it in the YA section of bookstores, and lots of adults have read the book and contacted me. It seems to resonate with people of all ages.

AUTHORLINK: Can you tell us a little about your revision process?

YEE:: Revisions are my saving grace. I LOVE to revise. It is my chance to get back in there and fix things! My first draft really is just to get something, anything, on paper. Knowing that I am going to revise (and revise and revise) lets me write without getting too uptight.

AUTHORLINK: How has writing a novel compared with your other writing work? How do you keep your other writing obligations from zapping all your creativity and energy?

YEE: Novel writing has no comparison to anything else I have ever done. All my other writing for work was something someone hired me to do. With the book, I was asked to write what I wanted to write about. What a heady experience!

Once I got the book contract, I had to put my other writing (Magic Pencil Studios writing) on hold for a while to focus on the novel. I used to write Red Lobster's menus, among other things, and it got to be too crazy writing about succulent, lightly seasoned shrimp one minute and IQ tests the next.

AUTHORLINK: What are you working on now? Will we be seeing Millicent Min and Stanford Wong again?

YEE: I am now working on the final draft of my next novel for Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic. It takes Millicent's enemy, Stanford Wong, and follows his life—in the exact same time frame as Millie's story. Only it is all from his point of view.

I wanted to write this book because my daughter (age 11) is convinced that all boys are stupid and smelly and without any redeeming qualities. I wanted to show her that boys are more sensitive, emotional and confused than girls can ever imagine.

End note: Millicent Min: Girl Genius is also an audiobook (Random House/Listening Library), read by Keiko Agena, the actress who plays Lane Kim on The Gilmore Girls. The book is also a featured novel for Scholastic Book Fairs. You can learn more about Millicent Min, Stanford Wong and author Lisa Yee at http://www.lisayee.com.

About Columnist
Linda Johns
Linda Johns covers the children's trade book market for Authorlink, from picture books through young adult literature. Her columns include interviews with editors and authors, and insight into the publishing process.

Linda, who lives and writes in Seattle, Washington, is a children's book author and a writer/editor for educational publishers. Her books include I Can Bowl, To Pee or Not to Pee, Sarah's Secret Plan, and more than 20 early readers for the school and library market. She has worked as a writer and editor on numerous magazines and publications in the Northwest. She can be reached at lindajohns@mindspring.com.
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