Q&A with Jennie Egerdie, Author of Frog and Toad are Doing Their Best
Writing parody and how a McSweeney's piece became a book
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!
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:
Thanks, Jennie! Follow Jennie on Twitter and go out and get her book!