Sunday, July 03, 2011

A Very Yummy Book

When Carolyn Mackler and I first began writing The Future of Us, not even our agents knew about it. We didn't tell anyone until we were certain the collaboration was going to work. When we finished writing the book and began editing it, we still told very few people. It was our fun little secret! But since I live in California and Carolyn lives in New York (and since I focus best at night), I often pulled all-nighters to get my chunk o' writing emailed to Carolyn before she woke up. Sometimes I would work until 3:30 in the morning, send it off, and then Carolyn would wake up and begin working on it within 30 minutes, just as I went to bed.

When I write that late at night (or early in the morning), I can't work at home or I'll fall asleep. The only places still open at those hours, though, were either Denny's or SLO Donut Company. That donut shop has some very creative and yummy donuts, and I often posted photos of them to my Facebook page moments before devouring them. Not being able to talk about what I was working on, most of my friends thought I simply got unhealthy cravings in the middle of the night.

Well, now you know the truth. I was working! (And I was using the excuse of working to satisfy my unhealthy middle-of-the-night cravings.)

For those of you not on Facebook, here's a sampling of what got me through writing and editing this book:

Oreo donuts, Cap'n Crunch donuts (with Crunch Berries)...


...s'mores donuts...


...Cocoa Puffs donuts...


...jelly donuts...


...Fruity Pebbles donuts...


...peanutbutter donuts...


Lucky Charms donuts (usually with many more marshmallows than this)...


and one bacon donut (could never bring myself to sample more than one of these).



And after downing all those donuts, that is when I found out Entertainment Weekly wanted to do a photoshoot.

Of course!

But the book is all done now and the donuts have become a rarity again. And now, finally, Carolyn and I can talk about it!

12 comments:

Patty Blount said...

I nearly licked my screen.
Wow, those are some delicious-looking donuts.
Excited about your new project!

lissa said...

Well, besides being very psyched for your new book, I now wish I lived anywhere NEAR California - those are some wicked donuts!! Montreal doesn't even have Dunkin' Donuts anymore, it's all the Canadian company Tim Horton's...*sighs*

Thanks for sharing the photos - I know where I have to go on vacation..! ;-)

Soggy said...

It's 3am in my country now. Still awake & very hungry. Then I read this post. Now, I wanna jump off a bridge or you better send me those yummy lil donuts. haha.

Jen Bigheart said...

The book is sitting right next to me and now I want to stop working to read it. Excited for you both...well deserved. Been a huge fan for a long time.

Jen Bigheart

Devan @ Book Strings said...

Those are some interesting donuts. I really want to try the peanut butter one. Yum! I've had a s'more donut before, but that one looks way better.

Great answers! Makes me want to read The Future of Us even more if that's even possible. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Jay! I just wanted to say I just got my package from
The competition with all the goodies :) thank you so much!!! I've started reading forgotten and reread 13 reasons why! Thank you hehe it really made my day :)

Nikki said...

OMG ... those look so good! And what a cute interview. I want your shirt Jay!

Jay Asher said...

Is it wrong to smile knowing you're all jealous of the donuts I've consumed?

And I can't wait for you all to read The Future of Us. I'm still amazed at how seamless the writing relationship was with Carolyn.

I ordered that shirt at the last minute. It arrived the afternoon before I left fof ALA!

G. Neri said...

Ok, at least there wasn't a crack house near you that was open all night!
Your collaboration with C is such the perfect follow up for you. Any other way, you probably couldn't have possibly met the fans/ critics expectations, but somehow, this magically takes all that away and allows the reader to come to it without expectations (except that it will be great of course). I love it when life hands you donuts instead of lemons!

RaShelle Workman said...

Those are some fun donuts. Congrats on finishing your novel. Can't wait to read. =D

Exchange web hosting said...

Wow yummy!

Claire Dawn said...

Why would you show me those donuts? So so EVIL!!!

I can't wait for the FUTURE OF US. I really need to read The Earth, My butt and Other big round things, too.