Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / Millie Fleur's Worst Day Ever Is Actually Her Best From YA Author Christy Mandin

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Millie Fleur's Worst Day Ever Is Actually Her Best From YA Author Christy Mandin · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: How many times have you been in the car, you're
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  Speaker 1: at a red light for just a brief moment, and
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't enough time to switch podcasts? Because I am
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  Speaker 1: a podcast listener. I know what it's like to be
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  Speaker 1: so involved in a story. And then from out of nowhere,
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  Speaker 1: it's like, I'm bored. I'm bored. I got to get
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  Speaker 1: out of here. How can I find the next podcast
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  Speaker 1: like right now? Well, you have to go searching. How
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  Speaker 1: many platforms for it? How about this? Arrow.net. A-R-R-O-E.net. Enjoy
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  Speaker 1: your exploration. Hello and good morning. How are you doing
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  Speaker 1: again today?
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  Speaker 2: Wonderful.
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  Speaker 1: How are you? Very excited to always share a conversation
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  Speaker 1: with you because you just have this really cool way
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  Speaker 1: of talking about things that are so relatable. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: come on now. The best worst day ever. I feel
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  Speaker 1: like that you've written this book about me. So you're welcome.
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  Speaker 1: I gave you the story. You're welcome. Because I'm that
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  Speaker 1: person that makes that kind of a cake because I
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  Speaker 1: love watching those cooking shows and it's always the really weird,
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  Speaker 1: ugly cakes that win.
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  Speaker 2: Well listen it's a universal experience right the cake doesn't
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  Speaker 2: come out like you planned and I have tea.
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  Speaker 1: Well Millie is quickly becoming one of my heroes and
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  Speaker 1: I I gotta tell you what is it about Millie
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  Speaker 1: that I mean adults and kids we it's almost like
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  Speaker 1: a new age of Harry Potter because we're all talking
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  Speaker 1: about Millie.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's because she's just so transparent like you
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  Speaker 2: know like She's just having, especially in Worst Day Ever,
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  Speaker 2: she's just having an experience we can all relate to.
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  Speaker 2: She's carrying all this stuff and she's wiped out and
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  Speaker 2: everybody saw it. You know, I just think she's a
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  Speaker 2: whole person. And I guess people can relate and appreciate
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  Speaker 2: her in that way.
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  Speaker 1: Well, especially the little ones and even adults, because Millie does.
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  Speaker 1: She does what we all want to do. We want
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  Speaker 1: to stay up late and we totally forget about what
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  Speaker 1: the effects are going to be in the days after. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: Millie has a problem here on the days after.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, she was so prepared for the best day ever.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, she checked out every book. She read everything
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  Speaker 2: she could. She was prepared, right? And that's something, I
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  Speaker 2: don't know if you can relate to this, but best
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  Speaker 2: laid plans, you know? And then she wakes up late,
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  Speaker 2: and she's got a bad case of the Morgan muffles
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  Speaker 2: and a humbug in her hair. And she's just determined
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  Speaker 2: she's going to get her day back, and she never
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  Speaker 2: really does. Like, it just piles up.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: That's something I know that grown-ups can relate to, but
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  Speaker 2: even kids. Arrow, we used to live in Orlando, and
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  Speaker 2: so I have been to Disney World enough times, and
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  Speaker 2: I can tell you it is the art imitating life, okay?
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  Speaker 2: Essentially what Millie is having is the day we've all
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  Speaker 2: had if we've ever gone to a theme park, right?
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  Speaker 2: Our parents have spent a lot of money to get
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  Speaker 2: us there. It's hot. We're all tired, but we're going
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  Speaker 2: to have the best day ever, Arrow.
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  Speaker 1: That's right.
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  Speaker 2: And ultimately, at the end of the day, you have
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  Speaker 2: made some memories, but they may not have been exactly
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  Speaker 2: what you thought they were going to be. There may
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  Speaker 2: have been tears. There may have been a dropped ice
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  Speaker 2: cream cone, you know, like, and I think that just
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  Speaker 2: really embodies a lot of life, right? You set out
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  Speaker 2: to have the best day ever. And is it ever
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  Speaker 2: really perfect? No, not really. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but let's talk about the real invisible superstar here.
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  Speaker 1: It's called Perseverance. She didn't stop.
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  Speaker 2: No, she didn't.
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  Speaker 1: That's what I love about this story. She didn't stop.
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  Speaker 1: Or she didn't say, I'm trying, I'm trying. No, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: wait a second. When you're doing, you're doing. Be happy
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  Speaker 1: that you're doing. That has nothing to do with trying.
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  Speaker 1: You're doing.
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  Speaker 2: She was doing. Yes, she was. And she did wipe out,
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  Speaker 2: but she had friends there to help her keep going.
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  Speaker 1: See, there's another one.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but not toxic positivity, though, Arrow, because we acknowledge, like,
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  Speaker 2: it's not all roses in Garden Glen, right? Like, we've
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  Speaker 2: all stepped in gum, and we're all walking through our
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  Speaker 2: day with gum on our shoe, right? But a bad
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  Speaker 2: day is not a bad life.
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  Speaker 1: Please don't move. There's more with Christy Madden coming up next.
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  Speaker 1: We're talking about the book Worst Day Ever, and Millie
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  Speaker 1: Flowers got one for you. She can talk with any
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  Speaker 1: generation and it feels so good as any generation to
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  Speaker 1: be able to have Millie Flowers in our life. We're
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  Speaker 1: back with Christy Manton with Millie Flowers' Worst Day Ever.
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  Speaker 1: I got to tell you, I want my own humbug.
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  Speaker 1: I want one because I have long hair. I want
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  Speaker 1: a humbug just hanging out with me everywhere I go.
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  Speaker 1: This is my buddy. This is humbug. I want one.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if you want a humbug, Arrow. Are
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  Speaker 2: you sure you want a humbug?
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  Speaker 1: I want a little buddy like that. Well, I'm that
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  Speaker 1: weird guy that lives in a forest. So I see
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  Speaker 1: a spider. I don't run from them. They're my buddies.
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  Speaker 1: Or like today when Timmy the Turtle was out there,
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  Speaker 1: we were joking around with our dog going, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's going to be really fun out there, my little turtle.
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  Speaker 1: And then we kind of joked around about Timmy the Turtle.
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  Speaker 1: And he was out there in the forest. And we
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  Speaker 1: were so shocked by that. So even turtles, that's why
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  Speaker 1: I like Millie. Millie is not afraid of anything.
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  Speaker 2: She's really not. She's a girl like ready to experience
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  Speaker 2: everything life has to offer. Even if it, you know,
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  Speaker 2: kicks her can up and down the street. She's ready.
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  Speaker 2: She's going to experience it. I don't I don't know
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  Speaker 2: where that comes from.
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  Speaker 1: The thing that I love about your story is that
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  Speaker 1: those nights where you want to be sleeping, but you
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  Speaker 1: can't go to sleep. And it's just one of those
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  Speaker 1: things that really is so relatable to the little ones
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  Speaker 1: because we all wanted to stay up past 730. That
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  Speaker 1: was our rule in our household. And then to find
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  Speaker 1: out that other parents were doing it, too, and it
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  Speaker 1: almost makes it cool. So when we see Millie and
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  Speaker 1: the effects of not getting enough sleep, it's almost like
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  Speaker 1: mom and dad are right. I should have listened to him.
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  Speaker 1: I should have listened to him.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. Yeah, because, again, our imitating life. I was the
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  Speaker 2: kid with the flashlight under the covers reading my goosebumps
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  Speaker 2: way into the night, knowing that I had a spelling
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  Speaker 2: bee the next morning. And, you know, but those natural
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  Speaker 2: consequences are part of life, right? And I think also, too,
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  Speaker 2: for the parents reading it. It's a reminder that letting
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  Speaker 2: those natural consequences play out is oftentimes a better teacher
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  Speaker 2: than saying, I told you so.
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  Speaker 1: You said goosebumps. Are we talking about the book, The Goosebumps?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, of course. I'm an elder millennial. So, yes,
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  Speaker 2: I was raised on goosebumps.
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  Speaker 1: I've been with him. He and I have shared many
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  Speaker 1: conversations together. And now I'm starting to make a connection here.
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  Speaker 1: With the Goosebumps stories and your writing and connection to
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  Speaker 1: the viewers and the listeners, you pick something up along
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  Speaker 1: the way.
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  Speaker 2: A little bit like gum on the shoe.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Don't you love that process? And I really do
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  Speaker 1: want young adults and even adults to pick up on this,
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  Speaker 1: that read your favorite books, get into your favorite authors,
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  Speaker 1: but don't be afraid to write. Allow their inspiration in
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  Speaker 1: your imagination to be your journey as just write something.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, that's right. Because even if a story has been
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  Speaker 2: told a million times, it's never been told by you.
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  Speaker 1: That's right.
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  Speaker 2: So your voice is your voice.
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  Speaker 1: How did you deal with that? Because, I mean, there's
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  Speaker 1: an article that just went national about me today, and
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  Speaker 1: I talk about how my second grade teacher, Mrs. Keefe,
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  Speaker 1: is the one that got me to be the writer.
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  Speaker 1: How did you get to be that writer?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I am an illustrator first. So I often would
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  Speaker 2: draw things and think, but what is it for? You know,
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  Speaker 2: like this standalone illustration. But what is it for? What
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  Speaker 2: is the backstory? What's going on here? I want to
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  Speaker 2: know more about it. And so illustrating is my natural, like,
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  Speaker 2: origin story. But it wasn't enough for me. I wanted
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  Speaker 2: the narrative. And so I like building worlds. I like
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  Speaker 2: when a character arrives in my sketchbook. And I don't
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  Speaker 2: know anything about why they're there. And then I have
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  Speaker 2: to figure it out. So that is how I came
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  Speaker 2: to writing.
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  Speaker 1: You do the doodling first because in my daily journals,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I have put so many doodles and stuff
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  Speaker 1: in there because I always wanted to get people to
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  Speaker 1: my poetry. So I use the art in order to
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  Speaker 1: get people to go, oh, look at this. Oh, he
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  Speaker 1: even wrote on it. But whatever it took to get
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  Speaker 1: people to the words. Right.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of times it does start with an illustration.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't always. Sometimes it starts with a title and vibe.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, boy.
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  Speaker 2: Which my agent always reminds me is not something I
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  Speaker 2: can get a contract for. So I have to have
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  Speaker 2: a story. It can't just be a character and a
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  Speaker 2: title and vibe. What is the story? But yeah, often
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  Speaker 2: it will start as an illustration.
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  Speaker 1: So let me ask you a question. This is pretty personal.
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  Speaker 1: Does your editor have a humbug? I want to know
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  Speaker 1: right now. Does your editor have one?
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  Speaker 2: I don't know. I have such a delightful team. Yes, actually,
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  Speaker 2: I think she does, and I think it's me. I
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  Speaker 2: am probably the humbug. I am so dramatic and wailing
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  Speaker 2: and gnashing of teeth when it comes to editing my
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  Speaker 2: work that I am probably the whole team's humbug, but
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  Speaker 2: in a delightful way. I'm their grumpy ghillie flower.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, my God. Where can people go to find out
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  Speaker 1: more about you, especially also with the pumpkin problem? Because
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  Speaker 1: you've got two books that are out here and especially
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  Speaker 1: the pumpkin book. I want them to jump on that
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  Speaker 1: because not everybody writes how to do it.
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  Speaker 2: Stories.
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  Speaker 1: And this is perfect for the readers as well.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, so Millie Fleur's Worst Day Ever and Millie Fleur's
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  Speaker 2: Pumpkin Problem, along with the other books in the series,
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  Speaker 2: can be found anywhere books are sold. Right now, Barnes
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  Speaker 2: & Noble is having fall storytime events in all 700
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  Speaker 2: of their stores. So you can pop in, hear a reading,
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  Speaker 2: just look online for where those storytimes might happen. And
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  Speaker 2: you can find me on Instagram at ChristyMandon and online
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  Speaker 2: at ChristyMandon.com.
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  Speaker 1: You got to come back to this show anytime in
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  Speaker 1: the future. You know that door is always going to
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  Speaker 1: be open for you.
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  Speaker 2: I will always come back. It's always a pleasure chatting.
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  Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today, okay?
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  Speaker 2: All right, I will do it.