Including Humor in Your Writing by Agent/Author Natalie Lakosil and Tracy Badua & Freddie vs. The Family Curse and Query Critique Giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Tracy Badua and her agent Natalie Lakosil here to share about Tracy’s middle grade contemporary Freddie vs. The Family Curse. It sounds like a funny, adventure story that has a perfect balance of humor, adventure, and a middle grader dealing with common issues in middle grade. I’m excited to read it.

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

In this thrilling and hilarious middle grade adventure, a young Filipino-American boy must team up with his ancestor to break the curse that’s haunted their family for generations. . . or be trapped in an amulet forever.

Now here are Tracy and Natalie!

Tracy: I’m so excited to share more about my middle grade contemporary fantasy Freddie vs. The Family Curse, in which I try (and hopefully succeed) to be funny. This book centers on a Filipino American boy must team up with the ghost of his great granduncle to break the curse that’s haunted their family for generations. This quick description might not immediately ring bells as “hilarious!” for some folks, but readers have let me know that I managed to coax out a few chuckles from them here and there.

 Natalie: This book was funny from the first page, actually! Freddie has a very dry and begrudging acceptance way of thinking about the family curse that his voice really carries the humor. For example, this is just a few paragraphs in the very first draft I read:

April showers may bring May flowers, but they’re also going to bring me an F if I don’t figure out how to stick everything together.

I thump my forehead down on my desk. My eyebrow lands in a wet smudge of green paint. Typical.

As usual, the Ruiz family curse is making my life a nightmare. Like straight black hair and those little chicken-skin bumps on my upper arms, bad luck is in my genes.

I guess I should be thankful that at least my whole family tree board hasn’t spontaneously combusted. ßfirst laugh out loud moment for me 

Tracy: Trying to make a book funny is serious business! In Freddie, I tried to focus on humor that doesn’t come off cruel or too hurtful. For example, the other kids in Freddie’s class may giggle or roll their eyes when he stumbles yet again, thanks to his family’s bad luck curse, but there aren’t any moments of Freddie being physically hassled by other students or ridiculed for being different. They don’t ostracize him, but they might not pick him first when they’re splitting up into teams during PE.

 That last part may be inspired by my own lack of coordination and understanding of how some sports rules work. In my defense, it was too easy to rack up traveling calls during basketball when my junior high legs were much shorter than everyone else’s! I naturally had to take four scurrying steps to make up the normal easy stride of a taller person back then.

Natalie: I related so much to Freddie’s embarrassing incidents. I think the scene that got me the most was of Freddie having just finished this incredible breakdance routine, and in the very silent room, farts just as he finishes. And OMG, who hasn’t had one slip out like that just at the absolute worst time?! You can feel it because the things he goes through are things we’ve felt, too.

Tracy: Overall, it was important to me to frame Freddie’s many mishaps and others’ responses in a kinder way because sometimes, attempts at humor edge too far into simply being mean. Someone may make a harsh joke about another’s ethnic or economic background or, for the sake of laughs, may otherwise treat them in a way that makes the other kid feel like there’s something inherently wrong with them.

Here, there’s nothing wrong with Freddie as a person. There’s nothing wrong with his being Filipino American, bringing leftover garlic fried rice for lunch, or living in the crowded part of town. He just happens to be the unwilling victim of a generations-long family curse, and the clumsiness that brings –though incredibly embarrassing—doesn’t somehow make him less worthy of friendship and respect. So I tried to keep the humor focused on silly situations and cringeworthy actions rather than personal traits, and it’s my hope that this kind of lighthearted humor resonates with readers.

What kind of humor do you look for in new works, Natalie?

Natalie: Well, reading Freddie should give anyone a great idea of the kind of humor I look for! I have a 4-year-old and a 7-year-old at home, so fart jokes and butts are pretty popular and I giggle too (FYI don’t ever let your kids realize they can ask Alexa to play “fart music.” Yes. It exists.). I like really dry and sarcastic humor, I like silly, I like absurd. One thing I don’t like to read is self-deprecating humor or humor at the expense of others.

And as part of the celebration of humor and Freddie, I’m offering a query critique in the giveaway, so if you have something funny you’re not sure is hitting or you want some feedback on, enter!!

Giveaway Details

Tracy has generously offered a hardback of Freddie vs. The Family Curse and Natalie has offered a query critique for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by June 4th. If you do not want to be included in the critique giveaway, please let me know in the comments. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book the query critique giveaways are International.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways

Wednesday, June 1st, I have any agent/author guest post with Mary Moore and Emi Watanabe Cohen with a giveaway of Emi’s MG contemporary fantasy The Lost Ryū and a query critique by Mary and my IWSG post

Wednesday, June 1st, I’m also participating in the Berry Good Giveaway Hop

Monday, June 6th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Chelsea Hensley and a query critique giveaway

Monday, June 13th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Kayla Cichella and a query critique giveaway

Thursday, June 16th, I’m participating in the Dad-o-mite Giveaway Hop

 Hope to see you on Wednesday, June 1st!