Nerve: Truth or Dare…The Videos

Well, if you’ve been paying attention this week (and you have been paying attention this week, right?) you’ll have been looking forward to today’s unveiling of all the video dares we’ve done here at EMU’s Debuts and Friday the Thirteeners in celebration of Jeanne Ryan’s debut novel NERVE!

Therefore I won’t bore you and go to commercial or mention any other non-dare related material here, drawing out the tension until showing you the actual dares. That would be mean. It would be similar to how they always cut to commercial on reality shows and then they come back from commercial and spend an additional 20 seconds or so repeating the teaser from right before they went to commercial. It’s just mean to do that, drawing out the reveal of the Nerve dares would be like that, don’t you think?

I know, it’s a rhetorical question.

Did you know that the term ‘rhetorical question‘ has a storied and wonderful history? Let’s discuss…

Henry Denham in the 1580s invented a “rhetorical question mark” for use at the end of a rhetorical question. (yes, I had to look that up)

What?

That would be mean?

Drawing out the reveal of the dares?

Would I do that?

Who, me?

The Dare: Re-enact your worst experience at a writers conference.

The Daree: Jeanne Ryan (accompanied by her sister Elizabeth, who shall not be held responsible for the contents of this video.)

The Set-up: Years ago, I participated in my first “First Page Review.” You know, that popular conference workshop where industry professionals read the first page of a manuscript aloud and provide their spontaneous feedback. My submission was from an adult story about the devil having a mid-life crisis. (I know, I know. Actually, I should get BONUS dare points for letting any part of this be read in public.) Anyway, I got there early and had the perfect seat in the second row, where I got to witness something like this…

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The Dare: Make a vlog of yourself singing your favorite theme song.

The Daree: Peter Adam Salomon (who, because he can not sing, will be played in the vlog by his five-year old son, Adin, singing HIS favorite theme song)

The Set-up: I can’t sing. No, scratch that…I love to sing. But I can’t. You don’t want to hear me sing. Plus, well, I can’t sing. Adin, on the other hand, loves to sing and so, while driving the other day, he just started singing one of the many theme songs from Pokemon. Which he obviously loves. So I figured I’d share it here. Why? Um…because I can…

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The Dare: Make a vlog of yourself reading a scene from your book in Pig Latin.

The Daree: L.B. Schulman

The Set-up: Not only must the scene be spoken in the highly-valued foreign language, but Jeannie Mobley-Tanaka has the added request that it be one of the “hotter” scenes from the book. Now because L.B. was (briefly) an acting major in college, she will draw from everything she’s learned here. Lucky you!

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The Dare: Read your favorite scene from a children’s book, using a special prop from that scene.

The Daree: Tara Dairman

The Set-up: MATILDA by Roald Dahl is one of my favorite books, and I’ve always loved the scene where the school’s evil headmistress (“The Trunchbull”) punishes a student for stealing a slice of cake by putting him up on stage in front of his classmates and…well, in case you haven’t read it, you can just watch the video to find out what happens.

P.S. I never want to eat chocolate cake again in my life.

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The Dare: Read something aloud that you wrote when you were younger.

The Daree: Laurie Boyle Crompton

The Set-up: Managed to dig up a copy of an old movie review column I co-wrote with a friend when we were seventeen. My hoarding tendencies have been validated once again. Extra points for having a nasty cold and yet powering through on this vicious dare.

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The Dare: Read something aloud that you wrote when you were younger.

The Daree: Peter Adam Salomon

The Set-up: Yes, I know: Laurie did a MUCH better job than I did on this particular dare and I hadn’t planned on doing my own Dare after ‘hiding’ behind my adorable 5 year old son up above. But…I felt a little guilty for avoiding the embarrassment (yet still oddly entertaining) features of these dares and since I did volunteer to be the one to coordinate this final Friday debut of all of our dares…well, I should participate as well. Right? So…I did sort of cheat by using the same dare as Laurie but really…you don’t want to hear me sing.

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The Dare: Write a letter to your high school crush

The Daree: Tara Lazar

The Set-up: When I was a junior I got bowled over by this handsome Italian kid walking down the hallway in a taxi-driver’s cap and those cool glasses that changed from clear to dark depending on the light (which, in hindsight, weren’t very cool). I followed him after school to see where his locker was and scrawled “I LOVE YOU” on it. This took a lot of NERVE because he was a year younger than I was, and even though senior quarterbacks could date freshman cheerleaders, it was TABOO for a junior girl to even LOOK AT a sophomore boy. But I didn’t care. I called his house repeatedly, much to the annoyance of his mother, who never put him on the line. She was old-school Italian and thought girls should never be so forward. Again, I didn’t care. I had an enormous crush. Eventually we dated, but it was ridiculous non-dating…making out in the hallway between classes. I guess you’d call it a typical teen tale…

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The Dare:  Write a love poem to an inanimate object and deliver it in dramatic fashion.

The Daree: Lynda Mullaly Hunt

The Set-up: I just love doorknobs, don’t you? Poor things get taken for granted all. The. Time. But not this writer. No, siree. I love ’em–one in particular. But, he loves another. In this complicated world of love, things are never easy… <sigh>

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The Dare: Perform an interpretive dance to a scene being read from your novel

The Daree: Jeannie Mobley

The Set-up:  Much has been made on this blog (all silly) about the fact that some chickens come to an unfortunate end in my novel. I’ve always suspected people are laughing at my chickens. So I wanted to take this opportunity to make everyone understand how bitter and tragic the scene truly is. This should do the trick:

And now for the fun part, where YOU, our wonderful readers, get to join in on the fun!

Anyone who comments on either this blog or Friday the Thirteeners will be entered to win a drawing for a signed copy of NERVE, one for each blog, so folks who comment in each place will be entered in both contests!

Let us know what your favorite dare was or which one you thought required the most nerve. If you really want to play along leave us the link to a video of YOU doing one of these!

Go ahead, I dare you…