Hey there, Fana Ritos, and welcome back to How Rude Tanarritos. Today we have a fun interview for you. We have interviewed actors, directors, screenwriters, prop masters, and a warm up guy. But today we are flipping the script and we are going to interview someone who has interviewed us many times in the past, celebrity reporter Rennie Dieball. Rennie was a writer and editor for People magazine when she pitched and scored the exclusive cover story of the Fuller House reboot
in twenty fifteen. She was the only reporter on set when we taped the pilot, and she has so many fun stories to share. She is an incredible writer, a Full House super fan, and now a dear, dear friend of ours. Please welcome Rennie.
We're so excited to see you. Rennie.
You have had such a.
A huge part of the full Fuller Lives. Me Andrea like you.
You really have such a great connection to the full and Fuller House cast. I would so you sent ab a pitch to be on the podcast, which was amazing, by the way.
No other guest has done that. So you are great to make it happen.
But you have to tell listeners about it, because you know, we have we've pretty much stuck to guests, guest stars on the show, writers, directors.
And things, and you're one of the first kind.
Of outside sources that we've had on the show.
But after you hear her pitch as to why she should.
Be that person, uh, I'm just saying, you're gonna be voting for her. So yeah, I'm I'm writing your name on a fill in ballot.
So I'm excited we get to interview you today.
It's like fop in the script, actually very weird, but I'm looking forward to it. I would rather be interviewed by.
Well, hopefully we do. Hopefully we do well, because you know this is you know how we roll here. We're a little unhinged, right prepared.
I'm I'm ill, i have no idea what I'm gonna do. I'm on cold medicine.
That's why we listen.
Yeah, exactly unhinged, is right.
So we described in the intro a little bit of your background how you were a celebrity reporter, writer editor for People magazine for fifteen years, but way before that, you were a super fan a full house growing up, so you sort of manifested all of this, your interviews with Full House cast, and now your friendship with me and Jody. So take us back to the very beginning when you were a little girl watching Full House. Tell us what the show meant to you.
Yeah. Well, the show came out when I was seven years old, so I was certainly you know, the target audience. I watched TGIF every Friday, you know, and as as you kids don't realize, right, dinner had to be done right, you had to have your bathroom break, and then it was taking half time and the only you know, the only off time was in between the shows. So it was it was a fixture in my childhood, the way it was for so many people. And then when I
had my first baby, I rediscovered all of you. I I in those you know, three am feedings where you're like, how on earth am I going to stay awake? Yes, I was flipping channels and it was like, oh, I'll revisit the Tanners, you know. So and now, of course, my daughters are eight and twelve and they are obsessed with full and Fuller. So you all have been a part of my life via my TV forever since the eighties.
That's so great, Like You've just been preparing your whole life and now you have two little super fans at home too, so they have kids there, gonna have to introduce uh your grandchildren to full House.
And now Aby is my Joey McIntyre. I think I joked to the pitch right that was so great? I don't can I can I text her how to write?
Remember Abe? Like I said, I know you have people who know who you are.
To I know. I was so flattered when you said that. I was like, really, oh no, you know, Rennie, you can you text me anytime like whatever? If you haven't saw me at three am, just text me. I'll be like, hey me too. Let's talk about right.
Maybe you'll be like, hold on, I'm bird watching in the middle of the night.
There's owls.
Let me slip.
Outside watch on live stream.
Okay, So take us back to I mean, I know you have a varied history with John Stamos and and Bob Saggett. You met them before Fuller House came back into existence, but kind of set us up for how you pitched the cover story for full the Fuller House, how you got the exclusive bring us back? Tell us exactly how that happened.
Yeah, so my whole career at People, I really I set myself up as the full house beat reporter because I started right after I graduated college in two thousand and two and had, you know, loved you guys growing up and wanted to cover whatever all of the cast members were doing after the fact. So that's how I met a lot of you over the years, and so being the full house beat reporter, it only made sense when there was buzz about, you know, a spinoff to
put me on it. So I want to say this was twenty fifteen ish mine to do a story on Laurie Laughlin and her daughters, not related to Fuller, and while I was in LA I was living in New York at the time. We also made it like a pitch mission for me, and I met with Netflix and WB to sell them on People being the only outlet, you know at the taping of the first episode, and I love to interview people. I'm a writer, I'm a
homebody and an introvert. I am not a salesperson. However, when it came to my favorite show, it was very natural to pitch my magazine and myself as you know, the outlet and the person who should cover it. And you know, I talk a lot at schools about my work as an author, and I end up telling them that story because as soon as I put a picture on screen of your cast, everybody thinks, I, you know, I'm worth listening to you.
Up street cred now right right?
And so I tell them, you know, in those pitches, and I've just let my real enthusiasm, my authentic enthusiasm for the show come through. And I think that's what did it? I mean, who doesn't want to align with somebody who is so excited about a project or about actors. So I actually think it really worked to my advantage. And you know, getting out to the set and being part of all that, My gosh, it was like a lifetime ago now, and yet right I can't believe it.
Uh it's ten years ago. I'm just ten years? What ten out of that?
That's crazy? Were I? And that was an overwhelming week for me? So I barely remember meeting you, no offense, but it was just a crazy week. I do remember the group cast picture that we took set dressed in our costume, and you snuck in for one of those photos. So were you there the whole week. Were you there just on tape days? Tell us about that week.
It was two days. It was the do you call it like a blocking day?
The day before, oh, like our pre tape day, Yeah, yeah, tape Yeah.
So I was there for that and then the tape day, and then the next day I met the three of you with Candae at that Santa Monica hotel that's like right on the water, looks like a castle. Yeah, yes, yes, yeah, so it was. It was the best three days. And I remember after the taping going back to my hotel room and like doing a little dance because you know, I had to be professional the whole time.
I was right like, no, you didn't, No, you really didn't, not for not on our set. That was that's not a requirement, right.
Right, But you know, I let the inner fan girl out and I probably said out loud, you know, talking to myself, like I can leave people now, like there's nothing left for me to do. What could I wanted to do more than this? So it was a very special assignment and actually probably the beginning of deciding to go out on my own and write books and be an editor and a book collaborator and amazing so good turning points.
Well, I still have that People cover hanging up here in my office right behind me. I just it's such a great picture of everybody. Yeah, I have kept it hanging up there.
Oh. That was so exciting for us to be on the cover of People, right, we were so excited to finally get a cover. Yeah, tell us about that first that tape night when we were doing the live audience show for the taping. What where were you sitting? What was what were the vibe like? Were people whispering? Like?
What?
Tell us about the atmosphere.
I mean, I don't know that I've ever been in a room, in a space with that much excitement. I was in the bleachers where the whole audience sits okay, And I actually, thanks to Aby, have been working on Jeff's upcoming book. And he writes about the book that the applause that happened when the curtain first came up and it was just the set. None of you had made your entrances yet, just the set. It was like
four minutes straight, me and all of us. It was just such a visceral emotional reaction, like here's this living room that we all kind of grew up in too, and it's back there back so Jeff writes in the book, such a funny turn of phrase. He was like, it lasted four minutes, and they were applauding furniture.
Right, yeah, exactly, the couch. And it's true the couch needed its own title card, right.
I remember John Stamo said that that first Netflix preview where they panned through the set made him cry. So
it's something about that that furniture. You guys, anyway, as you all you know, came out for the first time, I mean that alone probably took an hour, you know, because you had to write applause for each person, just the way the jokes landed, and being in a room of people who all, I mean, it feels like we wanted it as much as you all did, you know, So just to be a part of that energy, it was just the most the most special night.
Yeah, it really was.
And I'm so glad that you got to like see that and be there for it because it really was like just an incredible energy.
Yeah, and it's so cool to hear your perspective because we've talked to each other about that night and some crew members, but we've never talked to somebody who was in the audience. As a fan, you know, that's so cool to get your perspective.
And as a reporter, you know, you all talk about how much you love each other, so that's you know, it's obvious to see. You know, it's obvious when you hear it as a fan, but to really see it, you know, like when you're in those bleachers, you're looking at the set that they're filming at the moment, right, there's other sets that you can see. And then you can also see when actors are sort of just telling the fans this not you too. Oh yeah, you can see like two actors off in the corner like kind
of chatting while the whole thing's happening. And so to actually see it, to see the love and to see you know, these great friends of so many decades hanging out with each other, it was just, you know, as a fan first before a reporter, it was like, it's true. Really, it was so special to see.
Yeah, absolutely, it's yeah, we can't we can't get rid of each other. We love each other too much. It's so true.
Seriously that yeah, I'm just singing back to that first night though, Like how exciting it was and how Yeah. I think we all.
Felt like, well, i'll 's speak for myself. I was like, what have we done? Like, I don't know.
It was just like this moment of like, oh wow, oh boy, yeah yeah.
How often are you sharing a space with people and everyone and those hundreds of people in the room and everyone wanted this so badly and now it's happening, right, yea, Danny and Jesse are right there in the kitchen like it just.
That's so cool. I remember feeling very nervous because I'm like, I haven't memorized lines and decades my script.
I can't do this.
Yeah, I'm sure Jody and I were hanging on to our scripts, our binkies as we call that, right, binkis that we can't let go of.
Right. We were probably just looking for what drawer.
Bob hid his end so that we could glance at it while we were in a scene.
Oh and Jody, your younger daughter was like the star of the bleachers. Oh that's right.
B got up and sang that.
Night, singing yep, yep, yep. John like did a little interview with her.
It was yeah, that's right.
Yeah, she was fans with us.
She's very shy as you can tell.
It's unfortunate she didn't at any of my enthusiasm or love of performance. So yeah, yeah, we're trying to bring her out of Michelle. You know, no, I do I remember that though. I have actually a great picture of that. I'm standing there cheering her on and she's singing in the in the audience, and you can see video village behind me, and you see Bob Boyette who's not looking
at be but who's looking at me. Oh, and it's a really like he's like looking like this, and he came over to me at the end and he said it like it was like seeing you all over again, and it really brought me back. So yeah, that was I have a really wonderful photo of that moment.
Yeah, yeah, that's so special, very full circle moment. Ye, right special. Who were you most nervous to interview of the whole cast?
Good question, Probably Candice, only because she was the only one I hadn't met up to them come and what ended up happening, excuse me with you all is that I interviewed a lot of you at the very beginning of my career and thought this is so easy. Celebrities aren't the us and I mean everybody, just each one of you more than the next. Was so welcoming and warm and made my job easy that I thought, this is celebrities just like you two talk about. You thought
that your set was all sets right then. I out there in the world as a people reporter, and not every celebrity is as lovely as you all. I knew that Kantus would be just as lovely, and she was. But yeah, I think the nerves were just there because she was the only one of the crew who I hadn't met before and lo and behold, she's just like the rest of you and couldn't have made my job easier or more fun.
Oh that's so great.
I would say.
The hardest job of interviewing the cast, particularly when Bob was with us, was just trying to wrangle and corral us into a coherent answer. I'm sure that there was a lot of questions asked that never got answered and got completely sidetracked, and uh, you know, that was probably the hardest part of interviewing the cast of Full House is keeping us on track well.
On the set of Fuller for those two days. My strategy actually having seen this was to separate the.
Guys, and oh, yeah, you have to.
They can't be They're like like kids in a classroom where you're like, you guys can't sit next to each other.
Right, the three women you were easy to speak with as a group. You played off each other easy. Those guys forget it. I think I knew that going in like this is going to be a one on one.
Kind of smart Yes, you had done your homework, you knew what hit me right, yeah, right.
Well, And to that end. One time that I interviewed Bob a couple of years before Fuller came to be, I saw that distraction in real life, but in the sweetest way promoting his memoir. And so I met him at a bookstore in DC, where I was living at the time, and we're in the back room to do the interview. He has yet to go out and meet the fans and sign books and stuff like that, and there's a landline ringing incessantly in the back room with us, and we're doing our best to ignore it, like an
employee's going to come answer it. Nobody did. So Bob took it upon.
Himself and loves to answer a phone that he's not supposed to do. He's done that many many times.
Yeah.
I didn't know that, yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
I thought he was going to do a bit. He was just Bob, and he was trying to help the caller on the other end of the line find the book that they were looking for, which was not Bob's book. And then a manager someone comes in and they were horrified that Bob had to answer their phone, you know.
Right right, You're like, I'm trying, really, I just.
Was it about right right? And he hung up and he goes, well, I just wanted to help. It was so sweet and sincere.
You know, he's so Bobs.
I didn't know for sure he did, but after the interview, I think my sitter might have called my babysitter and I like muted it real quick, and I was like, oh, I'm sorry, my eighteen month old is home with the babysitter. And the way he lit up and just wanted to talk about my toddler and his girls, right, I mean it was you know, I'd interviewed hundreds of actors and stars to that point, and it was just so striking that he wanted to have an actual conversation about.
Yeah, and daughters, Like I got.
A glimpse of that incredible kindness that you all talk about.
Yeah, for sure.
Oh thanks, it's yeah, he's just the best. We love him and miss him, and we talk about him all the time when we're together.
It's so crazy though, all of the sort of like you were talking about interviewing Bob and you know, working on Jeff's book and having met John and I mean you worked on the cover story for People when Zoe was born, you know, so you and I had met years earlier. Like there was a lot it was so nice to have you there, like you said, because not only were you a fan, but you were familiar to a lot of us. It was like we knew that you were just as excited to be there as we were.
Yeah.
Oh that's so nice to hear. Yeah. You know, as a baby reporter, you kind of feel like I have to be a professional and I can't be a fangirl. But I mean as an author now, not that I hear from a lot of fans, but when I do, there's no better feeling, you know, So I'm sure your end of things to have a reporter who's invested in your work and really enjoys your work and wants to see what you're going to do next, Like why you know, looking back, why wouldn't that be a good thing?
So, yeah, well, how do you prepare for a celebrity interview? What goes into that? How do you prep? How many questions do you prepare? Tell us a little bit about.
That, so as you do. I'm sure have noticed because I listened to your podcast all the time and your great interviewers. I think that the really good stuff comes out of the follow up questions. You know, So you go into an interview, certainly with a list of questions, but as you're chatting, you're actually engaged in that conversation. You know something that the that the person says is going to spark a new question in your mind, And I find I end up finding that that's where the
really good stuff is. So making it a real conversation and not just I have to get through my list of questions helps a lot. And prep work does too. You know. It's one thing when you grow up with a show and you were a teenager when you could like read the magazines about those people, like then you've got the background down pat But over the years of people. You know, I interviewed plenty of people who I didn't really know, but I would go home after work and
watch their movies or listen to their music. I mean, it was kind of unbelievable sometimes that I was getting paid for this, you know, because I would just dig into what they did and kind of get to know them before I even met them.
That's so fun, Like talk about a blending of art and life and hearts and every.
Totally, totally, I felt like the luckiest twenty two year old to land that job on.
The I'm trying to figure out how to phrase this question because I know people are going to want to know who is the most difficult celebrity you interviewed. I'm not going to ask that, but is there.
A way you can talk about it? I'm just kidding.
Yeah, Well, without naming names, can you tell us about like a difficult interaction or what makes for a difficult interview? Is it when they show too much?
Well?
I got to say, maybe I wasn't a great celebrity interviewer because you know, I never wanted to push to get the dirt, you know what I mean?
Right? Yeah?
Yeah, as a reader and a fan, I would love to feel like I'm getting to know the person right, So in my interviews, that's what I want to kind of get to, like who are you beyond the character? Who I know?
You know?
I left that to the reporters who are better at digging up the dirt. So I didn't have a ton of tough experiences because I wasn't the one as signed to be like finding out about how the marriage broke up.
Or anything right right, right right.
But I did have one terrible experience with a very very famous person who I will tell you privately. I will not name them on the show, but she was on an extremely popular TV series and I had been on the job at People for all of two weeks. I mean it was pluck me out of my college dorm room and I'm on the job, and I met her on the red carpet and she didn't give me anything I needed. Again, not pushing for no personal stories, no, like children really like benign stuff, and celebrities know as
much as reporters know what we need. Right, I need a sound.
Bite, of course, it's a right word. It's a you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. I'll give you a little moment, a quick funny lip.
But yeah, thirty seconds right exactly.
Exactly on each other to get SoundBite, you know.
And this was two thousand and two, so people really were going to celebrity weeklies were Yeah, even if it's just a funny line. So what, you know, what she's wearing, what was going on in her TV series at the time. Nothing. She gives me nothing. So we go into the event, which was a TV industry event. It wasn't like the met Gala, you know, there was reporters everywhere. I asked the publicist if I could continue speaking to her. The
publicist said sure, it brought me over. She takes one look at me from her table, does like the up and down like this, rolls her eyes and says, didn't I talk to you already? And this was an actress who I loved. So that's like a punch in the gut, you know. So I'm stumbling and bumbling and just explaining that I need a cute quote to bring to my editor, please, you know. She gives me nothing again. And now I'm contemplating, like, how am I going to get to the bathroom to cry without anyone?
Yeah?
I turn around and the publicist has John Stewart for me, and that was a lovely interaction. And right after him was Oprah Winfrey, who couldn't have been kinder and more lovely to me. And I am a baby on the job here right like we're right. So I think that that pretty much encapsulates my people experience in general, because every now and again there was a tough situation right that outweighed the bad bye a mile.
Oh good. I'm glad you had that immediate distraction to stop the tears and write.
Otherwise I would have been crying in John Stewart's arms.
Which isn't That's also not a terrible thing, you know what I mean. He's yeah, we love John Stewart.
Yeah, he'd probably be very comforting about that. Just give your hand again.
I mean, it'd be hilarious. I feel like you make a good joke to snap you right out of it, you know.
Yeah.
Oh, and speaking of Oprah, this will make you laugh. I worked on a book with Terry Crews once and it was all about his marriage. Was called Stronger Together. It was an audible original, so I had pretty limited time with him, and I remember asking something that he like started to tear up, and then he actually started crying, and I'm sitting in the man's living room going, I'm Oprah Winfrey. This is amazing. I'm so good at this.
Later in the interview, he tells me about all the therapy he's done and how is his emotions are right at the surface, and you know, he speaks out against toxic masculinity. And it was just so funny because he's essentially telling me he cries all the time. And I was like, oh, I'll take that self compliment back.
You're like, I thought I was digging deep here. He's like, no, no, no, I'm just I love that also about him. That's kind of amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah, he was on a long list of wonderful celebrities.
That's all. Well, And speaking of wonderful celebrities, we know how much you love John Stamos, and you met John before Fuller House a few years ago. Tell us about the first time you met John A dream come true?
I'm sure, yeah, yeah. I think I saw him in cabaret in college, right, which was, you know, a total fangirl experience. How do you not love that? You know, in New York after a Broadway show, you go to the stage door, you know, for an autograph and couldn't have been kinder. And then my first interview with him for people was a few years later. Was either another Broadway show or maybe a TV show that he was on. I can't remember, because he totally derailed the interview for
me before it even got started. His publicist or manager someone probably referred to me as he the name Rennie, maybe being a little bit like ambiguous as to do so. He was expecting a male reporter. So he called my office number and I pick up and there's this pause, and I'm like, are we disconnected? You know? And then he says to me, are you you're a girl? I was like yes. He said, oh, sorry, my my manager, my publicist or whatever told me you were a guy.
And he pauses and then he goes, Rennie's a hot nam for a girl. Just about exploded in that little office and he took away all of that professionalism and just like a giggling mess. He derailed the interview before it even got started.
Amazing he has that effect on people.
Yeah, no, but he I've interviewed him for lots of projects over the years. I have a funny Netflix story about him if you have time for it.
Oh oh yeah, we got all the time.
We got time.
Yeah. Yeah. So I interviewed him a bunch about different projects. But then I got a really fun assignment one day when Netflix and John decided to go in on this
April Fool's joke. Might even remember this. Netflix pretended to make this documentary docuseries about him that was like took itself very seriously, yes, all about Stamoss, right, and so he is in on this joke where then they say, April Fools, this isn't real, and there's footage of him, like like cell phone footage of him storming into the Netflix office and saying, how could you do this to me?
You're you're diminishing my brand, the Stamos brand. And so since people is in on this as well, I had a story ready to go about this incident that was captured, right, so funny and so much fun because we're, you know, we're interacting audience about this terrible behavior from Stamos. And
then I tweeted it, dating myself this whole interview. I tweeted it because this is many years ago, and I said something like from my personal account, like I'll always be a John Stamos fan, but this kind of behavior is just embarrassing, you know, And he tweets me publicly f off off and he spelled out the F and I was like, this is the greatest thing ever.
Right Twitter beef, Yeah, you know.
And then of course we revealed to readers that everybody's in on the joke, you know, Hilary's Yeah, that was very funny. And then he gave me a tour of the set on the Fuller House business, yeah and round things out and you all have really long days on set. I didn't realize so he had been there. I don't want to know how many hours. It was the end of the day and he was like, you want to come on, I'll take you on a tour, and it was amazing. We went to every room. I learned like
the little backstories. He almost stole the prop for me, but as I understand it, that's kind of frowned upon.
So only you go, what prop were you going to steal?
I wanted the duck head from the kitchen.
Yes, oh yeah, yeah, the cookie it's not in my office.
John has took that. Yeah, somebody did John, It wasn't me.
He did want that at the end of the show, and you were like, where's that duck? Yeah, duck was missing anybody out there?
So it was too soon. I get that, I understand.
Yeah, yeah, you had to wait till the end of the season. It was like a flea market. Everybody watched the stage on that for.
The last show.
If everyone did it at once, they couldn't stop us.
You know, that's so great.
Now you've worked with Andrea and Jeff on both of their memoirs. What was that experience like for you? I mean, you know, obviously you're a full house fan, but what was it like getting to work with them on things that were much more personal and not just full house specific?
You know, sure, sure, Well, I started ghost writing in two thousand and eight, so had done a bunch of books before this and realized that it's really what I wanted to do, and it's what I ultimately transitioned to. So with Andrea, you know, we met at that hotel in Santa Monica, and I remember seeing her. She arrived first, and I was like, is that her? Like I couldn't tell one hundred percent, and not just because she wasn't wearing the fried eggs on the scarf. It wasn't about
Kimmy Gibler hair and makeup. It's the way carries herself. She's just an entirely different human And I was like, is it her, I'm going to take a chance, And it was her. And I was just so struck by her story of child stardom, decades off being a quote unquote normal person and then back to stardom. So I was thrilled when I talked to her people and they said that she was in fact interested in writing a book.
And you know, I think over the process I did become like less fan and more regular person, right, I mean at her kitchen table with her sweet doggie and listening kids on the block, you know, as we brainstormed like it doesn't get much better than that. And then Andrea was nice enough to refer me to Jeff when he was and is working on his memoir, and that one of the most striking things to me about his book. And he didn't believe me on this, but I think
you too will. The stories that are not about Full House are some of the best parts of that book.
Oh, absolutely right. I Mean that's the thing is once do you know Jeff and how.
Long he's been in this business and what he's done and what you know, like you'll just pop off with stories and you're like, oh my god, that's where you've been doing this.
Forever since you were you were a baby, and you sort of.
Happened into amazing circumstances over and over, you know, and you have all.
Of this amazing life story.
Yeah. Yeah, and he's so modest, you know that he totally waived me. It's not that interesting. It's beyond I mean, I don't I honestly don't think I ever saw an
episode of Laverne and Shirley. But his storytelling is so good it becomes so invested in this book in like young Jeff as Yeah, it's called him and his you know, trials and tribulations on Laverne and Shirley and Buzz and Buddies and these shows that I'm not even familiar with, but now I want to go back and watch so so learning about you know, the man the name on the TV screen was so exciting, and he really is.
He's just as kind as you all have said. He called me once either ahead of or late for our meeting, so I wasn't expecting it. I'm in the car. My eight year old is sitting next to me, and his name pops up, you know, on the screen, and her jaw drops open, like she has seen me with in photos with all of you, and like that's cool, you know, that's fine, mom whatever. Seeing Jess's name in our car, she like went banana. She couldn't believe it, And so I answered and we were laughing.
I love that she was name recognition just reading it was like, I know that guy.
Yeah, amazing, Jeff, I'm gonna have to call you back. My daughter is sitting here completely starstruck that Jeff Franklin called me and he was laughing, and she goes, his name is on my TV every day.
That's so cute.
He's like the Wizard of Awe. It's like meeting the Wizard of Awe. You're like, oh my gosh, the man behind the show. It's so cool.
And as a writer, you know, it was not intimidating because he's so so kind, but it was. It was amazing to get to meet the brains behind, you know, a show I loved so much and a writer who I who I respect so much. So yeah, I mean, as a reporter, as a fan, like live in the dream to be able to, you know, go deeper and collaborate on something as special as bringing a book into the world.
I knew you'd be the perfect fit because Jeff, when he started writing this book years ago, he kept coming to me for advice, like, how do you put together a book proposal? What goes into it? How do you talk to publishers? And I'm like, okay, I've published one book, Jeff one, and it was because of Rennie.
Like you made a literary agent or something. I don't talk to me because I think you need someone who knows things.
Yeah, I'm like, you need Rennie. And he's like, well, I don't want to ghost writer. And I said, no, I didn't. I didn't want to ghost writer either. But she's more like, I love that you call yourself a book doctor because you're not writing the books for us, but you're kind of like helping us tetris it into something coherent, right, and teaching. I learned so much just about the publishing world, and yeah, how do you pitch
a book? How do you put together a proposal? There's a lot that goes into it.
Yeah, almost more work.
Goes into the proposal than the actual book, so truly.
It's part Yeah. I mean, writing a book is an incredible feat and a creative endeavor. Publishing a book is a business, and so a lot of people you know, appreciate help that way. And I just love to be part of a book's process, you know, however I can, whether it is ghost writing or you know, book doctoring, architecturing something along.
Yeah.
Yeah, oh you were just You're just the best. Like you made a dream come true for me because I don't know if I ever I've always said, oh, I want to write a book someday, but we always say that and then do you actually like do it? But you were the one that gave me that push. You gave me that nudge. You're like, you have a story and you you've got a book in you and I'm like really, so you gave me the confidence and then you gave
me the tools. And you were just so lovely and have such a great bedside manner, and it was just like becoming friends, Like we became close friends during all those months you came to my house for a weekend. I think I dragged you to one of my kids like soccer events or meet.
And your picture on the wall at your favorite Mexican place. Yes, what's the pairing. It's like Bill Clinton Barbara Streisan.
And it's yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm right next to it.
I think I'm right next to Hillary Clinton. So I'm very I'm just like, yes, exactly.
Tell me if she was wearing a sombrewer with a Cadillac Margarita.
I know that's all I want.
It's just her and a giant hat with like a shot in one hand and a giant salt rimmed like boat in the other.
Yeah, that'll be the next photo right right.
Now.
You not only have like booked and ghost written other books, but you have started writing children's books.
Tell us a little bit about I mean, obviously you are a mom.
You have kids, But tell us like what your inspiration for writing children's books was and and how that's different than writing like, you know, adult novel, not adult well you know what I mean.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that almost went weird. Okay, I'll stop talking.
Funny enough. I am writing a romance book right now, which is very okay. And it's funny because people will say to me, like, how's your book going, And I'm like the picture book or the book that is nothing like a picture bib.
Right, yeah, two, very different the picture books, I guess.
But right, well, I started out writing an equestrian series. I've been a horse person and a competitive a question in my whole life. And then I transitioned into picture books because I was, you know, seeing the world through my young girl's eyes, and I was very struck by how early in life we are subjected to the food police and the body police. So my first book is called be Is for Bellies, a Celebration of Everybody, and it's all about body acceptance and mantras for you know,
the littlest readers. And then my second picture book is called Fiona and the Peculiar.
Praise and I love that one, by the way, oh thank you. And it was so cute.
I wound up giving it to my daughter, my daughter's boyfriend's little sister, who is five, and she reads and loved it.
So yeah, very cute.
I'm glad to hear it. I was, you know, having girls, the first thing anybody says is they're so cute, They're so beautiful. And I just happened to get into this habit when they were really little, of saying to the person and really to that to my girls, and you're so smart and you're so strong because we women, we are raised to believe that that's where our worth is and that's what where our value is. And it's not
done with malice. It's not even intentional, right, Like you just you hear it enough and you think, well, this is the greatest thing about me, right, It's ingrained, right right. So the trick in picture books if you want to impart a lesson is to not make it seem like a lesson book, because who wants to read that between kids and parents. So Fiona is a cat who goes through the day doing all these incredible things and nobody notices.
They just call her beautiful and lovely and gorgeous. And you have to read the book to see what happens. But takeaway is that we are more than our appearances. And hopefully it was done in a fun way that kids.
Like, oh, such great messages behind your books, Like this is so needed. I wish I still had little kids when I have grandchildren. When I have grandchildren, these are the first books that they read.
Things.
Is just it's so important And I was so proud when you published Bias for bellies. I was like, oh my gosh, she did it like it was just such a such a win for me too, just as your friend. Yeah, yeah, no, it's really important work. Thank you for doing that. And you told me one time that writing children's books is just as difficult, maybe more so than writing regular books. How but there's so many fewer words in a picture book, So how is it difficult in that way?
I think it just comes down to the fewer the words, the more every word has to count right to get it exactly right down to the letter. I mean, my Fiona book is probably six hundred words, you know, and your books are probably sixty thousand words. So it's about being that exacting. It's about telling a story between words, and and I'm not the illustrator, so leaving room for the illustrator to tell part of the stories. Plus it's just a really crowded market, you know. Yeah, people write
picture books. A lot of people think writing picture books is easy, so there's a lot out there for agents and editors to sort through. That's why I write romance levels now picture books are too hard.
Yeah, I've had to move on for picture books.
It was too stressful, exactly.
Do you write the book first or do you do the illustration? Tell us how what's the order of progression between illustrator writer.
Yeah, publisher Unless it's an author illustrator, a picture book is sold just based on the manuscript, so literally selling a document which is tipped like two pages, you know, and then the publisher typically picks the illustrator, you know, someone whose style they like it, you know, it fits into their vision. And on some books the author gets input on the visuals, and on other books not at all,
and it just depends on the publisher. So I got to be very involved with Fiona, which was really exciting to get to say, Like, the.
Visuals were great on it. They were really yeah, really cute.
Yeah, and you know, a little imposter syndrome sneaks in. I'm like, I don't know what, I don't know anything about the visuals, Okay, yeah, but I but I told her what I was picturing, and she just brought it to life in the most beautiful way.
Oh that's so cool. That's got to be so cool to see the visuals, Like was it anything that you imagined in your head or was it a completely different take that the illustrator had on.
Oh it was.
It was.
It was pretty similar to what I saw in my head. And she and I never spoke directly, so it was like this wizardry right like this, So yeah, so that was a That was a super cool experience.
That's so great. That's so great. What can you share about your upcoming work, your romance novel, any other picture books you're writing? Can you share anything or is it still under wraps?
Yeah? Nothing, nothing yet with those, but I will tell you I have an incredible book that I co authored coming out in March called The ADHD Field Guide for Adults.
Oh my god, I need it.
HI on the limit an advanced copy, but I have a raging case of add.
Well talked about it on the pod and I noticed, since I put you on the list, She's.
Like, I know, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, you've been a list.
It is written by Kate Osborne and Eric Good, who are big content creators in the ADHD space, and I was lucky enough to kind of shepherd it along with.
Them and contribute to awesome.
I didn't know much about ADHD at the beginning of the process, but oh my god, I this book is going to help so many people. The working title for a really long time was you are not an f up? Like yes, that like f starsky because it's such an insidious it is. People don't like the term disorder, but they just is part of every every part of your life. And so we interviewed, we spoke to hundreds of people who are fans of theirs and put their experiences in
the book too. And I just think people are going to feel so seen reading this.
Yeah. I can't I can't wait to uh, I can't wait to check that out. Yeah.
I have a good friend of mine who's doing a lot of who's a therapist and has done a lot of work with ADHD stuff, and she says, it's, you know the thing people always say about adhds, it's not attention deficit. You you have too much attention to everything around you and you don't know how to like tune all that out and do one thing at a time. And then it just sounds like screaming noise in your head because you can't figure out which direction to go.
And then you just yell at yourself that you're such an idiot that you can't do anything because you don't even you can't even.
Brush your teeth.
Look at you can't even figure out how to do that because you have to go to the store and you have to pick up toothpaste and you haven't done that for two days.
That's the thing.
I had no idea, the shame element that, Oh it's awful.
So the first, the first day I took my ADHD meds, which was I as an adult, I cried because I did not know that my head didn't have to be that loud wow and screaming at me and it was.
Yeah, it was life changing.
So I'm glad that people are like finally talking about it, particularly with women we you know, and adult women who sort of didn't get you know, we were just the chatterboxes. We didn't necessarily get you diagnosed or helped along with it.
So that's so cool. I love it, very excited.
Yeah, you're doing good work, You're doing important work. Full house ADHD Children's book, Like this is everything, I mean, positivity.
All three of those big fans, you know what I mean?
Yeah, do your girls listen to Howard Tannerito's Are they fans? Will you let them listen to this episode?
This one? For sure, it's amazing. I got Louise to school today because she was like, I have to stay home. I have to see Stephanie. Katie has a special affinity for a B and Kimmi Gibbler because was nice enough to bring us to a taping of the show a fuller later in it, Yes, why are Joey McIntyre because I didn't want to ask you that. I was like, I can't believe I'm going to ask her for something, and.
I right, and she is so difficult, Like she's so intimidating, you know what I mean, Like you get and you're like, oh god, I don't know.
How she could go either way? Right, Yeah, No, it's very scary to deal with. Andrew Barbera.
Soise Louise is a Stephanie girl, and so she's horrified that she's not here for this.
Renny, this has been such an amazing interview, and like you are such a you're like a cousin of the full House fam now, you know what I mean, You're in our extended family. You've been there for so many of our important moments, both with the show and personally, and and you're just a really amazing, awesome, talented human. So it like we kind of couldn't be luckier that we have such an amazing writer who happens to have such a big love for all of us, because it definitely comes in handy.
Yeah, feeling as mutual. It has been pleasure and you know, fullest house, another vote for that one.
All us out.
Hey, if we make it happen, you're going to be the only reporter you have to come back to the Yeah, yeah, world first. Yeah, because we'd be the only one on set. You get the exclusive.
Yes, absolutely love it.
Thank you so much, Ny, We love you so much, love you so good to see you. Thanks bye.
Oh that was so great. She's always such a pleasure to talk to.
Oh, this was just such a natural fit too. She's like, what a cool interview to get to interview somebody who's interviewed celebrities for something.
It's very meta.
Yeah, it is so meta. And yeah that was just I learned stories that I had never heard before. Yeah, learned some things about her today that I didn't know before. And I just love it.
No, that was great. And she's always been.
So kind to us and the show and just really been a supporter of ours out in media.
And you know that's wasn't always the case with full house. You know, we took a lot of grief over the years for you know, being a family sitcom and all this kind of stuff. So when you have a.
Writer who actually loves what the show is and what we are as a family, that that means a lot because she really she gets it, you know, and she was the target audience when we were doing it.
She was the target audience. And she's so dang talented. But she's so wanting other people to shine like that. Yeah yeah, yeah, such a big heart. Yeah.
And it's like she said, she's not the she's not the reporter.
That's like, oh, so tell me about how the real dark. So yeah, she's like, if you don't, I don't want it to be uncomfortable.
Yeah, I know.
She just wants to be friends with everybody. Yeah, and just let them shine. And yeah I love that about her.
Oh well that was so great. Yeah, I love it.
And make sure to check out her children's books, be Is Bellies and Fiona and the Peculiar Praise. They are really really fun and great books and so incredibly illustrated too. So thank you guys for joining us on another fun episode of How Rude. Tana Rito's If you want to find us on Instagram, you can check us out at how Rude Podcast or send us an email at like Rennie did at No, she emailed you personally, but you can send us an email at Howard Tannatos at gmail dot com.
Check out our merch store at howardemerch dot com. And what else?
I think you covered it?
Cover everything.
Feeling right now.
I don't even know what's happening. Uh, well, everybody, it's been a pleasure. We love you, Tanta Rito's. We'll see you next time. And remember the world is small, the house is full. Oh no, I lost it. I had a thing and I lost it.
What it was children's books, body positivity.
Bellies, it's full bellies.
Oh, it's full of bellies, bodies of all types.
Yes, there we go. I'm hungry now