Maureen Johnson: The Miracle of Swindon Town #25

[BoxOfSquirrels]

So here's to you, Leroy Williamson, Swindon loves you more than you will know. Score for us please, Leroy Williamson, it does happen occasionally

[MegaBookWormGirl]

I'd like to know what feelings you had after the completion of your first serious attempt at a novel. I'm very close to finishing mine; probably only about a month or so from finishing the rough draft, which is a conciderably short time compared with the year and a half I've spent on it so far. I'm excruciatingly, painfully excited and happy about it, yet I'm also extremely anxious because I feel like it might have been a waste of time. I know I'm a nobody, but support would be wonderful.

[TomRAFC]

the grapes of wrath in your pants

[jaymeeboh]

Me and John simultaneously at about 3:37: "Noo....YES!" Hahaha I get so into these games.

[RetGamingTV]

Emily who?

[thisisnotHolly]

I read The Name of the Star in one day because I just couldn't put it down! GREAT book people!

[TheatricalChick]

@thisisnotHolly I'm in the midst of reading it now! I was quite pleasantly surprised! To be perfectly honest, I was kind of expecting some chick flick fluff but instead got a gripping and well written adventure!

[Sportgrl55]

12:10 - "Wow Ambrose has special hair. I mean, can we see him from the side, from the back, please? Can you turn a little bit, Ambrose? Oh my. That was worth the price of admission."

This is what I do instead of studying for biology. :)

[TheNobleHouseOfBlack]

I loved name of the star because I like Rory was chased by a large reptile.

[MsInunnguaq]

Dean & Deluca = Felicity

[FlargTheKitty]

Oh, but John, Bodin Bodin will score another goal in the future... :D

[122172639]

The Name of the Star I had to read in one sitting... I was NOT expecting a Jack the Ripper related ANYTHING-especially not from her after Suite Scarlett/Let it Snow etc! I usually read well after midnight; my 345am bedtime became 6am because I thought "I'll read ~100pp." Nope, I COULD NOT put it down, NOT W/FREAKING MODERN DAY RIPPER ALIVE!! SO brilliant, though! My request=why my library preordered it(&Pulse,Pigeon English,Jamrach's Menagerie,Sisters' Brothers, & so much more-I LOVE libraries!)

[aukluk]

Watching these videos is like trying to listen to a story told by someone with ADD. Constant interruptions and tangents. Freaking frustrating. Sorry.

[CARSflyLiKEVR00M]

The shorthand of Crystal Palace shows up as CRY because the Swoodilypoopers beat them to tears.

[3waffle3]

gift to its readers *cough* looking for alaska *cough*

[NoRealRoots]

It actually doesn't rain ALL the time in Swindon... I should know, I live there!

[dUm8dUm]

Who would have thought I'd be watching a guy play fifa on youtube for fun.

Oh John, look at what you have do to me.

[ammiella]

Hahaha I'm not sure whether I'm an actual eccentric person or not XD lots of my teachers said so. But what's the difference between being a bit odd and being a genuinely eccentric person?

[jesskittybird]

you are playing my team here

[lilypad145]

Redundant John is redundant.

[ChickenVendetta]

Scott Westerfeld came to my school last year, and talked about writing with you.

[FlargTheKitty]

"GET UP, FATTIE!"

lolololol I peed myself!

[katyacooper]

P-Diddy was Crystal Palace.

Jay-Z was Arsenal.

(:

[sighcantthinkofaname]

John: Does her name have anything to do with the RENT character?

[glic6616]

Maureen sounds like a Luna.

[ddc32997]

"Get up fatty!"

JOHN! WHY? That's mean! >:|

[ilagrocks]

Tell us about henry!

[ilagrocks]

Tell us about henry!

[bailey51634]

@ilagrocks you are a mind reader and a double poster :]

[enjoyyourburrito]

@doubleh2797 I was laughing so hard at that point. Hahaha

[theJJcomedycrew]

Tell Emily Shes on my book shelf

[krazykelsey0403]

Take out 2 players to avoid injury, immediately injure another player. It's like Murphy's law or something.

[MirakeiManiac]

"It's always raining in Swindon" should be the title of your next book!

[owlenthusiast]

I love Let it Snow :)

[rethinkOURreality]

I first "met" Maureen through her books The Key to the Golden Firebird and 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and I didn't really think that she was eccentric then based on those books, but after I found her twitter account I started to see the crazy, even in her books (for example, I read Suite Scarlett this past summer, and I could totally see it).

Not that crazy is bad. I mean, she surely makes it interesting.

[Danteus25]

John! Can I use Fat Lucas' name in the novel I'm making a half-assed attempt at writing?

[AproposOfMe]

I would like Hank to give this format a try (thumbs up if u agree)

[Javjean]

@AproposOfMe

Thumbs down.

[13cmwright99]

I spent forever looking for Cteve Austin jerseys the other day, and then I realized that that isn't his real name....

[freshbreathofcarson]

John, how come there's no "#25" on the thumbnail image? just wanted to let you know in case you missed it :)

[davisaroflmao]

"oh my" thanks Takai XD

[LaBelleRiviere]

how about a Lallana song to the tune of La bamba?

[IvianaTheSignPainter]

John, the thumbnail doesn't have the part number on it. XD I didn't know if that was intentional or not.

[AlwaysInWonderLand1]

John. Your book looking for Alaska has not been in anyway kind to me. it has tore me apart. But it has tore me apart in the the right ways, i havent finished it yet, i dont know how it ends, and i dont like what has happend but thats life i guess, Thank you John(:

[brightredoctober]

talk about henryyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!

[glassisland]

Awesome - 'Paper Towns' is my next John Green book. It'll be fun to read it now, knowing how you wrote it.

[AlwaysInWonderLand1]

@glassisland its one of the best books ive ever read(=

[hermindsays]

After meeting Maureen myself, I genuinely understand what you mean when you say eccentric. She's so awesome.

[link5427yum]

Could you do an episode for each one of your books?

Answer questions like what you were thinking about when you wrote them, what you want readers to get out of them, what you learned while writing them, what parts are the most well received, what your favorite part is (if that's not like, mean to the rest of the book c: ) ect.

[TheCasualLemon]

My bigger problem when I play Fifa is that once Ive let one goal in they just start to pour in...

[letsflyoutofthistown]

tell us about the moment you and the yeti found out you guys were pregnant with henry!

[thegirlfromUNCLE]

I <3 Stone Cold Cteve Austin.

[joysarenottravesties]

Oh my life...John Green just used the non-word "legit." What is happening???

[g2theIrishPianist]

@joysarenottravesties This isn't stone-cold, rock-solid fact, but here's my take: even though I'm an insane self-proclaimed grammar ninja, I've come to be more lax in my speech, because I think colloquial speech can be a bit more lax*. Because so much of it's so instantaneous, it's a bit overkill to expect people to keep track of prepositions at the ends of sentences and all the instances of "a lot", so by that "legit" in an informal situation like this is perfectly fine in my book.

[g2theIrishPianist]

@joysarenottravesties *footnote to my first comment: That's not to say I don't think it's important to be clear and concise in speech (for instance, that plague of the young people's lexicon, the overuse of "like"), but in my mind speech isn't as strict as, say, a term paper, or a news article.

[Throrindor]

12:57 - 13:08 "On some level, books should be a gift to their readers, right? Like that's what a book should do, is it should be kind to its readers. It should be something that readers want to recieve."

I agree with 'on some levels'. Consider Lord of the Flies. Most of us would say that it was not kind to us readers at all, at least not in any direct or obvious way. But I don't disagree completely. For me, Lord of the Rings was a wondrous gift from J.R.R. Tolkien that still I absolutely adore.

[g2theIrishPianist]

@Throrindor Lord of the Flies might be one of those gifts from the tough-love department: it's not exactly kind, but it's still valuable.

[Throrindor]

@g2theIrishPianist I agree. I did not mean that it wasn't given as an important matter for us to ponder, but rather that we didn't exactly enjoy recieving it. At least, I wasn't overly thrilled at the tragic and graphic fates of young school boys.

I meant only that there are times when an author can rightly give his readers something he believes they need, rather than something he knows they would like. All books are gifts, but it's not always the ones we want the most that are the best for us.

[EzraRCUtube]

YES! OTHER JOHN GREEN! YES.......

[DwarfApple]

Bodin Bodin - the guy so nice, they named him twice

[polorbears121]

i just like listening to his voice...

[limericksandoysters]

you wrote with scott westerfield....?

OMG

[PanickyPenguin]

Ambrose has "special hair" LOVE IT!

[eldersvelde]

How about in your next video telling some stories about Willy, we haven't heard about him lately

[mrpoolester]

I'd like to hear some political opinions. What are your thoughts on the current republican candidates?

[flolohazabee]

hypochondriac story!

[triscuitbiscuit]

What mode is this under? Is John doing career mode as manager?

[shhs2012saudy4u]

6-1. it reminds me of the manchester derby today... i wish van der sar was still in goal.

[Hadreleii]

"Oh no. Ohhh, no. Get up. Get up, fatty!" -- John Green while repeatedly running and shoving Lalalalalalallana into Voluptuous Péricard, because that fatty just would not get up. :/

[SlightlySaracstic]

PLEASE JOHN, STOP TAUNTING ME BY TALKING ABOUT HAVING LUNCH AND WRITING WITH ALL MY FAVORITE AUTHORS. Next thing you know, it'll be all "Oh, and then the Yeti and I went to London on vacation and I ran into JK Rowling at the mall and she helped me picked character names for my next book, she's really great at names. Then we went to a cupcake store and I didn't get a cupcake."

[kikiann11]

J. Green always steals the scene, married for love with his same-name sweetheart, go, go, other John Green yeah!

[kikiann11]

He's not hot, he's not cool, he goes to extremes as a rule, he's Cteve, Stone Cold Cteve Austin (with a C).

[danielthomasokeefe]

Sometimes as a FIFA player, you can go through a goal drought which can last for an annoyingly long period of time. When that happens, I tend to resort to keeping possession and slowly building up attacks instead of rushing into them. Interestingly, it helps to have a favourite front man like Bald John Green.

[faye4815]

When I'm a famous writer can I be friends with you guys? Please?

[BeccaSnowflake]

"oh no...get up...get up fatty..." - John Green

Oh John...WHY YOU SO MEAN!

[TheBr00talhamster]

I kinda like b-bodin as a name better.

[taterbrains2]

At 11:35 you said Bodin was bad, when it was LLLLLLLAna that missed.

[dc8r17]

Maureen got word of this video and made mention at the book party she did in London. She agreed about the bus driving element, bless her.

[Smithz0rz]

You should go meet Lemony Snicket, and then talk to us about it. That would be cool.

[jammiedodgerofdoom]

An abundance of Katherines in your pants.

[random9099]

I feel like you dropped the skill level.  The PC seems much slower to react.

[ScrodngrsCat]

I like how Crystal Palace's thing is 'CRY'

[djdaz21]

get fifa 12

[videosurfer69]

6 - 1, just like the Manchester derby today.

[pepperminttea42]

I listen to these vids more than watch them, keeping them playing in another tab. Every time John yells when he's near the goal, I switch tabs. It's like a biographical audiobook with football highlights.

[twerdyyy]

he's bald, he's gay, he puts the goals away, bald john greeeennn, bald john greeennn.

[NoobKyle]

@twerdyyy He got married to day, let's give our gay a hey,

other john green, other john green!

[Mainstandard]

did you go down to semi-pro again'?

[AlbinoBlackshepard]

fifa has a morale thingy so when you score your team gets more enthusiastic. thats is why it gets easier to score once you start :)

[ttnnnaa4500]

did you go up a skill level?

[louisfoulkes]

YAYYYY!!!! That's my Leeeerrooyy Williamson song!!! Today is a great day!! :D

[Medafets]

Looking for Alaska was a gift for me, it pretty much changed my view on life.

[Alchemydude667]

In fifa is in other games of the like there is an invisible morale system in which if you score a lot, it becomes easier and if you are scored upon, it becomes harder, a morale system much like in real life, is quite obvious and unseen.

[MsGreenrubberducky]

Today is my birthday :)

[PaiganGibbons]

@MsGreenrubberducky happy birthday!

[rcsugar]

What did you want to do with your life before you wanted to write? Or have you always wanted to write?

[hockeymurph34]

John, the striker with the ball at 11:29 AND 12:03 wasn't Bodin. It was Lallana.

Nonetheless, you are right. Bodin isn't very good. If someone better is available, I would suggest picking him up.

[SansWheaties]

C. Austin once owned a sauna/spa that was next to an ice cream shop. The spa was called StoneCold Steamery.

[mathmatucla]

@SansWheaties You mean StoneCold Cteamery ;D

[Bazement258Studios]

Oh man it feels good to be scoring again.

[thejerrymobile]

I still swear "best wishes" is something common to all writers. I don't think I've ever heard a non-English major use it.

[Turtlesrossum]

Hey John, i've recently read two of your books and i'm hooked! I love your stuff, i've been a Nerdfighter for a long time too! Since you're getting into Fifa maybe we could play sometime? I know this is massively unlikely that you'll respond or read this, but hey, i got some hope! DFTBA dude, and if you do read this, even if you can't accept for whatever reason, send me a message on youtube, it'd make my day! :D

[themuffindragon]

don't trade Bodin! he was trying so hard to impress! I can honestly say I saw a glimpse of Bald John Green in him.

[werewolfluvr119]

I loved the Name of the Star, I literally couldn't put it down.

[CptObliviouz]

@werewolfluvr119 literally? were you at a gun point or something? oh my..!

[Tyjet88]

1:46 STONE COLD! STONE COLD! STONE COLD!

[RechargesRoar]

I died when he said "Oh, my" about that guy's hair.

[IanDevlinPhoto]

(8)He's lean he's mean he's a goal saving machine it's fat lucas!(8)

[FinchPG]

no cupcakes but i smoked like a chimney :D cupcakes are unhealthy for you ;p

[TehPokeRizzle987]

Bodin Bodin was so enthusiastic this game, I think he makes a fantastic Swoodilypooper. Trading him seems like such a waste...

[TheLordFroogle]

‎'Leeroy Williamson scores occasionally...~ Leeroy Williamson, he scores occasionally.~

... I like it because it's true.'

(I'm going to be singing that all day. XD)

[thiswillneverbeme]

have guys noticed the number of player in swindon who's first and last names are the same? this seem statistically imporbable. nevertheless were all proud of bodin bodin.

[DaveCadBlogs]

Fifa 12...anyone?

[TomyOwns]

@DaveCadBlogs John's not getting it because you can't get moustaches

[SpottedLabCoat]

@DaveCadBlogs John refuses to play Fifa 12 because they don't have a moustache option.

[twihard398]

John, The Fault in Our Stars comes out two days after my birthday. Your book literally IS a gift.

[purplecows234]

When I saw the title of this video was Maureen Johnson, I thought MJ was going to be playing instead of John. I got excited.

[twihard398]

Can we hear about Other John Green?

[IAmBecss]

you make me proud to be living in Swindon <3

[silarydoveface]

I've watched a lot of these, and this one was particularly funny, John. Top notch work.

[labolabo33]

did you go down on the difficulty?

[justinhbrown]

Hat Trick!

[timverma]

@purple12candy1 that spells FATT

[LEEROOOYwilliamson]

Was this on Professional? i can't tell, you destroyed them!

[Sprite314]

that's not a foul, that's just a couple of guys having a good time! hahahaha

[lilcaits]

for some reason, when i saw the title i thought it meant maureen would be playing/talking to us today instead of you, john.

[seandrumzmusic]

bodin is from swindon, his dad is a swindon town legend!

[vlogabies]

"Oh my...that was worth the price of admission." AGREED. xD

[zrdunn]

381+ Likes

0 Dislikes

Ballin'

[ThatDeadHead]

Loved the description of your first encounter with Maureen =P

[KeleneLalaland]

"one size" fitz hall! HAHAHAHAHA

13:29 John, you should pass more often when it comes to scoring. It helps.

[KeleneLalaland]

"one size" fitz hall! HAHAHAHAHA

[ShaddapaYoFace]

Onesize Fitz Hall has possibly the best nickname in sport. Apart from Martin Offiah, whose nickname is of course...Chariots

[JOEX2210]

F. Hall? Looks like he would do eff all.

[benkenobired]

Damn you went down a level didn't you?!!!

[artyfarty1996]

Right, that's it. I'm starting writing Other John Green/Bald John Green slash fiction. It has to be done.

[benkenobired]

I support crystal palace, and today was the only day when i found my self disappointed when the swoodelypoopers won, dammit john why'd u have to loose against 2 teams i've hardly heard of and then casually beat my team?!! -_-

[artyfarty1996]

John, I don't even want to know where I'd be without you and the Swoodilypoopers. The other day someone asked me what football team I support, and without even thinking, I replied; "the Swoodilypoopers, obviously!"

It goes without saying that my non-nerdfighting friends were utterly confused.

[martnik]

You should talk about David Levithan!

[shanepatrickfagan]

You going to start playing fifa 12?

[dogsami316]

@shanepatrickfagan I think he already said he wasn't. Why you ask? There's no mustache option in fifa 12!

[lepracaun93]

I love how there's a sort of bitterness in John's voice. "It is ALWAYS, raining, in Swindon" Brilliant. :D

[wolf22011]

where hank

[ShootTheReaper]

"That wasn't a foul, its just a couple of guys having a good time" - Argument for Gay Marriage.

[TheLavLav]

"Can you turn a little bit? ...... Oh. my."

[mioluce]

dean and deluca has the most incredible banana pudding....

[94spexx]

EEEEEEEEMILY JEEENKINS!!!! Sorry...... but someone had to do it.

[shaneth138]

yeah you definitely went back down a level. Admit it.

[Raizaiel]

AURGHH! If only I had known this when I wrote her 50-page fanfiction! Oh well. I've always kind of wondered how you two became close and got your bromance on.

[SilverySun0]

"Can you turn a little bit Ambrose? ....oh my."

So glad I wasn't drinking water because my keyboard would be drenched otherwise.

[trumpeteer9]

Are you still on professional difficulty John? You're getting better! :)

[Virini]

Tell us about ideas you had for books but rejected.

[gorsloth1]

Oh my...

[lrocke08]

Yay a Swoodilypoopers win! Also very interesting to hear about meeting Maureen.

[marvelouslymundane]

It's Always Raining In Swindon. New TV show? I think so. Let's get to work, Nerdfighters!

[trumpeteer9]

@marvelouslymundane

I see what you did there :P

[Patricrodactyl]

I really wish you were my english teacher

[CuteEyes72]

Someday I will be a famous author and I too will be able to be friends with so many amazing people.

...oh who am I kidding, yeah right. :P

[SkyOfJuly]

ahhh I love maureen :)

[Harapekoguma]

boding once, boden twice,

Too bad he's not more precise!

[AshMonster2D]

307 views 310 likes xD

[bersabelle]

the whole scoring thing is just a side effect of confidence/morale. once you score, naturally your confidence/morale goes up and you usually score again. it's true of actually soccer too.

[esca101]

I remember seeing a picture of your book/writing meetings years ago! I feel like I've known you for so long, John..

[RandomGuyKyle]

"That's not a foul. That's just a couple of guys having a good time."

[sisk22]

@TheXillusRage best true story ever

[dillpickle3499]

Talk about infinity!!!!!

[LegendOfTheEpic]

I laughed out loud at, "You're embarrassing my family!"

[theloyalbadger]

Don't be so hard on Bodin Bodin, John. He's a hard worker. Look at how many times he tried to get the goal in for the team, and he was only in for a small amount of time! The kid has real heart, I don't want to see him go.

1ST WIN IN THE PROFESSIONAL LEVEL!!!! Swindontown is moving up in the world.