Author Interview: Nathan Hale

Here is is at last: the highlight of the Graphic Novel Readathon. Please welcome Nathan Hale, amazing author of many graphic novels and picture books.

You can find him drawing daily comics on his blog, Space Station Nathan, or pick up one of his fantastic books (pictured below).

Who is your favorite character to draw?

Right now, the Hangman from Hazardous Tales. He's sort of like the Devil from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW and Yellowbelly from YELLOWBELLY AND PLUM smooshed together in a black executioner outfit. I could draw that guy all day. Actually, I DO draw that guy all day.


Which of your books was the most fun to create? Which are you the most proud of?

Fun to create? FRANKENSTEIN. Why fun? Because it was a loosey-goosey, scribbly style (after the style of Ludwig Bemelmen's MADELINE) it was quick, easy and fun to do. It took about a month to do and was a joy to work on. (Note to illustrators: scribbly, sketchy styles go a lot quicker than fussy, over-detailed styles. If you can work loose--DO IT!)

I'm the most proud of THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, because it was my first. It was an unagented slushpile manuscript. Getting a picture book published out of a slushpile is pretty exciting. It wasn't a big seller, and it got a bad review or two. But it's my first, and I'll always be proud of it.

What are some of your favorite graphic novels (to read, not write)?

I grew up reading newspaper comics. I didn't start reading comic BOOKS until I was in college. The school I went to, Cornish College of the Arts is in Seattle, where Fantagraphic Books is located. Fantagraphics publishes classic golden age comics, Little Nemo, Krazy Kat, Pogo etc. and underground/alternative comix. Both of which I really got into.

Right now I'm reading the Carl Barks Duck cartoons (the old Disney comics that Ducktales is based on) and re-reading Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki which just came out in a GORGEOUS new hardcover set (go out and buy it, you won't regret it--1000 pages of epic Miyazaki adventure!)

How has the rise in ebooks affected your job as an illustrator / graphic novelist?

So far there has been little effect. Picture books and graphic novels are still very tactile objects (especially picture books) so, unlike novels, my market hasn't changed too much (yet.) I think most smart parents are now looking for ways for their children to spend LESS time with screens (not more.) So hopefully the traditional picture book market will continue to stand. Now, that said, my Hazardous Tales books are out in both Nook and Kindle versions--I haven't see either. I don't own a tablet. But if any of your readers have seen the ebook versions, I'd like to hear how they look.

You have mentioned in other interviews that you listen to audiobooks while working. Which are your favorite books to listen to?

I'm a genre jumper. I don't like to listen to books in the same genre back-to-back. For years, I just took whatever the library had in unabridged audio form. So I read all over the place. Now it's habit. I like everything. Mostly, I like crime, war, horror, and westerns--gritty tough guy stuff. Right now I'm in the middle of the latest Harry Bosch detective novel THE BLACK BOX.


Do the books you are listening to affect your work at all?

Nope. I guess, sometimes it makes working more fun. But the work has to be consistent with it's own story, not with what I'm listening to.

Which comes first, the idea of an illustration or the idea of the story?

For me, story first. Every time.

What is your work day like? Do you draw all day or just a couple of hours each day?

I work all day, every day. If you want to make a full-time career as an illustrator, you work ALL THE TIME. I once saw the great illustrator Wendell Minor speak, he said his work schedule was 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The audience laughed--they thought he was joking. He wasn't joking. And he doesn't do graphic novels. Creating a graphic novel takes hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours. It's a major time commitment. There's a manga series out there called BAKUMAN, about some kids who want to be Manga creators. One of the kids has an uncle who draws manga--he literally DIES from working too much. It is labor. I tell my writer friends it's like writing a novel using macaroni and a glue gun for the letters.

Do you create multiple drafts of each illustration or just begin drawing?

Everything I do is sketched out and reviewed by the publisher before final art (except for my blog posts.)

What is coming up next for you?

I JUST finished Hazardous Tales #3, which I'm VERY excited about. And I'm moving right into #4, which I'm even MORE excited about because I'm just about to jump into final illustrations for it. #3 will be out this summer and #4 in Spring '14. The second Hazardous Tales book, BIG BAD IRONCLAD was just shortlisted for a Cybil award, and I'll be watching excitedly to see if it wins.

And, of course, I'll be blogging new comics and stories on my site.

Thanks for the interview!
Thank you, Nate!

Interview Swap: Debz Bookshelf

Today I have a special treat for you: Debz from Debz Bookshelf and I are doing an interview swap. Here are Debz' answers to my questions, and when you're done, head over to Debz Bookshelf for my answers to her questions.

Welcome, Debz!

When did you start blogging, and why? 
I started book blogging in April of 2011 after my personal blog started overflowing with bookish thoughts and I needed somewhere to catch them all. And thus Darlin’ Deb’s Bookshelf was born (and then quickly renamed Debz Bookshelf, ‘cause I wanted to sound all cool.)

What is your proudest achievement as a blogger?
Surviving it all? I’m honestly kind of shocked that I’ve made it so far. And I guess the biggest things I’ve successfully done as a blogger are host my Fairy Tales Retold Challenge and upcoming/recent (Oct. 17th) Fairytale-a-Thon-- you can tell I like fairy tales.

What advice would you like to give bloggers who are just starting out?
Learn about everything and be patient! I knew nothing about book blogging when I started out, and that really effected my first year of blogging. And then once I knew what I was doing, I began being really impatient with everything. I started wanting a bunch of ARC’s and followers and it took me awhile to realize that those come with time. Now I’m just as gracious and patient as I can be, and things have never been better!

What advice would you like to ask from more experienced bloggers?
How do you balance your time? A lot of times it’s hard for me to find a good balance between reading, blogging, and the real world, But all those big bloggers seem to be pros!

What are some of your favorite reviews that you’ve written? Feel free to link them up here.
My most memorable reviews are those of Wither, Enchanted, Before I Fall, and Palace of Stone but I don’t think I could pick a favorite!

What is something surprising about yourself from your non-blogging life?
I think I have mentioned this on my blog once or twice; I have 2 brothers and 4 sisters. They keep me very occupied all the time. It’s a miracle that I can get any reading done sometimes!

What do you do for fun (other than reading)?
Bake cookies and sing showtunes (usually at the same time!)

Describe your ultimate author visit.
Let’s say that we’re at a fairy tale convention, and many popular fairy tale retellers are there. And then I find out that I’ve won some kind of huge sweepstakes involving me getting a free lunch with all of my favorite authors (including Shannon Hale, Jessica Day George, Alethea Kontis (well, I’ve already met her, but she was so awesome I’ll have to meet her again), Janette Rallison, Marissa Meyer, Alex Flinn, Zoe Marriott; the list could go on and on...), as well as a complete collection of their books. And the Brother Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen stop in by way of fairy godmother of course!

What is the most important aspect of a book for you? What makes you immediately want to pick up a book?
“Is it something I haven’t seen before?” is a question I find myself asking. In a world where paranormal and dystopia are clouding the shelves and everything looks the same, I like finding something that sticks out.

What superpower would you want, and why?
Preferably none, but if I got tossed into a vat of toxic waste, I think I’d hope to develop the ability to become invisible!

Thanks for having me, Pica!
Thank you, Debz!

Leave a comment for Debz, and be sure to check out my half of the interview swap over at Debz Bookshelf!

Interview with Nansi Kunze

Today I'm happy to have Nansi Kunze, the author of Dangerously Placed, here on Pica Reads to answer some questions about the publishing process for Dangerously Placed. You can click here to read my review of Dangerously Placed.

Nansi Kunze grew up surrounded by books in Australia and the UK, but (strangely) never had a childhood ambition to become a writer. After studying languages and ancient history at university, she spent several years teaching overseas-trained doctors how to pronounce rude words and teenagers how to mummify each other, whilst cultivating a taste for manga and video games in her spare time. Unsurprisingly, her early attempts at writing serious adult fiction failed. Fortunately she proved to be much better at writing slightly zany Young Adult fiction, and her first YA novel, Mishaps, came out in 2009 and her second, Dangerously Placed, is coming out in December. She lives on a small farm overlooking the Victorian Alps in Australia with her husband and son and their cat, Schrödinger.

What is it like going through the process of publishing a book? Is it fun, exasperating, exciting, exhausting or all these and more? What makes it so?

I can certainly be all of those things! I’m very lucky with my editors, though – they’ve made the fun and excitement outweigh anything else.

One potentially frustrating aspect of publishing a book is that it’s a very long process; after all those long months of working on a novel manuscript, you could well be waiting another year to see your book in stores from the time it’s accepted. There are good reasons for this: the amount of work your manuscript will still need, the number of other books your editors will be working on at the same time, typesetting, cover designs and so on. As the author, the most exasperating thing about it is that you’re usually working on another manuscript by then, so you don’t really want to be dragged back to your previous story for edits. The amount of time it actually takes bothers my friends a lot more than it does me – they’re all excited when my novel’s accepted, but then can’t believe how long they have to wait before they can actually read the book!

The publishing process has a lot of ups and downs. Receiving a structural edit covered in corrections and suggestions can be terrifying, and sometimes embarrassing. When I got the structural edit for Dangerously Placed, I discovered that the rules I’d set up for my virtual office system, Virk, made it impossible for the murder to happen the way I’d planned! The upside to awkward things like that, though, is that quite often the solution you find for a gaping plot hole can have added benefits, like allowing you to strengthen a character’s motivation or add in another fun scene, which is a great feeling. Getting page proofs and ARCs in the mail is thrilling, too, but the most exciting part for me is the dizzying moment when the publishers accept my novel. Nothing beats that.


How did the publishing process for Dangerously Placed differ from that of Mishaps, your first published novel?

It was both faster and slower. I wrote Mishaps before my son was born, so I’d had the time to do three complete drafts of it before sending it to the publishers. Dangerously Placed, on the other hand, was written while I was a stay-at-home mum with a toddler. It took so long for me to complete the first draft that I sent it straight to my editor, asking if she could tell me if I was even on the right track before I tried to do a second draft. I was completely shocked when she emailed to say that they’d decided to buy the novel after reading that first draft! So the novel’s acceptance happened faster, but the time it took to then be published was longer, because I had to do another draft before it was ready for proper editing.

How much say did you have in choosing the cover for Dangerously Placed?

Not much, which I think is pretty standard. Apart from the ones who self-publish, I don’t know any authors who’ve been heavily involved in the cover design – our job is to do the words, not the pictures! There were some problems with the early designs for Dangerously Placed, so there wasn’t much time left once the publishers had resolved those. My editor sent the final design to me to see what I thought, and if there was something I’d really hated about it they’d have tried to address that in the short time before the books had to be printed, but I was quite happy with it. The process we went through with Mishaps was more usual: there were three cover designs, and I basically got to vote for one, as did the editorial team and the marketing team. I think we all agreed on that cover, though now I’m wondering what would’ve happened if we’d each chosen different designs!

What kinds of images did you and your publisher/cover designer consider before settling on the final cover?

After the final design had been agreed on, I did see the earlier designs. They were beautiful, but way too scary for this story! The images in them included a body in a business suit lying on the floor, close-ups of eyes, part of a computer motherboard and sinister shadows lurking in the background. My editor had also suggested beach images and pictures of Alex that were pixellated around the edges.

How well do you think the final cover fits your story?

Pretty well. I like the way it encapsulates the murder-mystery and virtual reality elements. A couple of reviewers have said they thought the cover was a bit misleading, because it makes Dangerously Placed look like a very dark, serious story, which it certainly isn’t! I’d have liked the design to hint at the humour that I think is a major part of the story, but I must confess that I don’t know how that could have been done.

Did you have any idea what the formatting of the book would look like before you received ARCs? Did you have any say in that process?

Yes, I knew what the formatting would look like. I was sent page proofs to check for typos as the final stage of the editing process – they’re printed exactly as they will be in the finished copies, but uncut and unbound. I didn’t have any say in that process. Short of discovering my book had been typeset in some kind of scary gothic font, I don’t think I’d have objected to anything much about the formatting!

Was there anything surprising that came up during the publishing process for either of your books? Any good stories to share?

The whole process was kind of surprising to me the first time round, since I really had no idea how big publishers worked! A couple of months after Mishaps was accepted, however, I had the chance to visit Random House Australia’s office in Sydney. I was incredibly nervous, but the editors were really lovely, introducing me to everyone and even giving me a bunch of YA novels from their shelves as presents. One of the editorial staff told me she’d read my manuscript and was ‘speechless at the awesomeness of it’ – which left me speechless with embarrassment and delight! But the most startling part was when my editor mentioned that they liked to get video interviews with their authors whenever one came to visit. My heart-rate went through the roof, until she kindly pointed out that they’d realised being filmed might be a bit much for me that day. Phew! I’ve gotten more used to being a ‘real’ author now, though. Hopefully when I next visit my publishers I’ll look a bit less clueless!

Thank you, Nansi!

Check out the other stops on the Dangerously Placed blog tour:
Nov 7 (Monday) – Jex at Everything and Nothing
Nov 8 (Tuesday) – Lyndsey at Strangemore
Nov 9 (Wednesday) – Kellie at Reawrite
Nov 10 (Thursday) – Bonnie at A Backwards Story
Nov 11 (Friday) – Pica at Pica Reads (here!)
Nov 12 (Saturday) – Lacey at Owl Love You Books
Nov 13 (Sunday) —Sarah Guthall at Inklings Read

And click here to read my review of Dangerously Placed!


Want to win a copy of Dangerously Placed? Sarah at Inklings Read is giving away a copy here! Ends 11/13.

Interview with Ishita from The Reading Fish

Today I'm happy to have Ishita from The Reading Fish over to answer some questions about her blog, blogging in general, and herself. This interview is part of Awesome Bookworm's Book Blogger Meetup.

Ishita also interviewed me! Check it out on her blog, The Reading Fish.

What inspired you to start your blog, The Reading Fish? Do you have any other blogs?
So I actually started the blog, after figuring out that I need blogger to enter giveaways….I know I am very greedy…but then as I actually started reading reviews (before that I was on Facebook most of the time) and looking more on goodreads…I saw these awesome websites! I Fell in-love and immediately decided I must blog. I really wanted people to know who I am, and what I like to do. And I have a lot to say about books, like a lot! And the reading fish is my first and only blog…I can’t believe I have been only blogging for three months, it has felt like years! I plan to only keep one blog, I want to expand this blog, and I think multiple blogs will make me lose focus, so Reading Fish is the only one :) .

What does the name Fishy come from?
There is a really really really long story but I’ll tell you a quick summary of it :). So growing my nickname in the family has always been Ishi (ishee) so growing up that is what everyone called me , even friends…and then at like the age of seven I got first fish tank with ten fishes. And during that period I was also called fatty (but not going into that ), and my friends apparently decided I was “squishy”. So from Ishi they combined Fishy and Squishy (since they rhymed) so I became Ishi Fishy Squishy. And over time that whole nickname was to long, so I am called either squishy, Fishy (but usually Fishy) and Ishi is reserved for family and close friends. So that is how I got the nickname Fishy…. (it was a much longer process though this is just a really brief summary) lol

I see you design blogs. What got you started on that?
I started to design about a month after I started my blog. And I have some really good inspirations such as Lucia from iLive iLaugh iLove Books and Oatrick from iRandomblogger. Both have amazing talent, and I have learnt a lot from them. I probably started after the blog was created…I wanted it to look pleasing and inviting, not boring (since that is not me), it’s not super officy either, I don’t fit that perspective either. I love color and art, I may not be amazing, but on the computer I have too much fun. I think that love had gotten me interested (and also the fact that my dad is a computer engineer so a lot of computer-y stuff goes on in my house).

What is your favorite genre to read? To review?
Oh god, this is a hard question. Hmmmmm, I love all genres to be truthful, and I love to review everything. As long as the writing feels natural, the characters are good, and well it’s not over the top detail…I most probably will like/love it and would enjoy reviewing it…But a plus would be any amazing guy…You know girls the guy of our dreams, right there in the book, dashing, romantic, sweet…ahhh now that will add the cherry on the top (Sorry for the fangirl moment)

What makes a book amazing? Conversely, what makes you stop reading a book?
For me (like I stated in the previous question) a book is amazing when
a) The story flows
b) There is not over the top detail on unnecessary things…like how a field looked so green, and three pages on that (way to much detail) unless that field is important to the storythough
c) When the writing doesn’t seem forced
d) When there are some witty banter (I love that )
e) And if the story line is something non-cliché and new. I love unique story lines
f) Oh…and if you throw a great guy or two…well you just hit jack pot ( I know I am over obsessing, but teenage girl here, and well that usually makes the book all the better…though you start judging boys in real life which doesn’t help) but yes…

Here is the thing though, these are some of the main points, but (F) is just a bonus point if you get what I mean. And usually I stop reading if a story feels forced, or the language doesn’t feel cohesive to me I just can’t continue to read the book. I start to drone out and well, it doesn’t turn out to great. I also hate when the lead character whines a lot, and the story progresses but then ends up back at square one, that also bugs me.

What are some of your favorite reads of 2011 (so far)?
My favorite books of 2011…This is one of the hardest questions…. To name a few ( berceuse there are so many…) Across the Universe, Die for Me, Hourglass, Divergent, Lola and the Boy Next Door, Spell bound, and a ton more!

What are some books you’re looking forward to reading in the next few months?
Wow so many, some are Shatter Me, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. A Million Suns, Clockwork Prince, Silence….to name the few but there are tens of hundreds more!

What is your favorite part about being a book blogger?
The people I meet! I love meeting a community where reading is cool! So many teens I know hate it and well reading is just part of me, and to find other people like me feels great! I can also voice an opinion, to people who listen, I feel like I can get things out which I can’t with non-book loving people. And if I fan-girl no one minds as well :D

Are some reviews harder to write than others? Why? Which ones?
Some reviews are harder to write. Especially when I didn’t like the book, I feel horrible for giving it a negative review. Because I know the author put in a lot of effort, and the authors are all too sweet. And sometimes books I find completely amazing I find difficult to review. They end up being so great I am usually at a loss for words with it, that I find trouble trying to place words into my review.

And some non-blogging questions:
What would be worth standing in line for four hours in the rain for?
Hmm…..so many things…First thing Movies, Books, CHOCOLATE, and black Friday sales :D !

What do you like to do with your time (other than read)?
Hang out with friends and family, Tweet ( I love tweeting), dance, volunteer ( a lot), shopping, cook, and EAT :D

If you were given a year with no responsibilities and no requirements, what would you do for the year?
I would read, read and read…and write reviews (for fun though), then I would dance, and never make my bed because I hate making my bed. I’ll probably study a bit because I feel I’ll turn stupid If I don’t lol. And really I don’t think I’ll be able to grasp the fact I have no responsibility and I probably would forget I had no responsibilities or requirements and just go on doing what I usually do lol

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? (Very important question)
Oh so many, but it must be chocolate! I am a chocolate Addict like no other. I love any flavor of chocolate ice cream! But it must be chocolate ice-cream with a warm chocolate brownie with chocolate syrup on top, and some Oreo crumbs…yummmmmmmmmm ;)

Would you prefer to have one giant library or books all over your house?
A giant library, I have always wanted one! I am so unorganized, but my books they are well kept and have there place! No one messes with Fishy or her Books! I completely want that large grand library so I can have just a place dedicated to me and my reading, which would be heaven for me :D .

Thank you, Ishita!