Ah, the family unit. Full of love and hugs. I have a feeling things might not be all rainbows in the Tompkins family’s world for long. But that’s just me.
Dig!
–Kev
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Category: Todt Hill
Truly, Cecil Castellicci is a creative whirlwind. Music, poetry, blogs galore, three YA books in her pockets (the latest, BEIGE, hits shelves in early May)… all will set your head a-spinning, but try to keep it together because next up, she’s coming for comics with THE P.L.A.I.N. JANES, the season 1 opener for Vertigo’s Minx line. I’d say that I need a nap, but Cecil’s sincerity and deep passion for art are more like a socket — plug in, recharge batteries, get moving.
Yes, “miss cecil” does it all — and does it all well. And darn it, she’s just so damn charming. Try reading her Livejournal with a frown on your face. Go on, I dare you. Right after you read this interview…
You grew up in New York City but now live in Los Angeles. Which do you like better?
This is a very tough question. I love Los Angeles in a rare and hidden way that most people don’t see. Like the Jacarandas in bloom in spring. And the smell of night blooming jasmine and lemon trees. And the light. Oh, the light. But I do not like the isolation, the no-seasons, and all the driving. And East! Oh I love New York for it’s brassy gray, and bustle. For it’s culture and it’s walking. For my friends who don’t come out West to see me and whom I miss so much.
I love your poems. Who are some of your favorite poets?
Oh, I am a shy poet! And a came-to-it-late poet. I didn’t even know they were poems until someone called me on it. So I do not know much. But I have enjoyed ee cummings. Jack Kerouac. Phillip Larkin. TS Eliot.
In your FAQ, you say that it took you about ten years to get published from when you started writing “seriously.” What was “seriously,” for you? How long did it take you to write your first novel? From the looks of it (your bio page), you’ve been creative from the word go…
I have always been creative, but when I say ten years, I mean when I first took myself seriously as wanting to write YA. I think often we dabble in stuff, “oh, I’d like to do this or that.” But it’s when we really get in line that we take ourselves “seriously.” It took me one year to write the novel boy proof to get it up to snuff so I could ask my agent to send it out. It was the third novel I’d written; the others, sadly rejected. I say from the moment that you really decide that you are IN LINE to be an artist, it takes about ten years. That means saying you are one and meaning it, even if it’s “not true” yet. All told, it took me about 9 years from the time I got serious about being a writer to my first book coming out.
Ok, I have a personal investment in this one and really want to know the answer! Recently-ish on your livejournal you mentioned that you were at “the I HATE MY NEW WIP part of the process.” How do you deal?
Ugh! UGH! Writing is so Ass Hard! I don’t know why it has to be a part of writing but it is. The self-hating, the little voice telling you that you suck, the dim faux knowledge that everyone else on the planet is a better writer than you are so why are you bothering. The self-deprecating, insecurity, conviction of no- talentness. UGH! And every writer I know gets it! It’s our very own Process Plague!
How do I deal? Chocolate! Crying! Long Hot Baths!
Basically I give my self a lot of self love and I try not to listen to that inner critic. And at this point, I just work through it because I understand that it is part of the process. Stupid process.
Also recently-ish, you had a contest in honor of your new novel BEIGE in which you invited readers to write about a piece of music that changed their life. Of course, that made me wonder how you would answer.
You know, I’ve got to say that I think that the first piece of music that changed my life was probably either La Traviata by Verdi or The Magic Flute by Mozart. Those operas snuck into my little tiny toddler heart and filled it with drama and story. My junior high self would say the Blondie made my heart fill with a smooth kind of cool. In High School it was a fine blend between The Clash and Yazoo that filled my heart with sweet angst. Then later on, I would say Sinead O’Conner’s album The Lion and The Cobra made my heart fill with raw feelings. And in recent years I would say that God Speed You Black Emperor made my heart fill with wonder. As for today. Today. This minute. This second. I am listening to Co Co Rosie right now as I write this. I don’t know if it’s changing my life, but it sure is great.
What were you like as a teenager?
Oh, such a big dramatic personality and oh, so tiny a girl. I didn’t know how to manage my quirkiness. You know? I didn’t know how to embrace it and make it a part of me. So, I felt misunderstood by my friends and by adults and I was Oh. So. Sensitive. Never the less, when I wasn’t being an angst filled boob, I was popular enough, but not the most popular. I never find just one group of people interesting. Oh, sure, I had my core group of gal pals, but I often floated around in other cliques, too, for variation. I always wore vintage clothes, my fave accessory was a snood (a 40’s hairnet) I spent a lot of time watching old black and white movies and going to see plays. I never had a boyfriend. I had a lot of crushes. I wanted to grow up and tell stories.
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Category: From the Library
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Category: 1 Way Ticket
Do Not Adjust Your Computer Monitor. We are experiencing technical difficulties. New comics from me and a player to be named later, hopefully before next Tuesday. Until then, Please Stand By. Thank you for your patience.
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Category: Uncategorized
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What will happen next? You got seven days to find out.
Thanks for checking us out today. Come back tomorrow to see Jim Dougan’s newest story (I’m sure excited to find out what it is!). And come back every day this week for more from the Chemistry Set! And finally, come back next Monday for the next intallment of STUCK.
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Come the dawn… wait, why does that sound familiar? Thanks to everyone who has been following along with Todt Hill for these months. Neil and I have been pouring our dainty ‘lil hearts into this here yarn, and the love we’ve been getting warms our cockles.
We plan to continue for a long time to come. In addition to Todt Hill, my solo project FISHTOWN starts next Thursday.
Dig!
–Kev
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Category: Todt Hill
Just joining us? Sweet! Click here for the prologue and here for the previous pages of Marcos’ tale.
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Category: Scheherazade
And now: the pulse-pounding conclusion!!
Actually, it’s not intended to be pulse-pounding at all…but over time I’ve realized that this story is not well-suited for a page-per-week serialization. So why don’t you read the whole thing at once and let us know what you think? And please direct some lovely praise at my fantastic collaborator, Umberto Torricelli. Check out his LiveJournal for more great art and to keep tabs on what he’s up to.
Next week? Um, TBD. Watch this space!
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Category: Uncategorized
Previously in STUCK…
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3 (to date)
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Looks like things are taking a turn for the worst here.
Quick plug time. Every now and again, I do a radio show here in NY called Best in Show. I was on the show yesterday, and it might have been one of my best appearances, and one of the best shows of the year so far. Check it out…it’s always funny and informative. You can download it here or on iTunes…just go to Podcasts in the iTunes store and search for “Best in Show Radio.”
And hey, why don’t you include us on your Harvey Award Ballot? The deadline to submit ballots is TONIGHT @ Midnight, April 4, 2007. You can email the ballot to PJCJMC3@sbcglobal.net or send your paper ballot by mail to Harvey Ballots, 605 West Arapaho Road, Richardson, TX 75080. Add STUCK (best online), FALLOUT (best single issue/story), and Tom Williams (best new talent)!
See you here next week,
Tom & Vito
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THE CHEMISTRY SET is a collective of comic creators, exploring what happens when they throw their talents together in the cause of fresh, new, unexpected work. Sometimes we get beautiful synthesis. Sometimes we get explosions. But in every case, we get new comics, delivered every day by talented up-and-coming creators, including three Xeric Award winners.
Always free, and just for you.
Be part of the experiment here on THE CHEMISTRY SET.