VIsit with Hope Larson

http://hopelarson.com/

Today we're visiting with the ever-talented and oh-so-kind Hope Larson, whose latest release, MERCURY, was published by Atheneum on 4/6/10!



August 31, 5:15 PM, French Hill, Nova Scotia: A girl named Tara is running. She runs through her nice neighborhood and up a road to the burned ruins of what was once a beautiful house--her family's house.

August 31, 1859, French Hill, Nova Scotia: A girl named Josey is picking blackberries with her friend Connie. As the girls gossip, a handsome stranger knocks on the door of Josey's house. His name is Asa, and with his coming, Josey's life--and later in time, Tara's as well--is about to change forever.

Because there is treasure in the woods that belong to Josey's family. Gold--an untold fortune. Asa has a secret way of finding it, and his partnership with Josey's father could make them all rich. But there is darkness in the woods, and in Asa. And in the present day, Tara, Josey's descendant, is about to discover the truth about what really happened in the family's past.

Eisner award winner Hope Larson weaves together history, romance, and a touch of her trademark magical realism in this remarkable graphic novel of how the past haunts a teenage girl's present.

These days, I’m just bursting with stories. I’m drawing one book, revising another, writing a screenplay, developing a project with my husband–meaning we brainstorm together while walking to and from the dog park–and I’ve got yet another idea on ice, for later. I’m prolific, or least prolific for a cartoonist; it does tend to slow your output when you’ve got to draw every last image, emotion, and location in a book.

But it wasn’t always this way! My first book, SALAMANDER DREAM, clocked in at under a hundred pages, and my second book wasn’t much longer. There was a time when writing, telling stories, terrified me. I wanted to draw comics, make comics, but in the beginning I truly felt I had nothing to say. I’d grown up, gone to college, graduated. I was ordinary. What was I supposed to write about? What did I know? In 2010, with hundreds of comic pages and hundreds of pages of writing under my belt, it’s hard to remember that feeling. Writing remains challenging, even (often) frustrating, but in the good way–like working out. Training your brain to write is much like training for a 5k. Anyone can do it, with practice.

So, where do my ideas come from? How do I approach a story? The gist of it is that I stumble over an idea, think, "That'd make a good story!", and spend the next year torturing that idea until it bears no resemblance to its original self.

Let’s call this germinating idea a “seed idea”. Seed ideas are everywhere, if you remind yourself to look for them–and you should always be looking. Even if I'm bogged down with more projects than I can handle, I'm shopping for ideas "out of season". It's like finding a great winter coat at Goodwill–in August. It's hot out. You're sweating buckets. You don't want to think about wool and warmth. But if you pass the coat up, next time it'll be gone. Buy the coat–or make a note–and when winter rolls around, you'll be prepared.

The seed ideas for my new book, MERCURY, were as follows:

- A CBC news radio story about vigilantes in a small Maritime town taking justice into their own hands and storming a suspected drug house.

- Mary L. Fraser's Folklore of Nova Scotia, which I found in a junk shop. This unassuming little book, too humble for a copyright date or even a printed spine, is a scholarly survey of... folklore in Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton in particular. Most of the supernatural elements in MERCURY were lifted right out of here, including Tara's necklace, which is based on a description of an old French treasure-finding contraption.

- Henry Moore Smith, a con man who swept through Nova Scotia in the 1800s. (I did a short comic about him which ran in the New York Times a few years ago.)

- My own experiences living in rural Nova Scotia. The town I lived closest to in Nova Scotia was Mount Uniacke (yoo-nee-ack), which had been transformed by a tiny gold rush back in the 1800s. Even in the aughts, information about the Uniacke gold rush got a lot of play in the town newsletter.

The only connecting factor was that all of these ideas excited me, and all of them were tied to Nova Scotia. How to fit them together? Research! If you dig deeply enough into anything you'll find enough parallels and happy coincidences to hang a story on. To continue the gardening analogy, researching is like conditioning the soil, working it, adding compost, and making a fertile bed in which your story can grow.

When I’m in my research phase, I consume everything I can find that’s even tangentially related to my subject. The details and revelations that will glue your story together can be anywhere. For MERCURY, I researched at the provincial archives in Halifax, at a tiny local museum in Windsor, and at the Ross Farm Museum, a working farm staffed by historical re-enactors. I hit up the plain ol' library, too–and, of course, the Internet, which wasn't much help.

At the library I found first-person accounts of miners who participated in another small Nova Scotian gold rush, and a list of the common ways they died; I still remember that several succumbed while attempting to thaw frozen dynamite. At Ross Farm Museum I spoke with re-enactors about the sorts of clothing a woman would have worn during her day-to-day life in the 1850s. I was especially interested in their bonnets, which I was informed would be worn whenever a girl or woman left the house. (Nova Scotians maintained strong cultural ties to the United Kingdom and were far more conservative than their contemporaries in the United States, and even other parts of Canada.) At the little museum in Windsor I scored a copy of the Hants County History and Geography School Project, a history of the county as written by elementary school children in 1941.

I took tons of photos, too. When you’re making a comic book, photo reference is extremely helpful, and Nova Scotia is as much a character in Mercury as Josey or Tara or Ben. Here are a couple of my favorite reference shots:

Ross Farm Museum



A barn on the edge of the Annapolis Valley



The post road on the Uniacke Estate



After all that research, my brain was full to bursting with bits and pieces of history and images that had stuck in my mind as I roamed the province. Little by little a story emerged, and Tara and Josey came to life. Sitting down and writing the story was by far the hardest part of the process, but I was armed with so much material that I knew I could do it; it was just a matter of getting it right. People have the same sort of romanticized ideas about writing as they do about farming, but both are unglamorous pursuits at heart. A book and a garden demand daily tending, and vigilant weeding/editing. It’s satisfying work, but it’s still Work.

I finished MERCURY a few years ago, but my writing process hasn’t changed much since then. My stories still come together slowly, bit by bit, and watching that happen is my favorite part of the process. Sure, it’s nice to have a book. It’s nice to have a flower. But the best part is waiting for it to bloom.



**I also had the chance to ask Hope a few additional questions about her life and writing, so enjoy!

If you could bring any character from one of your books to life, who would it be and why?

It would probably be Salamander, from SALAMANDER DREAM. He’d be a lot of fun, and it would be nice to get away from my computer/drafting table and out into Nature.

Twitter your newest or upcoming release in 140 characters or less.

I’m drawing the graphic novel adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s sc-fi classic, A WRINKLE IN TIME.

What was your favorite book growing up as a teen?

I remember being really into DUNE, and later THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. I liked plotty, epic, exciting stuff.

When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

For a while I really wanted to be a geologist.

Your favorite subject in high school – and your least favorite.

My favorite was definitely art, which was a creative free-for-all. I could go there and just work and feel safe. My least favorite was Algebra II; I’ve always been terrible at math and I passed Algebra by the skin of my teeth. It didn’t help that I refused to study.

The book you wish you had written.

GHOST WORLD.

The 2010 release you’re most looking forward to reading.

MOCKINGJAY!

You’ve invented a new national holiday. What is it called, and what does it celebrate? (Plus, would we get the day off of school and work??)

Freelancers’ Appreciation Day, when freelancers are locked out of their home offices and forced to take the day off. No one else gets time off, though!

What is your astrological sign? How closely does it match your personality?

I’m a classic Virgo the way they’re usually described, but this is an unusually kind and forgiving writeup. I can’t take credit for being “refusing to become cynical”, because I’m a fairly cynical person.

What is your ultimate vacation destination?

I’d love to go to Sweden. My relatives are Swedish/German, and I’d like to see where they came from.

The world has suffered from a one-day only loss of power. You have no cell phone, computer, lights, or anything else that requires a computer, cell battery, or electricity. What do you spend the day doing?

Drawing by the window. I’ve drawn during power outages in the past, and I always keep a stock of candles on hand for emergencies.

If you weren’t an author, what job would you be doing?

I always say park ranger, but I don’t know. Maybe a librarian, or maybe I’d still be working in a video rental place (if there are any of those left).

Your publisher has instructed you to write a new series based on an endangered species. What animal do you choose?

I’m intrigued by all the corals. That could be a really interesting, surreal under-sea story!

A movie is being made of ONE of your books. Which book is it, and who will star as the main characters?

The book is MERCURY, and the star is Ellen Page, who is from Nova Scotia to begin with!

The paranormal genre is big in teen/YA literature right now. Most bestsellers feature vampires, werewolves, faeries, angels, or the like as a main character. In your opinion, why are teens currently fascinated with all things paranormal?

It’s big in adult literature, too! I read a lot of that stuff. For me, it has to do with a desire for the world to be more exciting and magical than it really is, and the wish to become more than the ordinary, fragile, mortal person I am. I imagine it’s the same for teens. “There must be more than this.”

You’re writing a book where you can change one major historical event. Which event do you change? (For example, Abraham Lincoln wasn’t assassinated, or Japan never bombed Pearl Harbor.)

Sound never came to the cinema. Imagine how different pop culture would be!

Remember those “classics” that you were made to read in high school English class? What was your favorite, and which title should students never have to be subjected to reading?

I loved, and still love, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, but I absolutely despised THE FOUNTAINHEAD.

Someone tells you that you’ll never publish another book that you write. Do you still keep writing?

I’ll turn to screenplays instead. :)

A group of teens ask you the best way to become a published writer. How do you answer the question?

Write, write, write. Persistence pays off.

**Thanks so very much to Hope for visiting with us today! Be sure to check out her website, listed above, or you can find her at her Blog, on Twitter, or email her directly at hope@hopelarson.com.

Hope has been kind enough to offer to send one lucky poster today a copy of MERCURY, so be sure to leave any comments or questions you have for her in the comments section! She'll be stopping by later to see what we're talking about!