Michael Benavidez's Blog - Posts Tagged "interview"
Interview: Lily
Alright so it has reached that time again for an interview. As you know this Feature Week has been dedicated to Lily, creator of The Ash Garden and Cottonseeds, as well as several short stories within anthologies. One little tidbit that I love to share, is that Lily is the first independent author that I read. Needless to say, she set the bar high. She’s been a hell of an encouragement, and one of the main authors that I have been wanting to feature.
As always, my starts to these are rocky, so let’s just jump into the interview.
Me: First things first, you are the writer and illustrator of your own graphic novels. How did you come to deciding on taking that route?
Lily: I was an artist first, have been a graphic designer for many years. It's writing that's still new to me. So when I got the idea to illustrate The Ash Garden, two paths connected, and it just makes the most sense.
Me: I know the The Ash Garden is kind of on a hiatus while you work on Cottonseeds. How important are these two series to you? And how different/alike are they?
Lily: It’s not! I just have only one brain. It'll happen, Mr. Impatient. Geez. They both equally important and completely different. Ash Garden is more like an illustrated novel. Cottonseeds is closer to a comic book. Plus, Ash Garden is short, only 13 chapters.
Me: I can't help it. It's why I buy omnibuses. I hate the wait. Haha. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you had said you tried to have Cottonseeds as a novel. Instead you opted to turn it into what it is now. Is this true? If so, why the change of heart so to speak.
Lily: It is true. I had written several drafts of the story. So at least I had lots of practice. When I started Ash Garden, I couldn't help to see a lot of potential for other stories of mine that are unpublished and haven't been made public (yet). Cottonseeds is the first in line. Once I got started, combining everything I have to offer creatively, again, it just makes the most sense.
Me: Does this mean that you'll focus primarily on these comics? I say this because I know that you have several stories in various anthologies. But can we look forward to any sort of novels or collection of short stories from you?
Lily: Maybe in the future. One thing at a time. But I will say, I plan to offer illustrations with everything I do from now on.
Me: On the topic of your illustrations, I do believe that they are part of what helps your work stand out (apart from your words, of course). Why did you choose the style that you use?
Lily: I don't know. I don't think about it. I focus on the emotions or the emotional feel of the subject, whatever it happens to be, and just bring it out more.
Me: A lot of your inspiration seems to come from Vertigo comic titles. How have they influenced your style, if in any way?
Lily: Vertigo is the first comics I've ever read and they're still my go to comics. What I've always enjoyed about Vertigo is offering something different, pushing the envelope, going against the mainstream.
Me: How do you think Cottonseeds and Ash Garden are being influenced by these titles?
Lily: Ash Garden isn't influenced by Vertigo at all, though I can't help the Neil Gaiman influence, so I guess it's sort of connected. Cottonseeds is more influenced by Preacher and maybe a little from Books of Magic.
Me: Preacher I'm very familiar with, and can see some of its tint on Cottonseeds. Your graphic novels are in league (would that be the right word?) with Shroud Media, and you're also working alongside the company. What is Shroud Media, and what is your role?
Lily: Cottonseeds is also published with Shroud Media. I'm the media consultant part of the team. We will have more titles soon. Shroud Media is a digital publisher of creator-owned comic books/graphic novels. You own it, you get 95% royalties, we distribute.
Me: What was the idea behind the making of Shroud Media?
Lily: Brian approached me, asked if I would be interested in starting a publishing company. I had thought about it, but no way I could do that on my own. So we pooled our resources and created Shroud Media.
Me: It seems like a pretty large undertaking, but one that is pretty worthwhile. As far as your graphic novels, what can we expect from future issues?
Lily: In general? Which title? Lol
Me: You caught me wrong on Ash Garden, so both lol
Lily: Okay, I plan to finish all of the remaining 11 chapters of Ash Garden at once, then release it as one book. It'll probably be around 250 pages, give or take. So you see, it's not on hiatus (:P). I’m just taking the time to finish the whole story. Cottonseeds will be a longer running series with possible sequels. At least 30 issues. I don't expect to finish the whole first series for another 2 - 3 years.
Me: Sorry to be spreading such heinous rumors (:P to you too), and anything as far as written works? I know you've participated in a handful of anthologies (and it really is an honor to be included beside you in some of those). Are there any plans for more anthologies or solo stories?
Lily: Why thank you, same to you! No plans at the moment, but you never know. I'm kinda all over the place. I gotta be me.
Me: Haha perfectly understandable, and thank you! I think that may be all the questions, i have at the moment. I'll set it all up on Word later, see how long it is and if necessary I may shoot you some random questions before Friday's release. hope that sounds good to you?
Lily: It took forever! Kidding. It's been a pleasure.
And there you have it folks. Lily’s interview, one that I’ve been waiting to do for the longest time. Check out her work, they truly are unique.
Follow the links, she’s released an 8 page preview of issue three for Cottonseeds.
A trailer for a collection of issues 1-3 for Cottonseeds
And of course the entirety of her site, and Shroud Media.
Her personal site- http://lilyauthor.com/graphicnovels/c...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ7av...
http://shroudmediallc.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/Lily.Author/...
Twitter- https://twitter.com/neonvagabond
As always, my starts to these are rocky, so let’s just jump into the interview.
Me: First things first, you are the writer and illustrator of your own graphic novels. How did you come to deciding on taking that route?
Lily: I was an artist first, have been a graphic designer for many years. It's writing that's still new to me. So when I got the idea to illustrate The Ash Garden, two paths connected, and it just makes the most sense.
Me: I know the The Ash Garden is kind of on a hiatus while you work on Cottonseeds. How important are these two series to you? And how different/alike are they?
Lily: It’s not! I just have only one brain. It'll happen, Mr. Impatient. Geez. They both equally important and completely different. Ash Garden is more like an illustrated novel. Cottonseeds is closer to a comic book. Plus, Ash Garden is short, only 13 chapters.
Me: I can't help it. It's why I buy omnibuses. I hate the wait. Haha. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you had said you tried to have Cottonseeds as a novel. Instead you opted to turn it into what it is now. Is this true? If so, why the change of heart so to speak.
Lily: It is true. I had written several drafts of the story. So at least I had lots of practice. When I started Ash Garden, I couldn't help to see a lot of potential for other stories of mine that are unpublished and haven't been made public (yet). Cottonseeds is the first in line. Once I got started, combining everything I have to offer creatively, again, it just makes the most sense.
Me: Does this mean that you'll focus primarily on these comics? I say this because I know that you have several stories in various anthologies. But can we look forward to any sort of novels or collection of short stories from you?
Lily: Maybe in the future. One thing at a time. But I will say, I plan to offer illustrations with everything I do from now on.
Me: On the topic of your illustrations, I do believe that they are part of what helps your work stand out (apart from your words, of course). Why did you choose the style that you use?
Lily: I don't know. I don't think about it. I focus on the emotions or the emotional feel of the subject, whatever it happens to be, and just bring it out more.
Me: A lot of your inspiration seems to come from Vertigo comic titles. How have they influenced your style, if in any way?
Lily: Vertigo is the first comics I've ever read and they're still my go to comics. What I've always enjoyed about Vertigo is offering something different, pushing the envelope, going against the mainstream.
Me: How do you think Cottonseeds and Ash Garden are being influenced by these titles?
Lily: Ash Garden isn't influenced by Vertigo at all, though I can't help the Neil Gaiman influence, so I guess it's sort of connected. Cottonseeds is more influenced by Preacher and maybe a little from Books of Magic.
Me: Preacher I'm very familiar with, and can see some of its tint on Cottonseeds. Your graphic novels are in league (would that be the right word?) with Shroud Media, and you're also working alongside the company. What is Shroud Media, and what is your role?
Lily: Cottonseeds is also published with Shroud Media. I'm the media consultant part of the team. We will have more titles soon. Shroud Media is a digital publisher of creator-owned comic books/graphic novels. You own it, you get 95% royalties, we distribute.
Me: What was the idea behind the making of Shroud Media?
Lily: Brian approached me, asked if I would be interested in starting a publishing company. I had thought about it, but no way I could do that on my own. So we pooled our resources and created Shroud Media.
Me: It seems like a pretty large undertaking, but one that is pretty worthwhile. As far as your graphic novels, what can we expect from future issues?
Lily: In general? Which title? Lol
Me: You caught me wrong on Ash Garden, so both lol
Lily: Okay, I plan to finish all of the remaining 11 chapters of Ash Garden at once, then release it as one book. It'll probably be around 250 pages, give or take. So you see, it's not on hiatus (:P). I’m just taking the time to finish the whole story. Cottonseeds will be a longer running series with possible sequels. At least 30 issues. I don't expect to finish the whole first series for another 2 - 3 years.
Me: Sorry to be spreading such heinous rumors (:P to you too), and anything as far as written works? I know you've participated in a handful of anthologies (and it really is an honor to be included beside you in some of those). Are there any plans for more anthologies or solo stories?
Lily: Why thank you, same to you! No plans at the moment, but you never know. I'm kinda all over the place. I gotta be me.
Me: Haha perfectly understandable, and thank you! I think that may be all the questions, i have at the moment. I'll set it all up on Word later, see how long it is and if necessary I may shoot you some random questions before Friday's release. hope that sounds good to you?
Lily: It took forever! Kidding. It's been a pleasure.
And there you have it folks. Lily’s interview, one that I’ve been waiting to do for the longest time. Check out her work, they truly are unique.
Follow the links, she’s released an 8 page preview of issue three for Cottonseeds.
A trailer for a collection of issues 1-3 for Cottonseeds
And of course the entirety of her site, and Shroud Media.
Her personal site- http://lilyauthor.com/graphicnovels/c...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ7av...
http://shroudmediallc.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/Lily.Author/...
Twitter- https://twitter.com/neonvagabond
