Happy October! Here are some questions from September. I’ll be out of town for a bit towards the end of the month, so the next Q&A will be going up early December. Thanks to everyone who sent these in! (And please keep a look out early November for the opening of my online store!)
Misfit Mansion
Q: If Larkspur ever warmed up a little, do you think that he would have a smile and go out more often?
A: I think he can eventually get there! But he will probably always be a bit grouchy. That is just him.
Q: Does Mr. Halloway think of all of the mansion horrors like his kids, or just Larkspur? Or maybe extra for Iris, since he likes dreaming again now?
A: I think in some way, he thinks of all of the horrors like children! But yes especially Larkspur and Iris.
Q: Does Kyuri like any anime? They said they were from Japan so maybe they’d watched some.
A: Maybe! I think Kyuri spent more time in the water/eating cucumbers instead of going into people’s houses.
Q: Did Mathias ever have like a goth or emo phase? I know he’s only like 13 but he seems like he probably would at some point.
A: I’ve never thought about it, but sure why not haha.
Q: Since yesterday was Wyatt's birthday, what kind of cake or dessert would he want? How long has it been since he had cake????
Q: What inspired you to create Anita? And what’d she say to Mary on page 359? Also if she lied to Mary in ASL (or someone else lied in another language) would the magnifying glass detect it and translate it? Or can it detect it but not translate it?
A: I can’t really remember what her design was inspired by, but I wanted her to be both mysterious and someone you feel you can trust. On 359, she is telling Lunette and Susi to “tell” Marietta what happened the night they found Velia’s monster! And that’s a good question… maybe it could detect it at the very least!
Q: What inspired you to create Leo and Capella? They are so fun!!
A: I needed a few shady characters for the classic whodunnit mystery. Since the beginning (even before OW became OW), I always wanted to have a carnival within this story. The Chimera Carnival is more like a mafia though, which is why Leo and Capella have pinstripe outfits. Also, Leo and Capella are highly inspired by some villians from an old PS2 game I loved as a kid. I won’t say which one, but if you know, you definitely know haha.
Q: Will we learn more about the inn guests? Like how Leo and Capella met? Why Arthur is an animal skinner? How did Anita meet Susie? Was Anita born mute or did something happen? And when was Ion created?
A: Not everything will be answered in the books, but we’ll probably learn a little more about some of these! I will say Leo and Capella have been together for a very long time, and Anita is deaf and can read lips. Arthur just sucks and likes money.
Q: Did Lawrence have a crush on Wyatt in the webcomic?
A: Yes. The inn chapter hasn’t changed much from the webcomic, aside from some minor dialogue changes!
Q: How many people has Harris gotten to leave the inn by calling them substandard?
A: If Yelp existed in Oddity Woods, the inn reviews would be very bad thanks to Harris.
Q: Why’re The Conductor's eyes red?
or maybe they flicker like this…
A: His eyes are inspired by a rail crossing signal! I used to think that maybe they flashed like one.
Q: We know the Conductor can travel between worlds because Wyatt rode the train back, and there are stories about the Conductor in the living world. So why did the Storyteller say that the Conductor seeks the Grave Keys? Also, why does the Storyteller want to leave Oddity Woods?
A: The train actually doesn’t go to the living world! Wyatt has been stuck there for a few years… but not because he rode the train there. He did hop on board at some point, as we see in the beginning of book 1, but it didn’t quite take him anywhere... We’ll see what happened in the second book!
Q: When Marietta was on the Passaway Express the Car Attendant said "if that witch would do her job the boss would finally calm down a smidge". By boss did he mean the Conductor or someone else?
A: Yup the Conductor is his boss. I like to think the Car Attendant has tried to befriend him, to no avail.
Other
Q: So I was wondering, what are some of your favorite scenes to draw and/or write?
A: Good question... I like writing both cute scenes and angsty scenes lol. I say this often, but my goal in writing middle grade is to write things I wanted to read and needed to read at that age. I had a fairly rough childhood, so I like having characters that are able to work through tough times with the help of others. This is why a lot of my characters are sort of outsiders/ostracized by others.
I also love writing/drawing action scenes! I need to practice them more, but in particular I really liked the clocktower scene at the end of MM, the Velia fight in OW 1, and the Stello fight in SK. I like monster fights...
And cute scenes! I want to write stuff that I can read back and think "cute..." over and over. I like the balance of cute and scary.
Q: Do you think any of your books could be able to have an animated pilot or do you prefer them just as graphic novels?
A: If I was ever given the opportunity to make a pilot, I definitely would! I think they would look great animated.