Meet Che Gilson! A Spotty Blog Interview

Introduction:


Che Gilson is an author and a graphic artist who recently released a novel called Carmine Rojas: Dogfight with Black Opal Books. When you take a look at her bio, you'll see a ton of credits for work in comics as well as fiction. I interviewed her over the summer about Carmine Rojas, an action-packed story about an werewolf in an illegal pit-fighting ring, a werewolf who is as tough as,,, well... a werewolf, with a big heart. The story of Carmine, in this first book, is told in "rounds" which I think is a particularly clever way of indicating a change in the narrative.


I was privileged enough to interview her on the air at WRKC over the summer, but had yet to figure out how to create a video of that discussion. I am doubly blessed to get to interview her for a second time on Ye Olde Spotty Blog.


Without further preamble...


The Interview


Q) What inspired Carmine Rojas: Dogfight?


A) I was writing another book called Tea Times Three, and it's a sweet book about a town, and tea, and witches, and food, and there is only mild swearing and nothing explodes. After working on Tea Times Three for something like three years I needed a break. I needed to write a book with action, violence, swearing and explosions! That's how Carmine came to be. I don't remember exactly HOW I created her or her world. She might have been one of those characters that just spring instantly to life. I don't remember writing Carmine to be very hard. I spent a lot of time editing it though with great suggestions from Suzanne McLeod.




Q) If you could be a shapeshifter, what kind of shapeshifter would you be?


A) I'd like to turn into something that could fly. So maybe an owl or an eagle.




Q) You are also a graphic artist. Do you think that your sense of the visual influences your writing? If so, how?


A) Maybe. I tend to visualize my books as movies and then try to describe what's happening. I like to describe things like clothing and weather. I don't know if it's a help or a hindrance though.




Q) Cows or crows?


A) CROWS! I love crows! I watched a documentary about them and they actually call on other crows for help, then other crows come and help the one in trouble, they're amazing! I'm also a fan of all things avian :)




Q) When did you first know that you wanted to be a fiction writer?


A) I came to writing from a slightly different direction than other authors. I always made up stories, as a kid, but I would draw them out, not as a comic, but as a series of illustrations. Then I discovered graphic novels (ElfQuest) in third grade and that became my calling. I wanted to write and draw comic books.


The comics didn't work out as I planned and I decided that I would have a better chance of getting my stories to the world if I wrote them as prose. So, while I was always writing SOMETHING, stories, comic book scripts, and bad attempts at novels, I wasn't 100% dedicated to writing prose until I had to drop out of art school because of damage to my arm. I wrote three (terrible) children's books, then got sucked back into comics off and on for years before I FINALLY quit trying and just started prose.




Q) Harmonica or Harmonium?


A) Hang on while I Google harmonium.... Harmonium! For sure!




Q) I get the sense from Carmine Rojas: Dogfight, that we'll be seeing more of her in the future. What's next for her?


A) Next up is her mid-life crisis! LOL! I'm about halfway done with her next adventure. I'm worried it's a bit too much of a departure, there's only one fight scene so far (but lots of swearing!). It ends with a massive fight scene, so maybe that will make up for it. I'll have to do better in the third one...




Q) Courier or Times New Roman?


A) Both actually. I like to uses Times for the manuscript, then to edit I change the font to courier, then switch it back when I've got the major edits done. Switching fonts helps me see the book differently and catch mistakes I wouldn't normally see.




Q) Is there a particular form of writing that you haven't tried yet that you'd like to?


A) Epistolic- does that count? I'm actually trying out a novel written in e-mails right now. I don't know how it's going...




Q) When your creative batteries are drained, what do you do to recharge?


A) I watch TV and work on art usually. I haven't had a lot of time art lately. Art is actually what I THOUGHT I'd be doing with my life. It's still really important to me and I love to draw! I also just take time off writing. I'll stop for a week or two at times. Though I feel terribly guilty that I'm not the sort of author who can turn out 5000 words a day.

WRKC The Not-So-Hectic-Eclectic Playlist 7/16/14

So today's show was a friggin party! Minus the alcohol, and food. Although there was coffee. (In Reggie-land, there is always coffee.) I was able to do some killer on air interviews today with author Che Gilson, whose werewolf pit-fighter novel, Carmine Rojas: Dog Fight, will be available for pre-orders August 9 from all the usual internet venders. Later, Paul Shapera of the Steampunk Opera fame came for an interview. We thought that Canadian band Moxy Fruvous should do a reunion if only to perform a version of the Yam Salve Song, the only caveat being, of course, that my head might explode with an overload of awesome. Played a lot of Matthew Sweet today. A LOT. Because he has a kickstarter going to fund a new album.


Dr. Ham also stopped by to deliver Fred the Dishwashing Monkey's review of the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I was relieved to discover that there was no poo-flinging in the film.


Okay, gang, here it is:


The Playlist


Hour the First


*Che Gilson Interview
Morphine - Yes
Matthew Sweet - Oh Oldendaze!
Geoffrey Lloyd - Right Now
Chuck Ragan - You and I Alone
Soup Dragons - Divine Thing
Ted Mcloskey - Cameras and Microphones
Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Sugar Daddy
Paul Shapera - New Albion 9
The New Morty Show - Unskinny Bop
Bob Mould - I Don't Know You Anymore
Cake - Frank Sinatra
*Paul Shapera Interview
Moxy Fruvous - The Incredible Medicine Show
Drive by Truckers - Made Up English Oceans
Matthew Sweet - Dinosaur Act
Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
Christina Musumeci - I Bit the Apple
Sean Rowe - Madman


Hour the Second


The Darcys - Close to Me
The The - This is the Night
Tuneyards - Water Fountain
Old 97's - Timebomb
Jim Jones Revue - Seven Times Around the Sun
Pavement - Cut Your Hair
*Dr. Ham Delivers Fred The Dishwashing Monkey's Review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and a Castle Ham moat status update
The Orwelles - The Righteous One
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Wail
Paul Shapera - Pokerface/Gambler mashup
Matthew Sweet - What Matters
Peggy Sue - The Shape We Made