tartysuz

How did I not know that Patricia Highsmith (best known for writing The Talented Mr. Ripley) wrote comics? I guess because she kept it more of a secret than her sexuality, which was illegal and socially unacceptable when she was younger.

I'm reading a book called Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. In a passage about the early days of the company (then called Timely), author Sean Howe writes that during and immediately after World War II, comics had become an attractive market for writers. "for Jap-Buster Johnson alone, future novelists Mickey Spillane and Patricia Highsmith were submitting scripts." (The Marvel Wikia entry for Jap-Buster Johnson makes sounds racist and fascinating at the same time.)

Curious, I found that cartoonist Ariel Schrag recently wrote about a massive biography about Highsmith, Alter Ego, by Joan Schenkar. Schrag sees a strong tie between Highsmith's sexuality, her comics and her novels. In After Ellen, Schrag writes:

In the four parts titled “Alter Ego,” Schenkar details how writing for comics influenced Highsmith’s “serious” (prose) writing, not only in Highsmith’s common themes of double lives and secret identities – but also her pulpy, action-heavy style itself. Highsmith’s stories – which often center on an obsessive relationship between two men – were likewise fueled by her homosexuality. Her murderous protagonists, most suffering from some form of repression, expose our darker impulses.

Schrag goes on to speculate whether today's acceptance of homosexuality (at least in the businesses and circles associated with Highsmith) would have changed how and what Highsmith wrote.

Having spent most of my morning reflecting on Escapade, I wonder how much current genre shows owe their slashability to attitudes baked into their pulp origins.

Whoa, it's been a long time since I posted about my writing! Let's start with the most recent interviews, then the Supernatural Talks.

Today, I posted a column of 13 Questions that I asked ANDY GRABIA, curator of an exhibit of my late roommate's comics. Andy is an interesting fellow, but do take a look if you have an interest in how comics can work in a library setting:
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2184

Earlier this month, I posted an email interview with JO WALTON, author of the Small Change books, Tooth and Claw and the new book Among Others. I met Jo at the Pure Spec science fiction convention and Edmonton and she is a pure delight. We went into depth with Among Others in this interview: the book is her fastest-selling and in many ways her most personal book. What SF (or any other genre) book nerd can't relate to being a teenaged book nerd?
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2152

Last week, I posted a transcript of an hour-long phone interview I had with OLIVIA CHENG, known to Supernatural fans as Susan the Leviathan in episode 7.09 "How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters." Dick Roman creeps me out, but if Olivia were a motivational speaker, I'd follow her in a second. She has a couple of great stories about working with Jim Beaver, but I was most impressed how she describes her evolution from reporter to actor to … whatever might come next:
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2164

In December, I posted an email interview with REBECCA GUAY in two parts. The artist/project manager (seriously, how does she do it?!) had two books out this year, one at the beginning of the fall season, one closer to Christmas. Both are absolutely gorgeous and I encourage you to seek them out if you are a fan of fantasy and folklore.

Rebecca Guay on The Last Dragon
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2137
Rebecca Guay on A Flight of Angels
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2138

Finally, here is the latest batch of Supernatural Talks:

7.07 "The Mentalists"
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2136

7.08 "Season Seven, Time for a Wedding!"
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2145

7.09 "How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters"
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2147

7.10 "Death's Door"
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=2151

Hope you find time to check into one or more of the above!

Thanks to kadymae for calling attention to this item:

Crime Writer Makes a Killing With 99 Cent E-Books

As I was discussing with baker_kitty and rpm45, the prospect of very low-priced books really challenges publishers to be clear about what they're selling.

Many readers might think that the majority cost of the book is in the physical aspects, namely the printing, materials and distribution. This leads to the notion that eBooks should be cheaper because they aren't physical. However, this completely overlooks the cost of editorial and copyediting.

Personally, I'm prepared to pay for a well-edited book, but are publishers going to be savvy enough to sell the value of these services?

Aside: The 99-cent price point is brilliant. It's the iconic price of an iTunes song.

Gilbert's family is donating his books and comics to the University of Alberta libraries. The libraries staff are thrilled because Gilbert was interested in areas that they want to strengthen.

We (the head of acquisitions, Gilbert's family, Ray and me) agreed that the collection should have a name of some kind. So I'm looking to you for suggestions. Here's what the collection consists of:

• comics (floppies, TPBs, graphic novels and books about comics)
  
• visual art (with a concentration on contemporary postmodern art and artists, including Canadian artists)
  
• contemporary philosophy and literary criticism, especially (post-)poststructuralist and postmodern
  
• books about pop culture, like television
  
• film, including horror
  
• horror novels
  
• contemporary Canadian poetry
  
• brain science
  
• folklore
  
• classics and new histories of classical Greek and Roman periods
  
• architecture and design
  
• contemporary literature

I think that describes the major categories in his collection. We were thinking of using terms like: postmodern, graphic [something], visual culture, pop literature.

Here's what I've thought of so far:

• The Gilbert Bouchard Collection of Postmodernism, Visual Culture and Pop Literature
  
• The Gilbert Bouchard Collection of Visual and Pop Ideas
  
• Inside Gilbert Bouchard's Brain [I don't think his family will go for this one!]
  
• The Gilbert Bouchard Collection of Comics, Text and Ideas
  
• The Gilbert Bouchard Collection of Words, Pictures and Ideas
  
• The Gilbert Bouchard Collection of Visual Culture, Pop Print and Postmodern Ideas

Any and all suggestions are welcome!