Postcard For Reader

Friday - Barry Lyga

Well, it's not a Final Friday... just Friday.

This month, for the holidays, every Friday I'll be hosting an interview with an author. And this week's author?

Yes. It IS Barry Lyga.

For those of you who don't know who Barry Lyga is (are you living in a cave?), you can check out his website here. He's the author of The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl, Boy Toy, Hero Type, and several other novels. You can find him on Twitter here.

N: Welcome, Barry! Which of your characters has been the most interesting to work with, and what would happen if they were real?
B: Definitely Kyra (Goth Girl). She’s the character I’ve done the most with — she was a major character in my first book and she’s the main character in my new book, GOTH GIRL RISING. I really had to get myself into a different sort of head-space whenever I was dealing with her.

As to what would happen if she was real… Wow. I guess the world’s sarcasm and snark supplies would jump drastically. And she would probably be pretty pissed at me for showing the world the inside of her soul.

N: Perhaps she would right a book about what's in your soul to get revenge... Favorite comic book. Go.
B: You know, I get this one a lot when I’m on panels and such, and I always have to give this long explanation. But since this interview is being done online, I can just drop in a Wikipedia link! Yay! Prepare to have your eyeballs bleed and your brain explode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_super-heroes.

And no, I wasn’t around in 1958 when it started! I started reading it around this time: [link]

N: Hey, comic references I actually understood! Now, what was it like at Yale?
B: I’m not sure how to answer that. It was college, you know? I don’t have any other college experiences to compare it to. I know that I was surrounded by some incredibly brilliant people, which was exhilarating and also humbling. I started a bunch of novels at Yale, but never finished them. I almost hate to say it, but it was fun. Sure, the work was difficult, but it was fun, too. I majored in English, so I got to do all sorts of geeky English major stuff, but I also took cool classes on fractal geometry and stuff like that.

N:... you implied something with math was cool. ... -shudder- I hate math.
N: Every time somebody in this universe Tweets, a baby chicken is born in an alternate universe. What would you do with all the extra chickens?

B: Free hot wings for EVERYONE!

N: Yum. What are some of your favorite books to read?
B: I like discovering new books and new writers, but I’m always up for giving the latest Stephen King novel a chance. His Dark Tower series is one of my favorite extended pieces of fiction ever. I like re-reading the book Jumper every now and again. They made a movie based on it a little while back, but the book is so much better that it’s ridiculous. Oh, and everyone should read Godless by Pete Hautmann, which is quite simply one of my favorite books ever.

N: I'll b e sure to add those to my list. You're working on a graphic novel. How different is that than writing a regular novel?
B: Well, the way I typically describe it is this way: With a novel, you’re writing a story. With a graphic novel, you’re writing TWO stories. The first story is one that you’re telling to the artist so that the artist can help you tell the SECOND story, which is the one the audience will read. With a novel, you only have your words. You have letters and words and paragraphs and that’s it. But with a graphic novel, the pictures carry most of the story. I’m a really wordy, long-winded writer, so with the graphic novel, I’m learning how to shut up and get out of the way and let the images communicate to the reader. It’s not easy, but I like the challenge.

N: I can't wait to see what you come up with! What is your favorite piece of writing advice?
B: Probably that every writer has a million bad words in him, and until you’ve written those million bad words, you won’t write anything that anyone will want to read. That’s basically permission to suck when you’re starting out. It translates to: Be patient. Keep writing. Don’t freak out. You’ll get there — it just takes a LONG time.

If anyone is interested, I have a series of blog entries on Writing Advice with all kinds of goodies: [link]

Now, most importantly... what present do you want for the holidays?
Ooh, what are you getting me??? :)

I sort of want a USB piano keyboard to connect to my Mac. That would be cool.

That sounds interesting! Thanks for stopping by, Barry!
You can order his books online or pick them up at your local bookstore.