Carolyn Watson-Dubisch: <\/strong>Thank you for talking with me. I have always felt privileged to be able to share my art and writing with children and hopefully spark their imaginations and inspire them to do the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n T:<\/strong> One of the things that is most interesting for me is finding out just how a storyteller became drawn to that passion.\u00a0 The start of the creative journey is always an exciting part, and knowing what created a foundation for our favorite talespinners can be so enlightening.\u00a0 When you were growing up, did you have a favorite author or comic illustrator that you found yourself attached to?\u00a0 Or was it a more personal experience?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>Writing for me started with reading, like I think it does for most people.<\/p>\n As a child I grew up with a mother who was gravely ill. She was diagnosed with cancer when I was 9 and died when I reached age 18. My home life was quite stressful and volatile, so books offered a great escape. I would sit in the branches of the huge blue spruce tree in our front yard in New York and immerse myself in a book. I read fantasies like \u201cThe Chronicles of Narnia\u201d and couldn\u2019t help but imagine a magical world in the cupboard or under the rug.<\/p>\n I also loved horror and read a huge number of Stephen King\u2019s books (and still do). Honestly, I read everything I could get my hands on from Calvin and Hobbs to Watership Down.\u00a0 I, of course, still regularly read books and comics.<\/p>\n Right now, I\u2019m reading a graphic novel called \u201cEcho\u201d by Terry Moore and one called \u201cThe Winter Men\u201d by Brett Lewis. It\u2019s important to read if you want to write. I also read A LOT of children\u2019s books each month and help run a book review group for children\u2019s book authors online.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T:<\/strong> As well-studied as you are\u2014and of course, as talented as you are with your own work\u2014you must see all sorts of stories that are built with kids in mind.\u00a0 Some have whimsical stories, some have spectacular art.\u00a0 There\u2019s no lack of these stories to find.\u00a0 But certainly, there are some that stand out compared to others.\u00a0 What do you think makes the difference between a great children\u2019s book and a good one?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>I think with children\u2019s books great art can carry a mediocre story, and mediocre art can be carried by a great story or concept, but in the end both things have to be great to really stand out. This is such a flooded market that it takes a lot to get noticed. On the other hand, as someone who has raised three kids, I can tell you that a new book in the house is gold. Even if it\u2019s average, my kids loved it. Some of my favorite books are the ones by Don and Audrey Wood, like \u201cThe Napping House\u201d. A brilliant building rhyme with art that helps tell the whole story.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T:<\/strong> That brings me to another thought that I\u2019d love to hear your opinion on, as you have so much more experience with children\u2019s stories than I do.\u00a0 For the sake of children\u2019s books that are aimed at a certain age, would it be your concept that most of these stories are strengthened by a rhyming structure?\u00a0 Does it benefit the storyteller to always aim for something like that?\u00a0 And with that in mind, is it perhaps something that sort of goes with the idea of including pictures in the project?\u00a0 For instance, when your material ages up enough to lose the pictures, is that when you believe the story should ditch a rhyming structure (or vice versa)?<\/p>\n CWD: \u00a0<\/strong>The reason behind telling stories in verse to small children is that it helps the reader. The reader in this case being the older child or adult who is reading the book aloud to a baby or pre-reading toddler. Another approach that works is short simple sentences. As children read on their own, rhyming becomes less helpful and less necessary. It\u2019s useful in short bursts, especially in fantasy, to have a magical character that speaks in rhyme or when a spell or nursery rhyme is added into a larger story.\u00a0 Rhyming is fine as long as it\u2019s for kids four years old and under.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T:<\/strong> You\u2019ve got a whole slew of books that you worked on, and while we started you off by promoting The Dragon in the Closet, and we\u2019ll certainly be getting to that, I\u2019m also interested in where you began.\u00a0 The Dragon in the Closet is the first published work that one can find on your Amazon Author page, but was that the first one you worked on, or had you been honing your skills before that one popped up on virtual shelves, and on its very own website?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>I became interested in children\u2019s books and the children\u2019s market when I was attending school at The School of Visual Arts in New York City in the 1990\u2019s. I took every class that involved creative writing, storytelling and drawing for children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n After school I pursued work as an illustrator and artist. I worked for a variety of clients in books and magazines, and I even designed alien bird men for Star Wars at one point.<\/p>\n I did eventually break into the children\u2019s market, writing and illustrating for magazines like \u201cHighlights for Children\u201d, \u201cHopscotch\u201d and had a matching game feature that I designed and illustrated for each issue of \u201cWhimsy Magazine\u201d. That feature ran in their magazine for a couple of years.<\/p>\n My first children\u2019s book was released from Pentland Press in late 2001 right after 9-11 (as a New Yorker it was so hard to focus on promoting that book at that moment!).<\/p>\n It\u2019s called \u201cAndy and The Flying Toaster Tangerine\u201d. It’s currently out of print and so are a number of my other children\u2019s books from the early 2000\u2019s, but that was the first book in my Andy\u2019s Adventures series of children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n I also have a comic book series (and webcomic series) called \u201cThe Horribles\u201d about a cyclops girl, a young witch, and a character called \u201cCreature\u201d (short for The Creature from Under the Bed). The series was released from 2008-2013 and is still available in a large volume and online as a webcomic. \u201cThe Horribles\u201d is in black and white and full of gothic humor inspired by the Addams family.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Dragon in the Closet\u201d began as a webcomic I started writing and planning in 2018 and finally launched during the pandemic. In fact, most of the books you see now attached to my name on Amazon were launched in the last few years since lockdown.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T: <\/strong>Was there something therapeutic about the way that you created the stories that are gaining popularity on Amazon?\u00a0 Certainly you had experience in the children\u2019s market before, but the long-form style of things like The Dragon in the Closet must give you an interesting outlet, and also a way to better connect with fans.<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>The reason I like writing comics is that it gives me a chance to write longer, more involved stories. A chance to weave together various plot lines is a more exciting way to write than what I can usually do in a picture book. I\u2019m thrilled that there\u2019s such interest in my books on Amazon. It\u2019s very encouraging.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n T: <\/strong>To some point, by their nature, comics can kind of go on forever.\u00a0 Even if the story eventually ends, there are little threads that a storyteller can pull on to find new material that may not have been apparent to them when they were first working on their tale.\u00a0 Have you been tempted to write any side stories?\u00a0 Has anything surprised you in the process of getting this or any of your stories out into the world that bears further exploration?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>I have written side stories on one of my comic book series called \u201cThe People That Melt in The Rain\u201d. It\u2019s a YA series I wrote that was illustrated by Mike Dubisch. Generally, though, no, I don\u2019t write more because comics are SO, SO much work that I really spend the whole time focused on getting the primary story complete and published that I just want to be done by the end.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T:<\/strong> The Dragon in the Closet is a quirky kid\u2019s comic, but in some ways, it isn\u2019t for the faint of heart, with the threat of death and doom around every corner!\u00a0 Did you know early on that you would be playing with such dire stakes early on, or what is something that you just felt drawn to for the dark and twisted fun it is?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>Our world is full of darkness and light. Without the darkness we couldn\u2019t see the light. I try to write stories that skate the edge between the two.<\/p>\n I began several years ago drawing images of children being chased by monsters in my sketchbook. I teach art to Elementary school kids, and they would see my sketchbook and get so excited. I decided to write about the images I was drawing.<\/p>\n At the time I was struggling with my youngest daughter. She was suffering from depression and suicide ideation. Each day I would wake up and run to check her room hoping she hadn\u2019t done anything in the night.<\/p>\n I created the character of Nana (the witch) in the story to be the protector and guardian of her nephew, Orin who is cursed. She shields him from the monsters and does all she can to keep him safe. She is who I wish I was at that time. The woman who can actually see the monsters haunting their child and chase them off.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n T:<\/strong> There\u2019s a relentlessness to Nana, but there\u2019s also moments where vulnerability shines through as well.\u00a0 She may be able to fend off all the monsters, and she certainly has tremendous power and skills, but even she needs to take a moment to breathe.\u00a0 How do you go about balancing the quirkiness of your story with important messaging that you want your fans and readers to be aware of?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>Nana is just like most mothers I know. She doesn\u2019t breathe. She can\u2019t stop or the house of cards comes falling down. It\u2019s exhausting to watch, but more exhausting to be that person.<\/p>\n Nana\u2019s role evolves in this series. In the first half she\u2019s the savior. She saves Orin over and over and keeps him safe but very soon in the story that changes. She becomes the antagonist who tries to hold Orin back from what he needs to do to change his destiny.<\/p>\n My primary goal as a writer is to entertain and tell a good story. The underlying message for this series is that you don\u2019t have to accept the path in life that is laid out for you. Everyone lives in a little box that they either built or someone built for them, but you don\u2019t have to stay in it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n T: <\/strong>With a long-form story like this, that\u2019s evolving alongside new fans that are drawing closer to it and sharing their feelings, do you ever find yourself straying from the original message?\u00a0 Or do you add through-lines that you didn\u2019t originally conceive because of feedback or questions you might receive?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>The message is so embedded into the plot I have planned out that it\u2019s hard to imagine I could stray away from it unless I reworked it completely. I have, in the past, changed the course of a long running webcomic based on feedback and input from fans\u2014even adding a character and several chapters to fill it out.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t happened yet with \u201cThe Dragon in The Closet\u201d, probably because the audience for this one is grade school kids and not teenagers. Little kids don\u2019t know their power yet, so I don\u2019t expect that kind of input from them. However, if feedback from kids became very vocal, I would definitely give it consideration.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T:<\/strong> I\u2019m most familiar with The Dragon in the Closet, which you have written plenty of content for.\u00a0 But you\u2019ve also written and illustrated fifteen other stories that focus on the stories you\u2019ve wanted to tell, in addition to a handful of others that you illustrated in order to help other talespinners.\u00a0 Would you say it\u2019s difficult to juggle such a large number of stories?\u00a0 Do you still work on any of them?\u00a0 It appears that The Dragon in the Closet still has regular updates!<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>I\u2019m involved in a lot of groups for writers and artists online. One of the most recommended practices for getting work done is to rotate projects. In other words, work on everything at once. In a single week I work on three or more projects. It can be stressful sometimes, but it also keeps me from getting stuck and tired of a project.<\/p>\n I work on two webcomics with weekly updates; \u201cThe Dragon in the Closet\u201d (which has been running for over\u00a0\u00a0 3 years) and my sci-fi kids comic \u201cAfter the Robots Died\u201d (only running for a year or so). These are usually scheduled updates and before I launch a webcomic I have 6 months of pages ready. Then I compile pages and release them in issues. This new book of \u201cThe Dragon in The Closet\u201d has three compiled issues and half of issue four making it more of a graphic novel. It is the first half of the whole series, which means I am halfway done!<\/p>\n I also just finished a book this week with writer R.H Bynum called \u201cThe Adventures of Goodie and Kookie\u201d which should be coming out in a few months now that the art and editing have been completed, though I don\u2019t know the publisher\u2019s schedule on that one.<\/p>\n As a professional illustrator I often work with other writers.<\/p>\n My next children\u2019s book is wrapping up as well. I illustrated \u201cJabberwocky\u201d by Lewis Carroll for my series called \u201cScary Stories for Kids\u201d. It should be out by late March or early April (so very soon!)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T:<\/strong> You mentioned that The Dragon in the Closet has what sounds like an end in sight. \u00a0When it comes to something that is so well-regarded, is it difficult to plan for the end?\u00a0 Or is there a new sense of liberation knowing that you can explore in other directions once that time comes?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>When I started \u201cThe Dragon in the Closet\u201d I had a general story arc worked out. That storyline will be complete at the end of Issue #7. There\u2019s a huge sense of satisfaction that comes from completing a project that\u2019s taken many years. I\u2019m only halfway done but I truly look forward to it. Since I work on so many things at once I never wait to start something new. I just jam it into my schedule.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n T: <\/strong>You must have a busy schedule indeed.\u00a0 Are there any moments where you just have to throw your hands up and step away for a time to recharge?\u00a0 What do you do during those times?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>I am fortunate enough to live near the ocean, so I like to walk the beach in the evenings with my husband and our dog. I also like to read a lot and work on my sculptures. I make masks and sell them to clients online, so I always have something I\u2019m sculpting.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T:<\/strong> It\u2019s already a rare experience to have a single book or issues of a comic released, but you\u2019ve got a catalog that would make most accomplished writers jealous.\u00a0 On top of that, you\u2019ve released your stories in languages outside of English.\u00a0 What was it like planning and publishing your book in Spanish and Japanese?<\/p>\n CWD:\u00a0 <\/strong>I have been living in Mazatl\u00e1n, Mexico on the Pacific coast for the last few years. We moved here 6 months before COVID-19 showed its teeth. During lockdown I decided to write a children\u2019s book depicting this beautiful city and I wanted it available in English and Spanish. I contacted my friend Jorge in Mexico City and he agreed to write the translation for me. He\u2019s a professional artist, animator, and writer but translation was new for him. He did a fantastic job!<\/p>\n Having a book in Spanish was a natural decision for me because I speak it enough to get by and can communicate in most situations. The Spanish version was quite the success and sold fairly well. I have it available here in Mazatl\u00e1n in a children\u2019s bookstore in Centro and the children at the local school where I work as an art teacher love it. In fact, I have written another book about Mazatl\u00e1n and have just gotten the script back from Jorge.<\/p>\n When I was working on illustrating my book \u201cDragon Stones\u201d a woman in my writer\u2019s group, who lives in Tokyo, was looking to become a translator for Japanese. I volunteered to let her work on my new book.\u00a0 This was a tough language for me to lay out because I don\u2019t know a single thing about Japanese (which as it turns out has two different ways of being written so it\u2019s super complicated). It\u2019s been quite the success however and the Japanese version sells incredibly well.\u00a0 I am thinking of contacting her again for another project.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n T:<\/strong> And while we\u2019re talking about your accomplishments, we have to talk about your awards!\u00a0 You\u2019ve amassed quite a bunch since you\u2019ve begun creating your tales.\u00a0 Did you think that you would find such accomplishments when you began this journey?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>I think everyone who becomes a writer hopes to receive some accolades someday. It took me a long time. I started in this field in the late 1990\u2019s and most of my awards have only happened this year except for a comic book series I wrote called \u201cThe People That Melt in the Rain\u201d that was the second-place winner of \u201cSmall Press Idol\u201d in 2010. (Small Press Idol was an epically long and involved comic book competition with many stages modeled after the American Idol competition).<\/p>\n I\u2019m thrilled to be getting this kind of attention. One thing I am slowly learning is to take a moment and celebrate your wins. Life is challenging and we should always embrace the times when things go our way!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n T: <\/strong>Would you say that securing literary awards should be something that an aspiring storyteller should aim for?\u00a0 Or is there another metric that you think better identifies a level of success or personal satisfaction?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>In the past I have never much concerned myself with winning awards as a goal. They seemed irrelevant to my work and what I was doing. Then I started winning a couple of awards, and it\u2019s, well, a rush! It\u2019s so, so exciting. It\u2019s easy to get wrapped up in these awards and what they offer your book in terms of notice on the shelf. I know authors who have entered every literary award they can find with each book they have out. These award contests can cost a lot of money in some cases to enter. So, I am careful to enter each book in a single contest that pays and any free entries I can find. If it wins, that\u2019s fabulous, and if not, well that happens too, but I don\u2019t take it personally. I just keep going.<\/p>\n My metric for success is always my readers. My readers are the ones I focus on and try to keep happy.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n T:<\/strong> You have a site for The Dragon in the Closet, and I certainly encourage readers and those who enjoy your comic to visit there.\u00a0 Do you have any other places online that you have a web presence that you recommend to your budding fans?<\/p>\n CWD: <\/strong>I have honestly been too busy to restore my own website but it\u2019s on my list of stuff to do, however I am online on these sites:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Instagram: @artbycwdubisch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Facebook: The Art of Carolyn Watson Dubisch <\/strong>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/170675381469<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Twitter: @CarolynWDubisch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Tiktok: @dubischsketchbook\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAfter The Robots Died\u201d is running as a weekly webcomic on two sites:<\/strong><\/p>\n Tapas: <\/strong>https:\/\/tapas.io\/series\/After-The-Robots-Died-\/info<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Tumblr: <\/strong>https:\/\/aftertherobotsdied.tumblr.com\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe Dragon in the Closet\u201d runs on the Comic Fury site here: \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n On AnimaZing Story on youtube they performed the first three issues of the comic and it\u2019s hilarious. Fans can see them here: Issue two \u201cThe Amulet\u201d: <\/strong>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zeQL7_Os6ro&t=11s<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Issue three \u201cDragon\u2019s Journey\u201d:<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FWFNbZiT47g&t=210s<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n T:<\/strong> Thank you, Carolyn, for spending time with us and talking about your books and your process.\u00a0 It was great to talk to someone who not only writes her stories, but also illustrates them, and it was fun to get into that head space with you!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n T: <\/strong>I would like to thank Carolyn once more for sharing some of her busy schedule with us and illuminating us to the many stories she\u2019s worked on. \u00a0There are plenty of people who will fall in love with her works, and the one we recently focused on is a great place to start.\u00a0 Check out\u00a0The Dragon in the Closet, Book One<\/em>\u00a0on Amazon<\/a>\u00a0today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greetings, travelers, and welcome to another stop in the Otherworld.\u00a0 Recently, we here at Tellest had the opportunity to look into the world of author Carolyn Watson-Dubisch, the author and illustrator of the wonderful story The Dragon in the Closet, amongst many others.\u00a0 We were afforded a chance to speak with Watson-Dubisch to learn more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[463,350,462],"tags":[3381,3390,303,379,3380],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Featured-Interview-with-CWD-1.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-8px","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32335"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32345,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32335\/revisions\/32345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/from-sketchbook-to-finish-1024x1024.png\")
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\n<\/strong>https:\/\/thedragoninthecloset.thecomicseries.com\/comics\/first<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\nIssue one \u201cThe Curse\u201d: <\/strong>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1UwpQ_yqiVI&t=336s<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n