a beer with alexander: Interview with Laurie sandell

For my first Interview I interview Laurie sandell, a great writer and friend and I asked her about her latest graphic novel THE IMPOSTOR'S DAUGHTER (which I loved!)

http://www.lauriesandell.com

 

 

Alexander: You are amazing and I love your book, I read it twice--- couldnt put it down. How did we become internet buddies? Meeting you in the flesh was great sorry I was drunk.
 

LS: You are hilarious. You really were drunk that night. We became Internet buddies soon after I saw an item about 10 Dollar Art on Page Six of the New York Post. I thought it was a great idea, so I sent you $20 in exchange for two art pieces. Soon after, they arrived in the mail. One was a purple-ish painting on paper of birds; the other was a glossy print of a woman, in a beautiful shade of blue. I then decided to send you the piece I'd written for Esquire about my dad, titled, "My Father, the Fraud." You friended me on Facebook and the rest is history.

Alexander:  what was it like to open your first copy of the book after it printed? was it surreal?

 

 

 
LS: It was somewhat surreal, yes, but I had to remind myself to really soak up the moment, because holding that first copy in your hands is so anti-climactic. I'd gone through so many revisions by then, I was just sick of the thing!

Alexander: do you speak to dad still?

 

 
LS: My father and I haven't spoken since 2002, when I first confronted him about lying on his resume. Soon after that, my Esquire piece came out, and though I'd written it anonymously, he stopped speaking to me. Then the book came out; that really put the final nail in the coffin. It's just as well. My father is not a well man and while I do have compassion for him, I don't need to have him in my life. Periodically, we'll run into each other at family events; it's awkward. 

Alexander: do you think it was cathartic for you to write this or did it stir up a lot of memories that were better left under the proverbial couch?

 

 
LS: It was more cathartic to research this story than it was to write it, which is it took me so long to publish the book. The process unfolded over ten years. I needed to process all that stuff before I sat down to write, so that I could have the necessary distance and perspective to tell the story.

Alexander:  whats next for ya, any great plans?

 

 

 
LS: I'm writing a novel, now, which is just in the beginning stages. I'm still cartooning; just did my first one for The Wall Street Journal and I'm hoping to do more for New York and Glamour. Aside from that, I'm enjoying being bicoastal--I divide my time between New York and LA--and *not* enjoying the uncertainty of being a freelance writer. I always marvel at the fact that you can be writing for the biggest magazines out there and still struggle financially. I take comfort in the fact that Jonathan Ames, whom I've known for years, didn't get his big break until his forties.

Alexander: when are you signing my book?
 

 

Whenever you want! Why didn't I sign it the night we met? 
 

 

 

Alexander: tell me your favorite artists and favorite music and books... 

 

 LS: Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes, Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life, Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Ann Patchett's Truth and Beauty, all Ian McEwan and Jonathan Ames and Richard Ford and Philip Roth. 

Music: Death Cab for Cutie, Arcade Fire, Flaming Lips, Wilco, Leonard Cohen, Neil Finn, Spoon, Shout Out Louds, Sufjan Stevens, plus all the music I loved in the eighties.

Alexander:  did you color the cartoons yourself? was it photoshop? also what do you work on ? any special board/ paper etc

LS: I hired an amazing illustrator, Paige Pooler, to do the color; it was all done on her computer and looks like watercolor. When the book was nominated for an Eisner Award (in the "Best Reality-Based Work" category), the judging committee told me it was almost nominated for color, too. I draw with a simple Pilot V-5 pen, on Vellum paper. I really wish I knew how to draw with brushes; then I'd be able to change up the thickness of the lines. But I'm self-taught, so I'll have to take some art classes. 

alex:  what is the weirdest dream/ nightmare you ever had?

 

 
LS: When I broke up with "Ben," my boyfriend in The Impostor's Daughter, I had tons of dreams where we were at a party in a huge, modern house, and he was flirting with all these girls and indifferent to me. I would walk up to him and say, "I thought you loved me!" and he would smirk and turn his back. As you can see, my dreams are very literal.

Alexander: bonus question: describe humor as best you can. what makes you laugh?

 

 

LS:  like clever, quietly sarcastic humor: The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Christopher Guest's movies. I am a huge fan of Merrill Markoe, who co-created the Letterman show and wrote a few of my favorite books. My dog, Violet, makes me laugh every single day: She's a skinny Chihuahua mix with these huge, worried eyes. 

 

 

 

 

THANKS LAURIE!