In an interview with Comic Book Resources, actress Evangeline Lilly who will be seen in the upcoming "Ant-Man" as Hope Van Dyne, discusses her children's book cum graphic novel, "The Squickerwonkers," a story she's been clamoring to tell since she was 14-years-old.
The book is illustrated by Johnny Fraser-Allen, and will be coming from Titan Books on November 18. The main thrust of the narrative focuses on a spoiled little girl named Selma. After meeting a group of living marionettes, the titular Squickerwonkers, Selma finds herself tangled up with them, changing her life forever.
The enchanting Lilly had many interesting things to say during the interview, including her long term plans for "The Squickerwonkers": "It will be a series of 18 books. I've had other journalists who when I told them that say to me, 'Oh, my God, if you do this whole series, by the time you finish, you're going to be in your fifties and your son will be graduating from college.' Hopefully, I can do more than one book a year and that won't be the case. Ideally."
On writing and her rhyming process: "It's amazing what the Internet has done for writing. There are all kinds of websites that you can go to - 'words that rhyme with...' sites, essentially. I have taken to using those here and there, but I try to only use those in the editing process. With the original poem, I try to let it flow out naturally without being too contrived, because sometimes if you push too hard for a rhyme, you lose a sense of the story, or you lose a sense of the meaning that you're trying to get across in the stanza. Usually when I'm doing my rewrites, and sometimes if I'm trying to make the meter perfect, I'll go and find rhyming words online."
On the overall complex and "dark" tone of "The Squickerwonkers": "The number one complaint was, it was too sophisticated for children, and it was too dark for children. I had actually one of the major publishers, one of the bigwigs, say to me, flat out, 'This book will not succeed.' I took that as a challenge. I was like, 'I can't wait for my book to be such a success, and I can come back and rub it in your face,' because it was so defeating, it was so absolute. It wasn't, 'In my opinion,' or, 'It's not the style [we want].' It was, 'Nobody will read this book.' I definitely feel that if you come across a lot of resistance, it can mean you're really on to something. I just took that as encouragement and carried on trying to find the right fit with a publisher... somebody who wouldn't be afraid to approach a book that didn't fit the mold of what most children's storybooks are doing right now."
In regard to her artist/collaborator, Jonny Fraser-Allen: "Johnny was working at the Weta Workshop in New Zealand, and Weta Workshop worked very closely, hand in hand, with Peter Jackson and his films. He's actually one of the founders of the company. I went to Richard Taylor, who ran the workshop, and I said, "I've got these children's stories. Are any of your illustrators interested in working with me?" Johnny Fraser-Allen jumped at the opportunity, and then the rest is history."
On her future plans: "I actually have plans for 2015 so long as Marvel doesn't get in the way because, of course, there will be additional shooting for 'Ant-Man,' and I have no idea of when that will be. But my plan for 2015, as of right now, is to work very intensely on my next writing project, building out my next world. 'The Squickerwonkers' has been three years coming, and it's because I'm creating a whole world and I'm creating a whole series that it's taken so much time. I took two years off work to commit to that...well, I should say off acting to commit to that. I'll be doing the same thing in 2015 for my next big, world-creating project, and that one will hopefully manifest as a graphic novel series or a new adult novel series."
"The Squickerwonkers" will be on sale online and in bookshops everywhere on November 18.
