Ian Boothby
Ian Boothby and Pia Guerra are the author and illustrator of the new young adult graphic novel Frostbite. The husband-and-wife team has contributed to a variety of publications, including The New Yorker and MAD Magazine. They live in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Q: What inspired you to create Frostbite, and how did you create your characters Jen and Dante?
A: We wrote the first version of Frostbite on our honeymoon in Hawaii. How we got from sand to snow neither of us remember. But we both grew up in Canada where snow could be a real threat. The idea of falling into it like quicksand after a snowstorm and being trapped. That said we now live where there's very little snow and we miss it.
With Jen and Dante we wanted to create two characters trying to prove themselves to each other and step siblings felt like a good way. They've both been trying to show their father they're the best. But when it comes down to it, they also want to protect each other.
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| Pia Guerra |
Q: How did the two of you collaborate on the book?
A: Pia was working on Y The Last Man for DC and Ian for The Simpsons and Futurama Comics for most of their careers. But a few years ago Pia was given the opportunity to submit joke cartoons for The New Yorker and asked Ian to collaborate.
From then they went on to do a regular feature called Meanwhile... for MAD Magazine and the comic strip Mannequin on the Moon. Where there came a time to submit a pitch to Scholastic we remembered a scary story we came up with on our honeymoon and wrote the plot together, then Ian wrote the script and Pia drew it up.
Q: What came first, the text or the art? Or both simultaneously?
A: The story was originally a short film idea and after that we worked on the story together to make it a graphic novel. Then Ian wrote the script and Pia did the art.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: We hope it's chilling and thrilling. But doesn't make you not want to walk in the snow. Snow is still good. Mostly.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: We're doing other book pitches. Ian is producing a live version of his and Nina Matsumoto's Sparks! book series. Pia is doing editorial cartoons, which she was a Pulitzer finalist for.
And Pia and Ian continue to do work for The New Yorker and MAD Magazine as well as their three times a week Mannequin on the Moon comic strip Patreon.com/mannequinonthemoon
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Snow is your friend. Except when it isn't.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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