Today we hear all about Marielle Bouleau, author of upcoming Blue Fox Comics series ‘Busy Little Bees’.

Tell us a bit about MARIELLE BOULEAU

I’m an English writer, based in Scotland. I grew up on French comics and was a pretty weird kid, and I loved classic literature and Shakespeare alongside fantasy and sci-fi, from an early age. I was always off making up stories and my father had hundreds of books. Between my Dad’s love of theatre and writing and my mother’s love of languages, I’m not sure I was ever really destined for anything else – though I have got distracted along the way. While I’ve always called myself creative (because other people said that this is what I was, and it seemed to make them happy), but I’m not sure I really know what that means (or that they did either). All I know is, I like stories, reading and writing them, and I’ve been making things up and writing them down, no matter where I’ve been living or what I’ve been doing, all my life. It’s the one constant and the thing I keep coming back to, which I think says a lot. I’m naturally shy, but love being around people. I can talk a lot and spend hours listening. I’m a sociable person who’s really a hermit. I do lots of other things, but if I spend a day writing, and find a few words for what I actually meant to say among all my scribblings, I’m a very happy person.

How long have you been writing?

All my life – which is what I hear said by a lot of people who write. I think it’s hard to put a time stamp on it. I know that when I was young, I wanted to have written my first novel by the time I was 17 – because I had seen another female author had done this, so this became the bar, and I was inspired, because she was a female writer in a sea of male authors. Clearly I must have been quite young when I said this, because I remember being a few years off, and how very adult 17 years seemed – and I also had no idea what publishing was. I didn’t get my novel written (and published) by 17 (though I am happy to say I do remember a very beautiful notebook that was full of a story I was working on, from that time) but I have continued writing and while I think that younger self would be shocked by the age I have reached now, I think she would be happy I had made it this far, and that I’ve been writing the whole time. I would also tell her that her handle of the average human lifespan is a bit unforgiving, and that she has time.

What inspired you to begin writing?

I think it was lots of things. My parents read to us as children, and they read us great stories, which opened up conversations and questions and this probably helped me love stories all the more. My grandmother wrote stories for her daughters and son, one of whom was my mother, and then she read them to her us, her grandchildren. That made writing more attainable, and something I could try. I loved reading and while I didn’t always understand the people around me, I understood the stories I was reading and the people in them. And I was quite a private person, so it was something I do myself, for me, or for more people, if I chose. So I could play around with it. And then my English teacher told me I wasn’t very good, so I sat down to a story and proved her wrong – and that felt great.

What do you love about the medium of comics?

I love that they are accessible. I learnt languages through comics. I love that you have a whole book of art and a story, all wrapped up as one, that you can take away with you and revisit, finding new things you didn’t see before. To have a character looking out at a reader, and to tell that reader what your character is thinking – or wants you to believe they are thinking – that’s amazing. And the artists we get to work with at Blue Fox are phenomenal. It’s great fun putting art and writing together.

What are some comics that have inspired you?

Titles that inspire me are the ones that linger, long after I have read them. Right now, Blacksad, Glitterbomb and Letter 44 come to mind.

What inspired you to write busy little bees?

I don’t really know where Myna’s story came from. I just knew I wanted to write about this character. I come from a musical family myself, and I always find the conversation around music really interesting. I see a lot of stories around the way that music connects us. I think one of the things I was interested in are the gaps between those connections – what happens when the song stops playing?

Did you find it difficult to write?

Yes and No. The story came easily and all the characters came into existence quite naturally. But writing a comic is very different to writing prose and working with that new dynamic was a challenge. I started with prose and transposed this into the comic style we have now, and that was difficult and great fun.

How long did it take you to write?

As it was a bit of a longer road, with the story having a few incarnations around the medium and style, it’s harder to say. Roughly, the story would have taken around 6 months, but I think the overall comic and process took a couple of years.

How did you go about looking for an artist?

I had seen Emiliano’s work for the Hexes series and loved it. When I brought the story to Simon, he asked me if I had anyone in mind and I said, Emiliano. I was lucky, Emiliano liked the story and said yes.

What made you choose a graphic novel to tell this story?

A few years back I was working on some short stories, with the idea of collecting them all in a book. The story behind Busy Little Bees was one of these stories, but as I worked on it, it became something in it’s own right and a story I wanted to do more with. Blue Fox Comics had started up and we were going to a lot of comic cons at the time, and I thought, maybe this could be an interesting story for a comic rather than prose. And then I let that sit for a while. And then I did a little, and then a lot of work. And then I spoke with Emiliano – I knew exactly who I wanted for the project and this was one of the ways I knew it was right medium for the story. Thankfully, he said yes. Fast forward a few years and Busy Little Bees is launching a Kickstarter in April. It’s exciting.

What are you currently working on and what’s coming up in the future?

There are a few things on the horizon – which is a lovely thing to be able to say. I have a few projects I am working on now, and, of course, there is issue two for Busy Little Bees.

Which writer would you like to see interviewed?

Kit Steinkellner

What questions (apart from these ones!) would you like to ask them?

I really like hearing writers talk about their craft, because I’m a nerd. I’d ask about turning Quince from a stage play into a comic.

Tell us something about yourself that people wouldn’t normally know!

That I write comics – I’m not sure how many people actually know this!

Marielle Bouleau Links

Instagram: marielle.writes
Twitter: mariellewrites

Marielle Bouleau Blue Fox Comics Work

Busy Little Bees – To be published

Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m Miguel Peres, an emergent Portuguese comic book writer. As a chunky Portuguese kid born in the late 80’s, I used to read a lot of comic books, fantasizing with the day I could write them. 2011 was the year when the dream came true, starting out in the world of comics as writer and co-editor of the Portuguese anthology Zone BD, focused on discovering young Portuguese and Brazilian artists. Since then, I have written a dozen short stories in national and international comics anthologies, as well as 4 graphic novels published in Portugal and Brazil. In the worst year of our recent lives, I wrote my first literary short novel, realizing that not every story is suited for this medium. I live happily in a semi-isolation state with my wife and newly born daughter in a small village by the sea.

How long have you been writing?

My passion for writing is old (can I say this at 34? I think I’ve earned that right), however, until I moved from that to something real, it took time – I started writing comics in 2012. I have to say that this is not my full-time job, although I would love for it to be.

What inspired you to begin writing?

Books have been a part of my life since I was little, as at my parents’ house they were the most common thing to see. A great source of inspiration was my father, who played two essential roles: he encouraged me to enter and read the world of characters like Tintin, Lucky Luke or Asterix; and as he also writes, he ended up influencing me to follow the same path. I think it also contributed that from an early age I was convinced that I was creative (I am yet to find out if I am) and that led me to believe that I really had something to say and do with my imagination.

What do you love about the medium of comics?

Recently, I stumbled upon this quote from one of my all-time favorite writers, Grant Morrison: “We’re all superheroes in our own stories and in comics we get to see our heroes wrestle with Guilt, Fear, Commitment, Love, Loss, in very direct, imaginative and entertaining ways.” I guess for me, this is what writing comics means: creating new worlds and characters that entertain the reader, but at the same time reflect our view of the different realities we live in. This medium has the particular aspect, which I love, of creating stories that are truly cinematic, but whose budget is the artists’ imagination. However, the creative process of writing comics is paradoxical for me: I love to see how the artist captures what I’ve written and reinvents the images with their imagination. It’s something magical and depends a lot on the creative chemistry of the team that’s working. But at the same time, my impatient side often clashes with the delay this process naturally has to take.

What are some comics that have inspired you?

Jeff Lemire was definitely a big inspiration for this story, particularly his graphic novel “Frogcatchers”, as well as “Royal City”. Another influence was “Toutinegra” by André Oliveira, one of the best Portuguese comic book writers who, unfortunately, has not yet had the international recognition he deserves.

What inspired you to write Fishing Memories?

Memory is a subject close to my heart. On one hand, I have a terrible memory and I forget things I wish I didn’t. On the other hand, one of my greatest fears is that me or my work will be forgotten when I die. Although I know that this eventually happens to most people, it is something very present in my mind. I think that unconsciously this subject came up because I met the woman of my life and now my first daughter is born. In other words, the importance of family bonds and not forgetting the good moments, was definitely an inspiration.

Did you find it difficult to write?

Not really, the story flowed naturally. I think that of all the stories I wrote so far, it was the one that came out best, but it was also one that I took special care in all of its details.

How long did it take you to write?

The story took about a year to write – it wasn’t a very long process this time.

How did you go about looking for an artist?

Since 2016 I have been working with Brazilian artists on a daily basis. By entering this market, my network got wider, discovering new talents by word of mouth and instagram – and that’s how I met the great Majory Yokomizo.

What made you choose a graphic novel to tell this story?

Although I am an avid reader of american comics, this medium is not very common in Europe and Portugal is no exception. In other words, when I write I hardly think about it as a limited series or ongoing format in the first place. The graphic novel ends up being a more solid genre, which often allows us to have more careful editions.

Miguel Peres Links

Instagram: _peres_
Twitter: _mperes_

Miguel Peres Blue Fox Comics Work

Fishing Memories – To be published