ARC Asks: Camille Longley

From fiction to comics

Editor’s Note: It’s Wednesday so that means it’s time for the sixth issue of Amazing Journey, the new comics section of ARC Worlds.

The Amazing Journey column will touch on a comics-related topic, such as writing the first issue of a series, what it’s like to run a comic book store, working with artists, and how writing comics is different from writing prose.

I’ll also highlight the week’s new releases, indie comics, and backlist titles I’m reading.

Amazing Journey back issues

True believers unite (#1) | My comics origin story (#2) | Comic event series (#3) | The comics of Kickstarter (#4) | Single issues or trades? (#5)

Today I have the next installment in the ARC Asks interview series: an interview with novelist and comics writer Camille Longley!¹

Camille Longley is the author of the Flameskin Chronicles and the Talons and Teeth series. She writes for the comic Lampblack with artist Pablo Peppino, and published her first poetry in ‘The Girl Who Swallows the Sun’ in 2022. She is a (retired) harpist, an aspiring dancer, and a terrible cook. She grew up in Arizona, graduated from Brigham Young University, spent a year in Argentina, and now lives in the San Francisco with her daughter in an incredible co-op house. If she’s not writing books, she is probably riding her bike through the park, skinning her knees on her roller skates, or hibernating until the fog rolls out.

I first came across Camille’s novels on Kickstarter, but when I saw that she had started writing comics with her series Lampblack, I knew I wanted to speak to her about making that jump. Check out the interview below and make sure you read to the end to learn about the Lampblack giveaway I’m running!

Lampblack is a story of friendship, family, and war, set in a fantastical world depicted in stunning detail. If you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Sabrina, or Pokémon, you will love exploring the world of Lampblack--a place filled with incredible creatures and fascinating magic.

1. Having previously written prose, what made you want to tell the story of Lampblack as a comic?

Once I’d written the outline for the story that would become Lampblack, I knew it was something that wasn’t meant to be just words on a page. The story is about a girl who can bring her art to life, and because it had such a visual element, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it justice in that form. This was in 2020 which was a very lonely year. I’d already written a handful of books by this time and really loved writing, but had a hunger for something more collaborative. Bringing on an artist to my team seemed like a perfect fit for this story. 

2. What were some resources you used to learn how to write a comic script? How did you find it structurally and creatively writing a story as a comic compared to writing prose?

I read lots of great blogs and articles anywhere I could find them, as well as the Strip Panel Naked videos on YouTube and the Scott McCloud books. I think the most difficult thing about moving from prose to comics was the inherent loss of control in allowing someone else to bring your words to life. You really have to trust your artist, and if you’re lucky like I am with Pablo Peppino, you will learn so much. I’ve really grown as a writer as I learned to hone my writing from big fluffy paragraphs to sharp and to-the-point panels, just a handful per page. I only get to say a few things per issue, and even though I have an overall arc for the story, it grows and evolves over the months and years of working together with an artist to create each painstaking page. It can be scary to lose some control like that, especially as an author who is used to constant iteration, which is easy and possible up to the day of publication, to move to a medium that is more controlled and constrained in ways that have really stretched my creative muscles.

3. How did you go about finding an artist for Lampblack and what first drew you to Pablo Peppino's work? 

I was familiar with Pablo Peppino’s work through Skies of Fire which was the project he worked on before Lampblack. I had looked at a few artists I knew of from the indie scene whose styles were something like what I was imagining for this story. I was particularly drawn to Pablo’s work because of the attention to world-building. I was looking for an artist who would be able to really be a mentor to me as I entered comics for the first time, someone with a lot of experience, and who wasn’t afraid to bring in their own ideas to the story. I remember reading Skies of Fire and thinking many times, this scene or image is Pablo’s. A writer never could have thought of that. That sort of collaborative process was something I really wanted. I really feel like I won the lottery in being able to work with him. We’ve become really close friends which is something I never expected when I started this process and creating comics has been a delightful way to make art. 

4. What is your workflow/process with Pablo to complete an issue like? How did the idea to tell the comic in a landscape format come about?

The landscape format was something Pablo really wanted to do and had suggested to other projects he’s worked on, but no one took him up on it. He calls his art style ‘cinematic,’ and the landscape format is a really a natural fit for it, as if the book could come to life in your hands. When he explained how cool it would be, I checked to make sure it was possible to print comics like that (it is, if expensively) and was all for it! That choice has really shaped how our comic looks and feels and I really love that aspect of it. 

Our workflow has lots of back and forth. We start with the script which he will look at and we’ll discuss any potential issues or changes, or one of us may come up with a new idea as we discuss it. After it’s been finalized and we’re both really happy with it, he’ll start drawing layouts of each page, which are just little sketches of what the paneling will be like. There will definitely be some changes at this stage as Pablo realizes what parts might be impossible to draw or he may come up with new paneling that will allow for some new creative solution. He sends these to me and we’ll talk about them, exchange ideas, and then once I approve them he’ll move to pencils. I will generally only ask for small changes at this point, as we’ve spent a great deal of time talking about each page already. This is the final stage where changes can be suggested. After that, the pencils are inked, and he does coloring with help from his assistant Alex. I’m pretty hands off at that point, as I won’t even pretend to know the first thing about colors and I’m really happy with how he handles it.

5. After working with Pablo for the first issue, were there any things you did differently in writing the script for issue 2?

Having already produced one issue and having it funded really gave us a lot of confidence. That confidence gave us the courage to try some really beautiful new things with the second issue, to take a couple story risks (which I think have paid off wonderfully), and have a lot more trust working together as a team. We’d already done it once, we could do it again. There’s so much uncertainty in a first issue. By the time the second issue came around, we were really good friends already and it made it much more enjoyable because we could spend time thinking about the future of the project and about us as an artist team instead of just worrying about getting funded.

6. What’s your experience using Kickstarter as a platform to launch your creative works? How do you see yourself using it for future issues of Lampblack and future projects?

Kickstarter is absolutely the place to be for indie comics. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to pay for printing or Pablo’s art. It was also indispensable in helping us find our crowd, the people who were really excited about the book and encouraged us by their enthusiasm. We will absolutely be launching our future issues on the platform. I’ve used it for my novels before this and currently have a new comic project running called Our Faceless Fears that funded in the first day and which I’m really excited about. [Ed.: Read more about Our Faceless Fears at the end of the interview!]

7. You wrote in a Kickstarter backer update a few weeks ago about meeting Pablo in person during your recent trip to Barcelona. How was it finally meeting him after collaborating on this project for so long?

It was really fantastic! We've really become the best of friends working on this project, and it felt so perfect to walk around the corner and see him. During the heavy weeks of production, we call each other a couple times a week or more--I half expect to run into him when I’m at the park or walking down the street back home--so it felt completely natural. Video calls have really changed the game for having long distance partnerships and friendships. We had a fantastic weekend in Spain and had many wonderful conversations about our current project and potential future projects. Hopefully someday we’ll live in the same continent and collaborating in person will be a regular part of our routine. 

8. For someone coming from writing fiction and starting to write comics, what's one piece of advice you would give them? 

Find an experienced artist to work with and read a lot. Especially if comics is a new medium to you, you need guides to help you get it right. These can come in the form of your artist collaborator, colorist, or letterer, or from the greats of comic writing and paneling from the industry. Be open to having your vision widened. You don't know everything. The best artists are always learning and improving. 

Thank you Camille for stopping by ARC Worlds!

Camille’s latest comic, Our Faceless Fears: A Victorian-Era Ghost Story, is now live on Kickstarter through November 10!

Our Faceless Fears is a 24-page psychological horror comic, the first of a limited series, filled with strange and twisted phantoms. This Victorian ghost story is a tale of friendship and revenge that will be sure to delight and frighten. 

Readers will meet our young heroine, Briar Rose Thornton. She is heir to the Thornton line, but not yet privy to its secrets. She is haunted by fearsome, tormented ghosts. They will teach her the reasons humans cling so desperately to life, but perhaps not before she becomes a phantom herself. 

You can find out more about Camille’s comics and books on her website. Before you go, I’m running a giveaway for a physical copy of Lampblack #1!

To enter, make sure you are subscribed to ARC Worlds and leave a comment to this post with the comic or graphic novel you’re currently reading! Or if you’re not currently reading one, let me know what was the last comic you enjoyed! Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

1. Read the first installment, my interview with TV writer Brant Englestein, here.