I thought you might like to get to know April a bit, so here's an little Q&A:
Q: Where do we start, April? You write poetry, dark short stories, and you’ve written
The Sock Thief—which you also illustrated—a book about where socks go in the dryer. You draw and paint and take photographs. Plus you’re a musician. You seem to be quite the well-rounded artist. How’d that happen?
A: My father is an artist, photographer, filmmaker, actor, director, writer and puppeteer. My mother encouraged practical, musical and performance skills. I grew up drawing, singing, acting and playing the ukelele, violin and bass. I was also exposed to and still enjoy old radio shows, early movies, history, science fiction and classic literature. Mix in a little imagination and love of creating something that engages an audience, and you get my work. I even play bass with the other musicians in the marina [she'll explain] for fun.
Q: I stumbled upon you one day just after I was lamenting with a friend that I didn’t have an
illustrator for
“I’m Samson,” said Sydney. You were just concluding your launch for
The Sock Thiefand I saw your illustrations on an easel. I loved them and I asked if you’d be interested in illustrating for me. You said maybe and we talked. Next thing we know we’re working together. Eight months later we have a book. How did you find the process?
A: Working with another artist is both exciting and exhilarating. Understanding another artists vision and working to bring those ideas to fruition while pushing my abilities to the limit is challenging and absolutely fun. Looking forward to doing this again and again!
Q: I understand how you feel, I, too, enjoy the collaborative process. What inspires you? What keeps you working?
A: I love to take normal, little moments during the day and imagine, what if? What if that simple act was the event that fulfilled a legendary, fairy tale prophecy? What would happen next? What if that cup of spilled milk shattered the entire balance of the universe? What if the ordinary suddenly became the bizarre? What would a hero do now? My mind is full of pictures and stories that want to be shared and enjoyed. I just have to write, paint and share!
Q: Cool. You're a thinker. So, how long have you been writing—at least on a semi-professional level? What kinds of things do you like to write most?
A: I started writing seriously around 1999, when my husband and I bought a small, rundown floating home and began spending weekends on the Columbia River. We moved to the river full time in 2007. I began reading my work at the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic in 2009 and started submitting to independent small presses.
My first published poem was "The Guardian of Forgotten Souls" in
ParABnormal Digest #2, September 2011 and my first cover art appeared on
Cover of Darkness #7 May 2011 both from Sam's Dot Publishing. I actually got paid $3 for the poem, $20 for the art and decided this was what I wanted to do. I like exploring horror and the dark side in much of my writing and art. Consequences and personal, inner terror fascinate me.
Q: Reminds me of Stephen King. (LOL) What other projects have you worked on or have lined up?
A: I have published cover art on small press anthologies and a friend's poetry collection. [I'm] always looking for a new collaboration and I have three books in the works.
Sometimes I have a scene or idea, not connected with a particular story, that I just have to paint on canvas. Right now, there's a Clearance 1/2 Price Sale on all my paintings at Cover to Cover Books & Espresso in Vancouver, Wash. including a couple originals that have been published as cover art.
Q: That's neat! I've seen them. I encourage anyone in the area to check them out. Okay, April, you see things in photographs and nature that others don’t see. Where does this unique “eye” come from?
A: When it comes to my imagination, I've never grown up. I still look for dragons, monsters and angels in clouds, trees, bushes and water reflections. I can find "eyes" anywhere and everywhere! Whenever I take a walk, it's like I'm seven years old, exploring a fantasy kingdom with new and ancient creatures, great and small. I imagine stumbling into adventures with these new villains and heroes.
Q: I like that. You have been so easy to work with—you’re professional and fast, you listen well and aim to please, and your work is so detailed and beautiful. Does that come easy for you?
A: Thank you! Illustrating someone else's story is a great trust. Keeping it true to another's vision and using all my skills to make it grab and hold the reader's attention, is personally satisfying and fun. I'm so glad you're happy with the results.
Q: I am. What is your process like? When and where do you like to write? What about painting?
A: My houseboat is the perfect place to write. From my chair on the front deck I watch the changing skies reflected in river currents in the channel and the woods off the banks of Caterpillar Island. My glider rocker inside the houseboat has nearly the same view, just safe and dry behind glass. Being away from the hustle and bustle of city and suburbs helps quite a bit.
I have notebooks with snatches of poems, scenes from different stories, ramblings inspired by movies or TV shows, and pieces of daydreams. I also have sketchbooks with the same array of flotsam and clothing, craft or set designs. I play with prompts, or storyboard scenes. Sometimes a story just insists on being written, immediately. The same goes for some paintings. Many times a deadline makes me push through and take the inspiration to completion.
Q: That sounds enchanting. that's one of the things I am blessed with, too: a serene and inspiring writing environment. It really makes a difference. Your bio says that you’re a Navy vet and that you live on a houseboat. You must like the water? How’d that happen? And how do you paint on a houseboat?
A: When my children hit high school, my husband and I began looking for what kind of life we wanted sans kids. The first floating home was so much fun, we knew we wanted to live on the river. We decided on our houseboat for the ability to cruise around the river and the cabin-like comfort of the house. In my genealogy research I discovered my great-great-grandfather had a small riverboat in Iowa, on the Cedar River to the Mississippi River near Rock Island, Illinois. He and his wife had six children while living on the boat. Guess it's in the blood for me. As for painting on the gently rocking water, what could be more fun?
Q: Fascinating! What else do you want to tell us about? Your forest foraging?
The Daughters of the American Revolution?
A: I am a member of Beaver Chapter Daughters of American Revolution and my application is pending for Colonial Dames of the 17th Century. Both lineage societies are based on tracing your bloodline back to a certain time period and place. Finding records of these ancestors and fleshing out their lives, struggles, failures and successes becomes a marvelous source of plot twists and story fodder.
Walking the river islands, imagining I'm stranded there forever, helps me learn about all the wildlife, plants and weeds, adding more textures and layers into my work. Having the time to exchange stories with others adds more possibilities and details for future work.
Q: What are you working on next? And where can we find your books?
A: [I have] three books in the works: first, a collection of short stories geared more to an adult/YA audience; second,
Goody Hepzibah's Harvest Tales, a selection of fun to read aloud original poems, stories and reworked nursery rhymes and tales that put the consequences of behavior back in focus, aimed at middle readers ages 7-11; and
Goody Hepzibah's Journals, a companion book of craft projects, skills, household chores and etiquette from earlier times. For access to all my work you can check my website:
www.aprilbullard.com
The Sock Thief is available at Cover To Cover Books & Espresso and Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters in Vancouver, Wash., also Jacobsen's Books in Hillsboro, St. Johns Booksellers, and Another Read Through in Portland, Ore., and
amazon.com.
When do we start working on the next in the
Sydney Said book?
And now through December 15, 2014 all three books, VOODOO VIRUS, MARSHMONSTER and PLAYHOUSE PHANTOM (a $24.97 value) are on sale for only $21. That's right all three books for just twenty-one bucks.
This offer is limited to supplies on hand and exclusively through this website. Shipping costs ($4 per set) apply. Or get FREE POSTAGE when you pre-pay for ALIEN AMBUSH (discount priced at $9 post paid) and be among the first to have it.
ALIEN AMBUSH releases April 21, 2015. UFO sightings and a missing crew of roughnecks (oil platform workers) have Peter and Bart curious and on the case. This time they bring along their paranormal pal Reed and skeptic friend Dallas.
