Interview With Bree Paulsen, Author / Illustrator of The Firelight Apprentice

 

Welcome to Smack Dab, Bree! Please tell us a bit about The Firelight Apprentice.

It’s a story following two sisters in a world post-war, mourning the loss of their mother while they seek a mentor for the youngest sister so she can better control her magic.

I’m a writer who within the past couple of years got back into art. My graphic novel reading has absolutely exploded in that time. Were you always a comic or graphic novel reader?

To a degree, definitely as much as I am now. I think I always wanted to read comics when I was young, but jumping into it always felt daunting back then as there weren’t as many outlets outside of collecting cape comics. I grew up in a household that had books about comics around, like How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by John Buscema and Stan Lee, but most of my comic reading came from comic sections in kids’ magazines and a couple random volumes of manga I picked up at book fairs.

How do you plot out your books? A graphic novel is such an enormous undertaking, and yours is rich with so many themes–the impact of war, finding your place in the world, the binds of family…

From the concept, I will beat out the story with an outline before expanding that into a script. Though, The Firelight Apprentice is a special case that is based on a dream so I had the basic beats of the story from the start; I just had to work them into a narrative that made more sense, fleshing out the world-building in the process and the specific themes I explore.

What comes first, character sketches or an idea for a story?

Usually I have an idea first for a story, but sometimes I’ll start drawing a character and a story will start to form around them. This was the case with Garlic from my debut graphic novel, Garlic and the Vampire.

What are your favorite tools?

The Photo Booth app on my computer. It helps so much when I am struggling to find reference for a pose or hand position. 3D modeling programs like Blender are also extremely handy for working out an environment or when I need to turn a prop in space.

I feel like one of your greatest strengths as an artist is in facial features and expression. Often, I felt like we got an entire page of exposition in one panel / closeup–how do you approach facial drawing? 

This is definitely my animation education coming out to shine. I had to learn how to act through my drawings when animating and it has helped so much in making sure expressions are just right on a page.

I also loved your action scenes. How do you make action make sense in static images? How do you make it appropriate for younger readers?

I’m glad you like the action scenes. I feel that is where I could improve upon the most. I basically pored over some of my favorite manga and comics for how they handled motion and explosions.

One of the draws to children’s books, I think, is the way they just bubble over with magic. In your book, magic is far more than a metaphor. But you make sure to depict that magic is delightful but also dangerous–I loved that it was placed side-by-side with electricity (the father’s bulb store). Can you speak to this a bit, and why you presented magic this way in an MG?

It feels weird to say that it just makes sense? I guess I approached magic from a realistic way, seeing how it would be harnessed in the day-to-day, but also by those who hold power. Like of course if magic was real, it would be used as a power source, and of course, it would be weaponized and used in war.

Drawbacks were also important. I didn’t want magic to be this thing that could solve all problems. Being someone who could conjure it needed to be sort of a blessing and a curse, which is what we see with Safi and her “growing pains.” Adding these complexities makes the story more interesting and gives finding a mentor for Safi higher stakes, because she could accidentally blow something up or make her a lure for a lich, but also the magic will physically hurt her if she is not given proper outlets.

I’ll admit, this was the first time I’d ever heard of a lich. (This is a bit embarrassing, but I Googled it to see if it was something you had invented or part of a kind of larger folklore.) It does offer kind of the perfect antagonist in a story of magic. What did you hope that young readers would take from the depiction of this antagonist? 

Like you mentioned earlier, magic in this story is metaphorical. Sometimes there is an aspect of yourself that others will prey upon, and who those predators are may not be obvious at first.

What do you hope young readers take from The Firelight Apprentice, more than anything?

The importance of bonds and community, especially in scary times like these. We have to look after one another, and stand up against powers that wish to exploit and belittle.

What’s next?

I’m currently working on a YA adaptation of Dracula that is from Mina’s point of view. It has been a challenging project, but I’m very eager to share it once it’s done.

Where can we find you?

I am @ breebird33 on most of social media these days, most active on Bluesky. I also have my website vampiresnwhimsy.com which I update somewhat regularly, including upcoming book events.