Shaping non-fiction characters.

What was initially to be a short volunteer research project into a Vancouver cold case to support a theory championed by a retired homicide detective, became, for me [and continues to be], a 17+ year personal journey “to restore to now dead people the fullness and degree of complication of their lives. To restore their humanness…

The objects are the context from which I draw clues.

What happens when a case is very old, when much of its physical evidence is deteriorated or destroyed, and its main players long deceased?  How do we investigate? For me it is all about the historical context. When I work on Molly, I step into the 1940’s through books, research, primary sources.  And I do it…

Daisy’s dilemma. 1947 and dark Disney imagery.

My current book project, Molly, is a creative non-fiction tragedy that centres around a suicide in 1947. Suicides were well publicized back then, often featured on the front pages of newspapers. Searching online images “suicide, 1947,” the image that inevitably comes up is the photo titled “the most beautiful suicide“- a haunting and iconic image. But as…

Molly’s confession. #graphicnovel study #openingsequence

I am going to tell the story of my life in an alphabet of ashes. – Blas de Otero — GRABLINE: He brushed the leaves aside and uncovered the most baffling double murder Vancouver has ever had. – The Vancouver Province April 15, 1953 MOLLY- the graphic novel —

It doesn’t stop him. My death stops him. #graphicnovel study

Recall March 7, 2013, photoshoot at Salmagundi West for my graphic novel. I am struck by the ability of my model, Jocelyn Louise, to convey, in a simple glance, the pain of my main character as she tries to escape the memories of childhood trauma. Asexual. Living in church, reading about God all the time, getting callouses…

Maybe you mistook me for an angel… #graphicnovel studies and research

Sometimes, the truths that we hold to be fixed in our culture develop a fissure, which widens into a crack, and as we watch, the mirror shatters shard by shard, until nothing is left but fragments of the prejudice lying in disarray at our feet. – Patricia Pearson, Perceptions of Female Violence and the Vocabulary…

Regarding Molly- importance of working titles and “acting as if…”

As I experiment with marrying text to illustration in my graphic novel, I am working from the end backwards, creating a working title and promotional mockup. Acting as if the book is completed, the project feels organized and allows me to create a skeletal framework on which to flesh out ideas. This framework can then…

The Babes in the Wood study #graphicnovel

The Babes in the Wood [1] My dear do you know, How a long time ago, Two poor little children, Whose names I don’t know, Were stolen away On a fine summer’s day, And left in a wood, As I’ve heard people say, Poor Babes in the Wood! Poor Babes in the Wood! Oh! don’t…

Take Off the Amber, Put Out the Lamp #graphicnovel #research

Take the day.  Immerse.  Forget everything else.  Read.  Sketch.  Cocoon.  Trust the calling. Today’s resources: Jamison, K.R. (1999) Night Falls Fast- understanding suicide, Vintage Books: New York, NY, USA Malooof, J., ed. (2012) Vivian Maier- Street Photographer, powerHouse Books: New York NY, USA Appignanesi, L. (2007) Sad, Mad and Bad- women and the mind-doctors from…

Muse reawakened. #Vancouver #coldcase #graphicnovel

MOLLY- the graphic novel Read updates at KICKSTARTER Follow links at GRAPHIC NOVEL   • Prepping the mindmap • Gathering inspiration • Collecting quotes • Reviewing current work- written and drawn • Creating new pieces • Planning new photoshoot • Documenting process *Rethinking approach • Full immersion imminent — She waved as she made her…

Her Catholic childhood. #Vancouver #coldcase #graphicnovel

“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.” ― Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes — — MOLLY-…

Forest floor. #graphicnovel #crimescene #Vancouver #coldcase

Currently working on a page focusing on a child’s hand on the forest floor on  OCTOBER 5, 1947. — MOLLY- the graphic novel — Many have been asking if they can still contribute to the graphic novel project.  YES PLEASE!  You can donate via PAYPAL here: DONATE —

Obsessed with Jocelyn as #Molly. #coldcase #graphicnovel #Vancouver

— Jocelyn Louise as Molly — Many have been asking if they can still contribute to the graphic novel project.  That’s wonderful and very helpful!!!  The rewards will stay the same as on Kickstarter.  Take a look at the rewards on the Kickstarter site.  You can donate via PAYPAL by clicking DONATE —

PHOTOSHOOT recreating October 5, 1947 #graphicnovel #Vancouver

— — On the anniversary of Molly’s suicide [November 6, 1947], I spent the afternoon with Jocelyn Louise and Jay Fisher recreating the mood of October 5, 1947– the alleged date of the double homicide. I am so honored to work with these two- Jay is a master at styling the era, and Jocelyn channels…

Wartime rationing and the 1940s house #graphicnovel research

— Source ‘Because of the pail, the scraps were saved,   Because of the scraps, the pigs were saved,   Because of the pigs, the rations were saved,  Because of the rations, the ships were saved,  Because of the ships, the island was saved,   Because of the island, the Empire was saved, And all because of the…