Interview with Alex Gianinni, Author of the Gothic Children’s Book: Sarah Faire and the House at the End of the World

Back when Victoria interviewed Amber at Southern Gothica, you may have noticed the picture of the bear and the book. The bear is a character in a Gothic childrens’ book entitled Sarah Faire and the House at the End of the World. Now, I didn’t realize this when I was posting pics for that article. I just thought it looked cool. Well, Amber put me in touch with Alex, and he and I chatted about Sarah Faire.

Hello Alex, so tell me about Sarah Faire. What inspired you to write a gothic children’s book?

Sarah Faire is the story of a brave little girl who has to go off into the dark on Halloween night to find her missing friend, even though it’s the scariest thing she’s ever done.

It’s beautifully illustrated by the incredibly talented Abigail Larson, and itt’s the kind of book I liked as a kid—that creepy-but-safe, spooky-but-not-too-scary kind of thing.

The “gothic” part really came into play after I was fortunate enough to come across Abigail’s artwork. I found her site online, and—aside from being blown away by it—I immediately thought about asking her to draw Sarah. The look, obviously, and the feel of the book is all Abigail—those gothic sensibilities are all her.

The story takes place on Halloween night and there is a lot of beautiful seasonal imagery. Are you a big fan of the holiday? What’s your favorite thing about Halloween?

Oh, yeah! Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love everything about it—the colors, the smells of the season, the sound that the leaves make along a sidewalk, the horror movie marathons, everything. I make a point to take Halloween week off from work, because it only seems appropriate.

My favorite thing about Halloween—even though the last two Halloweens have been utterly ruined in my neck of the woods due to back-to-back hurricanes during that week—my favorite thing is going outside in the late afternoon in mid-to-late-October and taking a deep breath. It just…smells like October.

Weird? Sure. But that’s my favorite thing.

The prose and the art compliment one another really well. How much of it was collaboration vs. individual contributions between you and the artist?

I wrote the words, and Abigail did the rest! She’s so talented, and she has such a creative mind, that I didn’t want to get in her way. She told me that she developed a connection with the characters and the world, and that’s obvious in the finished product.

There were times when she would completely surprise me with what she came up with (the design of our villain), and there were times when she seemingly plucked images from my head (the House, for example).

I had some pretty basic design ideas for the characters (Sarah in a pumpkin dress, and Thomas as a bear), but, really, the credit goes to Abigail in terms of the look.

Any clues as to the identity of the “Well Dressed Man?”

Hmmm. Not just yet! But I do have something planned for him…

The story leaves quite a bit to the imagination and I liked how you left open doors to future stories. Any sequels in the works?

I would love to do another book or two, for sure. I like things that come in threes, so we’ll see. For now, I want to focus on getting the word out about Sarah Faire this year, and really try to get it moving come the fall.

But, yes, sequels would be ideal!

Any other projects you’d like to plug before we close?

I’m actually working on a graphic novel right now that is in its first stages, so too early to mention. I’d just say to check out Abigail’s website (www.abigaillarson.com), because her work is beautiful and creepy and everyone should know her name. I’d also like to mention Amber from Southern Gothica, who you’ve featured here in the past. She created a perfect hand-sewn version of Thomas, and I hope to work with her on some more Sarah characters!

Well, that about wraps it up for today. Thanks so much for taking a few minutes to talk with me and the minions!

Thank you for your support! This was great, and it’s actually my first interview as interviewee (I interview lots of people in my day job), so I’m humbled and so glad that you found the book.

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