Searching for Tony DiTerlizzi
30/09/2011 by David Maybury · No Comments
Tony DiTerlizzi was in Dublin last week for a whistle-stop tour, including a few school visits as part of Bookfest. Not only was Tony a brilliant storyteller (cue a few hundred fans hanging on his every word) but he was nice enough to stop and answer a few questions for us.
Eric Nieudan caught up with the man himself:
The world of Spiderwick is full of goblins, elves and trolls. Wouldyou say Irish folklore has been an inspiration for the books?
TD: Without a doubt. Holly and I are tremendous fans of the fairy tales and folklore that have existed in Ireland and Wales for centuries. In fact, lately I’ve been collecting many old and first editions of these fairy tales as they still continue to inspire me today.
The Search for WondLa has just been released in paperback, which will no doubt bring another batch of readers to this strange planet of yours. Can you tell us more about the book - how would you describe it in one sentence to apotential reader?
TD: I have described WONDLA as a “21st century fairy tale”. It is a story that focuses on a young heroine, Eva Nine, who is raised in an underground automated facility by a robot caretaker. One night, Eva’s home is invaded by an alien huntsman. She escapes by ascending to the surface of her planet only to realize she is not on planet Earth as she had assumed, but an alien-populated planet named Orbona. It seems she is the only human alive on this planet.
Though the story contains sci-fi elements to it, such as aliens, handy technology and futuristic machines like hovercars, its base story is about a girl leaving home and exploring the wilds of the world in order to understand what home and a family is. Its structure is similar to classics like ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, PETER PAN & WENDY or THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ.
Going back a few years I first discovered your work in *Planescape*, aDungeons & Dragons setting released in 1995. I remember being flabbergasted by the atmosphere of the whole product. For the first time, I could feel adistinct flavour in a D&D world. How the hell did this happen in the realmof fantasy stereotypes and chainmail bikinis?
TD: I honestly don’t know. It certainly wasn’t from lack of talent in the other artists who were illustrating for TSR (publishers of D&D) at the time. However, many of the regular illustrators who worked on the D&D products throughout the 80’s and into the 1990’s were encouraged to draw a lot of chainmail bikinis and gigantic weapons. I think it is because many were inspired by those sort of fantasy artists, like Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. But I came to it with a style inspired by Arthur Rackham, Brian Froud and Yoshitaka Amano. I think the fact that my work was so unique in style set it apart.
A little bird tells me that Holly Black, your Spiderwick partner in crime, is still roleplaying. What about you, are you rocking the d20 as well? Have your gaming years taughtyou anything about the art of storytelling?
TD: I have not played D&D in some time, but I am looking forward to teaching my daughter how to play in the coming years.
Holly and I were both big gamers growing up and role-playing has certainly helped me as a storyteller. As a kid, it fueled my imagination and also introduced me to world mythology (via DEITIES & DEMIGODS) and fantasy books in general. I mean, come on, you couldn’t honestly play D&D in the 80’s and not be simultaneously reading Tolkien at the same time.
Later, as a contributor to the game (especially for PLANESCAPE), I learned how to build a world from soup to nuts. I didn’t just design monsters and players, but I had to understand how the architecture of a realm was reflective of the society. I had to design artifacts and weaponry that echoed the characters that devised them. It was an incredible experience and it helped me greatly with designing the look of SPIDERWICK, but even more so with creating the world of WONDLA.
Many of our readers would like to emulate your success - whatadvice/golden nugget of wisdom do you have for other writers and illustrators? (What’s the hardest lesson you’ve learned over the years? Isthere one that still escapes you?)
TD: Great question. I think you have to love what you do. You have to be passionate, but also open to feedback and criticism from your peers. That will get you through the inevitable rejection period as you try to find your way. For me, each rejection only strengthened my resolve. I knew creating stories was what I was meant to do. And, of course, you must be patient. Stories can take a long time to conjure up. Books take a long time to produce and success can arrive at your doorstep in many forms.
Maps. Some writers can’t work without them, others are just notbothered. You draw and write in a continuous process, but do you need to map your worlds as you go along?
TD: Yes. I need to know where everything is. Then again, I (obviously) think of everything in a visual way. I also have fond memories as a young reader of a printed map on the endpapers of a favorite book. Think Narnia, Middle Earth, The Hundred Acre-Wood, Watership Down…
WondLa has a brilliant augmented reality feature called WondLa Vision. Is this something you wanted for the book, and are you veryinvolved/interested in technology and interactive storytelling?
TD: I was quite involved in the augmented reality feature, though the idea did not originate from me. The marketing team at Simon & Schuster (my publisher) had been toying with the idea of incorporating it into a book, and WONDLA was the perfect candidate.
I had concerns about it at first. I didn’t want the online feature to be integral in any way to the content at all…so there would be no “Okay, put the book down now and read the rest online” sort of thing.
Also, I didn’t want an obtrusive barcode or a Quick Response code in the middle of the text. Fortunately, we were able to address both of these issues by creating an animated map that allows the reader to follow along with Eva Nine on her journey through Orbona. And the keys for the augmented reality were simply illustrated flourishes set in the book. If you never even went to the website, you would still enjoy the full effect of the story. The augmented reality feature was simply to lure in reluctant readers and I think it did a good job at that.
You’re a science fiction author now, so my last question will be aboutthe future of our trade. What do you see children’s literature like in 2050?
TD: I’m a bit old fashioned, so I feel that books will always exist. However, I have clutched tightly to my philosophy of “make the book itself a beautiful object” as I create in our e-book reality. There is no question that e-readers will become the preferred method of reading. And that is fine with me as long as kids are reading. If a story is good, it doesn’t matter what form it takes as long as it entices, expands and entertains the mind.
