We have had the pleasure of speaking with talented writer Alisa Kwitney on multiple occasions. Each time, our conversation focused on her book “G.I.L.T.,” which she collaborated on with renowned artist Alain Mauricet for Ahoy Comics. Their successful partnership has led to the creation of their new book for Ahoy, titled “HOWL.” A unique mix of humor, and horror with a peppering of the social changes happening between the 50’s and 60’s. Add it all together and it makes for a book that resonates intelligence, homage and fun.
With this new book on the horizon, we thought it would be a great time to catch up with Alisa about what she’s been up to and delve into her new book. So, let’s welcome back the talented Alisa Kwitney to GVN Talking Comics.
GVN: Thank you once again for sharing a bit of your time with us, Alisa. The last time we spoke was about your Ahoy series G.I.L.T. in which you also partnered with Mauricet. Of course, why tinker with a process that works so well that G.I.L.T landed on our Best of 2022 list?
As I said, it has been a while since we last spoke, so I visited your website to check on your recent activities. However, the site hasn’t been updated in some time. (Which truthfully is common among creative people). Given that, what have you been up to between GILT’s success and creating your newest series, HOWL?
Life and Inspirations
ALISA: My website isn’t the only thing I’ve been neglecting! The truth is, I’ve been a caretaker for my mother these past few years and haven’t been producing as much new material. Everything I’ve written since 2020 has been inspired by her, though, which is why GILT and HOWL feel different from anything I’ve written before.
I have been working on a few different projects, including something new with Mauricet and a new prose novel project. Mauricet and I both want to keep exploring the New York City of decades past, and we just might be taking a look at the mid-sixties next. It’s a lot of fun to take a look at a period in history when you were too young to realize that the toys and the adults taking care of you were far more dangerous that you realized. I’m also having a lot of fun with the romantic adventures of women over 40. The erotic is so much more exciting when it carries that frisson of impending mortality.
In the meanwhile, I do have some stuff coming out this December and January: A YA reprint of Mystik U, my magical college graphic novel, and audio and e-book versions of some of my coming of age and romantic comedies, Till the Fat Lady Sings, The Dominant Blonde and Flirting in Cars. Those are all out on Everand/Scribd, a company that competes with Audible the way Betty competes with Veronica.
GVN: I can certainly relate to the challenges of being the caregiver for a family member. My wife’s mother lived with us as her Alzheimer’s advanced with my wife as her main caretaker until her passing. I marveled at her strength and her devotion, but she always considered it a labor of love.
Developing the Narrative of HOWL
When we were discussing the TPB of GILT back in August of 2022, you teased your next book with this statement when asked what you had coming with AHOY: “Mauricet and I have some new projects with AHOY that are not GILT, both appetizer and main course sized. The longer one is something I’ve been marinating in my subconscious for a while, and I’m very excited to be working on it at last. It will have elements of sci-fi and horror as well as humor, and it will be as personal to me as GILT was.”
This was referencing HOWL (I assume). At that time, how much was your story locked in, and did the narrative change the direction you originally envisioned as you progressed?
ALISA: The main concept and tone of HOWL and the big movements of the plot are pretty much the way I thought they would be back in ’22. But like a fungal growth, the story spread in organic ways that surprised and delighted me. The mother/daughter relationship was a more important element than I originally planned, and editor Tom Peyer helped me realize how I could push that plotline in emotionally wrenching ways. I also research as I write, and the more I learned about Rob Bottin, the more I wanted to do visually with the fungal aliens.
(Bottin is the genius (he was only 21, I believe) who was behind the prosthetic makeup and practical effects of The Thing (1982). The idea of reflecting the emotional themes of the plot in old pulp Sci Fi covers was going to be a one-off, but Mauricet made me see how we could keep that going.
A Personal Story
GVN: As you teased, your latest Ahoy series HOWL is a wonderful mix of science fiction/horror with the underpinnings of the social changes between the ‘50s and the 60s. All encapsulated with your sharp witty dialogue that I became a fan of from G.I.L.T. You mentioned that HOWL is personal to you. In what way, if you don’t mind me asking?
ALISA: Oh, it’s pretty damn biographical in places, although the facts have been warped and mutated to serve my purposes. My mother, Ziva Kwitney, lived with my father, the science fiction writer Robert Sheckley, in Greenwich Village in the late fifties. They went to parties hosted by the Hydra Club, a New York City based science fiction club that included folks like Frederik Pohl, Phillip Klass, Harlan Ellison, Lester del Rey, Isaac Asimov and Theodore Sturgeon. I have deliciously gossipy letters from my mother to my father about “Ike” hugging her for a bit too long, as well as my own memories of her stories of him pinching another wife on the butt. My grandmother, a Hebrew school teacher, initially threatened my father with a knife when she learned he had been married previously (this did not make it into the story, alas).
My mother (and father, for a time) were also early clients of Mildred Newman, a therapist who co-wrote the bestseller “How to Be Your Own Best Friend” (first published in 1971). Newman had a who’s who roster of clients in the late fifties, sixties and seventies that included a lot of artists, writers and Hollywood stars. Obviously, Myrtle Morel is not Mildred Newman, and I’m pretty sure Mildred (who actually saw me once, as a child, after my parents divorced) was not an alien queen.
Joyce Johnson, one of the early Beats, taught a Columbia U class in memoir and I will never forget her telling me that there was more fiction in memoir and more memoir in fiction than anyone cares to admit. I admit it freely. This story borrows more from my personal pre-history than it does from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (although I love all the versions of that Jack Finney story, with special emphasis on the 1978 film).
Working with Alain Mauricet
GVN: You have partnered with Alain Mauricet again on this project. After working together on G.I.L.T, did your workflow with him change while you were working on HOWL? Were you more comfortable expressing your ideas regarding character design or any other input you felt strongly about?
ALISA: Alain and I always go back and forth on character design. It’s a process. There’s some Audrey Hepburn as well as old pictures of my mother that went into the character of Ziva, and Myrtle Morel’s look was inspired a bit by Agnes Moorehead’s Endora (Bewitched) as well as by Nina Foch, the older woman who mentors Gene Kelly’s artist character in An American in Paris. We enjoy the back and forth, and our rapport is a huge part of what makes our stories work. The same back and forth occurs with pacing: I write scenes and sometimes he adds or (more rarely) subtracts panels, and then we go back over them in a final pass so I can adjust captions and dialogue.
Developing Dialogue
GVN: I previously mentioned the dialogue, and one of the standout conversations was between Ziva and her mother. When crafting such exchanges, how much is drawn from your own experiences, and how much is purely from your imagination? As I read it, I could relate to the times when my mother would try to guide my sisters in their relationships, sharing her own experiences. Often, her advice didn’t resonate. Go figure.
ALISA: The dialogue between Ziva and her mother was, indeed, inspired by my mother’s reports of conversations between her and my grandmother, but all of it was invented. I do love doing dialogue. It’s the easiest and most enjoyable part of writing for me.
The only dialogue I didn’t invent was the bit between Bert and Ziva where he says, “Let’s not go sticking our fingers in each other’s souls” and “Let’s lock this thing up.” Those were my dad’s lines, as reported by my mom.
Making Connections…Possibly
GVN: You also mentioned you felt there were more stories to tell in the GILT world. How about with HOWL? Was it designed to be a singular story, or do you have any thoughts of a follow-up?
ALISA: I have this idea that the worlds of GILT and HOWL co-exist. It may just be the third cup of coffee speaking, but I think there might be a story that explores that connection. Maybe we’ll wind up calling it GUWL. (Joke. That was a joke. I think.)
Upcoming
GVN: Thank you so much for visiting with us again, Alisa. Before I let you go, please share with our audience one last time about HOWL and any other projects you might have in the future.
ALISA: You can listen to and read my back list on Everand (formerly Scribd) and look out for the Mystik U reprint out from DC in January. While you do that, I will be busily concocting new adventures with Mauricet.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
