Neotext had made itself an already sterling reputation of combining talented writers and artists for their Novellas. But for the upcoming The GoldTwinz, they have brought together acclaimed writer Jardine Libaire and Photographer Neil Krug to tell Jardine’s “sun-drenched” tale of two young people who are carving their own paths. Whether as twins or lovers, their still working that out. Either way, they have some things to clean up from both their lives before they can move ahead. Recently, we had the opportunity to catch a few moments with the creative team behind The GoldTwinz, Jardine Libaire and Photographer Neil Krug. Starting with Jardine…
A Chat with Jardine Libaire
GVN: Thanks for sharing a bit of your time with us Jardine.
JL: My pleasure! I love Geek Vibes Nation.
GVN: Talented AND with great taste. 🙂 So, let us talk a little bit about your background. When did you take an interest in writing and whose work inspired you to pursue it?
JL: I’ve sort of been obsessed with both reading books and writing since I can remember. My bookworm mom passed on the fever to me. There’s a stack of composition notebooks in my closet full of dorky psychedelic poems from middle school. Not to mention, first attempts at short stories in high school and quotes scribbled on napkins from Anais Nin and Iceberg Slim and Bukowski and all my early life heroes. My bookshelf has always held a big spectrum, from Lydia Lunch to Herman Melville. Noir opened its doors pretty early too and I fell in love—Patricia Highsmith, Chester Himes, Dashiell Hammett, Jim Thompson. Those were some of the first books where I saw sentences that were elegant and chiseled and evocative, but I also felt propelled to turn the page. The idea of combining lyrical writing with a relentless narrative was exciting to me.
Inspiration for The GoldTwinz
GVN: Your new book for NeoText, The GoldTwinz is a complex, steamy narrative that grabs a hold of you and doesn’t let go until you’ve reached the end. What was your inspiration for the book?
JL: Part of the inspiration was re-reading Jean Cocteau’s HOLY TERRORS. Semi-incestuous teenaged orphans in Paris creating an exquisite mess—it’s just such a good story. The idea of reimagining that sort of self-organization by the characters or progressive anarchy but in a completely different place like the Everglades was so fun. And part of the impetus was just wanting to play with noir archetypes, in that Americana tradition, an homage to John Fante or Flannery O’Connor. The protagonists in this case are refugees who land in Florida, and a lot of their power and fight comes from deciding who they want to be and where they want to belong. This is to me a quintessential American narrative.
Collaborating with Neil
GVN: To visualize your narrative, you have partnered with Photographer Neil Krug on The GoldTwinz. How did that collaboration come together and did your previous work with Photographer Phyllis B. Dooney on your book Gravity is Stronger Here encourage or inspire you when working with Neil?
JL: NeoText is the patron saint of this project, as they put us in touch with each other and planted the seed for this collaboration. Neil’s work is so gorgeous and moody but also razor sharp, it really shaped how I wrote the story. I did learn so much from working on Gravity is Stronger Here, which is creative nonfiction. Dooney embedded herself with a Mississippi family off and on for a few years, and then I got to interview them and write a kind of ‘lyrical documentary text’ for the book. Part of my education on that project was soaking in the day-to-day life of this family, their dynamics, addictions, recoveries, religion, their fears and their dreams. And part of it was realizing how powerful the dynamics of collaboration can be. When different visions intersect, when a whole dimension of consciousness comes to life alongside the written part, when the ‘subject’ or another artist imports ideas and experience and imagination into the story – it’s intoxicating. Writing can be so lonely! Part of the pleasure of this project has been in the basic blissful act of cooperation.
A Moment with Neil Krug
GVN: Thank you so much for spending a bit of your time with us Jardine. Your collaboration with Neil really compliments the narrative effectively. And speaking of Neil, we also got a few moments to talk to the famed cult photographer. Thanks for giving us a few minutes Neil. I have looked over some of your photos on your website and they are strikingly diverse and beautiful in many instances. What was it about photography that captured your imagination and made you pursue it professionally?
NK: Striking imagery of any kind interested me from an early age, regardless of how it was made. I’ve always responded to a variety of different art forms, but photography became a force in my early twenties and it just didn’t stop.
Imagery for Music and Books
GVN: Part of your portfolio includes your work with different musical groups. You have worked with bands like Lana Del Rey, Tame Impala, and Cage the Elephant for their covers. In many ways, album covers tell stories just like book illustrations. How different is it doing those kinds of projects as opposed to working on a book?
NK: For me, a great image that communicates should be translatable to a variety of different mediums. In fact, I don’t necessarily differentiate the projects in that way as I believe the same fundamentals can be applied in both cases.
Collaborating with Jardine
GVN: Your work certainly communicates. You recently have collaborated with Jardine Libaire for her book The GoldTwinz for NeoText. When you take on that kind of project, do you read the entire book before working and if not, what do you require from the author to produce the outstanding results you accomplished?
NK: Jardine and I met up for dinner in Los Angeles sometime in 2019 and discussed how best to go about developing the project and so forth. I suppose any successful collaboration requires both parties to be coming from a similar point-of-view or shared sensibility with how a project should look and feel. I think that shared sensibility exists between Jardine and I, and I left that dinner knowing that the final imagery for the book would need to be bold and unforgiving.
GVN: Well judging from the results and Jardine’s high praise of your work, you have succeeded. Thanks to you both for talking with us. NeoText’s The GoldTwinz by Jardine Libaire and Neil Krug releases on October 19th.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first 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 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
