Hi, Miss Julie

Let’s get down to it, kids. I’ve been posting these Barry Lyga interview installments at a much slower pace than I’d like, because At&t is made of fail and I haven’t had internet access at home since the end of January, so I’ve been trying to steal time to work on the blog whenever possible. But we’re here, together, at the moment, so let’s enjoy it, shall we?

[Barry, y]our story “Her Decade” reminded me of the play “Rabbit Hole” by David Lindsay-Abaire (similar plot points of kid kills someone while driving drunk, runs into the family). Which made me think: what would a play by Barry Lyga be like? Would you ever write a play, or would you ever like to see one of your novels adapted for the stage? Maybe Fanboy and Goth Girl: The Musical.

I actually started writing a play in college. It was a one-man show, inspired in some ways by The Canterbury Tales and the Decameron. The idea was it was a guy trapped in an asylum, telling himself stories as a way of trying to stay sane. I never finished it, but now that you’ve brought it up, maybe I will!

Fanboy and Goth Girl: The Musical is one of those ideas that’s so wrong, it just might be right. I can’t imagine how that would work, but I would love to see someone try.

Any time I think of this question, I get the Batman tv show theme song stuck in my head, except I substitute “Goth Girl” for “Batman.” Not really a promising start to a musical, but stranger things have happened. I mean, have you seen some of the musicals getting produced these days?

Anyway…. on to the collaboration question:

Since you’re friends with David Levithan, do you think you’ll ever follow in the steps of Rachel Cohn and John Green* and write a collaborative work with him? How do you feel about collaboration in general, since typically writing is often seen as a rather solitary profession?

David and I have actually joked about this in the past. In a way, we ARE collaborating right now because he’s the editor on ARCHVILLAIN. Collaboration sounds like an amazing experience to me, but I have some pretty serious control freak tendencies, so I sort of fear for the sanity of anyone who collaborates with me. I’m actually collaborating on my first graphic novel right now, but that’s different because I can’t draw to save my life, so I have no choice but to cede complete control over the artwork to the amazing, wondrous Colleen Doran.

But, yeah, I’d like to take a crack at collaborating with another author some day. It’ll probably just take a while for me to get to that point. Plus, I’m pretty busy right now — I don’t really have the time anyway!

Barry’s not kidding about being busy part. In addition to Archvillain and the graphic novel, Barry is working on a project called I Hunt Killers, about a boy who is working on solving murders by making use of a “killer instinct” he’s inherited from his serial killer father.  Doesn’t that sound completely awesome?  Barry’s shown us his ability to handle dark themes a little bit in Hero-Type and Boy Toy, so I’m really looking forward to his handling of this macabre material.

Speaking of macabre, did you know that Barry is a Stephen King fan? In our next installment, you’ll read about that, and I’ll expound on the origins of Chicago. Or, knowing me, I’ll wander completely off topic and you’ll have to send out a search party. We’ll see.

*I can’t wait to get my hands on Will Grayson/Will Grayson. *bounces with excitement to the great annoyance of all around me*