Consider this excerpt from the Georgia Encyclopedia:

“During the summer of 1946, Atlantans witnessed the rise of the Columbians, the nation’s first neo-Nazi political organization. The group pursued a campaign of intimidation against the city’s minorities, patrolling those neighborhoods most vulnerable to racial transition, and threatening with violence those residents who dared cross the city’s “color line.” Although they attracted some support from Atlanta’s working-class whites, the Columbians were uniformly condemned by the city’s press and targeted for arrest by its political establishment. By the following summer the group had dissolved, following the conviction of its leaders, Homer Loomis and Emory Burke, on charges of usurping police power and inciting to riot.”

While racism still exists today on some level, I take some solace that as far back as 1946, the establishment fought it on some level. Not as much as it should, of course–but still some level of resistance is better than none. God, if only I could say there is no racism today, but that’s sadly would be a delusional belief.

Empress of the World

Back in 2001, librarian and novelist Sara Ryan captured folks’ attention with her young adult novel, Empress of the World. The book (described as “about friendship, love, and the sometimes blurry lines between the two”) is an Oregon Book Award winner, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. Recently the book was re-released in an expanded edition. Ryan and I conducted an email interview about it, as well as delving into her upcoming comics work, which includes Bad Houses, a collaboration with Carla Speed McNeil. This interview goes in some pleasant directions and I was lucky to get to interview Ryan.

Tim O’Shea: In researching our interview, I searched for your Tumblr page but accidentally discovered the number of people that quote your work (and hashtag it “Sara Ryan”). I think it safe to assume that any writer wonders how much their work resonates with people. How affirming is it when you see people quoting your work? 

Sara Ryan: Here’s where I expose my ignorance of the finer points of Tumblr. Until you pointed it out, it hadn’t occurred to me to check if anyone had tagged posts about me/my work. Now that I know said posts exist, I’m certainly pleased!

Speaking of Tumblr, visiting your Tumblr page it becomes obvious (at least to me) that you love the power of photography.

I do. Photography actually connects very much to comics writing for me; I can’t draw, but I can compose images with my camera. I try to use that same visual sensibility when I write panel descriptions — while leaving enough room for the artist to bring their own interpretation, of course.

With that in mind, can you tell me how the cover of Empress of the World came to be designed/selected?

I was super lucky. My publisher set up the shoot and I was thrilled with the results. For instance, both the models have short non-manicured nails, exactly as I describe Nic and Battle’s in the book. And if you compare the original release to the new edition, you’ll see that the new edition has a scratchy pencilled border, a subtle nod to the presence of comics inside.

The new edition is full of all sorts of goodies that I want to talk about, but what first attracted my attention was the “musical archaeology wherein I construct a playlist based on my vague memories of what the heck I was listening to when I was writing Empress”. How does music impact your writing?

The right music definitely helps to reinforce the mood of a scene.

And sometimes I’ll fixate on a particular few albums or mixes while working on a book, and simply pressing Play will trigger a Pavlovian response of Ok, time to write. While I was writing Bad Houses, for instance, I tended to rotate between Little Sue, Laura Cantrell, and the soundtrack to The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.

And in reconstructing the playlist did you rediscover some music you had not enjoyed for a long time?

I did! Looper and Kruder & Dorfmeister got back in the rotation.

What prompted you to ask David Levithan to write an introduction for the reissue?

We asked him because he is awesome. David’s done a tremendous amount to advance queer YA publishing, both through his own books (including his collaboration with John Green, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, the first queer YA title to make the NYT bestseller list) and via his editorial work at Scholastic.

I have never been sure exactly when he sleeps.

The new edition features three short stories, one with your spouse Steve Lieber, while the other two are by Dylan Meconis and Natalie Nourigat. What was it about Meconis and Nourigat’s work that made you want to work with them on these particular stories?

Subtle but significant shifts in emotional dynamics are a big part of “Click,” so I needed someone who was really good at conveying facial expressions and body language. Those are two of Dylan’s many strengths as an artist, which you can see in her Eisner-nominated Outfoxed  and her current graphic novel in progress, Family Man.

It also didn’t hurt that Dylan’s pastor gave her permission to take photo reference of the childcare room at her church! Related bonus fact: the kids in those scenes are all named after actual children of folks in Portland comics.

In “Comparative Anatomy,” I’m playing with the idea that Nicola Lancaster herself is drawing the story, since it’s told from her point of view. So I wanted an artist who’s arguably working with some of the same artistic influences Nic would have grown up absorbing — including the Studio Ghibli films that Natalie credits with making her decide to be a comic book artist. (See When Totoros Attack.) And there’s a sincere, straightforward quality to Natalie’s storytelling that feels right for Nic.

In repackaging the book for this expanded re-release was there any temptation for 2011 Sara Ryan to tweak the novel by 2001 Sara Ryan?

None at all; possibly in part because I worked on it for so long before its original publication!

You recently tweeted “Just finished a writing a chapter. Now I need to overcome the feeling of being ‘done’ to start writing the next one.’” How hard is it overcome that done feeling and keep moving?

It depends. Sometimes I can skip ahead to a scene I’m especially excited about, or switch briefly to work on something that requires a different part of my brain (like answering interview questions!) and then returning to the manuscript.

Other times I’m just tapped out for the day, and if I try to power through I write stuff I’ll end up deleting.

How often do you hear from readers, struggling with their sexuality, who were helped by your writing?

Often. And I also hear a lot from readers who are happy that Empress isn’t primarily about a coming-out struggle, that it’s more concerned with friendship and love and the sometimes blurry lines between them.

And, in that same vein, were there novels that you read as a teen that helped you when you were finding yourself?

Actually, I’d say the most helpful work to me — as I acknowledge in the recommended booklist in the expanded edition — was Alison Bechdel’s long-running comic Dykes to Watch Out For. That said, I also read classics like Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, and Zami: A New Spelling Of My Name by Audre Lorde. I wish I’d known about Nancy Garden’s Annie On My Mind when I was a teen, but I didn’t discover it until I was in my twenties.

Total comics question, where do things stand with Bad Houses, your collaboration with Carla Speed McNeil.

I’m so pleased that Dark Horse will be publishing Bad Houses. They’ve been doing a terrific job with Carla’s Finder books, and I also think it’s a nice fit to have an Oregon publisher for a book set in Oregon. Carla’s art is tremendous as usual — the things I’ve thrown at her to draw in Bad Houses include but are not limited to creepy antique dealers, a carnival, an aikido dojo, and an abandoned brewery. Also: makeouts.

It’ll still be a while before the book is released, but we’ve been talking about doing some exciting things in advance of publication, so stay tuned.

But now Guasti is a startling contradiction in landscape, a convergence that happens over and over in Southern California. The road heads through CentreLake, an industrial park of buildings with white walls and blue glass that house for-profit colleges and businesses. And then, you see the Guasti Post Office, and an old brick schoolhouse, and across from there, one of the loveliest churches I’ve ever seen. Anywhere in the world.

Radoslav Lorkovic

What keeps me coming back to Cayamo is the opportunity to discover different musicians. This past year, one of the new musicians I discovered was Ellis Paul. Part of Paul’s band was an incredible piano and accordion player Radoslav Lorkovic. Over the next several days of the cruise, Lorkovic also turned up jamming with several other musicians. I meant to conduct this interview immediately after the cruise, but life events delayed my intentions. I was glad to finally conduct the email interview this week. Be sure to visit Lorkovic’s Facebook page, as he is indeed an impressive photographer (as we discuss) in addition to his musical prowess. This interview includes a new Talking with Tim milestone, a musician quoting NFL legendary coach Vince Lombardi.

Tim O’Shea: You are currently touring with Ellis Paul, what attracted you to working with Ellis?

Radoslav Lorkovic: Ellis has been a great friend through the years.  Music is just a natural part of what is really a great ‘hang’  Being on stage is little different than having a drink at three AM in some ridiculous club laughing.  The music, however, is quite serious and precise. It is presented without out the baggage of seriousness.  He also plays everything in C sharp–for me the most difficult piano key.  It’s a massive exercise in a way.

I had known Ellis for some time before he approached me about playing music.  It was a scene from a movie.  I was at some swanky brunch with my friend Jimmy Lafave. We were in Connecticut.  Music highbrows were helping themselves to brie and mimosas. Ellis and his longtime manager Ralph Jaccodine were there.  Ellis lurked shyly in the corner.  Ralph approached me slowly.  Quietly — yet assertively– he stated “Ellis would like you to play with him.”  I replied to Ralph “Tell Ellis I’m interested.”

O’Shea: I first became aware of your work after seeing you perform at Cayamo earlier this year. As amazing an experience it was to see you (and the other artists perform), I am curious if you can talk about how enjoyable it was for you?

Lorkovic: Cayamo was for me –and I imagine all the other musicians on board a true milestone.  The obvious grandeur of the experience provides one with that “I have finally arrived” feeling.  Being on the Caribbean in the lap of luxury — AND being at the music festival you always hoped to be a part of.  Yet again — the company, Ellis. Don Con and Ralph, notched it up considerably further.

O’Shea: Some musicians are reluctant to play live, while others relish the opportunity to perform live (I would put you in the latter category). What is it about jamming and playing live that so clearly appeals to you?

Lorkovic: Quoting Vince Lombardi –”Playing live isn’t everything, it’s the ONLY thing.”  Making great records is obviously significant –The Beatles proved that.  For me playing alone or having one person in the room is like night and day.  It is a 180 degree turn.  Instincts kick in that were completely dormant.  I also compare it to being a pilot.  You aren’t taken seriously untill you have thousands of hours under your belt.

Jamming to me cuts to the essence of those instincts.  Being onstage in front of thousands and being trusted to play a song you have never heard is precisely what I thrive on.  It is thrill of being suspended in air and instantaneously deciphering how to land on your feet.

O’Shea: After being classically trained, what was it about R&B that attracted you to exploring it?

Lorkovic: That blues scale my buddy played for me in the tenth grade was all it took.  A switch had been pulled in the railyard –I never looked back, until much later, when I revisited classical music from the eyes of a blues and rock ‘n’ roll player.

O’Shea: You have released five solo CDs to date, any plans to release a sixth CD in the near term?

Lorkovic: I’m still in the process of ‘releasing’ what actually is my sixth cd –Wastelands and Casinos,  I finished it a year ago.  It was a treat to record it with my dear friends in Austin at the amazing Cedar Creek Studios.

O’Shea: You recently joined Twitter and have been on Facebook for quite awhile. Have social media tools enabled you to market yourself more effectively?

Lorkovic: I’m actually quite amazed by Facebook. It is par for the course for promoting your shows or recordings –a logical extension of Myspace.  Facebook gave me –quite accidentally — a means of being recognised for a passion of mine comparable to music –photography.  I have quietly devoted comparable energy to photography as to music –it is just recently — thanks to Facebook –that that cat is out of the bag.  The opportunity to get instantaneous feedback on images — both from people I know and trust — and complete strangers is astonishing to me.

O’Shea: Creatively what’s on the horizon for you in the rest of 2011 and 2012?

Lorkovic: Another huge passion of mine is skiing — I did good last year — maybe fifty days — mostly at Mammoth Mountain –I hope to match that — then its festival season —buckle your seatbelts…

Baron Wolman: The Rolling Stone Years

Only one person can lay claim to being Rolling Stone magazine’s first chief photographer–and his name is Baron Wolman. From 1967 to 1970, Wolman captured some of the most iconic images of musicians that graced the magazine’s pages. This August marks the release of The Rolling Stone Years, a collection of Wolman’s photographs from those three years, described by publisher Omnibus Press as consisting of “many … images from the late sixties and early seventies [that] have become iconic shots from rock’s most fertile era.” In addition to his amazing photos, Wolman writes a substantial amount about the early days of the influential magazine as well as his experiences photographing musical greats of the late 1960s/early 1970s.

At one point in the book, you express your preference to shoot in natural light. What is the appeal of using that kind of light for your photos? 

Natural light is just that.  “Natural.”  Nothing artificial about it.  What you see in the photo is what I saw when I took the picture.  For the most part, flash disturbs the subject and ruins the intimacy of the moment…

Ansel Adams in the National Parks

I was recently reading the Ansel Adams in the National Parks book (released in 2010), and got curious to know who hosts his collection. It turns out that it is the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography. I have never had an interest in visiting Arizona, but this knowledge might change my mind.

Apparently the center was co-founded by Adams, as noted by the site: “Famed American photographer Ansel Adams (1902–1984) co-founded the Center for Creative Photography in 1975. His was one of five inaugural archives, and it remains a cornerstone of the Center’s fine art and archival collections. Adams’s career spans seven decades and a wide range of subject matter, including portraits, still lifes, architecture, and the landscapes for which he is most famous. Viewers often associate his lifelong environmentalism and advocacy for America’s wilderness places with his dramatic, panoramic photographs that celebrate the redemptive potential of the natural world. Many of his best-known images were made in the American West, including a large group of works made in Yosemite Valley.”

OK, I get the guy exercising and the sunbather, but what exactly is the story for the guy in the middle? Not only is he wearing a jacket, but it appears he’s brought a sweater as well.

William P. Gottlieb's 1947 Portrait of Cab Calloway

You have to love the caption from the publication, Down Beat, where this originally ran. “Down Beat: Dizzy may play be-bop, but Cab Calloway wears it. The king of hi-de-ho poses backstage at the Strand theater in his be-bop suit, much more conservative than his previous zoot costumes. It is blue serge, no drape, no shape, just a belt in the back, pearl buttons and a hunk of watch chain”