Interview with Ariel Schrag

After the extremely long hiatus of LibrarianBeat, Sarah ordered me to write something. She was serious and even gave me publishing privileges on this site. I sat for a while and then I thought about how much I love Ariel Schrag and how others should, too. So I emailed Ms. Schrag and played the Librarian Card, requesting an interview. It's easy to get people to do what you want when you preface the request with "I'm a librarian".

LB: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. To be honest, I was a bit surprised at how easily you agreed to answer these questions for LibrarianBeat. I didn’t even have to offer you money. Are you always so kind and easygoing or do you just love librarians?

AS: I don’t usually do email interviews – they’re so impersonal, and I get bored of typing out the same answers over and over. But for some reason I felt different this time. I do love librarians. My ex-girlfriend is a librarian. The Library is cozy, special place (or should be).

LB: How often do you get librarian fan letters? Were you even aware that you are loved by librarians, not just lesbians? Have you ever thought of dedicating a whole comic to librarians?

AS: I once had lunch with a large group of librarians. It was after a reading I did at a library. We ate chinese food and it was lovely. I do feel loved by librarians, as well as by lesbians, though sometimes hated by lesbians, too. I only really need one lesbian anyway... to love me for me. She could be bisexual too, that would be OK. She could be non-identified. That’s cool. By dedicating do you mean writing “For all the librarians of the world” at the beginning of a book, or do you mean writing a whole book about librarians? No to both.

LB: Librarians love cats and we all have at least one. In fact, we all are given one upon graduation from library school. Do you happen to have any cats? If so, feel free to send us a picture of your cat(s).

AS: No cats. I have a dead pit bull.

LB: Your books (Awkward and Definition, Potential and Likewise) are all about your teenage years in high school. Do you currently read Young Adult books? Have any favorite YA authors or titles, new or old?

AS: I just read “The Difference Between You and Me” by Madeleine George, which I thought was great and very sweet. I also liked Hunger Games.

LB: I looked you up on Goodreads, not because I am a stalker, but because I’m a librarian and I like to research. It looks like you have great taste in books and we share similar interests in subjects. How easy is it to become friends with you in real life?

AS: It helps if we live in the same city. I live in Brooklyn, you?

LB: If you could pick any writer or artist to collaborate with on a book, a comic, a screenplay, anything really, who would it be with and what would you do? They could be living or dead.

AS: Oh god Susan Sontag. We would write a comic about her life and work together.

LB: Was it any different writing lesbian adult drama for The L Word than it was writing lesbian teen drama in your comics?

AS: Very different. I think for obvious reasons.

LB: How was it touring with Sister Spit? I first got introduced to you when you stopped in Ann Arbor a couple years ago. Would you ever tour with them again?

AS: It was great! We are pack animals. Meant to travel in a brood and hunt for meat and sleep together. Sister Spit was one of the happiest months of my life.

LB: Your book Potential is being made into a movie. What’s it like seeing something you wrote as a teenager come to life on the big screen all these years later?

AS: Well, I have yet to see it on the big screen, but I imagine it will be very exciting.

LB: Do you have any secrets you’d like to spill to our librarian readership before we end this interview?

AS: Nah. But thank you!