1. What inspires you to make graphic novels? I'm mostly inspired by human behaviour, relationships and psychology. I'm fascinated by how people's minds work, and how they manage (or struggle) to exist alongside other people. I was a visual artist before I was a writer... I knew I always wanted to tell stories but it took me a while to find out what I was really interested in. For a while I worked as an illustrator, illustrating other people's stories, before finally taking the plunge into writing my own. I started with small zines and worked up to books, though I still make regular short comics to keep practising and keep experimenting. I like being able to use my drawing skills to help tell stories... I'm not very interested in images by themselves. I love using art to create atmosphere and show the inner lives of my characters through their body language and facial expressions. The only thing I don't like about comics is how long they take to make! 2. Please tell us a bit about Breakwater. Breakwater touches on some themes that are very important to me - workplaces and workplace friendships, and the question of how much of ourselves we're prepared to give to other people. I'm very interested in mental illness and how it affects not only those directly experiencing the illness but also those around them. I'm interested in the tension between the human desire to help and support others and the fact that we also have to take care of ourselves first and foremost. My first book Follow Me In touched on a similar storyline relating to alcoholism. Although Breakwater is fiction (whereas Follow Me In was autobiographical,) many aspects of the story were stitched together from real jobs I've had and real people I've met. The setting was a real place where I worked as a teenager, though I decided to write about older characters as I feel that young people are already very well-served by graphic novel writers. I lived in Brighton for a few years, and it was one of those places that seemed full of oddballs and misfits - people who’d slipped through the gaps, quit school, were self-medicating or pursuing alternative lifestyles. I brought some of that into my story - not everyone has a vocation or knows what they want from life. And even the crappiest workplace can play a role in fostering connections between people who might not have many close relationships outside of work... or people who might not have otherwise met. 3. What is next for you? I'm currently working on a third graphic novel. I have the story all written up and I've done some drawing but it'll still take me a while to finish. I work part-time for Avery Hill Publishing and other small jobs here and there, so I have to fit my own creative work around those jobs. 4. Where can we find more information about your work?
My website is here: http://www.katrionachapman.com - there are a few short comics on there that people can read.
I have a Patreon where I post weekly updates, plus monthly comics that I only share there. Anyone interested in following progress on my next book can get weekly updates and peeks here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=840956
I'm also on twitter (https://twitter.com/katchapman) and instagram (https://www.instagram.com/katrionachapman)
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