Talking ‘Nell Of Gumbling’ With Emma Steinkellner

Besides the whole living in a magical kingdom part, Nell’s life in Gumbling is pretty normal, which is why she needs to make sure she gets her dream apprenticeship with artist, Wiz Bravo, but while fairy tales are known for their happy endings, getting there can be a challenge, and it’s no different for Nell in Emma Steinkellner‘s Nell of Gumbling. Find out why Steinkellner chose a journal format for this graphic novel and more in the following interview:

Rachel Bellwoar: What made you decide to have Nell be human, unlike her best friends, Gil and Myra, who are a Thumbkin and half fairy, respectively?

Emma Steinkellner: I had a couple of early ideas for the book that didn’t end up making it to the final version. Believe it or not, one of the ideas involved a character that was basically me, Emma, staying with some relatives in the magical land of Gumbling and getting inspiration to make new comics there. Those relatives were the Starkeepers and Nell was my younger cousin.  So she was a human like me. That weird, meta idea… obviously did not make the cut, but by then those characters were like family to me so their designs and personalities were pretty locked in. I was also sure from the beginning what sort of beings lived in Gumbling. They were all the kinds of magical characters I loved in the fairy tales I read and watched as a kid: fairies, thumb-sized people, witches, and centaurs and unicorns (which I took the liberty of combining to make the fabulous Voila Lala).

Bellwoar: Outside of Thumbelina, I don’t think I’ve ever encountered Thumbkins before. Was it fun to have a character who’s height gives him a completely different perspective of the world and everyday objects around him?

Steinkellner: I looooved the Thumbelina movie from 1994 growing up. I was so gripped by all the wild, overwhelming situations she gets into because everything in her world is so big. Same with the Honey I Shrunk the Kids movies or The Borrowers or The Rescuers. I love playing with scale that way and exploring the unique abilities and challenges Gil has and how that informs his relationships with his friends (maybe we will even see more of that in future Gumbling stories, who knows).

Bellwoar: The journal format of Nell reminded me of the books I used to love reading as a kid, like Marissa Moss’ Amelia’s Notebook. I also can relate to Nell’s habit of starting journals and never finishing them. How early did you know you wanted to organize Nell as Nell’s journal?

Steinkellner: The Amelia books were some of my favorites too, as well as books by sister author-illustrator team Kate and Sarah Klise like Letters from Camp and Trial by Journal. To this day, I love how playful they are and how the journal format makes the world of the character feel intimate and real. Like I mentioned before, one of the early ideas for the book was that it would be my (Emma’s) journal that I’m keeping during my stay in Gumbling. But the character of Nell kept shining so much, that it only made sense to kick myself out of the story and make it Nell’s journal. And writing in Nell’s voice felt really natural, like writing as myself at that age. Only Nell actually completes her journals now and I didn’t start doing that till age 20.

Bellwoar Are maps (like the one of Gumbling) as enjoyable to design as they are to look at?

Steinkellner: Absolutely! I had such a good time thinking up the design and layout of Gumbling. Plus it’s really handy as I make the rest of the book to be able to go back and reference the map I made. That way, I can remember where everything is. The 2-page spread with the overhead view of Gumbling and the 2-page spread of the Feszht celebration were some of my favorite bits to illustrate.

Bellwoar: What was it like to come up with your own, original fairy tales expanding on Gumbling’s history?

Steinkellner: Well, speaking of rejected ideas for the book, my very first idea was to write and illustrate a book of original fairy tales! I still got to do that as Nell at the end of this book, so that idea didn’t totally go to waste. But it was so much more satisfying to make all those tales part of one place’s history and to create a story around one kid learning to appreciate that history in her own way. I love how similar themes and patterns emerge in fairy tales all over the world and so I wanted to reflect that in the Gumbling tales. Like, there’s unique versions of Cinderella all over the world, so I wanted Gumbling to have its own story with a Cinderella vibe and that’s how I started thinking up “Zhizhelle’s Magic Shoes”. Or I’ve always loved the big joke of everyone getting tricked into seeing clothes that aren’t there in The Emperor’s New Clothes and I wanted to pay tribute to that mass misunderstanding in “The Poor Little Mouse”.

Bellwoar: Nell is initially disappointed at the prospect of apprenticing for Mrs. Birdneck in the archives. Have you ever had a mentor like Mrs. Birdneck, and what are the origins of Mrs. Birdneck’s name?

Steinkellner: Definitely. I’ve had teachers with whom I’ve had a tough time initially, either because I struggled with the subject they were teaching (*cough cough* math) or because we just had different personalities. When she starts her lorekeeping apprenticeship, Nell is sure she’s gonna have a bad time because she thinks the work is boring and she finds Birdneck strict and stuffy. Likewise, Birdneck is sure she’s going to have a bad time because she doesn’t think Nell has any respect for the lore and she has high expectations for her apprentice that Nell doesn’t meet right away. Of course they have a hard time getting along! They have to find common ground, take  interest in the other’s interests, and learn that they’re both people with feelings. As for her name, I just thought “Birdneck” had a ring to it and she does have a long, elegant neck like a swan or a crane.

Bellwoar: Trouble comes to Gumbling in the form of two resort developers. How did you come up with the character designs for the duo Nell nicknames “Wet Nails” and “Teeth”?

Steinkellner: With some characters, I know their design is right from the first time I draw them because they’ve already been living so clearly in my head (that’s how it was with Nell). But with the Greatman-Bigbys, I had to sketch out quite a few versions before I knew what looked right. When I’m sketching, I try to break down what these characters DO and how I can use their designs as tools to help them do what they do in the story. In this story, Wet Nails and Teeth (who we later learn are named Christina and Tom Greatman-Bigby) are trying very aggressively to persuade and convince the other characters of something. They want to convince the town they are lost royalty. They want to persuade the town to accept the idea of the Castleworld resort. So I wanted them both to have expressive features that highlight all that convincing and persuading. Christina has those long, elegant nails that she gestures with a lot and Tom has a mouth full of big shiny teeth with which he makes his arguments.

Bellwoar: How has working on this book been different from working on Quince (Fanbase Press) and The Okay Witch (Aladdin)?

Steinkellner: Working in this diary format is so new for me, because I’m writing and illustrating in character as Nell. I’m trying to figure out how to tell her version of events from her unique point of view and that’s a totally different way to tell a story. I love it. There are plenty of parts of the story that are told in pure comic form, but there are also opportunities for Nell to show what’s going on in different ways: lists, diagrams, taping some scrap from her life in her journal. It’s so much fun to use my imagination in this whole new way to show you Nell’s life and world.

Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Emma!

Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy Tale Life goes on sale September 26th from Labyrinth Road.