Interview: Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis

Autumn de Wilde

The Portland-based Colin Meloy, founder and lead singer of the indie-rock group the Decemberists, and Carson Ellis, an artist and children's book illustrator, have two thriving, creativity-driven careers, a five-year-old son, Hank, and now a new baby, Wildwood ($18, HarperCollins; ages 9 to 12). The fantastical children's book, which debuted in late August, is the first in a series about a girl named Prue and her best bud Curtis, who together brave the harrowing Impassable Forest in search of Prue's baby brother, who's been abducted by a flock of crows. What they find there is a deep, dark world unto itself that's torn by strife and seems to need their help as much as they need its. We recently spoke with songwriter Meloy, who wrote the book, and Ellis, who created the book's magical, sumptuously detailed illustrations, about Wildwood's genesis, what it was like working together and how they juggle their multifarious lives.

What was the impetus behind your writing a book for kids?

CM: Well, this is something that Carson and I had been talking about doing since before the Decemberists—about 12 years ago, when we were in San Francisco living in a warehouse; we’d known each other because she had done the posters for my band. We always knew we had similar fascinations. When we moved to Portland, we started putting together this idea of a long illustrated novel that would be a collaboration. We then put it on the back burner because other things were taking over. But when there was a window, a bit of a lull in the Decemberists’ schedule, we decided it was something we still really wanted to do, so we dove back in.

And when was that?

CM: It was probably, like, three years ago. It was sort of a deliberate lull. The schedule for the Decembrists was all-consuming. But three years ago we started working on Wildwood and went from there. We used a lot of the same elements that were in the original idea for the story.

Were you a couple when you started the first prototype for the book?

CM: Not initially, no.

CE: We were just getting to know each other. But then I moved up to Portland in 2001. And that was around the time the Decemberists got started.

What was it like juggling the book with the band and the songwriting? Did you have to stop work with the Decemberists and completely focus on the book to get it done?

CM: Not really. I think I did the first big part of it in between finishing the last of The Hazards of Love and when we started recording The King Is Dead. So probably half of The King Is Dead was written while I was working on the book. It was sort of a nice break from doing the songwriting—and vice versa. The songwriting was a nice break from working on the book. But the processes for songwriting and novel writing are so dissimilar that they kind of work together.

That's a question I was going to ask you. I mean, are there any similarities or are they a world apart?

CM: I feel like they’re as different as two things can be that still come from the same part of you, you know? Which is sort of a testament to the wonders of the human imagination. Songwriting is a little bit more elusive in its way. With songs, you’re kind of sitting and just working with a bunch of different elements. You know, there’s a chord progression, melody, and then there’s meaning and tempo. There are all these different things you communicate and feel. And then it’s all over within four minutes. Whereas a novel is sort of a grander thing: It’s like being in the kitchen with five dishes going at once. You know, you kind of need to make sure that everything is in place.

What was it like working with your life partner on a book?

CM: It was good. Carson?

CE: I mean, I can speak to that, especially having worked on a book with a non–life partner [Laughs]. It was good, and it was difficult. This is, like, my sixth or seventh book, and with most of the books I’ve illustrated I haven’t had any kind of communication with the author. I guess technically it’s a collaboration, because both people are working together doing something creatively toward the same end. But it doesn’t feel very collaborative.

That’s really interesting. I’ve never heard of that but I suppose it’s common.

CE: It’s really common. I didn’t know that was the case before I actually started doing it. I think everybody imagines an illustrator and a writer sort of hashing it out together in a room making a picture. But now it’s more that the two [components] are sort of kept separate, and the illustrator starts working with a very much finished manuscript most of the time. There aren't a lot of invitations to offer feedback or anything. This book was definitely a different experience than that. We talked about it around the clock; we were always thinking about it and hashing it out. And that was really interesting and fun. And then it was also hard because of the degree to which you’re candid about your feelings or impressions or feedback with someone you know and love. It was easy to be too harsh and hurt each other’s feelings, which happened.

Yeah, I’ve been there too. It’s hard to separate emotion from the professional concerns or criticisms.

CE: It’s really hard. I think you’re more likely, with someone you know well or that you love, to go too far. But I think you’re also more likely to take things personally. We certainly had rocky moments, especially in the beginning, when we were trying to figure out the general shape of the thing and how it was going to look. I dunno, do you have anything to add to that?

CM: No. I completely agree with everything you said.

Colin, you said on your online video that you relate the most to the character of Curtis. Could tell us a little about him?

CM: Well, Curtis is a kid who, I think, is a bit of a loner at school and has a hard time fitting in. He has a hard time transitioning into outer life. So he follows more childlike, imaginative pursuits. And so when he gets the invitation to go into the woods, he kind of experiences that reality as daunting, at first, but he quickly warms up to it. I relate to that in the sense that I desperately wanted to not be part of this world. I felt like I wasn’t really meant to be in this reality. I felt like I was meant for the world of books and comic books.

And what about Prue? Is there a person in your life that inspired the main character?

CM: Initially, the only tween we knew well enough was a friend of ours. And so we kind of modeled the character after her. We didn’t know her well enough to get too detailed, but she had an independent streak that we admired. When I got into writing it, I felt like I was drawing more from Carson’s childhood and Carson’s interests as a kid. So that really became the blueprint for Prue.

Did having a child influence the book in any way?

CM: Well, Hank, our son, was very supportive in that he just loved that we were doing the book. I would read sections to him in the evening and he was really excited about it, and he fell in love with the world and the characters. And I feel like he is the most imaginative person I’ve ever met, so I feel like I’m constantly trying to keep up with him in that sense. He was a real inspiration for these books.

That’s really cool. And were you much of a reader growing up?

CM: Yeah, I was a pretty avid reader. I really loved Roald Dahl, Ray Bradbury, Lloyd Alexander, Tolkien. Carson was a C.S. Lewis nerd.

CE: I was a huge fan of Narnia. I also read a book when I was eight years old called Misty of Chincoteague.

Me too. I loved that book.

CE: Me too. And I loved The Hobbit, and I loved The Phantom Tollbooth. And Alice in Wonderland is a favorite of mine.

How did you get into book illlustration, Carson?

CE: Well, it was something that I wanted to do from the time I was little. I mean, I think if you’d asked me when I was my son’s age, I probably would have said I wanted to be a book illustrator.  But I didn’t go to a school that even had an illustration program. And after college I just moved around a lot. I was a painter, and I didn’t want to do any illustrations because I didn’t really know how to do it or how to get into it. That’s when I started doing stuff for Colin’s band, and as they gained a wider audience, more and more people knew about the art I was doing, which was essentially illustration work. Then people started contacting me about editorial work and then eventually a book agent asked me if I wanted to do kids’ books. To which I said, “Yes, of course! I’m dying to do that.” That got the ball rolling and got me a bunch of contracts right off the bat. I think I was 28 or 29 when I got my first book contract; it took me a long time. But I was making art that whole time—drawing every day in addition to stuff I was doing professionally.

Do you prefer collaborations like Wildwood over noncollaborations?

CE: Yeah, I definitely do. I mean, it’s so much more meaningful to me, both to be able to collaborate closely with the author of the book, but also feel like this was a product of both of our brains.