I want to welcome Carolyn Watson Dubisch, who had a new children’s book coming out. Carolyn, welcome to Martin Matthews Writes!

Thank you Martin, thrilled to join you here.

Before we get into the new book, tell us a little about yourself

I'm an artist and a writer, originally from New York. Currently, I live in Mazatlán, Mexico where the ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. We moved here about six months before the pandemic, so we've spent all the COVID years here in Mexico. Which has been different than I think it was for my friends in States. I have spent more time at home these last few years. I often created art for festivals and events but much of that has shifted now. I am the creator of four comic book series, two of which are ongoing, I write and draw children's books in my studio, and sculpt masks—for Halloween and theater—that I sell online. We live about a block and a half from the Pacific Ocean here, and Mazatlán is famous for Carnaval, which we attended just before everything shut down a couple of years ago. Right now it's mango season and our tree is filling our backyard with mangoes everywhere. It's hard for just my daughter, my husband, and me to keep up. We are just about a week or two from the rainy season here, which means big, sometimes dangerous storms.

That’s incredible! What an exciting place to live. Okay, so tell us a little about your latest book.

My new book is called "The Dragon in The Closet. Dragon's Journey, Issue #3". It's the third installment of my kid's comic book series "The Dragon in The Closet". Orin Bean, a young boy, has terrible luck and a problem with monsters. Also, his Nana seems to be a powerful witch, but he's really a perfectly normal boy who just happens to have a dragon in the closet. What kid wouldn't want that? In this installment, Dragon has left the closet and can finally see the sky. Now he’s flying north to help Orin face his monsters and defeat his family curse. A big storm and terrifying monsters like Orin and Dragon have never seen await them both. Will his Nana find them in time to save them from these horrors? It's a fantasy adventure in a fairytale world for kids ages seven to eleven. The complete story arch is a coming-of-age story as Orin becomes more independent and realizes his own power to stand against the monsters that are out to destroy him. Much in the vein of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. The comic series is also a webcomic on ComicFury and has weekly updates.

Tell us a little bit about your characters.

Orin Bean is an orphan living with his Nana -his mother's sister. His parents were killed by Dragons in an attempt to steal a dragon egg. He lives with a terrifying curse passed down from his Grandfather, Jack. When Jack climbed the beanstalk to the giant's kingdom and robbed them he brought this curse to every generation of his family. Orin is the last of the Beans. The rest were all killed by monsters. He suffers from a great deal of anxiety and some PTSD from constant monster attacks. Dragon was kidnapped as an egg by Orin's parents -their last act before death. He was delivered to Nana's doorstep. He is an Oracle Dragon, which is very rare. He can see possible futures and was kept in a closet from his time of hatching by Nana, who used him to predict monster attacks. Dragon has become friends with Orin against all odds and has decided to bring Orin north to try to break his curse. He is also deeply afraid and angry with Nana, who kept him a prisoner in her basement. Nana is a powerful witch and a babysitter turned parent of Orin when her sister and brother-in-law got themselves killed. She knows she is out of her depth. She is overwhelmed with constant battles to save Orin from doom and is extremely protective of Orin, but has not been kind to Dragon. Her main motivation is to keep Orin safe, no matter the cost. Lucy is Orin's only friend. The other children are very afraid of him because bad things happen whenever Orin is around. Lucy is a very lucky little girl, having been kissed by a fairy godmother at birth. She's also very skilled at appearing in other people's dreams and seems to have a bit of a problem with kleptomania. She's quite a happy child and wins every contest she's ever entered and never has had anything very bad happen to her. Even as a friend of Orin she walks away without a scratch every time. She has an adventurous spirit, mainly because she never feels she's in much danger.

Where did the idea for this book come from?

I came up with the story for "The Dragon in The Closet" during a dark time with my daughter who suffers from suicidal ideation. She was so bad they were recommending she be hospitalized but we couldn't afford it and our insurance covered almost nothing. The character, Nana, is what I wish I was. Someone who could see the monsters and had the tools to protect their child. As the story unfolded I began to realize that the main antagonist was his Nana. She held Orin in place physically and emotionally and she of course was Dragon's antagonist. The next few issues will be getting quite interesting.

Whew, that is an incredible story.

Is there a message behind your book? What is it?:

I suppose the overall story is about facing your demons. This book is a true adventure story and the first time Orin is away from his Nana and away from her protection. I like to create stories that spark a child's imagination and bring them into a world where anything can happen. I also like to weave classic fairytale tropes into the story. In this book, Nana and Lucy find a candy house in the forest.

Tell us who or what are some of your biggest influences?

The Sister's Grimm series by Mishael Buckley is a big influence on this story. Other creators that inspire me are Ed Gorey, Don Kenn Mortenson, and of course the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books by Lemony Snicket—aka Daniel Handler.

What are you currently reading?

Right now I am reading "Binti" by Nnedi Okorafor. I read her other book "Akata Witch" which was brilliant and engaging and decided to try this one which is more sci-fi. So far it's great, but honestly really gorey. Everyone onboard her spaceship was just slaughtered. It's very intense. I have high hopes as this book has won many awards.

Are you working on another novel? Can you tell us anything about it?

I am currently working on a wordless book for kids called "Alien Farm, scary stories for kids" which will be a series of books. This first one is about an alien invasion. I also have another comic book series called "After The Robots Died". The first issue of that will be out by autumn. The main concept behind "After the Robots Died" is below. Arriving as embryos and raised by robots, a colony of children on a distant planet struggles to survive when all the robots begin to shut down.

That’s a real cool concept!

Can you tell me more about "The Dragon in The Closet" the webcomic?

Sure, it runs on a website called Comic Fury. The URL is TheDragoninTheCloset.thecomicseries.com I add new pages each week. Right now the schedule is every Saturday morning a new page posts but since I schedule about a year ahead of when it actually goes up I changed the posting schedule. Starting in August the comic will have new updates twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. If you join the site and become a follower you can comment and interact as the story unfolds. Do you have an idea of where the story for issue #4 will go? Oh, yes, I have written issue #4 and started drawing it already. Still, it will take me another year to get all of the art completed. Exciting developments though, but I'm not giving anything away.

Thanks for stopping by and chatting with me today, Carolyn!

Thank you so much. I would love to catch up again sometime, have a great summer.