I´ve interviewed Angus Oblong on November 2003 for a website that closed shortly after and I couldn’t publish it. Few days ago, I remembered it and here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

1.- Your book (Creepy Susie and 13 others tragic tales for troubled children) is your fist one already translated into spanish and was published early months on this year. Have you ever thought that you would be read in non english spoken countries? Is this a good push for you to try to translate it into another languages?
I hoped it would, but didn’t actually think that it would ever happen because languages hate me.
The only Spanish I know is “I have an octopuss in my pants.”

2.- Were you surprised knowing that your books are getting popular in Spain?
They are? Cool!!

3.- Do you think since year 2000 this kind of stories (that they are between macabre and naof) are becoming popular? Or just are focused on a chosen public who are into terror, gore, gothic and freaky stories?
The 2nd one. No, the 1st one. Meat is good to eat.

4.- Do you think this kind of books are influenced by cinema or rock music or vice versa?
I don’t know what others are influenced by, but I can speak for myself. My influences are children’s books, cartoons & dead things I find on the street.

5.- How do you feel about The Oblongs? Would you like it to be translated into other languages?
I feel pretty good about The Oblongs. It didn’t turn out to be quite my vision, but it was 25%
there. It already has been translated into other languages. But nobody’s shown me yet.

6.- Tell us a little bit of your background: When and how did you started to ilustrate children books? When and how did you started to ilustrate your own stories? Which are your influences as a writer? And as an ilustrator?
I’ve been illustrating all my life. It’s only been in the past 6 or so years that I’ve decided to write & illustrate children’s books. My influences, in the beginning, were Dick & Jane. I wanted to see Dick hit Jane with a hammer & Jane to fall down bleeding. That’s funny.

7.- Well, this is my own opinisn, I hope you don’t mind but I think all your stories play with a social situation critic with a surrealistic point of view; I almsot dare to call it kafkaesque. What do you think about it? Because all the people, who love your stories, have felt identified with some characters. I identify with nerds, rejects from society, ugly people, deformed people, the mentally insane and janitors. Not that all of these people have anything in common, they are just my people. The social satire is something that comes out when I write & is unintentional. Surrealistic? Really? You think so? Perhaps you
are not right.

8.- Which are your opinisn about authors like thefollowing:
* Charles Adams (Adams Family creator)
Insane.
* Tim Burton
Sane.
* Edward Gorey
Insane.
* Roman Dirge
Sane.
* Jhonen Vazquez
Insane.

9.- This question is just for curiosity: Why do you hate Starbuck coffees? The coffee there is not so awful, Mc Donald’s ones is pretty bad.
It’s not the coffee. It’s the company policy to overthrow smaller coffee houses. In San
Francisco, California, where I’m from, Starbucks came into town and shut down all of my favourite cafes. So I hate them. And you should too, please. They are evil.

10.- Do you still colect dead trees in your appartment
That was a lie. Everything I say is a lie. Except for the Starbucks thing.

11.- How is your back hand going on? Still growing up?
Lie.

12.- And just for ending this interview: which will be your next projects?
I have sold two television show ideas recently to a yet undisclosed network (I will announce
them when the time is right), and have recently shot a live action pilot for a cable network
(written & directed by me.) I also have 3 more children’s books with my literary agent who can’t seem to get me published again. My life sucks.

Thanks very much Mr. Oblong for your time, your kind attention and your answers.
You can send me more questions if you want to! This is fun!
Angus Oblong.

Via Once Upon a blog, I’ve found out the 2008-2009 Literacy Foundation’s campaign “The gift of reading” with this motto “When a child doesn’t read, imagination disappears”. It made me wonder about my favourite books, how often I buy books as gifts and how much I miss reading more often that I actually do. I don’t think my life would be the same without books or even more, I don’t think I would be the same person without reading.

Since four years ago, I have the chance to buy books for my niece Susana. I’m very careful that she likes all of them because I don’t want she could feel any rejection to reading. At the moment, I’ve bought books by Roald Dahl, Gloria Fuertes and Dora the Explorer. I’m looking forward to seeing what she will love and read afterwards but I believe that she will use new formats like e-books or whatever that I won’t be able to imagine.

Although I’ve never been a big fan of children books unless they were written by Poe, Lovecraft or Dahl, if I had to choose one as a favourite, I would choose “Mirror in the Mirror: a labyrinth” by Michael Ende. And what about you? What is your favourite book?