I think short stories are maybe my “thing.” I wish I would have figured that out about myself earlier. What else are you working on now? Do you have any plans to flesh any of these stories out into full graphic novels?Īll the short stories in How To Be Happy are stand-alones. It’s good when a piece of art can make us feel less alone. I am very glad, and thankful, when someone tells me they’ve read one of my comics and can see themselves in it. What’s the one thing you’d like people to take away from reading your stories? The stories in How to be Happy are a pretty motley collection written over the course of seven years, but most are about the search for happiness, the desire to be our best selves, the need to connect with other human beings, the struggle to become good. I think the struggle to be happy is an important and noble one. After we finished laughing Drew said “But seriously, that’s a good title.” I suggested the title How to be Happy to my husband Drew as a joke and we both laughed and laughed. I was trying to come up with titles for my books, which is a collection of stories that are mostly sad, or about people who are trying not to be sad. Does it refer to the stories themselves or more to you personally? (As in, is this construction of narratives a kind of therapy for you?) Maybe really good artists just expand their definition of “me.” The title of the book seems like a bit of a curveball. I’m not sure if this is something I might be able to achieve through personal growth, or if it is even really possible for anyone. I would like to write stories not about me very much. Some of them are non-fiction stories on the same subject. Most of the stories in How to be Happy are fictional stories about my own experiences. Do you write from experience or from your imagination? Some of the narratives inside appear as if they could be autobiographical. Some are just drawings I spat into my sketchbook. Some stories are tighter and the drawings get tighter with them. A drawing that’s been drawn over and over again can turn into just a symbol – it stops being a living thing. A good drawing is sort of mystical it has its own life and existence in addition to being a representation of something else. I don’t like to draw the same image twice.

My drawing style changes a lot both because different stories call for different styles and because I don’t want to get stale or bored. Seven years! There’s a lot of variation between visual styles in the book. Do you make a conscious decision to illustrate certain stories in a specific way? That was the first comic I did for MOME, way back in 2007. This is a collection of drawings and short stories rather than a graphic novel, how long have you been amassing all of these?Ī long time! I think the earliest is Seven Sacks.

How to be happy by eleanor davis