Laura asked Clay Carmichael:

Did you become an illustrator first, which drove you to writing, or did the writing make you think to do your own illustrations, or are you equally drawn to both? Did you go to art school?

Clay Carmichael Technically, I was an illustrator first, but only because I couldn't actually write complete sentences until I was five or six. But I know what you mean. The idea of drawing and painting intentionally and then professionally came much later. I did take some art classes in school and college, but I didn't major in art. Some latent abilities must have been under the surface all that time, though, because when I turned my mind and hands to it I found some (very) rudimentary ability and a desire to really work at it, which is the main thing. Now, I find words good for some things and art good for others. As M. Sendak said, "pictures tell their own side of the story." I like that.

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Clay... I'm asking this of several writers, some friends, some strangers... What genre or tradition do you see yourself as being part of, and what is the beauty of writing within that genre/tradition? What can it do that others can't?

Jason Howell asked Clay Carmichael:

Clay: Do you think you're more vulnerable in your writing or in your personal life? What obstacles to vulnerability are there for you in either of those areas? And why do you think you're able to be more open in one area than in the other?

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Clay Carmichael

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Did you become an illustrator first, which drove you to writing, or did the writing make you think to do your own illustrations, or are you equally drawn to both? Did you go to art school?

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Clay... I'm asking this of several writers, some friends, some strangers... What genre or tradition do you see yourself as being part of, and what is the beauty of writing within that genre/tradition? What can it do that others can't?

Clay: Do you think you're more vulnerable in your writing or in your personal life? What obstacles to vulnerability are there for you in either of those areas? And why do you think you're able to be more open in one area than in the other?

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