S.E. Fleenor, Bitches on Comics:
“The tagline for Sunflowers is “Most people think mania is fun”—an enticing call to readers suggesting your book will frame out “but it’s not.” However, you start the book by saying mania can be fun “sometimes” and exploring examples. It’s an interesting way to set up our expectations and then immediately subvert them. As the narrative progresses the fun unravels and becomes more and more frantic. Why did you want to start the book with the sometimes-fun parts and how does that prime readers for the rest of the narrative?
I think it’s important to acknowledge where the misconception comes from! It’s easy to see someone who’s just mildly hypomanic, or hear someone talking about their own experiences with elation and euphoria and creativity, and think “well, that sounds wonderful, I don’t see what the problem is.” And, to be fair, a lot of us with bipolar fall into that trap as well—“if I could just cling onto that fun part, just to get myself out of depression, or to get through this period of work crunch, everything would be okay.” It’s just that that isn’t the full story.”
Read the full interview on Bitches on Comics‘s website here!