An Interview with Portland Author Scott Nash & Actor Lucy Diminick

Welcome Lucy and Scott!

We are very grateful to you both for joining us on this Kindred journey. As the concept for this collection started to take shape, I started to see Kindred connections in all pockets of life. We make connections every day with people, animals, plants, birds – creatures of all sorts.

This collection is inspired by the second definition of the word Kindred, which is "united by nature". Having connections with our family is one thing, but a connection with someone over a shared passion is very different and what I find truly inspirational.

Okay, let's dig a little deep into what makes you two Kindred!

AA: Scott, you are an incredible story teller and that talent has become a very successful career path for you. Your stories are told through your writing and your incredible art. Please share a bit about when you knew you were a story teller and wanted to make it your life's work.

Scott Nash: I had lived in 9 different places by the time I was in second grade.

I think I learned to become a storyteller very early on because each time we moved into a new town I was eager to make friends. So, by circumstance, I became a somewhat gregarious kid. I shared the stories I experienced as they followed me from place to place. My nomadic life at an early age taught me that storytelling was a natural way to connect with others.

AA: Lucy, you are a burst of blooming creativity! At 13, you are at such a powerful time in your life, full of questions, interests and energy. Your passion for performing, telling stories and reading must keep your creativity at a rapid boil most of the time. Is there one thing that inspires you more than any other interest you are passionate about?

Lucy Diminick: I love theater because it is a welcoming and free space. You can build a community and share it when you tell the stories on stage. When I'm acting I feel free to be myself but also I can be a character within the story. I often find things I have in common with the character/story, but when I don't it's fun to be in someone else's skin. I like to inspire others by storytelling to be themselves and enjoy whatever they're passionate about.

AA: Lucy, Is there a particular role that you would love to play? Or a story that you would love to act out on the stage?

LD: I want to act in more comedic roles and stories. Making people laugh is awesome – the audience's reactions are joyful and genuine.

I love musicals too. And would like to play a strong female heroine like Angelica in Hamilton, the ex-wives in Six, or The Little Mermaid with some updates.

AA: Scott, when you write stories, do you know early on what the characters look like or does that evolve once you start drawing? I love crows and have some crow friends. I think of you often when I see them because I remember you sharing that you always thought crows walked as if their hands were behind their backs. I see that too! It gives them an air of attitude as if they are inspecting things. Please share how you create these characters in your stories and not only their personalities, but their species, and what they look like and how they march or dance around in the world.

SN: I love that you remembered my saying that! My illustrations are almost always created out of ideas or observations that I want to further realize through drawing. For me, creating a story is a combination of drawing and writing. My drawing helps advance the writing and my writing helps give voice to my characters and evoke that which is invisible. Sometimes I will sketch a scene I encounter in a sketchbook, and days or years later I can recall the specific feelings I experienced that moment. I'm often inspired to develop a character or story based on these sketches.

AA: Lucy, when you think about what your life might be like in 20 years, what do you imagine you will be doing and how will story telling play a role in your life as you grow into an adult?

LD: I will be living in my parents' basement (just joking)….No, no, you're actually writing that….(laughing, face covering, laughing).

I want to act on screen, maybe be a celebrity. I love acting and expect it will still be part of my life but I'm also interested in writing. I take honors English and I love writing stories. Acting is nice if I don't have time to create a story I can enter one that's already written.

Maybe I'll be teaching others the things I'm passionate about, like theater. Or maybe science because I like that too.

(Can science involve story telling?)

It would be fun to tell stories to help kids "lock in" and learn.

AA: Scott, you connect with children in a very Kindred way through your books and art. How do you maintain that childlike view of the world as a grown up in the world today?

SN: Thank you. I hope that the reason I connect with children is due to my inclination to talk to kids in basically the same manner as I would with anyone else. I don't put on a cute or performative voice either in the way I present myself or in my writing style. I think staying curious, delighting in the absurd and weird in nature, being open to hearing others stories, all helps to maintain a "childlike" view.

AA: Lucy and Scott – will you each please share a bit with us about your kindred connection?

LS: I think it's really cool that we are both passionate about telling stories. While waiting for the photographer we shared book recommendations and bonded over our love of dogs. Every person in the world can find a connection with anyone over seemingly random things – we all have at least a couple things in common. Start up a conversation and expand from there…..After the shoot I got a copy of Klara and the Sun b/c Scott mentioned his friend was involved with the upcoming movie. It's one of the harder books I've read but it's really good and I'm excited for the movie.

SN: Lucy and I share a kinship connection for theater.

Hers' is steeped in performance and mine is more as an avid audience member.

It's clear to me that Lucy cares deeply about stories and storytelling. For me, illustration is visual art that enhances and illuminates a specific narrative. It's hard for me to imagine theater as anything less than an original form of illustration. When I teach illustration, I suggest my students draw with a mirror nearby and encourage them to act out the characters they're drawing in front of the mirror.

I believe that theater and books are kindred - they bring an audience into a created world