In his inaugural interview, our newest writer, Hernando Diaz, welcomes Sarah Cooke, editor of Faster Than Light: A Sci-Fi Anthology, fully funded on Kickstarter for release through Lesser Known Comics, to the Yeti Cave.
COMIC BOOK YETI: Sarah, thank you for joining Comic Book Yeti today! We’re keen to explore with you, why have you decided to focus Faster than Light around the concept of family?
SC: The idea for Faster Than Light came out of a conversation with Mark Bernal, founder
of Lesser Known Comics, the publisher I produced the book with. I’m in the process of writing a sci-fi series called Mayfly and I was telling Mark I was a little concerned that readers and backers of No Spell Lasts Forever, my modern fantasy series, would be reluctant to follow me to a different genre. He suggested doing a sci-fi anthology featuring a short set in the world of Mayfly that would introduce the story to readers, and would serve as a kind of preview of my sci-fi writing. Mayfly is all about family. The main character is grieving the death of their father, and her closest relationship is that with her brother. So making family the central focus of the anthology seemed like the natural direction to go.
CBY: Your story, "The Chasm: A Mayfly Story," evokes that feeling you can only receive from having lost someone. Could you tell us more about this idea and your inspiration to create Lettie’s character? What were your biggest influences in creating this story?
SC: Like I mentioned, “The Chasm” is set in the world of Mayfly. Lettie, the main character of the series, is dealing with the death of her father, and the feeling she has that the way she’s grieving is wrong. It’s based on my experience with loss in my own life, and the feelings I’ve had about it. It’s probably the most personal story I’ve written so far. I think the experience of questioning whether you’re grieving in the “right” way is fairly common, and that’s what I wanted to explore. In my opinion, the truth is, there is no single correct way to grieve, we all process loss in our own way, which is the overarching message of Mayfly.
I also want to note that Kieran Quinn’s gorgeous art creates a tone that fits that message perfectly.
CBY: How would you describe your collaboration with the other creators involved in this project?
SC: I had a great experience collaborating with the contributing creators. In fact, there were so many wonderful submissions that I’m going to be doing a second volume next year.
The anthology was produced with the publisher Lesser Known Comics, and several other LKC creators really stepped up to lend their time and talent to the project. A number of the stories in the book include LKC creators, and two of the covers are by LKC folks, Dom Monette and Mike Seers. Some additional creators I’ve worked with in the past and who were are part of Faster Than Light were instrumental, as well. Brittany Matter, who edited “The Chasm” and Mayfly and whom I’ve worked with on other projects, lent her time and expertise in a number of instances. And the contributors were great when it came to promoting the project, as well. I think what I enjoyed most about it is how much it felt like a community project – the creators really came together to pull their efforts and make it the best book it could be.
CBY: Can you tell us about the campaign that you ran on Kickstarter? What can you share about your experiences building the campaign and promoting it?
SC: The campaign for Faster Than Light was the fourth comic campaign I had run, and it went very well. It’s interesting because in some ways, it was very similar to my previous campaigns for the first three issues of No Spell Lasts Forever. But there were some differences, too. It was my first time crowdfunding for a comic series other than No Spell and, as I said above, I wasn’t sure how many of my previous backers would follow me to a sci-fi project. But a lot of them showed up and supported it, which was lovely to see. It was also great to have the help of the contributing creators when it came to promoting the campaign. And I played around with some of the reward tiers and did some things a little differently than I had done with my previous campaigns. I added more tiers and put the variants at a slightly higher price point than the standard cover, and I think those were good decisions.
CBY: In general, what kind of themes or messages do you try to communicate in your work?
SC: It varies from project to project. I try to explore different themes and messages and give my characters different emotional arcs to avoid always treading the same ground. But one thread that I think often runs through my projects is that my characters are frequently struggling with self-acceptance in one way or another. With Lettie, for example, she feels like the way she’s grieving her father is wrong, and she’s trying to work through those feelings and learn to accept the fact that the way she processes grief is perfectly valid. With Rosette, the main character of No Spell Lasts Forever, she has been told from a young age that her magic is inherently bad and dangerous and that she, therefore, is fundamentally a bad apple. So her arc is about her learning to feel worthy, and proving to herself that she actually is a good person, there’s nothing inherently bad about her.
CBY: What was your inspiration to become a comics writer and journalist? What has been the most rewarding moment in your career so far?
SC: I wanted to be a writer even when I was a kid. My Substack, Killer Tater Tots, is named after a short story I wrote in grade school that involves a bunch of tater tots coming to life and taking over my school. And I decided I wanted to write comics specifically because I enjoy reading them so much, and because it’s such a unique medium. It’s visual, like film, but it’s also a medium that’s read and not watched, and there are so many interesting things you can do with that creatively. It’s really the comics I loved reading and the emotional impact they had on me that influenced me to create stories in this medium.
As far as journalism, I haven’t worked in that field for a few years now, but it’s also something that started with my love of writing. In the early days of trying to build a career, I wanted to take my interest in writing and use it to explore issues and ideas that I felt were important. There was, of course, a fair amount of work that was more rote – short news briefs, press releases, etc. But I got to work on some stories that really meant a lot to me, as well.
I think there have been a lot of rewarding moments. Producing Faster Than Light is one of them because I was so supported and encouraged by the creators I collaborated with. These very talented creators really rallied to help make the project as successful as possible, and that was a lovely feeling. Working with Mad Cave over this last year and having the opportunity to collaborate with their editorial team has been wonderful, as well. I’ve learned a lot both in terms of writing and navigating the world of comics publishing, particularly when it comes to licensed properties.
CBY: I know you won Mad Cave’s 2023 Talent Search and the 2023 Negative Space Women’s Comic Book Writing Competition. Could you tell us more about what went into this great experience?
SC: Those have both been great experiences for me. The Negative Space Competition was first. I took an excellent virtual editing class taught by Mike Marts and one of the other students there, Mike Tjaden, who’s a talented writer with a story in Faster Than Light, is the one who told me about Negative Space. As a winner of that competition, I was given mentoring sessions with a number of editors, including Brittany Matter who, as I’ve mentioned, has been a huge advocate of both Faster Than Light and Mayfly. and Nahuel Fanjul-Arguijo of Negative Space is the one who introduce me to Mark Bernal, and Faster Than Light wouldn’t have happened without that introduction. As far as what went into it, my submission was the first issue of another project I was working on at the time.
Winning the Negative Space Competition gave me the confidence to enter the Mad Cave Talent Search. They were looking for shorts set in the universe of one of their books, so I wrote an eight-page “Stargazer” short. And I worked with the talented editor James Powell on that one. I’ve now had the chance to write three shorts for Mad Cave. Everyone I’ve worked with there has been so supportive, and it has really been a lovely experience.
CBY: Can you reveal for us any upcoming projects you may have following up Faster Than Light?
SC: The next project coming out this spring will be No Spell Lasts Forever #4, with beautiful art by Eze Di Savino. I’m also planning to launch the Kickstarter for the second volume of Faster Than Light probably in the summer. I’m working on a short called “Betty and the Ogre” for the second volume of Nathan Leuth’s modern fantasy anthology Concrete Arcanum, along with the talented artist Carl Bourne. And I’m in the very early development stages of another project with Dom Monette.
CBY: What advice would you give to any aspiring comic book creators in our audience?
SC: I think my two biggest pieces of advice would be to find a good editor to work with, and to build your community. Working with talented editors like James, Brittany, and the Mad Cave editorial team has helped my writing grow immensely. It’s impossible to completely get outside of your head when it comes to your own writing, and editors can point out areas of improvement that you simply can’t see on your own.
And as far as community, connecting with other indie creators has led to opportunities that I never would have had if I were working alone in my bubble. Like I mentioned with the Negative Space and Mad Cave competitions, I wouldn’t even have entered those if not for my connections with other creators. And those competitions helped me continue to broaden my community, and those new connections in turn birthed projects and created opportunities that never would have happened otherwise. And of course, growing your community also means supporting other creators. Promoting their projects, sharing any useful information you have, etc. We really have to help each other succeed in this field, and connecting with and showing up for one another often leads to exciting and completely unexpected things.
CBY: To close, can you share any comic books (or other creative work) that you would recommend to readers?
SC: Where to start!? There are so many books that I love. One that I mention a lot because it was pretty influential for me is Craig Thompson’s Blankets. There was a period of my life when I was reading and writing a lot of poetry (which I still love!) and Thompsons writing is very poetic to me in the way that it often homes in on a singular experience, like a snapshot.
I also really loved Somna – Tula Lotay’s art is gorgeous as always, and of course Becky Cloonan is an amazing writer. I’m a huge fan of everything by James Tynion IV, especially Department of Truth and The Closet. I just got caught up with The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, by Tate Brombal and Isaac Goodhart and I’m loving it. And I recently read Uzumaki by Junji Ito, which is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever read but in the very best way.
I also recommend following Kat Calamia. She’s a very talented creator and she regularly shares videos that feature her top 10 comics on Kickstarter. It’s a great way to keep up with some of the amazing projects being produced by indie creators.
CBY: Sarah, thank you for joining us in the Yeti Cave today! For our readers at home, please feel free to include any portfolio, publication, or social media links below where they can further engage with you and your work. We look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
SC: Thanks so much! I really enjoyed your questions! The best places to follow me are Substack, Instagram, and Bluesky. My handle is @sarahccomics. Both No Spell Lasts Forever and Faster Than Light will be available in the Lesser Known Comics shop in 2025, so keep an eye out for that announcement!
