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Tell us your full name, age, hometown and passion.
My name is Gabrielle S. Faust. I was born in Memphis, Tennessee. However, my family and I moved to Austin, Texas when I was only two and I have been there ever since so I truly consider it my “hometown”. My greatest passion is writing followed shortly thereafter by illustration and painting. These passions are all-consuming and drive my life in every aspect, each and every day.
What dream are you currently living out?
The dream I am currently living out would be the dream of becoming/being a published author. The publication of my vampire novel ETERNAL VIGILANCE launched an astoundingly exciting new phase in my life and has made my dream of dedicating my life to writing a reality. For the past year I have been touring heavily throughout the USA, attending conventions and book signings where I was welcomed, by both the horror and science fiction communities with open arms; a truly surreal and beautiful experience. I have also become a regular contributor to several magazines and websites with everything from short stories to entertainment critique pieces on the latest books and movies in the horror industry. Again, a thrilling world only a few years ago seemed only a daydream. Now it is my all-encompassing reality.
Where were you before you decided that it was possible to pursue your dream?
For ten years I worked in the excruciatingly fast-paced world of advertising and graphic design. It was a career I had pursued right out of college as I had believed it would be possible to marry my creative desire to create award-winning design work with a lucrative means of living. However, what I found was a world that took the creative for granted in large part and worked their employees into exhausted disillusioned messes. I also became extremely jaded by repeatedly having to pour my heart and soul and every waking hour into creating “edgy” campaigns for companies whose core business-ethics I generally, usually disagreed with. It was slowly killing me and I knew if I did not break away and pursue what made me truly happy in life things would only become worse. So, one day I made the decision to chase my dream, at all costs and no matter how scary or uncertain the road would be. And it has, at many times been a very unpredictable world, especially in this day and age when the world economy is collapsing and we are teetering on the edge of the next Great Depression. However, I would never for one minute consider tucking tail and run back to the corporate world. Never. Not after I have tasted the true bliss chasing one’s dreams can gift the dedicated creative soul.
When you committed yourself to walking that path, what changed for you?
Well, my entire world changed and rather immediately. I was initially forced to completely rethink my existence. I had been living in the prefabricated high-end world of advertising where money made me live far beyond my means. I had the fancy apartment, lots of useless things I really didn’t need. I ate out at fancy restaurants five days a week and spent a hundred dollars a month on lattes. It was, looking back on it, despicable how “American” I had allowed myself to become when I had come from very meager punk-rock roots. I had to downsize to a much smaller much cheaper apartment and, in turn, I ended selling off 80% of my belongings. This was extremely liberating. Life became about what I needed instead of what I wanted and I realized very quickly just how little it takes to make me happy. My laptop to write, a good book to read, good friends to share conversation with over a bottle of wine…this is all I really need in life to feel a peace and complete. It has been a return to basics. As I mentioned in the question before, it hasn’t been all roses, but I wouldn’t change it for all the money in the world.
What mental barriers and fears did you have to overcome? What physical barriers?
I think my greatest fear was the fear of failure, not because I thought that I would fail in my creative endeavors but that I would fail because of external complications such as money issues or the fact that I do not health insurance (as an independent artist in the USA you are on your own with medical costs). I worried that I would be forced to return to the corporate world out of mere necessity and that, honestly, would have crushed my soul as my dreams would once again have been placed on the back burner in lieu of the 60 hour work weeks. Luckily, I have realized that I am much more resourceful than I had remembered and where there is a will there is always a way.
What kind of feedback or advice were you given and how did you perceive it?
I was lucky enough to find myself surrounded by extremely talented and extremely honest writers and editors whom all offered their most sincere advice to me both about my personal writing and the publishing industry. For the most part, when pertaining to my writing, the general initial feedback, when I was just starting out, was all very positive. The “tough love” came in a more editorial form when I was given tips on how to “kill your darlings”, as we say in the business. Every author has their “darlings”, those lines or words or paragraphs that are simply moments of pure, unadulterated literary self-indulgence. We believe, quite possibly, that a particular paragraph or phrase is the end-all-be-all of our creative career, that it is so profound that the world must hear it as it was originally written. However, usually this is only in our own minds and those “darlings” are ultimately hindrances to the plot flow and story development. It is extremely painful sometimes, especially for an author first starting out, to undertake this slaughtering, but it is an absolutely necessary and unavoidable part of the publishing process. I knew when I was first instructed in this that those that guided me had only my best interest at heart and so it made the first experience with killing my darlings easier. Now, it is so ingrained in me that I am always consciously aware of moments in my writing when I am beginning to ramble or too heavily manipulate the language so that an abstract concept becomes far too abstract for the average reader to comfortably digest. I am very thankful for all of the feedback and advice I was given back then and am always constantly welcoming of any I receive now no matter how harsh or critical it may be. Critics force artists to grow, to take a step back from our work and view it with a new perspective. Without them our work would never be as strong as it possibly could be otherwise…
What inspired you to reflect on your former circumstances and begin to define how you wanted to live your life?
I suppose it is the sad realization that most people working in corporate America reach at some point or another. The realization that what they are literally killing themselves working for with ungodly long hours and project demands is an empty and ungrateful beast of a machine that couldn’t give a damn “art”. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, there is, perhaps, a handful of people in the mainstream advertising/graphic design world who are truly recognized for their hard work and creativity. And in order to be recognized in that particular world one has to say the exact right things, dress a certain way, act “trendy” and kiss the appropriate amount of posteriors at the appropriate amount of martini socials. Anyone who says differently is lying through the pores in their skin. The rest of the creatives slaving away behind their computers are utterly forgotten and left to rut through meaningless projects for greed-mongering faceless corporate entities. Remember Ed Norton’s character in Fightclub? That’s the gist of it. This was where I was. In fact, I remember sitting in a theater when Fightclub premiered and thinking “My god! That’s me!” and I knew at that very moment that I had to change my life and change it fast or else the true ‘me’ would be lost forever…
How has doing what you are doing, changed how you see future possibilities and challenges?
I grew up knowing that whatever I wanted in life I had to work for. There was never a moment in life, from the day I could comprehend the world around me, where I felt like I had the opportunity to relax or fall back on some sort of comfortable safe cushion. That was simply not an option for me and still isn’t to this day. I’ve also always believed that if you want something bad enough and you work hard enough, whatever it is will come true, eventually. I suppose that, when I chose to deviate from the “norm” and walk the path less traveled, I knew that it would lead to more battles and more obstacles, but in a way I welcomed that. Everything precious is worth a little “bloodshed”. My resolution to fight the good fight for my beliefs and my passions has been reinforced by my new battle to claim them. I feel, in a way, empowered and it is a good feeling I treasure…
What are your strength and weaknesses? Which are you trying to improve upon?
My strengths?… I suppose my strengths would be in my dedication to my passions and to life itself, as well as to the people who prove their love and worth to me. I protect all of the aforementioned aspects of my life with an equal fierceness. I also possess the ability to balance the creative and business aspects of being an artist, being, I have found, adept at switching from the PR/promotions of the book tour back to the actual creative writing with relative ease. My weaknesses? Well, those come in various forms. We all have our weaknesses, but I suppose mine are particular to my stubbornness to let people help me when I am truly in need. It is something I am working on, but coming from my background and being so used to doing for myself, it’s hard to accept help or charity…but I realize the importance of accepting these things from willing souls as they do not come along too often and should be graciously accepted when offered…
How do you perceive society?
I sigh heavily at this question. Sometimes I really and truly would like to simply run away and live in a little cabin in the woods, far away from the plasticized pretentions of the modern world.
What would be your advice to other people who want to live out their dreams?
Never let anyone say that you are not worthy of chasing your dreams. There are so many negative people in this world, so many people who never had the courage to chase their own dreams and those people are hungry to oppress the eager spirits around them. If there is something you truly believe in, hold it close to your heart and know that there are those out there who will cheer you on.
What is most important to you in life?
Being true and honest at all costs. I do not believe in creating an “image” or “persona” for the world. When people meet me they can be guaranteed that they are viewing the true Gabrielle S. Faust, unadulterated and unaltered.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Surviving life’s hardships and refusing to give up on my dreams.
What is your next dream?
Ah, I have so very many! Along with continuing the ETERNAL VIGILANCE series, I hope to adapt the series into a full-length feature film at some point. I have had a couple of screenwriters express interest in this prospect so, hopefully, this will become a reality. I would also like to adapt the series into a graphic novel format as well. I had begun illustration a comic book based on the first novel, but quickly realized how truly time consuming it was going to be and, thus, it had to take a temporary back seat to the actual creation of the novels themselves. Outside of the EV series and all of the associated prospective projects, it is a tremendous dream of mine to become a permanent writer for a horror industry magazine such as Rue Morgue, Fangoria, Bite Me or Doorways. Right now I adore being a freelance contributor for multiple publications, but I would absolutely love to become a permanent part of a particular magazine family.
Anything else you would like to share?
Stay true to yourselves and never loose faith in your own ability to achieve great things. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else ever will.
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