We were lucky to catch up with Madeleine Holly-rosing recently and have shared our conversation below.

Madeleine, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Before comics, I wrote screenplays. My first screenplay class was an extension course at NYU, and when I moved back to California, I took various extension classes before I was accepted into the UCLA Professional Program in screenwriting. A few years after that I was accepted into the graduate program. The reason I mention this is I originally developed what became my first comic (Boston Metaphysical Society) as a TV pilot while in the MFA Program. When a friend suggested I turn the pilot into a graphic novel, I went back to school and learned how to write a comic. The instructor and my classmates were amazing, and I learned so much about the industry and the craft from them. A few became mentors which was invaluable.

I was never into comics prior to this because I thought they were all about superheroes which I didn’t care about. Once I was introduced to indie comics, that all changed. I think had I known about indie comics earlier in life that would have sped up the learning process.

The skills I think are most essential to writing a good comic are having the ability to drill down into the very core of the story. You have limited page count, so focus on what’s truly important to the development of your characters and story.

The main obstacle is time. I’m always looking to improve my craft, but time seems to be a luxury nowadays.

Madeleine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the writer/creator of the steampunk supernatural graphic novel, prose, and audio drama series, Boston Metaphysical Society. Winner of the Sloan Fellowship for screenwriting, and the Gold Aurora and Bronze Telly for a PSA produced by Women In Film, I has also won numerous awards while completing the UCLA MFA Program in Screenwriting. Originally self-published, Source Point Press re-published the first six issues, the trade paperback of Boston Metaphysical Society and picked up the four sequels. I have run fourteen successful crowdfunding campaigns, guest lectured at UCLA Professional Programs, Dreamworks Animation, and Scriptwriter’s Network as well as published the book, Kickstarter for the Independent Creator.

The first novel in the series, Boston Metaphysical Society: A Storm of Secrets, was awarded a Silver Medal in the SciFi/Fantasy category as well as The Write Companion Award for Best Overall TOP PICK – Adult, Children’s and Young Adult categories in the 2019 Feathered Quill Book Awards.

In 2021, I wrote and produced the audio drama, Boston Metaphysical Society: The Ghost Ship.

My other short comic projects include The Scout which is part of The 4th Monkey anthology, The Sanctuary (The Edgar Allan Poe Chronicles anthology), The Marriage Counselor (Cthulhu is Hard to Spell anthology), The Glob (Night Wolf), The Infinity Tree (Menagerie: Declassified), and as well as Monster (The Dark Side of Purity Culture anthology).

I’m currently producing the next series in the Boston Metaphysical Society saga, writing a story for Joe Benitez’s, Lady Mechanika, and a new graphic novel series, Morgana Pendragon.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

When I find out how my work has affected people. Usually, you never know but after the audio drama was released, a Kickstarter backer contacted me to tell me the story about him, his son, and our audio drama, Boston Metaphysical Society: The Ghost Ship.

Apparently, his son is autistic and had just gone back to school after the pandemic. They had been having difficulties and his son was resistance to getting into the car after school. His dad told him about this new audio drama he had gotten and that they could listen to it on the way home. His son agreed and he loved it. But that’s not all. Each time he picked him up, they listened to more, talked about it, and his son even read the comics. Our audio drama had enabled this father and son to reconnect and share something together. To me, that is what being a creator is all about.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the pandemic, vending at comic cons was obviously not an option. Knowing I had to bring in some sort of income to keep the business going, I took a friend’s advice and decided to write and produce what is now the audio drama, Boston Metaphysical Society: The Ghost Ship. (That same friend and her husband, Eddie Louise and Chip Michael, became part of the producing team.)

And since we could do everything remotely, it worked out perfectly. I ran a Kickstarter campaign to help fund it, plus received a small grant from the State of California.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.queenofmercia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcholly1/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madeleine.hollyrosing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeleinehollyrosing/
• Twitter: https://x.com/MHollyRosing
• Other: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mcholly1.bsky.social

  Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mcholly1

Image Credits

Cover art by Rebekah Isaacs, Claudia Iannicielo, Gwynn Tavares, and Rio Burton.