Caroline Parkinson works in London as a production assistant on a children’s animation series. If she was four inches shorter, she could be a professional midget. See more of her work at carolineparkinson.co.uk and bluecatclub.comicgenesis.com.

Stephen McCranie: For your story for Parable: Volume 1, entitled “Uncommon,” you collaborated with writer Caleb Monroe. How did you get to know Caleb and what was it like working with him?

Caroline Parkinson: I heard of Parable on the Flight forums, like most people, I guess. I contacted Mike and said I’d like to do some work in Parable. We’d both been involved with a previous anthology that never made it off the ground, so he said yes. But I couldn’t think of a suitable idea, so I asked to work with a writer- which turned out to be Caleb! It was good working with him- he was happy with the work I produced and didn’t make me change it. (Though if I look at the story now, some of the coloring I did is really shoddy, so maybe he should have!) I took Caleb’s script writing skills for granted then— he has a very clear way of putting things.

S: I just interviewed Sally Thompson, another Parable creator and she’s from the UK as well! Any chance that you guys know each other?

C: Not yet! But we have a table at the Bristol Comic Con together this summer and we’ll meet up then.

S: Cool! So, what’s it like living in London?

C: Oh God. Um, pretty much like anywhere, but with extortionate house prices. I think if you’re living in London, you get a completely different experience from visiting as a tourist. There are things I really like about it (people-watching, pubs, museums, really good comic shops) and things I hate.

S: Does anything there inspire your work? What does inspire your work?

C: Reading other artist’s blogs on the Internet… and those big thick Disney art books. And sketching, and listening to podcasts. There’s a science fiction podcast called Escape Pod I listen to a lot, and some music and film review ones.

S: I listen to that podcast too! Are you working on any projects you’re working on right now that you’d like to talk about?

C: I’m currently remodeling my website and drawing a comic project for Futurequake called Lazarus Falls. It’s about pirates, Nazis and zombies: you can see bits of it at carolineparkinson.blogspot.com. I’m also drawing some storyboards for London Film School (I’m going on a storyboarding course in the summer) and working on my own project about the adventures of a mobile library and its gun-wielding staff. This makes me sound really cool and busy, but it’s all shoehorned in around work. I have a full-time job as a production assistant.

S: So you work at an animation studio right now? What series are you guys making?

C: I work on Charlie and Lola, a kid’s cartoon adapted from the books by Lauren Child. It’s finishing production in March, though.

S: Oh, I’ve seen that series here in the states! I thought it was really charming, because of the use of child voice actors. So usually my last question is a silly question that pertains to the cartoonist, but I’ve been wracking my brain and I can’t think of anything to ask. What’s something really interesting and unique about you that I could ask about?

C: I’m a twin. That’s not very unique though, is it?!

S: That’s great! Are you identical twins? Do you have any amusing twin stories? If I had a twin I’d play all sorts of tricks on people.

C: Our mum doesn’t know whether we’re identical or not! We look pretty similar though. Once, when I was working in America, Kate came to visit me. She’d cut all her hair off and dyed it blonde. My boss, who hadn’t met her yet, rushed out of the shop, grabbed her by the shoulders and started screaming “Caroline! Why have you cut your hair!” into her face.

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Tim Baron!