Going to Print with Lorenz Peter
This ‘Going to Print’ post is a bit of a misnomer because… copies of Lorenz Peter’s Moon Boots just arrived in our warehouse, A MONTH EARLY! The official launch will be on April 30th, at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, but because you deserve nice things, we’re going to start fulfilling website orders now.
In Moon Boots, Lester LaFleur decides to leave the city for good after a major life upheaval. With his guitar on his back and cowboy boots on his feet, Lester heads west across Canada, playing his hurtin’ songs in empty taverns and to anyone who cares to listen. As Lester travels across the country, he meets others who appreciate his music and share his experiences—and develops a deep kinship with his fellow drifters.
Learn more about Lorenz Peter and Moon Boots in this Q&A!
5 QUESTIONS WITH LORENZ PETER
1. Moon Boots is a story of a musician on a road trip / tour. Your previous book On Vinyl was also about music and contained a road trip. Do you see these two books as complimentary? Is this part of a series of music books or is this just where your heart lies?
The two books do complement each other, it’s true! I never meant it that way. I tried to tie On Vinyl in with my own experience (record shop owner) as much as possible without the story being about myself. In Moon Boots I am going purely on an escapist trip, a secret life as a country singer, something that is never likely to come true for me. I like writing about road trips because there is so much room for adventures, I also love writing about what I know and music has always been a huge part of my life.
2. Moon Boots is fictional and hilarious. You have also done serious autobiographical work (as in Dark Adaptation). Do you prefer one over the other? Fiction or autobio? Serious or funny? Or is it all mixed together?
I find cartooning fun because it takes my mind into another realm where nothing needs to make sense or has to be explained. Doodles and drawings take over where serious matters could gnaw and chew the life out of you. In a serious story like Dark Adaptation, it was based on my experience with my mothers terminal cancer and I thought the best way to process it was to write about it. Without any humour it would have been very dull and pointless, both the creative process and the story. I used to prefer auto bio stuff because it is always ready and available. A story about walking down the street or riding a bus can be full of detail and random hilarity. Fiction is more challenging for me because I need to make stuff up sitting at a table and thinking. What I have learned through Moon Boots is that living through a character can be just as exciting!
3. Did you draw most of Moon Boots in rural New Brunswick, or in urban Toronto, or both? What was the process of making this book? Did the pandemic have anything to do with it?
I started writing ideas for this story around October 2019 and did some sketchy pencils. The story really began to develop while most of the world was in lockdown in April 2020. I was rather stuck and on my own in rural NB and had to wait like everyone else. Daily drawing and writing was the best way for me to ward off a terrible depression during that time. I returned to Toronto and finished the book within the year, I completed it very quickly, I drew in the mornings while playing records. Mainly scratchy dollar bin rock, country and RnB.
4. I remember moon boots being popular colourful snow boots in the 1980s. Is this what the title refers to? If not, can you explain the title?
I had a pair of those, silver ones. I must have been 11 or so. They were great for sliding down hills in the winter time. I later inserted screws into the bottoms of them so they became super mega grip boots! But no, the story has nothing to do with that. Because I worked on this story so quickly, daily almost, I added a moon faze. The story takes place in real time, without a narration. There are 7 or 8 nights and the moon is present on each of those nights, gradually changing. Also there is a boot suprise but I can’t give it away here.
5. What would be some songs on the soundtrack if Moon Boots were a road trip movie?
Recently I heard a country song about sleeping by Doug Bell, I really liked it and if Moon Boots were a movie I’d stick that in there. I would mainly love the story to have original instrumental guitar music, maybe a trumpet or harmonica. Also Lester sings so I’d have to come up with some original music for that! Send me your demos…
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