Auntie Claus
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Howard Bahr
Children's Authors
Arlene Alda |
Conversation with Primavera
INTERVIEW BY MIRIAM DRENNAN They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and four years ago, author Elise Primavera was in need of a Christmas book for a very young friend. "I wanted something that dealt with the Santa Claus/North Pole aspect that makes the actual theme of the holiday more real. A lot of Christmas books almost try not to be terribly, terribly Christmasy." Primavera is a huge fan of the holiday and decided, after her fruitless search, maybe she should write a Christmas book, "something that takes the magical, fun aspect of the holiday and presents it in a way that's not cliche. Something that you could sit down with a child a couple of weeks before Christmas and the story gets them really excited about the holiday. Something that elaborates on Santa Claus, the elves, the North Pole, and what goes on up there. I went home and decided I would try to do this." The result is Auntie Claus, a book that reveals some of the mysteries behind the daily operations of Santa's shop. By answering some of those questions, however, a central theme emerges: it is far better to give than receive. This Christmas, Saks will feature Auntie Claus-themed windows; next Christmas, a live-action film adaptation starring Rosie O'Donnell will premiere. Primavera notes that later that same day, she took a shower. "I'm not kidding. I get great ideas in the shower, and I was thinking about what makes a really good Christmas book. A lot of it is found in the title. A play on words, a play on a song, or an expression, so I started fooling around with titles and words and I'm taking a shower, right? I thought about Christmas movies, Christmas books, and songs like 'Silent Night' or 'We Three Kings'. Then I thought about Santa Claus. And I played with words that rhymed, beginning with A: Aunta Claus, Santy Claus, Auntie Claus. And as soon as I said it, the whole character came to mind: an eccentric woman who keeps her Christmas lights on all year long." Primavera insists that at this point, she jumped out of the shower to write all her ideas down so that she didn't forget any of it. "The whole idea was, Is she real or is she not real? And that's all I had at that point. Then I thought, maybe she's the force behind Christmas, the helper or the mastermind. From there I built on that and came to Sophie and the rest of the family. That came a lot slower, but the initial, immediate thunderbolt was definitely the character Auntie Claus." Why did Primavera select New York as Auntie Claus's home? "I thought about the movie Rosemary's Baby with that building . . . you know, in New York, anything is possible. Okay, I know Rosemary's Baby is not a good analogy, but in the movie, there's this apartment house and it's a way of getting to . . . . I know that's quite a stretch, from Rosemary's Baby to Auntie Claus," she laughs. "Another movie, The Sentinel, is about this guy who sits and guards this doorway that ends up being the entrance to hell. Again, this is a way of getting from one world to another, and when I thought of Auntie Claus, I thought of this Upper West side, old apartment building, [It is] sort of hidden, because there's so many different kinds of architecture all next to one another. So first I pictured this woman, and next I pictured where she lived: I thought it might be one of these old, Rosemary's Baby-type buildings with a kind of weird thing on on the top of it. Not a small building, but a good-sized one, and way, way up would be her apartment, with these lights that glitter all year long." And Auntie Claus just happens to dress in red from head to toe? "But no one really pays attention to this, because she lives in New York City." As demonstrated in her shopping and showering experiences, Primavera's writing process is not always deliberate. "Sentences come to me. And never when I want them to. For example, I'll get the idea and keep it in my head for a while, and sometimes when I'm trying to go to sleep, a paragraph will come to me and I will write it down. " Primavera also illustrated Auntie Claus. Using a technique that she learned and developed as an art student, Primavera covers a piece of illustration board with a specific gesso/pumice stone mixture. She lets it dry, then sketches her illustrations in charcoal and quickly blocks in her shapes with gouache. "Pastels are light, so it's hard to get dark, rich colors." Sometimes, Primavera goes back and re-draws, and then layers with chalk and pastels. While this technique seems time-consuming, Primavera insists that it's a much faster method for her than oil painting. "Some people have a technique in oil painting that's very fast for them, but I like this method because I like to draw, I like the feeling in my hand, the hardness of it that only comes from drawing. For me, painting can be frustrating because I feel removed from it. This method is a much easier transition from drawing to coloring." Primavera also says that this is not an unusual technique, and that there is a group of New York artists who use this in their work. Primavera discusses the inner workings of the Kringles and their activities with the polish and reserve of a true insider. Does the relationship between Sophie and Chris mirror that of Auntie Claus and Santa's as children? Why does Auntie Claus take such an interest in Sophie? " Sophie is her only niece, for one thing. [As far as Auntie and Santa's relationship] It remains to be seen; she's very mysterious, you know." There are three diamond keys -- one belongs to Sophie, another to Santa, and of course one belongs to Auntie Claus. All that Primavera is willing to reveal is that there are only three, they were crafted in a very specific place, and very slyly she adds, "it would be a terrible thing if one of the keys was lost."
Okay, okay, so she's doing a great deed for her brother. Is Santa her older or younger brother? "I would think he is her younger brother. She's very protective of him." A remarkable fact to note is that Auntie Claus had a movie deal before it had a book deal. Did Primavera anticipate a movie version of her story? "I think my work has a very cinematic quality. The characters, the scenery-I think creating a book is a very similar process to creating a movie. So when I thought of Auntie Claus, I immediately thought, This would make a great holiday movie. Of course, thinking it and having it actually happen are two different things," she laughs. "I was also looking for an agent who could take my work and introduce it to television or movies. My work really does lend itself to that. Most agents wait for folks to come to them. I was to the point of giving up, as I'd been talking with folks for about two years." Through a friend, Primavera found an agent, who shopped her idea around with only black-and-white sketches and sold it before color artwork was even available. The live-action film version, starring Rosie O'Donnell, is scheduled for release next Christmas. This Christmas, Saks very quickly snatched Auntie Claus as one of their window themes. "I think it may be the first time Saks has ever done a book as a theme for their windows as the book is coming out. Usually, they wait until the book has been out a while." How did Primavera get started in children's book publishing? "It wasn't like I was 14, 15 years old and decided that this is what I want to do. I wasn't a very big reader until I was older. I enjoyed fantasy books like The Hobbitt, A Wrinkle in Time, The Phantom Tollbooth. I was actually a fashion illustration major, of all things. And once I finished school, lo and behold, there were no jobs for a fashion illustrator! And I had been interested in children's book illustration from the early part of the century and it hit me: that's what I want to do. And then I thought, 'Can I? I don't know.' I assembled a portfolio, and started making calls. I got a book cover right away, and I thought, Wow, this is easy. Of course, then six months went by and nothing happened. I got that cover in November, and then nothing more happened until May." That was when she was a last-minute illustrator replacement for Margaret Wetterer's book, The Mermaid's Cape. Nearly 20 years later, Primavera is still going strong. Auntie Claus contains several odd elements -- diamond keys, canine butlers, bratty children, an overbearing elf -- are these setting the stage for future Kringle family adventures? "There's going to be a sequel, which I'm working on now. I think what's interesting is that you have this family who, even though they're not living in the North Pole with Santa Claus, all have Christmas-related jobs." Well, are there any other famous relatives in the Kringle family? "You'll have to wait and see. That's for me to know and you to find out," she smiles. Clearly, Auntie Claus and Primavera are keeping a few secrets to themselves. Author photo by Barry Korbman. |
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One very noticeable aspect of the book is that outside of the North Pole, Auntie Claus doesn't receive any credit for her hard work. "Exactly. " Why not? "She's not into that, she doesn't care, she doesn't need the notoriety."