Something that most people don’t know about me is that when I was a kid, I wanted nothing more than to be a paleontologist. Naturally, I was the only one who knew what that was, probably didn’t help that I’m from small-town Illinois either, but I was determined that I would grow up, travel, and find dinosaur bones. Truth be told, it was very Lara Croft/Indiana Jones in my kindergarten mind, and that all ended as soon as I figured out that I’d have to go places with massive bugs and other creepy crawlies. Ick!
Last March, I read Wet Hot Allosaurus Summer and had an absolute blast with it! I saw people talking about it in a group I’m in on Facebook, and I had to check it out. I’ve never once regretted reading it, even though big Al is kind of a huge jerkosaurus! I only regret that it’s taking me an age and a half to read the next in the series.
When I first decided to do interviews this month for Women’s History Month, Lola Faust was one of the very first women that I thought of. She’s been sort of my hero since I first read Wet Hot Allosaurus Summer, and I’ve been secretly fangirling since she agreed to chat with me!
Q: Who has been your biggest supporter(s) throughout your writing career?
A: Probably my publishers! The folks at the Storm Crow took a chance on someone who was writing some really unusual stuff. It started with a little pamphlet of the first few chapters of Wet Hot Allosaurus Summer, which they sold directly at Storm Crow Tavern and Storm Crow Alehouse in Vancouver (both sadly closed now), just to test it out, I guess. And people loved it. And then the Storm Crow people found Amazon publishing and asked me if I would keep writing these books if they helped me market them. So, I did, and they did.
There are also some Booktokers and Bookstagrammers who have been amazing. Bailey Chadwick in particular is so lovely, and Ryann, and Vyc and Ginger and Unfortunate Reads, and so many more.
And finally, Devendra Banhart! He has been one of my favourite musicians for over a decade and I was SO starstruck when I found out he liked my books. I sent him a bunch of signed copies and when he came to Vancouver for a concert, he invited me backstage! It’s still one of the coolest experiences of my life.
Q: Where do you draw inspiration from in your work?
A: Well, I’m a paleontologist, so I work with a lot of dinosaur remnants! I’ve always loved dinosaurs, since I was very small. I’ve been fascinated by every single detail about them. It makes sense in my brain, I guess, that I would also be curious about their love lives. I have a kind of secret theory that some dinosaurs were a lot more intelligent than we think they were.
Q: What does it mean to you to be an author?
A: I write books! That’s really all it takes to be an author: you just have to write. I’m very passionate about this. If you write, you’re a writer. If you publish your writing anywhere, you’re an author. If you show up for your work, if you write the words, no one can tell you that you aren’t a writer. It really is 5% talent and 95% just doing the thing.
Q: What is your writing process like? Do you listen to certain music, snack, make loads of phone notes when inspiration randomly strikes, etc.?
A: I have ADHD, so I follow my brain’s lead and go where it takes me! I write in kind of a patchwork, not beginning to end. Whenever I have an idea or a thought, I open my Google doc and jot it down, or I put it in an email to myself or a note. When I do sit down to write, I usually write in silence; music with words is too distracting and music without words affects my mood and emotions too much, and I need to be in control of that stuff in order to serve the story.
I have been known to eat Cadbury mini eggs while writing. They’re like symbolic dinosaur eggs that I hatch to put the ideas in my brain. I know it’s weird. My brain is weird!
Q: Is there a genre or subgenre that you want to explore that you haven’t yet? Conversely, are there any that you’ll never write?
A: Well, there are elements I will never include in my work “on-screen”. These include true non-consent/sexual assault, child abuse, abuse of dogs or cats, and eating raw onions. I hate all of these things a lot. I don’t think I’d ever write, like, a Dean Koontz style action novel because I can barely think about those things without wanting to fall asleep. And I don’t know that I’d ever write just a straight regular romance. Even if I try, it always ends up with dinosaur elements. That’s how Dino Stud happened.
I do think it would be fun to maybe write a proper Regency-style romance with a dinosaur – I started on and I think I may finish it.
Q: What has been the hardest part of your career as an author so far?
A: Honestly? None of it has been hard, really! It’s mostly been pure fun.
I guess if I had to choose one hard part, it would be having to stay anonymous. I want so badly to go to things like the Storm Crow Manor dinosaur erotica reading night in Toronto, but I don’t think the powers that be would like the fact that I am writing and publishing this stuff. So, hilariously, Devendra Banhart is the only person other than the owner of the Storm Crow who has ever ‘met me in person’ and known who I really am.
Q: What do you consider to be your greatest strength and weakness as an author?
A: I think my greatest strength is probably my ability to just write what I want to write, publish it, and be unself-conscious about how it’s received.
My greatest weakness is my inconsistency in terms of delivering books on a timeline. The ADHD gets in the way a lot. My next book was supposed to be in at the end of February, and I promise it’s almost done…
Q: Who is on your radar as someone you’d love to work with?
A: I mean, Chuck Tingle, of course!! And Ruby Dixon. And Warren Ellis.
Q: At some point in our lives, we’ve all hears the negative comments: “You’re not good enough.” “You’ll never make it.” “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.” “You don’t belong.” How do you move forward when faced with negativity?
A: Oh, this is a good question for me, specifically. A lot of people expect that I will be upset by bad reviews or people who post TikTok videos that talk about how my books are the worst thing they’ve ever read, etc. and they get a million views. And I get A LOOOOOOOT of bad reviews. But honestly? That never upsets me, because most of the time, those people are laughing and being amused by how bad they think the books are. They write the funniest things! How could I be upset by that??
I don’t care if people enjoy my books because they love them, or if they enjoy making fun of them and having a thousand other people on TikTok make fun of them – either way, they’re enjoying themselves, right? They’re entertained, and they’re entertaining others, and that means my books have brought a little more joy and levity into the world. Which is a good thing!
I guess I’m just a pretty positive person. I hate being sad and I love being happy. So, if there’s a way to take negativity and turn it positive, which there usually is, that’s what I’m gonna do. Life’s too short not to write what you want, and life’s too short to let other people’s opinions get in the way of living your best life.
Q: What advice would you give to women who are wanting to write, especially if it’s something others might perceive as “outside of the norm?”
A: Just write it!!! Write the damn thing! Publish it yourself! Connect with other people writing similar stuff! If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there is an audience for EVERYTHING. No matter how weird you think you are, there’s a whole club of people who think you’re awesome.
I asked Lola what her favourite reads of the year so far have been, and she named The Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt (“a terrifying look at how seemingly ordinary people can do terrible, horrible things”) and Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon (“late to the party, but they hype does not lie”). While I’ve not read Arendt yet, I definitely agree on Dixon; I read the first book in the series in 2022 and really enjoyed it!
Keep an eye out for Lola’s next release, a more fantasy, role-playing adventure, and more dino escapades, of course! And if you need something to read while you wait, give All I Want for Christmas is Utahraptor a try, a respectful nod to Utah culture and dinosaurs!
Check out Lola’s website as well and subscribe to her newsletter for all her important updates!
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