“Born to brood. Forced to sparkle.” It’s a Goth Unicorn Cover Reveal and Q&A with Ashley Spires

Yeah, you read that right. We’re talking today about a graphic novel called Goth Unicorn (out March 9, 2027) and, yes, it is everything you could possibly hope for in a book with that title. After all, it was penned by none other than the irrepressible Ashley Spires. I’ve been a longtime admirer of Ashley’s books for years, and she’s always been comfortable dabbling in comics for younger readers. With Goth Unicorn, though, Spires gets to stretch a bit older and get a little bit darker with a fun concept.

The plot (via the publisher) reads:

“Fiona Horsworth has felt invisible ever since her best friend, Kelsey, moved away. But when the cooler mermaids and pixies at Tartarus Middle School finally notice her, she doesn’t live up to their expectations. Frustrated with trying to fit in, she begins experimenting with a new look — and a new drawing style — that makes her stand out. Just as Fiona is starting to feel like her outside matches her inside, something happens that threatens to upend her new sense of self.”

You wanna see that cover? Of course you do. But first… I wanna talk to Ashley about ALLLLL of this:

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Betsy Bird: Ashley! Such a delight to ask you questions about your latest. While one would not necessarily pair the terms ‘Goth Unicorn” and ‘autobiographical” in the same sentence, you seem to have managed to do so. Tell us a bit about where this graphic novel came from.

Ashley Spires: Ha! I guess you’re right. That is a bit of a juxtaposition. I was one of those weird, artsy kids who never seemed to fit in and preferred to stay quietly on the sidelines. But when I started to express myself through my style — think punk, vintage, spray painted combat boots — I attracted bullies. Being myself made me a target for cruelty, and that is an experience to which we can all relate. As for why she’s a unicorn, that idea was birthed from one of the many delightful tangents my beloved editor, Tara Walker, and I go on when we chat. Our mutual love of the The Cure came up and suddenly we were giggling at the idea of a Goth Unicorn. 

BB: Robert Smith as sparkly beast. I can see it. So you’ve done a fair number of comics in the past, but they’ve always been on the younger side. This is the first time you’ve branched out and gone a bit older. What, for you, was different making this graphic novel? For example, I noticed you mention at the end that you’d never had a colorist before. 

Ashley Spires: This was WAY more of an undertaking than I could have ever imagined. It’s probably best I went in blind, otherwise I could have chickened out! It felt like shifting from making picture books to writing and directing a movie. My storytelling was challenged as I crafted this for an older audience. My illustration style evolved as I suddenly had pages of dialogue that needed to be visually interesting. I knew early on that in order to get this book done some time before the next millennium, I would need some help. Never having collaborated with another visual artist on a book before was a bit daunting, but I needn’t have worried. Hiring Angela Poon was the best choice EVER. She brought movement and unique colour choices that elevated each page. And we managed to get the book finished before 2100.

BB: Woohoo! Now how much of the book, would you say, is autobiographical and how much done for the needs of the story? For example, did anyone ever hurt a piece of your art when you were young? 

Ashley: I didn’t have a piece vandalized, but I did have my work censored from a display at a local government building. Dealing with censorship seemed to derail the emotional core of Fiona’s journey, so I shifted that into her being personally targeted. Other than that, so many moments are true to my experiences. Even some of the comments that Farrah makes are things that have been said to me by so-called ‘friends.’ I tried to keep it as real to my experience as possible because I wanted this story to be something readers can feel rather than something didactic. That is why I left it ambiguous as to who vandalized Fiona’s artwork. Life rarely has a perfect ending and some questions will never be answered, but we have to find a way to sit with that and carry on being our true selves.

BB: I just wanted to give you a little hat tip to some of the references you work in there (the Animaniacs cameo is excellent). A lot of graphic novels today have to sort of deal with whether or not to be historical or contemporary (particularly when they sport autobiographical details). Landlines abound in the world of Fiona, of course. Did you have any thought of making it contemporary or did you always know it had to be more of a 90s creation? 

Ashley: Adding in contemporary tech is SO tricky for old gals like me. The truth is, I don’t know what it’s like to be a kid in a world with smart phones and social media. It seems like it would be awful! I decided that having a cast of mythological creatures would allow me to design the world as I liked, so I made it a bit of a period piece. Also, I am so delighted you caught those references. The shows and music of the era are so intertwined with my memories, it just didn’t seem right to not include them in some way.

BB: Did you have a nice clear-cut sense of everything that would happen in the story from the start, or were there any significant changes from the first draft to the final product? 

Ashley: I had a pretty good idea of the arc, but the final beats took me a while to sort out. One of the great things about writing something autobiographical is that you have the events laid out for you already, but, thankfully, my story isn’t over yet. So finding an appropriate place to end Fiona’s story was trickier than I expected. One of the MANY things I learned while working on a long format story like this is to keep the reins loose during the sketching stage. I originally had things wrap up pretty quickly after Fi was vandalized, but my editor rightly pointed out that the reader needed a bit more of an emotional resolution. The scene of Fi driving home with her parents, the boys coming over the next day, and even the long conversation with her art teacher were all additions. 

BB: Finally, what else are you working on these days? What’s next for you? 

Ashley: I’m working on the third book in the Burt The Beetle series right now and, hopefully, the accompanying animated series that should start production later this year. And I will begin writing the next Goth Unicorn book this summer! (That Art Camp Pamphlet at the end of the book was a little hint at what’s to come. 😉

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All right, you patient pups. It’s time for that cover. A beauty through and through…

Huge thanks to Ashley for taking the time to answer my questions today and to Evan Munday and the team at Penguin Random House Canada for helping to put this all together. Goth Unicorn is out March 9, 2027, and believe me. It’ll be worth the wait.

Filed under: Best Books, Best Books of 2027, Cover Reveal, Interviews