Ask the Authors: Molly Gaudry and Lily Hoang

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Molly Gaudry and Lily Hoang’s collaborative hybrid piece, The Fan Dancers, appears in the November issue. They talk with us about their collaboration, dancing with objects, and who’d they’d like to change into.

1. Describe your collaborative process for “The Fan Dancers”.

We wanted to collaborate, so we . . .

We wanted to collaborate, so we finished each other.

We wanted to collaborate, so we finished each other. Then made preserves and ate them.

We also made biscuits. Biscuits and preserves are a delicious combination. Not unlike fresh babies and preserves. Everything tastes good with preserves.

2. What object would you dance with?

One of us would dance with a pair of roller skates on her feet.

The other of us would dance with the first but with ice skates on her feet instead.

The other of us would totally dance with Ice Skate Foot.

The other of us is Brian Boytano—not to be confused with Brian Boitano.

3. What do you wish you could cough up?

One of us wishes she could cough up a litter of clouds made of baby birds.

The other of us wishes she would stop coughing entirely.

By “she” do you mean me or you? I thought you liked my birdclouds.

I loved your birdclouds. I would cough just so I could cough up your baby birdclouds.

Whew!

4. How many people are required to die in a story to certify it as literary fiction?

All of them?

The other of us thinks fiction characters never die, even if she kills them all.

Definitely all of them.

Sorry, but one of us must maintain her position: fiction characters never die. Not really, at least.

I mean, I agree with that.

5. Who would you like to change into?

A winged thing.

James Franco. James Franco with wings would be even better.

James Franco is hot.

Duh. Now, imagine James Franco with wings.

Whoa.

6. What has transformed you lately?

Honestly? Harry Potter.

A fairy godmother and a witch.

I would totally go to a school for witches, but a school for fairy godmothers would be even better. They get all the power in fairy tales.

Can we start a school for fairy godmothers? Then, we’d be rich.

The Fan Dancers School for Fairy Godmothers and James Franco (with wings). Totally.