This week we asked author and future screenwriter June Rossaert St-Georges to let us pick her brain on all kinds of subjects. June graciously consented to a very impromptu interview and definitely rose to the occasion. Read on to learn her thoughts on the city of Vancouver, her secret to making pineapple pizza actually edible, and the making of “Thumbtoe” (this will all make sense soon, we swear).
STATS
Year: 2
Program: Hopefully a double major in film studies and creative writing.
Hometown: Born in Greenfield Park, grew up in St-Hubert, both of which are small towns on the south shore of Montreal, in Quebec
Stance on the pineapple-on-pizza debate: It’s not the worst thing in the world, but it really needs hot sauce, otherwise it’s garbage.
HCUBC: Why did you pick UBC?
I chose UBC in part for the beautiful campus, and in part for my desire to experience life in a different part of the country.
HCUBC: Has anything about UBC or Vancouver surprised you?
I don’t know that the campus surprised me necessarily. There were a few unexpected twists, like the sheer amount of twisting, winding streets and confusing buildings (Buchanan, specifically), but I wouldn’t necessarily call them surprises. As for Vancouver, the biggest surprise would have to be the cultural differences. It’s mostly been strange to realize just how soft-spoken most Vancouverites are compared to Montrealers. I’ve always been talkative, but here, I feel loud and almost obnoxious.
HCUBC: What is your biggest pet peeve about Vancouver?
My biggest pet peeve about Vancouver is a cliché, but if the city could stop raining for a few minutes I would love it so much more.
HCUBC: Can you tell us a little bit about your book?
My book, The Unexpected And Highly Misguided Theory of Everything, is a science fiction comedy about an elementary schoolteacher’s rise to political power on an alien planet. It was about a year of work.
HCUBC: That title makes a great acronym! (TUaHMToE)
I called it ‘thumbtoe’ in my mind while I was working on it.
HCUBC: What is your current passion project?
Right now, I’m working on a few different projects for the near future: a blog, a youtube channel, a second book, and a handful of shorts. But my passion project is a TV show concept I’ve been working on for a few months, about the troubling adult lives of former child heroes. That one won’t be a reality for many, many, years though, if at all.
HCUBC: What is your dream career?
My dream career is to be a screenwriter, and ideally, showrunner for a Network television show.
HCUBC: And finally, what would your career be if you were living in the world of your favourite film/book/tv show?
I’d probably do the same thing. But for the sake of an interesting response, I think I’d make a pretty great quirky, vaguely obnoxious wizard-merchant in the hidden streets of the Adventure Time Universe
Make sure to check out The Unexpected and Highly Misguided Theory of Everything now available on Amazon. Come for the sci-fi, stay for the musical interludes.
Photo Credits: June Rossaert St-Georges