I thought that Danielle Hendersons new book from AiT/PlanetLar, Tales From Fish Camp: A City Girl's Experience Working in an Alaskan Fishing Village, would be perfect reading for all of SuicideGirls. I read so many girls journals on this site where they all want to travel and have wild adventures. Well if youre into working hard, drinking hard, gutting fish and almost knifing strangers, then working in an Alaskan fish camp just might be for you. Henderson details all the insane things that happened to her.
Buy Tales from Fish Camp
Daniel Robert Epstein: What is Tale from Fish Camp about?
Danielle Henderson: Its primarily about someone who was completely unprepared to go into a situation that she thinks might be fun.
DRE: Tales from Fish Camp is published by AiT/PlanetLar which primarily publishes comic books. How did it end up there?
DH: [AiT/Planet Lar publisher] Larry Young publishes a couple of my friends like Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan, so Ive met him. So when the whole experience at Fish Camp was over I was just sending Larry some anecdotes by email and he said that I should turn them into a book. I thought he was joking but I guess not.
DRE: Did Larry ever mention getting an artist to illustrate the book?
DH: Never, this was always going to be a prose book which is new territory for him. I think he is looking to branch out and I believe they are working on another prose book.
DRE: How did you take notes while working at the camp?
DH: It wasnt so much that I took notes but such horrid things happened that they burned themselves into my memory. Ive always kept a journal so whenever I had the chance I would carry it with me and write in it before I fell asleep.
DRE: Does Alaska just turn everyone into a badass?
DH: Completely [laughs]. Alaska doesnt permit any type of weakness but I was already a badass. I grew up in a small town outside New York City called Warwick but what really made me tough as a kid was my older brother. Were great friends now but as a kid he and his friends were terrors. They lit my hair on fire, pushed me out of trees and squirted urine at me with water guns. The first time I knocked the wind out of someone I was seven years old.
DRE: I would imagine that happened right after you got squirted with urine.
DH: Actually I think my brother called me Daddy Long Legs just one too many times.
DRE: I know youre six feet tall now, how tall were you at seven years old?
DH: I was taller than all the boys in my neighborhood which is tall enough.
DRE: Do you still carry a knife everywhere?
DH: I dont. I was given a new Leatherman for my birthday so thats always in my bag but its not always on my person. That experience of when I pulled the knife on the drifter at the fish camp sounds cool but it was very jarring. Its not something I would like to repeat but you never know when someone might have to get jabbed.
DRE: There was one guy at the camp, Mate, who always hit on you there. Did that happen a lot?
DH: I did get hit on a lot but Im not accustomed to it. When youre six foot tall, stand out like a sore thumb and youre the only woman in a 50 mile radius, it will happen. I like to go out and drink then listen to peoples stories so many people took that to mean I was interested in them. I had to get used to that and learn when to back away slowly.
DRE: You were a bit of a mysophobe before you went there, did you get over it?
DH: I still have a bit of anxiety about it but I can use a public restroom now. I still get that way with bathrooms and anything that has to touch my skin. I was just in New York for about three weeks and I forgot how absolutely disgusting New York City could be. I would go for a walk and by the time I got to where I was going my snot was black. It was really different from Alaska where I live now.
DRE: Would you recommend the experience of working in a fish camp to people?
DH: Oh completely!
DRE: Even to a soft type person?
DH: Especially to a soft person. Although there were a few people there who couldnt handle it. I remember one teenage boy who left within four days. He was just not at all okay with the situation. His parents had pushed him towards it and he was just miserable there. In retrospect maybe I cant recommend it to everyone. Anyone that has any sense of adventure, wants to try something new, likes to eat fish and find out the process of getting fish, would like it.
DRE: How would someone go about getting in touch and going to the specific camp you worked at?
DH: I dont know if I can mention the name legally.
DRE: Ok, then how would someone go about trying to find a place like it?
DH: One thing they can do would be to go to the Alaska Job Center. Usually at the start of every fishing season they have all of these jobs listed from all these different companies. Specifically at this place I met a lot of tough ladies which really inspired me. Its a pretty male dominated business so it was nice to meet women who were willing to take the leap.
DRE: Was the confrontation with the bear the scariest experience?
DH: The scariest thing was 100 percent the bear. I hike a lot so I did take bear safety classes therefore I know what to do. I found that through my whole experience during that was based on pure instinct. I went out this door and there were the bears. They smell so bad! It was even more terrifying than the food.
DRE: How is the book doing?
DH: I dont know specific numbers but I do know its doing well. A few times people have logged onto Amazon.com and theyve been sold out.
DRE: What are you doing in Alaska now?
DH: I work in the equivalent of the affirmative action office at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. I do a lot of mediation and mostly education stuff.
DRE: Are you working on anything else?
DH: Yeah I have a couple of ideas for books that are going to be longer and more in-depth.
DRE: Whats the next adventure?
DH: I was thinking about going to a logging camp just to do some logging. If they would let me anywhere near a chainsaw I would be all over it.
DRE: Have you always been a writer?
DH: Yes my first book was published when I was ten. I wrote a book of limericks with my friend Amy, we won a contest and made two copies. Writing is just something that I can fall back on and express myself 100 percent every time. I've been thankful so far to have not suffered from writer's block.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy Tales from Fish Camp
Daniel Robert Epstein: What is Tale from Fish Camp about?
Danielle Henderson: Its primarily about someone who was completely unprepared to go into a situation that she thinks might be fun.
DRE: Tales from Fish Camp is published by AiT/PlanetLar which primarily publishes comic books. How did it end up there?
DH: [AiT/Planet Lar publisher] Larry Young publishes a couple of my friends like Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan, so Ive met him. So when the whole experience at Fish Camp was over I was just sending Larry some anecdotes by email and he said that I should turn them into a book. I thought he was joking but I guess not.
DRE: Did Larry ever mention getting an artist to illustrate the book?
DH: Never, this was always going to be a prose book which is new territory for him. I think he is looking to branch out and I believe they are working on another prose book.
DRE: How did you take notes while working at the camp?
DH: It wasnt so much that I took notes but such horrid things happened that they burned themselves into my memory. Ive always kept a journal so whenever I had the chance I would carry it with me and write in it before I fell asleep.
DRE: Does Alaska just turn everyone into a badass?
DH: Completely [laughs]. Alaska doesnt permit any type of weakness but I was already a badass. I grew up in a small town outside New York City called Warwick but what really made me tough as a kid was my older brother. Were great friends now but as a kid he and his friends were terrors. They lit my hair on fire, pushed me out of trees and squirted urine at me with water guns. The first time I knocked the wind out of someone I was seven years old.
DRE: I would imagine that happened right after you got squirted with urine.
DH: Actually I think my brother called me Daddy Long Legs just one too many times.
DRE: I know youre six feet tall now, how tall were you at seven years old?
DH: I was taller than all the boys in my neighborhood which is tall enough.
DRE: Do you still carry a knife everywhere?
DH: I dont. I was given a new Leatherman for my birthday so thats always in my bag but its not always on my person. That experience of when I pulled the knife on the drifter at the fish camp sounds cool but it was very jarring. Its not something I would like to repeat but you never know when someone might have to get jabbed.
DRE: There was one guy at the camp, Mate, who always hit on you there. Did that happen a lot?
DH: I did get hit on a lot but Im not accustomed to it. When youre six foot tall, stand out like a sore thumb and youre the only woman in a 50 mile radius, it will happen. I like to go out and drink then listen to peoples stories so many people took that to mean I was interested in them. I had to get used to that and learn when to back away slowly.
DRE: You were a bit of a mysophobe before you went there, did you get over it?
DH: I still have a bit of anxiety about it but I can use a public restroom now. I still get that way with bathrooms and anything that has to touch my skin. I was just in New York for about three weeks and I forgot how absolutely disgusting New York City could be. I would go for a walk and by the time I got to where I was going my snot was black. It was really different from Alaska where I live now.
DRE: Would you recommend the experience of working in a fish camp to people?
DH: Oh completely!
DRE: Even to a soft type person?
DH: Especially to a soft person. Although there were a few people there who couldnt handle it. I remember one teenage boy who left within four days. He was just not at all okay with the situation. His parents had pushed him towards it and he was just miserable there. In retrospect maybe I cant recommend it to everyone. Anyone that has any sense of adventure, wants to try something new, likes to eat fish and find out the process of getting fish, would like it.
DRE: How would someone go about getting in touch and going to the specific camp you worked at?
DH: I dont know if I can mention the name legally.
DRE: Ok, then how would someone go about trying to find a place like it?
DH: One thing they can do would be to go to the Alaska Job Center. Usually at the start of every fishing season they have all of these jobs listed from all these different companies. Specifically at this place I met a lot of tough ladies which really inspired me. Its a pretty male dominated business so it was nice to meet women who were willing to take the leap.
DRE: Was the confrontation with the bear the scariest experience?
DH: The scariest thing was 100 percent the bear. I hike a lot so I did take bear safety classes therefore I know what to do. I found that through my whole experience during that was based on pure instinct. I went out this door and there were the bears. They smell so bad! It was even more terrifying than the food.
DRE: How is the book doing?
DH: I dont know specific numbers but I do know its doing well. A few times people have logged onto Amazon.com and theyve been sold out.
DRE: What are you doing in Alaska now?
DH: I work in the equivalent of the affirmative action office at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. I do a lot of mediation and mostly education stuff.
DRE: Are you working on anything else?
DH: Yeah I have a couple of ideas for books that are going to be longer and more in-depth.
DRE: Whats the next adventure?
DH: I was thinking about going to a logging camp just to do some logging. If they would let me anywhere near a chainsaw I would be all over it.
DRE: Have you always been a writer?
DH: Yes my first book was published when I was ten. I wrote a book of limericks with my friend Amy, we won a contest and made two copies. Writing is just something that I can fall back on and express myself 100 percent every time. I've been thankful so far to have not suffered from writer's block.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
solistella:
Danielle is the bees knees, the cat's meow and the fingersnaps to all the beatnik kids in hip town. Her writing is smart, clever and makes me laugh until I cry. And then my eyes get all blurry, and I have to put down her book because I can't see. I am impatiently awaiting the sequel.
jaime:
wtf happened to my interview???