Interview By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

I am super excited to be introducing The Vampire Painter, the debut gothic novel by author Angela Flatt, also known as Animatia Train. The novel, accompanied by an animated short, was released on Halloween 2025.

I was delighted when Animatia Train reached out to me when seeking a composer for the animated short and loved the sound of the project. It’s been a real pleasure working on the music and film score to the trailer and to see the vision for The Vampire Painter come to life!

Now, let’s get into the interview to learn more about the author and the journey in making The Vampire Painter a reality…

How did you get into creating animations and novel writing?

‘I’ve been writing literally my entire life. I don’t even remember learning to read and write, my earliest memories are of making picture books from copy paper. I would write the words and draw the pictures, then staple them together and make my family read them!

I became fascinated with animation at a young age, particularly when I found out they were sequences of images. I used to cut paper and make flip books. When I was in high school, I used Windows Movie Maker and a cheap Photoshop knock-off to make six animated shorts. After that, my parents bought me ToonBoom for my birthday and I’ve been using it ever since! Animation will forever be my soul. I love many forms of art, but nothing comes close to seeing your characters move and come to life.’

Where did the idea for The Vampire Painter come from?

‘The idea for The Vampire Painter came while I was reading Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and The Oval Portrait by Edgar Allen Poe at the same time. That’s it! Although, originally I had only conceived the animated short, and then realised that I had enough material to work with that I could write a whole novel.’

I bet that everyone is really keen to know what The Vampire Painter is about so here’s the summary:

The Countess Luchia de Sarracenia comes from a long line of powerful vampires. She is accustomed to getting her way. Her greatest wish, however, has always eluded her - the ability to see her own face.

She hires artist after artist to paint her portrait. But when they fail to capture her perceived ethreal beauty, the consequences are dire.

Enter Venus Faucher. Coming from humble beginnings, she has spent her life trying to make a name for herself as a woman painter in a world which underestimates her.

She believes that she may have found her security with the countess as a patron. However, the more time she spend with Sarracenia, the more Venus realizes the cost which comes from pleasing a vampire.

How long have you been working on this and what has it been like for you?

‘From start to finish, it took a little over a year for both projects. With an animated short that has no dialogue, I don’t bother with a script, I just go straight into storyboard. And then the animatic, rough animation, clean up and coloring. I hired blender artists to build the backgrounds for me — I thought it might make things go quicker if I only had to rotate the environments and render those rather than draw about 120 different background shots.

For the novel, I started off by writing five hundred words a day. That lasted from September to December, and then I bumped it up to 1,000 words a day starting in January. The rough draft was finished in February. I gave it a look over, and then passed it to my editor. While waiting, I found an audiobook narrator. When I got the finished manuscript back, I passed it to my narrator. In the meantime, I formatted the document into a PDF to get it ready for printing. This took about a week.’

What made you decide to do an animation trailer for it and how did you decide who to work with on it?

‘The idea for the animation came first. If I can, I’ll always tell my stories with animation, but I felt that I could delve into the minds of characters in a way which I feel is best done in books.

I mostly used freelancers I found on Upwork, some friends, and then for the composer, I watched other animated shorts and tuned into their music.’

What made you decide to work with Ninichi?

‘For the music, I was looking for something intimidating but still soft and feminine. I found Ninichi while watching an animated short called “Devil’s Advokid”. The short itself matched the energy I was looking for, and I felt that Ninichi would be a good choice.’

How has that experience been for you?

‘It was a very good experience, but definitely very new to me! I love music and know a few things, but it’s a very new medium for me, so I often find it difficult to describe what I’m looking for. Ninichi was very patient and wanted a very clear idea of what I was looking for, so I created a timestamp with music I felt matched what I was looking for. I listened to the Black Swan soundtrack frequently while writing the novel, so that was the main inspiration.’

Let’s take a look at the finished animated short…

What are your plans for the novel now it's been released? Do you have any other projects lined up?

‘The animated short seems to be doing well, which is wonderful! I have a handful of author events lined up, so I will be promoting the book in person, as well! And yes, I always have more projects up my sleeve! My next novel will be about a mermaid and a sailor! I also have another animated short I’m wanting to work on, and a few new projects I’ve never done before!’

Where can we get hold of a copy of the novel?

‘Printed copies are available on my shop. All versions, including ebook and audiobook are on my Amazon KDP. There are many other places, like the Barnes and Noble website, Kobo, Libro. It’s also listed on Libby, but it hasn’t been picked up by libraries yet!’

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

‘I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped bring both projects to life! It was a group effort, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without all of you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!’