Cecil Castellucci, also known as Cecil Seaskull (born October 25, 1969 in New York City), is a young adult novelist, indie rocker, and director. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California
She grew up in New York City where she attended the Laguardia High School of the Performing Arts. She later studied theatre in Paris at the École Florent. She attended Concordia University in Montreal and received a B.F.A. in Film Production..
In Montreal, she embarked on her music career as part of Bite, which was, at the time, the only all-female indie band in Montreal. When she was kicked out of Bite, she formed Nerdy Girl with Gordon Hashimoto. When Hashimoto left, she joined with Rod Woo, Gabe Levine, and Kim Temple to continue the band. After recording their only album Twist Her, Levine and Temple left the group, and Jessica Moss and Eric Craven took their places. She later moved to Los Angeles after Nerdy Girl broke up for good, and she recorded solo under her performing name, Cecil Seaskull.
In 2001, she co-founded the experimental *Alpha 60 Film Collective with Neil Matsumoto and Nick McCarthy.
Cecil's first novels were published by Candlewick Press. Rose Sees Red will be published by Scholastic Press
Boy Proof (2005)
Boy Proof is about a girl in Los Angeles named Victoria Jurgen, who insists on being called "Egg" after a character in her favorite movie, a (fictional) post-apocalyptic, science fiction film called Terminal Earth. Her mother is a washed-up actress and her father is special-effects designer. She is a card-carrying geek and considers herself "boy proof", and proud of it. However, her outlook on life is challenged when a boy named Max Carter comes to her school and she finds herself reluctantly drawn to him.
It was named to the 2006 Best Books for Young Adults list by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of the American Library Association (ALA) as well as to the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers list (also by YALSA).
The Queen of Cool (2006)
Libby Brin is one of the most popular girls in her school, and her life is all about parties and boys. Then one day she realizes that she is bored with her glamorous lifestyle and signs up for an internship at the local zoo. There she meets up with Tina, a dwarf with a huge personality, and a boy named Sheldon. Soon, she begins to question her definition of "cool". As she hangs out with the people that she thought were uncool, she realizes that they are actually good friends and that she has more fun with them instead of her regular friends.
Beige (2007)
Katy is a French-Canadian girl who is forced to spend a summer with her estranged father. Beau "The Rat" Ratner of L.A.'s most infamous punk band-that-never-made-it, Suck. Suck is about to come off its hiatus, and the Rat hopes he can use the band as an opportunity to bond with his daughter. There is one problem: Katy does not like music. Because of this, the daughter of her father's bandmate, Lake, nicknames her "Beige".
Future Novels
A picture book called Grandma's Gloves is to be released in August 2010, and a book for young readers called Odd Duck is planned for the future. Her fourth YA novel, Rose Sees Red, set in the 1980s. has been sold and will also come out in August 2010.
Cecil wrote the inaugural graphic novel for DC Comics's Minx imprint, which targets the YA audience. A long time comic book fan (she invited Batman to her fourth birthday party), Cecil jumped at the opportunity when contacted by Group Editor Shelly Bond.
The story follows a girl named Jane who moves to suburbia after a terrorist attack in her hometown of Metro City. Once there, she rejects the popular girls, and instead finds her "tribe" with three other girls named Jayne (aka Brain Jane), Jane (Theater Jane), and Polly Jane (Sporty Jane). They band together to form P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art In Neighborhoods) and commit "art attacks" to try and brighten up the atmosphere of fear that follows the terrorist attack.
A Canadian citizen, Cecil won the Joe Shuster Award in the category of "Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Writer" for Janes.
A sequel, called Janes in Love, was released in 2008. The sequel follows P.L.A.I.N as they play Cupid, become entangled in affairs of the heart (both their own and others), and procure a spot in Metro City Museum of Modern Art Contest.A third volume, Janes Go Summer, was announced at Comic-Con International 2008, but the Minx line was canceled before it came out. No official word has been given whether it will be released in some other medium in the future.
3 songs, including a cover of The Beatles' She Said She Said, and "After Having Cried".
Dime Store Hussy 7" single (1996)
Released by No Life Records.
Scream
18 Foot Yacht
Perhaps
Twist Her (1997)
Released by No Life Records. Available on iTunes.
Casa Nova
Hate Me
Georgiana
Iceman (Murder on the Rue Morgue)
Anne Elliot
Cast Off
Single Bed
Weed
Do You Like Me
Wicked
3 Wishes
Judy
Aranova
Cecil Seaskull
Whoever (1998)
Released by Teenage USA Recordings. Available on iTunes.
True Love
2E
La Song (feat. Rufus Wainwright)
Toutes ces filles
Beautiful Everything
Fairfax & Melrose
Cheap
The Bruise
Dim
Ridiculous
What's Wrong?
Sweet Girl
For Lovers and Rats (unreleased)
Contains tracks "Ode to a Boy with a Girlfriend," "Liquor and Cigarettes," and "Whisper This to Me", (the latter two are available streaming from her MySpace page)
Other songs
"My Chores" for Canadian Music Week 1997, on the compilation album Northern Exposure. It is also available streaming on her MySpace page
"Take Me" on indie compilation album Try for Summer, Plan for Fall, released in 1999.
Also available on her MySpace page is a live cover version of The Muppets' "Movin' Right Along"
Starwoids is a documentary about the Star Wars fans who camped out in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater for six weeks in order to buy tickets for The Phantom Menace. Cecil was one of these fans. She also appears in the special features on the Special Edition DVD, released in 2005.
Happy Is Not Hard to Be (2005)(director/writer/actress)
According to the film's IMDb page, "Happy Is Not Hard to Be follows the lives of a diverse group of family and friends in Los Angeles, whose paths intersect at a time of personal turmoil and uncertainty. Reflecting the discontented melting pot of Los Angeles itself, this modern family struggles to find harmony when new and old faces enter their lives."
Through Alpha 60, Cecil made this ensemble film based on the actors' responses to a questionnaire. It premiered at the Alternative Screen series at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.
Cecil contributed an essay entitled "My Fairy Godfathers" to the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys. The anthology celebrates the friendship between straight women and gay men. "My Fairy Godfathers" recounts her friendships with three gay men who help her get over failed relationships.
In the anthology First Kiss (Then Tell): A Collection of True Lip-Locked Moments she has an essay called "Bad Reputation" about a relationship she had in junior high.
She also has a video podcast called "I Heart YA" on YouTube.
