Marni Bates comes from a dysfunctional home. Her parents are estranged long before they divorced, and her sister is her rival. Young Marni wants to be loved, so she plays into the manipulative games her father contrives. The shocking realization that her father sees her as a tool, rather than a daughter to love, is the first of many sledgehammers to Marni’s self-esteem.

I am a compulsive reader. I think about it all the time. When I’m on the subway, when I’m doing math homework. When I’m supposed to be sleeping, when my body is busy but my mind is not. I always have a book with me. When I don’t, I feel a fluttering of panic. How am I supposed to get through the next five minutes—two hours—fifteen seconds without something to read? Hell, a menu will do. I’ll even take a phone book, especially if it has ads. I could reread Joe’s Crab Shack and Shrimp ten times over before realizing that there was nothing really interesting about it. License plates are more generous fodder than an empty room.

Six part interview with Chris Papasadero of design firm Fwis. In November 2009, Papasadero is setting himself a challenge alongside the annual NaNoWriMo event–to design 30 book covers in 30 days. The interview is conducted in one week intervals, and will run through the first week of December at Snap2Objects.com.