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The Sound of Scents

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:18:58 -0700

Hi all, finally some time for the updates in my life!

Firstly, I'm halfway through the "In Odd We Trust" sequel, called "Odd Is On Our Side". It's still going to be out just before Halloween in 2010, so there's little point in talking about it now, when it's not even Halloween 2009. I've also finished a series of short one-shots (in May) for a book called "Boy's Book of Positive Quotations", which is exactly as it says - a book of positive quotations. It's not yet out on the shelves as far as I know, but I'll post something up when it is.

Yen Plus Anthology: What's really post-worthy is that I have a 33-page short story called "Forget-Me-Not" coming up in the July edition of Yen Plus, the manga anthology from Yen Press. It's a story set in Mythical Ancient China, and concerns the adventures of a "Scent Merchant". To find out what that is, read the story! It should be out in stores this month.

Here are the first 2 pages of the story, and some concept art of the "Scent Merchant" himself.

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This story was finished way back in January, with the creative process having started in September 2008. I guess most people might have guessed by now - this means that the Yen Plus anthology is accepting short story submissions, of about 30 pages in length, and has been planning to for some time. Buy the July issue to find out more!

Back After an Absence...

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:55:07 -0800

Hi, everyone. Yes, I haven't posted for a long time, mostly out of sheer laziness, but now I think it's time I give a bit of update on what I'm doing. But mostly, it's to announce that I'll be making a presentation at a library this Wednesday, the 25th February. Below are the details:

Where: Coburg Library - Cnr of Victoria St & Louisa St, Coburg Melbourne.
When: Wednesday, 25th February, 7:00pm.
What: Me, talking about my work. Yah! So if you have questions for me, or is just interested in a manga talk, come along!

Other Work: I'm currently working on the sequel to "In Odd We Trust". I'm doing the art on this 160-page book, and it's a Halloween story planned for a 2010 release. One of the working titles for the book was originally "Odd and the Pumpkins of Doom", which I adore, but we stuck with the more sobering "Odd Is On Our Side" instead. Dang.

I'm also working on a quotations book, which has a series of short manga inserts. It's a "Boy's Book of Positive Quotations" (interesting), and I guess you'll hear more about it as work comes along.

In Odd We Trust

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:23:15 -0700

San Diego Comic-Con: I had a great time at the SDCC this year. It was wonderful finally meeting my agent Judy in person, as well as Dallas, Betsy and all the other fine folks at Del Rey manga. I also got a chance to say hi to Kurt and JuYoun of Yen Press, and pick up a copy of the highly-coveted anthology Yen+. Other than that, I hung out with Svetlana, Dee, Myung, Tacto and Hope (various Wirepop and ex-TOKYOPOP people), and made some good friends.

I also got a chance to have breakfast with Dean Koontz and the Del Rey people, and got to take some photos too. Since Dean was going to his panel at SDCC later on, we all got to ride in a stretch limo and hang out in backstage where the Simpsons/Futurama people were. Which makes it the perfect time to talk about In Odd We Trust, my manga collaboration with Dean which came out in June 2008, published by Del Rey.

From left-to-right:
Betsy (editor), Nancy (Dean's agent), Dean, me, Dallas (publisher)

What is In Odd We Trust?
It's a 180-page single-volume graphic novel, drawn by me and co-written with Dean Koontz. It is NOT an adaptation, but a prequel to Dean's most-popular series, Odd Thomas. Six prose novels have been planned, with the fourth one, Odd Hours, having just gone on sale.

The story is about a humble psychic fry-cook by the name of Odd Thomas. He can see dead people, and takes a proactive approach by helping them into the afterlife, be it by catching their killers or just keeping them company. In Odd We Trust takes place when Odd is 19, and involves Odd trying to catch the killer of a little boy ghost. Being a single-volume manga, it's much shorter than an average Odd Thomas novel, but is meant to be a good introduction to the world and the characters.

You can buy it online at Amazon.com, or just about any bookstore that sells Dean Koontz books.

How is the book selling?
Thanks to the Del Rey team, quite well. When it first came out in the last week of June, it was the #1 graphic novel of the week. It also hit the Publishers Weekly comics bestseller list for the month of July, which means it’s been selling well at bookstores across the U.S.

It was the only OEL manga on the list, but people seem split on how to classify it. Borders categorises it as a manga, while Barnes and Noble lists it as a graphic novel. (It is also one of Del Rey's best online-sellers, on Amazon.com.) Either way, thanks to consolidated lists, we now know it's selling in the Top 10.

Is a movie being planned?
Interestingly, yes. I mentioned earlier in an interview with Publishers Weekly that I didn't think Dean was interested in movies, but it turns out I was completely wrong. Dean is actually very interested in adaptations of his work, and all along, it was just a matter of finding the right agent/s to get these projects rolling. As of now, there is nothing promised, but it seems that an Odd Thomas movie is under discussion.

How did I get this job?
I was chosen by Dallas Middaugh, the publisher of Del Rey. I knew Dallas from email exchanges, and by the time he contacted me, Dean has already seen my work and liked it (I'm assuming he read The Dreaming, though I'm not sure). I was a fan of Dean Koontz when I was in high school, so it was a nostalgia trip to be sent the first two Odd Thomas novels, though I could see it was a very different kind of story to what he is known for. Anyway, I liked the books a lot, and it all went on from there.

Why do a manga?
The aim of the book was to introduce Dean Koontz to teens and young readers - hence why manga was chosen. "Odd Thomas" was unlike Dean's other series, in that it's less scary/graphic/gory, and is appropriate for a younger audience.

What was it like working with Dean?
Dean was surprisingly easy to work with, and the whole collaboration process went without a hitch. Having now met him in person, I can say that Dean is a really nice guy - personable and funny.

What am I doing next?
I'm open to another Odd Thomas graphic novel, but of course that's all up to Dean and whether he wants to do another. Since the book's been doing quite well, anything's possible. In the meantime, I've given a story called Soul Shaper to my agent Judy to pitch, and it's a departure from my published work so far, being an action-adventure-drama-romance story. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this (please wish me luck). And as usual, there's the usual side projects that I always have, and so on.

Reviews/Interviews:

Interview by Brigid of Mangablog, for Publisher's Weekly.
Interview with Allen Klingelhoets, on Jazma online
I have here a great review from Comic Book Bin, many thanks to Leroy Douresseaux.
And another review from Nadia Oxford of Mania.com.
A nice review from Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading. Thankyou.

San Diego Comic-Con International 2008

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:00:00 -0700

Lucid Walking: The Dreaming Writing Competition Entries

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:20:34 -0700

Folks, I'll be attending GenCon in Brisbane from the 4th to 7th July. Enthusiasts, see you there!

In Odd We Trust: Is out in bookstores and Amazon, and has been since the 24th June. The book has gone back to print due to requests from Amazon, Borders and Barnes and Noble, so that's probably a good sign (cue baffled reactions from Koontz fans who can't grasp the idea of a "comic"). I also have a Publishers Weekly interview here with Brigid of Mangablog in regards to the book. Thanks to Brigid and Publishers Weekly.

The Dreaming Writing Competition: TOKYOPOP finally announced the winners last Friday, and now I get the honour of posting all winning entries up for everyone to enjoy. I'm cross-posting the content of the TOKYOPOP announcement post, complete with comments and all.

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First Prize: The Sketch Album by Conda V. Douglas, Boise, Idaho
Comments: I awarded this because it gave me the creeps—an admirable achievement considering I wrote the story that it's based on! It's a fantastic idea, and executed quite well. The other stories were also very good, but I had to give this one the top prize because of the 'creep' factor, which I think is crucial because The Dreaming is a horror story after all.
Second Prize: An End by by Chelsea M. Smith (18), Woodlands, Texas
Comments: This was probably my favourite one in terms of writing style—I think it has the best writing out of all the entries (my personal opinion, and I'm biased). I also like the interpretation of Amber's 'state of being' too. I only wish the reader was told the content of the paintings that Amber had in the suitcase—that is my only complaint (because I wanna know badly!)
Third Prize: Retrospect by by Xandria L. Johnson (14), Ocala, Florida
Comments: I liked how this one took the perspective of Miss Anu—it does a pretty good job of exploring her as a character. I loved the way the story ended. It also mentioned some things about the art I never noticed myself, despite having drawn the book!

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And here are some of the wonderful honourable mentions:

The Coffin by Elizabeth Napoletano (26), Cicero, Illinois
Records Keeper by Allegra Condiotte
The Cost of Living by Sarah Lamb (28), Houston, Texas

Thank you to everyone who entered this writing competition. Your entries were all so very fantastic, and I hope you all continue writing. It's certainly inspired me to attempt writing prose again.

If anyone else has an entry they'd like to be posted up here, please post your email address in the comments, and I'll contact you to get a digital copy of your story. I think we'll all love to read the stories - I for one am darn curious about the stories that didn't quite make "the cut".

All 6 finalists, please post your email address (again) in the comments, or email me to organise the prizes. I'd like your mailing addresses for sending the prizes to. I'll be giving out copies of the new "In Odd We Trust" book, and original art from "In Odd We Trust" for the top 3 winners (unless you don't want art from that, please let me know).

Borders Talk, Melbourne

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:00:01 -0700

Lucid Walking: Borders Appearance

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:48:57 -0700

Borders in Melbourne: I'll be doing a Borders talk and book signing for all those interested on Wednesday the 25th June, 5-7pm. There will be a 15% discount on all full-price stock in Borders, so those in Melbourne looking to score some cheaper books (and say hello to me), come on by.

Location: Borders
Address: 106 Melbourne Central Shopping Central, 211 Latrobe Street, Melbourne

Date Wednesday 25 June, 2008,
Time: 5:00 - 7:00 pm
RSVP: Call Jayne Margett on 9663 8909 or email melbcentral@bordersgroupinc.com

>>> The Winners Have Been Announced!! Congrats all!! <<<

"The Dreaming" Writing Competition: Apologies for the delays on this. I guess you all know that TOKYOPOP is currently in the middle of a restructure, and thus in a difficult situation. I'm unsure whether the marketing department has the time to handle the results of this competition, so I'm going to take matters into my own hands. I've sent an email to TOKYOPOP on Friday the 20th, and if they don't reply by Wednesday the 25th, then I'll send another email. If that gets no replies by the 30th June, then I'll announce the winners on my blog on the 1st July. But as we now know, the winners have been announced.

But For now...
I announce the 6 finalists in no particular order:
Drumroll...

An End
by Chelsea M. Smith (18), Woodlands, Texas

Records Keeper
by Allegra Condiotte

Retrospect
by Xandria L. Johnson (14), Ocala, Florida

The Coffin
by Elizabeth Napoletano (26), Cicero, Illinois

The Cost of Living
by Sarah Lamb (28), Houston, Texas

The Sketch Album
by Conda V. Douglas, Boise, Idaho

All others who entered the competition: please also email your entries for me to post up (if you wish for it). I would love to read all your entries, since TOKYOPOP only sent me six stories to pick the top 3 winners from.

*An additional 10 people were supposed to get original art pages from "The Dreaming" as prizes. I've already sent the 10 pages to TOKYOPOP, but I haven't heard back from then on that yet either, so I don't know what's happening. Personally, I'll rather sort out the winners first, so thanks for your patience.

Lucid Walking: Comics for Telepaths

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:36:23 -0700

First Review for In Odd We Trust: Coming out on the 24th of June (at least on Amazon.com), this book just got its first review. It's in the Icv2 glossy magazine (so not online), and it's a great 4-star review.

I quote: "The pairing of Dean Koontz with Australian manga-style artist Queenie Chan was a match made in graphic novel heaven. Together, they tell a great story in a genre halfway between Psyche and Nancy Drew, with marvelous dialogue." I'll be posting my long-awaited post on "In Odd We Trust" once I run it by Del Ray's publicity agent David, so please keep an eye out for that. Here's also an interview with me about the book on Jazma Online, done by Allen Klingelhoets.

Comics for Telepaths: And onto what else I've been doing for the past year. I've just recently wrapped up a long-running comic work, a fantastical techno-space opera which ran bi-weekly for the past year in Telepathy Tales telezine. For those unaware of this story on the telestream, I posted the first page of it up here.

The uninitiated may be wondering why this story involves both thoughts and images, when it's generally believed that telepathy involves only thought-transference. Well, that was Telepathy 1.0 - this story was broadcast on Telepathy 2.0. If you're a telepath and you're still on Telepathy 1.0, you probably already know where to get the upgrade.

Many thanks to editor Henrietta Max, and for The Daily Telepath for giving it a 4-star review. Thanks also to Melandril Moose and Telepathy Tales for giving this story a permanent home in the Vorpal Tex. For those interested in the adventures of Mr. Alabaster Curly and Luci Dworkin, I just told you where you can read all the back issues of the story.

In terms of influences, this story was inspired by Michael E. Blake's "Science Fiction for Telepaths" (1977), a story whose entire text consisted of: Well, you know what I mean. An extremely long and complex piece of science-ficton this was, yet ironically, it's often referred to as one of the shortest science-fiction stories in existence (according to everything2.com anyway). Hey, it took me a whole day to get through it, you know.

TOKYOPOP and "The Dreaming" Writing Competition: Everything that can be said about TOKYOPOP's situation has already been said, and my heart goes out to those who lost their jobs in the corporate reshuffle. I wish you all the best of luck for the future. As for "The Dreaming" writing competition, I apologise for the delays - the winners were suppose to be announced at the BEA, but since TOKYOPOP's restructuring got announced instead, there is obviously some confusion. I emailed TOKYOPOP and Marco Pavia of marketing replied, saying that they're planning to announce the winners soon, so thanks for all your patience. Hey, if all else fails, I'll just post up the 6 finalists and the winners on this blog. Once again, I apologise to everyone who entered the competition for this. Your entries were wonderful and a joy to read, and I hope this can be sorted out ASAP.

It's Been A While: Sleeping Chick

Sun, 25 May 2008 01:00:12 -0700

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I like to imagine chickens breaking out of their eggs not because they have to, but because they find it so quiet and lonely in there. This flies in the face of common sense (as does this whole strip), but unlike us human observers, newly-woken baby chicks don't quite know they're inside an egg. It's a silly thought, but apparently worth doodling something on.

The Dreaming: "The Dreaming" writing contest is over, the winners have been chosen, and thankyou to everyone who entered it! I will write a longer post about it later - picking the winners were an extremely difficult job and it deserves an LJ post all on its own. I believe the winners will be announced at the Book Expo America.

In Odd We Trust: The release date is in June, not July, so I shall post my penultimate "In Odd We Trust" post soon.

Move to Melbourne: The reason why I haven't posted for so long is because I've been moving house to Melbourne (from Sydney) for the past 2 months. I'm still not done, would you believe. There is alot of catch-up posting to do.

Panel: The challenge of ‘reading’ graphic novels

Fri, 02 May 2008 20:30:02 -0700

AnimeMixParty 9th May

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:24:00 -0700

The Dreaming: Competition Reminder

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:53:30 -0700

Odd Thomas: Long time no update. "In Odd We Trust" was finished last month, and well on its journey through production. The release date is mid-July 2008, 2 weeks before the San Diego Comic-Con, where Dean Koontz will be special guest. I also will be attending. More on that as the shelf date approaches.

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Hopefully most people know, but here's a reminder for "The Dreaming" Writing Competition:
The Rising Stars of Prose Competition

It's a writing competition based on the characters and universe of "The Dreaming" manga.
TOKYOPOP is running the competition from: 1st February, 2008 ~ 15th April, 2008
Visit their website for the Official rules, Submission Guidelines, and also the entry form.

Buy vol1, vol2 and vol3 off Amazon.

What is this competition about?
If the "Rising Stars of Manga" competition was to discover new manga talent, then the "Rising Stars of Prose" competition serves the same purpose. Part of the reason for running this contest is to (hopefully) find some great prose writers who can adapt certain TOKYOPOP manga into novel form. If you have any interest in becoming a professional writer of fiction, this sort of thing may be one of the ways to get your foot in the door and get noticed.

What are the Prizes?
The winner gets $500 cash, and a chance to be considered for the novelisation of "The Dreaming" and other TOKYOPOP works (depends on the quality of the winning entry). Other runners-up will get a free copy of "Tarot Cafe", and also a piece of original "The Dreaming" art. There are 10 pieces of these original art to give away. I never sell my original art, so these will be the only copies out there. Perhaps it'll be worth alot someday! *laughs*

Why does it use "The Dreaming"?
What, you mean apart from the fact that it's a good story? Well, it's also to give the fans of the series a chance to flex their creative writing muscles. "The Dreaming" is a good series to base a writing competition on - it has a definate beginning and end, the timeframe of the story stretches over 70 years, and it's a self-contained universe with its own mythology.

Most of all, it gives an equal platform for all the prose entries to be judged by. This is because a prose competition differs from a manga one. You can ask people to submit 20-page manga stories on anything and judge them somewhat fairly against each other, but such a thing would be impossible to do for a prose contest. A manga is judged on art and panelling as well as writing, whereas prose is judged purely by the writing. How can you ask people to write short stories about anything, and then judge them against each other? The entries would be too diverse for it to be possible. You need some kind of measuring yardstick.

Does it have to be a horror story like "The Dreaming"? What does "based on the universe of 'The Dreaming'" mean?
I don't think the competition rules mention anything about your story having to belong in any genre. If I'm wrong, please correct me. Your entry has to encompass something from "The Dreaming" universe, be it the characters, mythology or anything else - much like writing fanfiction - but that's about it. As a final judge, I would much rather look for good ideas, writing skills, characterisations and story structure rather than whether it's a horror story or not. If horror's not your forte, then don't write horror.

Not contradicting the "canon" (ie. the events that occur in "The Dreaming" manga) is also extremely important - it proves that you have absorbed the story properly and can write within a defined set of rules. That's necessary if you're asked to adapt a manga into prose form - otherwise, it'll be like adapting Harry Potter into a movie and getting the characters names/histories wrong. No one wants that.

Is this competition open to international contestants?
Sorry. I pushed hard for this, but I'm afraid the complexities of running an international competition is just too great. All those different rules and regulations will make it seem like running parallel competitions, so I'm afraid this contest is restricted to American residents only, much like RSOM.

“The Dreaming” writing competition at TOKYOPOP

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:46:01 -0700

“In Odd We Trust” out in mid-July 2008

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:41:00 -0700

The Dreaming: The End, or is it?

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 04:15:19 -0800

It's seven days from Christmas Day, and I gotta announce that "The Dreaming" vol. 3 is finally out, both on bookshelves and online!

You can buy vol1, vol2 and vol3 here on Amazon.com! Previews are here at TOKYOPOP's site.

IMPORTANT: Please look on the VERY LAST PAGE of volume 3. There's a SECRET there, to be revealed on the TOKYOPOP site soon, hopefully January. Or you can just go here, and the update here.

So, "The Dreaming" trilogy is officially over
(at least the manga written and drawn by me is).

It's been a long and busy three years, and so much has changed in that time. My art has also improved, though the results of that can probably only be seen in "Odd Thomas: In Odd We Trust", the book I'm working on now.

Along with "The Dreaming", I was one of the first people to be published in TOKYOPOP's OEL 3-book manga program, and judging from the changes in their publishing plans, probably one of the last.
I started work on "The Dreaming" in October 2004, and finished the last of its pages in August 2007.
Book 1 was 172 pages, book 2 was 181 pages, and book 3 was also 181 pages. Each had 7 chapters.
This makes a total of 534 mostly greyscale-toned pages, including 21.5 black and white chapter pages.
The average chapter length was 25.43 pages. The longest chapter was chapter 20, at 35 pages. The shortest was chapter 21, at 17 pages.
I worked a total worktime of 22 months, which makes an average of 24.3 pages a month, 7.33 months for each book. That makes about a chapter a month.
In a single month, this means 1 week for the pencils, 1.5 weeks for the inks, and another 1.5 weeks for the tones.
My favourite chapter break is chapter 2 in book 1, and my favourite dress is the one the unconscious girl is wearing on the "To Be Continued..." page of book 1.

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First, I'd like to thank all my wonderful fans for your interest and support in this series. I give special kudos to all the people who emailed me - I replied to most of your emails, and will continue doing so. I apologise if I haven't replied to yours in particular (I get on average 1-2 fan mails a day), but I'll try my best.
Secondly, I want to thank all the editors who worked on this series, namely Jodi, Carol Fox and Paul Morrissey. Carol especially, because she spend the most time on it. Thanks to all the senior editors who kept an eye on things too, and also Stu Levy who greenlit this project.
An apology and thanks to Katie Huang and Paul Aeria, who helped me with the toning for book 3, but unfortunately didn't get their names in the credits because of a printing error. Nobody was at fault - there was some confusion with the 1 month delay in street date because of the SECRET on the last page. So I thank Paul and Katie here instead.
A big thanks to TOKYOPOP Senior Editor Jenna Winterburg too, for telling me about the SECRET you'll find at the end of volume 3. Thanks for the TOKYOPOP marketing folks who came up with that too.
Thanks to Emily Shao, for maintaining "The Dreaming" Fanlisting, and also my Normal Fanlisting. I really appreciate it.
Kudos to all the librarians who pushed this book, and recommended it to their enthusiastic little manga minions. Thanks to Scholastic for ordering 45,000 copies for their book club too. You've got to get them reading when they're young...
May I also thank all the reviewers who gave it a good review, and all the bloggers and journalists who interviewed me for their blogs and/or articles! You can see a full list of them on my site.
Thanks to all the news sites I read for mentioning me and my book, including MangaBlog, Heidi at The Beat, ComiPress and the now defunct Love Manga (If a news site I don't read mentioned my book too, then I thank you as well. Hopefully you were saying something nice, teehee.)
Last of all, a big THANKYOU to TOKYOPOP for publishing this series, including every single person who worked on it. If you know anything about book publishing, there's probably quite a few people whose names didn't get mentioned because of the "behind the scenes" nature of their job. I want to say: your efforts are appreciated.

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I hope everyone (and my fans) continues to support me in the other works I do.
Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy 2008 New Year!!