I turned 32 today!

As I embark upon my personal Expedition 33, I wanted to tidy up my scattered online presence and commit to a renewed newsletter.

With social media continuing to fracture, this will be my little island for anyone who wants to keep up with what I’m up to. I’ll post once a month or so, barring special occasions and calamities.

It may be a while since you’ve heard from me, or maybe you have stumbled upon a stranger’s newsletter, so let’s start with a quick refresher on who I am.

Intro

My name is Allen. I’m a Chinese-American currently based in Las Vegas. I like bunnies and my hobby is completing reward cards at bubble tea stores.

I’ve been writing for a long time. I was forged in the fires of text-based roleplaying forums and now I write across various mediums, including prose, screenplays and comics.

I love lots of different genres! I enjoy devastating emotional stories as well as the silly and absurd, or stories that can hit both those marks. I have a soft spot for stories about underdogs clinging to hope in a bleak, unforgiving world.

Especially these days, I feel like my mission is to give audiences something exciting to look forward to, some distraction from the daily turmoil, and some renewed strength to carry back into the real world.

Current Projects

Here are some of the things I’m working on! Since this is the first update, it’s a bit of an info dump.

Last fall, I got the amazing opportunity to develop an animated feature alongside a team of incredible leaders, mentors and collaborators. We started building a story of cosmically epic proportions, and hopefully more will be announced soon about what we’re making!

I also recently appeared in a direct market comic book solicitation for the first time! I got to write a really fun and only-slightly-gory horror story brought to life by David Lapham.

To have a small part in a publication with as long and storied of a history as EC is a dream come true, and I really can’t wait for this issue to go out in stores in April! Very grateful to Oni Press for bringing me in!

If you’ve ever bullied your villagers in Animal Crossing, this short is for you.

It’s been about a year since I started working on My Internet Friends, my ongoing manga about misfits exploring the ruins of the internet. It’s a Dandadan-esque romp about internet culture and nostalgia, and Dr. Mouri continuously lifts the series to new heights with his artwork and enthusiasm.

We’re six chapters in now and the entire series is free to read online. If you’re into manga, you can check out it out here on your platform of choice, as well as the series’ dedicated social media accounts.

I’m also working on Shentu, Princess Royale, and a few other projects at various stages of completion. It is pretty challenging to juggle everything, especially since these are mostly self-funded projects, but I get very attached to my characters and I’ll do what I can to keep their stories going, even if it takes longer than I would like. I think as an immortal, Shentu would approve.

What’s Next

It might sound like I have a lot going on, but this is really just the consequence of stacking up a bunch of announcements over the last year.

On a day-to-day basis, this entire journey as a writer and creator is way less glamorous than when you get to rattle off a list of projects. There will be more than enough angst to come in future updates.

For now, I’ll keep doing my best to work toward the next opportunity. I’m always looking for more opportunities to create, collaborate and make friends. If you’re out here in the creative trenches, let’s connect!