Hi all!

10 years ago, I started a webcomic, and it changed my life forever...

I'm excited to officially announce the release of the 10th anniversary edition of The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya!!

(Read it now)

The rerun starts on February 18th 2026 (Malaysia time), with updates every Wednesday and Saturday. By the time you see the newsletter, the prologue and the beginning of Book One will be online.

The 10th anniversary edition comes with a transcript as well as a retrospective author commentary detailing background research and my thoughts of the art-making process. Warning: It’s been a long time since I last wrote this story, so my memory is fuzzy!

This anniversary project has been a long time coming! It's wild to me how quickly time has flown, and how my life right now is completely a dream compared to when I first began. I owe so much of that to the opportunities that TCM gave me. And I am happy to share it again!!

I will post more about TCM when stuff arises! Currently doing final checks on the eBook, which will be on sale in my shop soon-ish.

What's Happened Since

I have been on very long sabbatical back home in Malaysia since November. The sabbatical couldn't have come at a better time: my physical/mental health was ragged (as you all know), and I really needed that time in my childhood home to reset and reorient. It helped that I had several consecutive events that all required my presence in and near Kuala Lumpur: visiting a long-time online friend during Singapore Writer's Festival, Christmas, a January staycation with my Melbourne friends, Lunar New Year, and my best friend's wedding. Plus, magically and serendipitously, a coincidental Josh Groban concert in Singapore AND Melbourne.

I am currently nearing the end of the sabbatical, hence my newsletter's sudden reappearance in your inbox. 😝 I'm back to using social media / being public on the internet... kinda sorta. Admittedly I was enjoying not needing to post or scroll the timeline on a regular basis; instead using that time to lurk on blogs and forums, and catching up on my backlog of comics work, particularly my young adult graphic novel with First Second.

An Ace Rom-Com YA Graphic Novel

The major goal during sabbatical was to remember how to and actually get right back into comics-making. In other words, escaping the Creative Block Hell that has accompanied me during the past 3 years of Major Life Stresses.

As a teaser, here are the main characters in their senior prom fits!! I've gratefully reached the point in the script where I can actually indulge in one of the two things I make comics for: designing clothes for my characters. (The other thing is making elaborate book covers/illustrations)

Our protagonist, Bee, is a 15 year old mad scientist yearner who starts liveblogging her attempts to win a boyfriend via tropes she learned from her favourite romance novels/films. She is supported by her squad of three: the emo-goth otaku Estie, triple-threat actress and athlete Hana, and hyper fandom girlie Mindy.

Bee's target is Dev, a boy she randomly picked at the library to have a crush on for her experiment. He's not a bad random pick: he's chill and mundane, he skates and he is passionate about drawing.

It's easy enough to get a boyfriend, but what happens after... and what if Bee doesn't feel like moving to third base, no matter how compatible she feels with Dev? Bee soon finds out she is not fit to be a typical rom-com heroine, and Dev will need to step up to be the hero that Bee needs, even if that means straying from convention.

I'm a little over halfway through writing the script and working on thumbnails with my collaborator Erica Eng (who will be primarily drawing the pages - yes it's a co-writing/drawing project). More to come!!

Woah what about a certain ancient Greek guy??

Alexander the Great's ghost is the most patient artist's client on Earth (ironically, considering his short temper). 🤪

Unfortunately, the priority in the backlog is to complete the script I owe to Erica and First Second! (Lots of logistics and moving gears that aren't in my control!) When that responsibility is over, my next item involves completing the script of the remaining 2 and a half books of Alexander Comic. Hopefully the recent recovery from art block is not a fluke!

The story has developed quite a bit during its long hiatus. The original premise of the Comic is supposed to be in response to world events happening at the end of 2016... but with the loss of my consultant/mentor and 2026 proving to be quite a doozy events-wise, I am sometimes not sure if my retelling is quite up to task to address the concerns of its own time and place. But I am keeping faith anyway, since it's reflective of my values.

Happy Lunar New Year!

See you soon,