006: Someone Get This Man a Calendar
Jeez, late again—and by nearly a week this time. Sorry, everyone.
In my defence, this past weekend was largely spent at the Singapore Writers Festival, I wanted to finish a couple of Ghost Maps scripts before the George Town Literary Festival, and... well, sometimes, my brain just goes, "Fuck it."
But enough about that for now. Let's start how we always do.
Support my work
Work-Life Balance – the multi-award-winning prose/comics hybrid co-created with Benjamin Chee
You can also get the Work-Life Balance bundle, which comes with the book, a mug, washi tape and more
Worlds Apart: A Conversation About Mental Health – a comic co-created with Nurjannah Suhaimi
HANTU – Spotify channel for the award-winning narrative series, Ghost Maps, and the talk show, Dead Air, both of which were co-created with Kyle Ong
I coulda been a contender
The wonderful folks from COMIX.SG had me on their show, Comic Contenders, where we pit a local book or series against a similar, international counterpart.
I was, of course, selected to look at two horror comics: Sean Lam's Geungsi and Junji Ito's Uzumaki.
I had a blast with Viency and Nadrah, who encouraged me to properly and fully nerd out about what makes a good horror story and comic.
Also, they gave me a mug with my face drawn on it, thus setting the bar incredibly high for future interviewers.
You can watch the whole episode here.
Write out
I was so exhausted by the end of the second day of the Singapore Writers Festival, but man, did I have a great time.
Kyle and I went for the opening night debate and shindig, where I got to catch up with a couple of folks.
The following morning, I had breakfast at The Arts House, where Pooja Nansi—the machine who's run SWF over the last couple of years—was kind enough to introduce me to Eve L. Ewing.
If you've seen, read or heard any interviews with Eve, I can assure that, yes, she really is that friendly and cool. We chatted briefly about spending too much time in stationery stores and why Janelle Monáe is, like, The Best.
There were a couple of other things after, some of which I won't talk about yet (ooh!), so I'll skip ahead to our panel with Meihan and Dani.
I don't think I've ever been on a panel where people had to be turned away at the door because we were at full capacity. Now, sure, I suppose the subject matter itself might have something to do with it, but it was still a lovely feeling to look out at a room filled with people eager to hear us talk about spirits, spectres and the supernatural.
The day wound down with hip hop-inspired poetry readings, and supper with some old and new friends—followed by a very sound sleep. Like I said, exhausted.
That one day, however, was almost as fun and productive as all of last year's festival—and last year's was already fantastic on so many levels.
I know that SWF's not over yet, but since I'll be in George Town this weekend, I wanna thank Pooja and her team for the amazing job they did once again—and I hope they all have several nights of equally sound sleep once everything wraps up.
Announcement, question mark?
I might have something big to announce soon. I can't say anymore, in case I unintentionally let the cat out of the bag (no, we're not getting another cat), so let's just say that if it happens, hoo boy, you can rest assured I'll be shouting out about it here and everywhere else.
Winding down
Late—and a relatively short edition too? Yes, I hear you calling for my blood. (I lie. I can't actually hear you.)
Like I said, sometimes my brain goes, "Fuck it," and this has been one of those times. I struggled to even get this edition done at all—which isn't to say that this has been a pain. It's just that my energy's been really low and something had to give. Unfortunately, it was this newsletter.
I'm going to try and carve out some free time in George Town, and give myself a chance to recharge a little. After all, there's still Singapore Comic Con at the start of December.
A different font
No, this is not Luca. Since I'm jumping from one literary festival to another, it seemed fitting that I switched things up this edition and, instead, featured Calibri, Sing Lit Station's cat.
Look at that judgey face. That adorable little judgey face.
Just the one link
And we're done
As always, don't forget to support my work:
See you in December! (And, yes, I'll try my darnedest to be on time.)