009: Hello, 2024
Happy (very belated) New year, everyone! I skipped the first week of January because I was swamped with freelance work and prep for a new project that'll be debuting soon. Also, I wanted to save my first edition of 2024 for a big announcement. Before we get to all of that though...
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
Feeling animated
I wasn't kidding when I said it was gonna be a big announcement.
That's right, Ben, myself and Difference Engine have signed a deal with Robot Playground Media to adapt Work-Life Balance into an adult animated series. You can read the full press release here.
It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: we are so damn excited. Ervin Han, co-founder of RPM (and creator of possibly my favourite Singaporean show ever, Downstairs), has been amazing to work with. After our first meeting, Ben and I knew that he was the perfect person to lead a small-screen adaptation of our book—and every conversation we've had since just reaffirms this over and over again.
It remains entirely up to Ben and I just how much we'll be directly involved moving forward. Still, Ervin has made it a point to consult us every step of the way so far. No matter what though, we absolutely trust RPM to create a show that we'll love.
Shine bright like a diamond
In other Work-Life Balance news, Tony Lutkus, president of Diamond Book Distributors, had nice things to say about our book in an interview with Publishers Weekly—which, really, is such a wild sentence for me.
Ghostly milestones
Ghost Maps hit its hundredth episode at the start of January. I'm quite proud of it, both as the penultimate chapter of a three-parter (the first part's here), and as a celebratory look back at many of the stories we've told over the last four years.
Speaking of HANTU, the upcoming project that I mentioned at the start of this edition will be a co-production between us and another company. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen teases and photos from the set, so you might have some idea of what's to come. I can promise you that it'll be incredible.
Social butterfly
With all these new projects on the horizon, I thought it made sense to crawl back into the social media trenches. I've already mentioned Instagram, but I've also created a new Facebook page. If you want a bit more stream of consciousness and silliness though, and if you're on Bluesky, you can give me a follow there.
Of course, you'll continue to get long-form updates from me in this newsletter too—which isn't dependent on an algorithm. How's that for a nice little bonus?
He's so dramatic when he sleeps
I promise that photos of Luca will mostly be exclusive to this newsletter though. I mean, sure, I'll post a picture of him on Instagram Stories every once in a while, but come on. That place was practically built on cat pics.
On to February
You know the drill, folks. Don't forget to support my work.
And I'll see you in couple of weeks!