015: Up/Down Funk
This is gonna be a really short one, but I promise you’ll get a photo of Luca this time.
Support my work
Work-Life Balance – the multi-award-winning prose/comics hybrid co-created with Benjamin Chee
Worlds Apart: A Conversation About Mental Health – a comic co-created with Nurjannah Suhaimi
HANTU – Spotify channel for the narrative series, Ghost Maps, and the talk show, Dead Air, both of which were co-created with Kyle Ong
Tales From Incredible Tales – a podcast by Kyle and I, looking back on the cult classic horror series, Incredible Tales
Funky town
I’ve been in a bit of a funk over a lot of these last two weeks and barely got any work done on my manuscript. I know that that’s not a bad thing and that my mental health is a priority. At the same time though, I’m still trying to shake off this idea of productivity as an indicator of worth, which is probably why that funk deepened before it got better.
But it is getting better. I’ve slowly started working on the manuscript again and it’s felt like getting to know a partner on a much deeper level—exploring new facets of them, completely seeing them for the first time ever. (Nadia was understandably amused by this comparison.)
This does, however, make me keenly aware that I need to factor in more breathing room for those inevitable crappy days or weeks. Now that I’ve loosened up my tight grip on the previously set deadline, I’ll relook at my timeline with an eye towards, y’know, not drowning in depression.
There’s another catch
I mentioned in the previous edition that Catch would post a video of Ben and my interview, and here it is.
The entire crew that worked with us to produce this and the accompanying article were such a lovely bunch—and, hoo boy, did they make us look good. For probably the first time ever, my bald spot actually comes across as distinguished!
Good & Better Comics
Also as mentioned in the previous edition, this interview was conducted at my local comic shop, G&B Comics, who are now accepting pre-orders for Work-Life Balance.
Yeah, you already have a few options for where to pick it up in Singapore, but comic shops are incredibly important to the industry. Before your favourite titles even hit bookstores, comic shops are where a lot of them either die or become runaway successes.
If you or anyone you know hasn’t bought Work-Life Balance yet, consider getting it from G&B. They’ll even ship it to you for free if you’re in Singapore. Just use the code “LOCAL".
(I don’t know for sure that G&B doesn’t actually stand for Good & Better. I honestly don’t think it does, but let me enjoy my headcanon anyway.)
Links and things
My buddy, Jerry Teo, spoke with Comix SG about his bloody hilarious comic strip, Rex Regrets, and building his own artistic brand.
Peter David—writer for The Incredible Hulk and Aquaman, and co-creator of Spider-Man 2099—needs help with his medical expenses. If you can afford to, consider donating.
All right, fine. Here’s Luca.
That’s all, folks
Before we go, as always, don’t forget to support my work.
And I'll see you in May.