Don't Call It a Comeback
Did you miss me? Of course you did. I’ll jump into the reason for my nearly-three-month absence in a bit, but before that…
Support my work
Work-Life Balance – a multiple 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 show by Kyle and I, looking back on the cult classic horror series, Incredible Tales
Disappearing act
I honestly wasn’t planning to go on a hiatus.
I missed that first week ‘cause we were busy preparing for Tales From Incredible Tales season two. I skipped the second week ‘cause we were well into our production by then. When the third week rolled around, I needed to recover from the production and, by that point, I thought to myself, “Why don’t I just wait till I completely feel up to writing the newsletter again?”
It was a break that I didn’t know I desperately needed. I knew that I was feeling overwhelmed even before I went on hiatus, but only grasped just how bad it was when I had this one less thing on my plate.
Deck-clearing
A couple of good things came out from my break. For one thing, it allowed me the breathing room to look at where I was with all my work.
It helped me focus enough to clear the decks a little, and after I finish a few more Ghost Maps scripts, I’ll finally—finally!—jump back into my novel again. For realsy reals this time.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m working with someone on the novel and they’ve been unbelievably understanding and patient with me. We’ve figured out a new deadline for my first draft that feels comfortable enough, even while Nadia and I settle stuff for our flat and I get ready for some events later this year.
Teenage Audience Reading Panel
There is one event, however, that’s coming up a whole lot sooner, and it’s a big reason why this edition’s going out today, instead of a Friday.
Tomorrow, I’ll be on my first North American panel, as part of School Library Journal’s SLJTeen Live!. Join me, along with other creators like Charis Loke and newly minted Eisner Hall of Famer, Jill Thompson, for the Once Upon a Remix panel at 10:55am ET (10:55pm GMT +8). We’ll be talking about how myths and legends of old find new life through new voices.
I’m really excited for this. If you can make it, please join us. It’s free and the event’s open to everyone, so register now.
Eyes on the prizes
My collaborators and I are up for some awards!
First up, Work-Life Balance has been shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize’s Comics and Graphic Novel category. We’re standing side-by-side with some serious competition, so as much as it’s a cliché to say that it’s an honour to be nominated—it really is an honour to be nominated.
Ghost Maps is also up for another award too, this time for Best Fictional Podcast in the Asia Podcast Awards—and you could help us win by voting for us in the People’s Choice Vote.
Back is the incredible
That’s right: Tales From Incredible Tales is back with a second season. The first three episodes are already online, including our season premiere, which was shot in Bukit Brown, one of the oldest Chinese cemeteries outside of mainland China. Kyle and I talk about that episode in detail here, as well as tease some of our other guests.
We hope you’ll all continue to watch it, like the episodes, and/or leave positive comments. Tales From Incredible Tales is what’s made it possible for me to take time off from other freelance work to write my novel, so the more seasons we have, the less I’ll have to rely on advertising work.
(That said, stop asking us to shoot in creepy locations, everyone.)
Trading horrors for hugs
My time away from the newsletter also helped me free up enough headspace to shift my priorities around a little.
For one thing, I’m trying not to work on too much horror at any given time. The genre was starting to have an adversed effect on my mental state, leaving me feeling gloomier every day. (I wasn’t entirely kidding when I said that everyone really should stop requesting that we shoot in places like cemeteries.)
That’s the reason I’ve been stockpiling Ghost Maps scripts recently: so I can return to my novel with a head cleared of creatures and spirts.
I’ve also made a conscious decision to—if you’ll pardon a little armchair psychology—hug my inner kid. I’m listening to more radio- and MTV-friendly music from the early to mid-nineties. I’ve been popping into a comic shop near my place that specialises in older stuff, and picking up back issues from when I was a kid.
This isn’t a direct response to how my horror work was making me feel, but it certainly was one of the reasons. I think 2024’s just generally been… A Lot. Not a terrible year, mind you; just one where, as I said earlier, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. Hugging the inner kid’s been a good way of quieting down and keeping myself calm as I move forward.
Looking ahead
All of the aforementioned upcoming events are in the works at the moment.
Nothing’s firmed up enough that I can announce anything yet—though I will say that there’s one particular event that I’m really looking forward to.
The real reason you’ve missed this newsletter
He slept all day today. I thought you should know that. All bloody day, snoozing on our bed.
See you in three months
I’m kidding. (God, I hope I’m kidding.) In the meantime, don’t forget to support my stuff…
… and I’ll see you in September.