Blog

Pause on New Comics
With only about six weeks before I'm scheduled to deliver the first picture book to my editor at Little Brown, I've been well in the thick of painting and playing with my son in these last few weeks of summer break. He's been keeping me busy with increasingly challenging LEGO engineering projects. So far we've built: City with streets, skyscrapers, houses, power plant, and stadium Camper van/RV Empire State Building Fire station (x2) Garbage truck that can lift and empty a dumpster Everything else Oxherd Boy related has pretty much... Read more...
Caught in the Middle
Lately, I've been feeling a compression of much more activity into the same measure of time. Part of the reason is that THE OXHERD BOY collection has routed through the team of editors and designers at Penguin Random House and has made itself back to me for edits. What was originally to be a tight 144 pages has been extended by 16 to a final page count of 160! I feel gratified that the publisher felt comfortable doing this, as it means a higher cost to print. This change gives... Read more...
Switching Gears
After turning in my final art files earlier this month, I've switched gears to working on the first Oxherd Boy picture book called BIG ENOUGH. The children's book is meant for children between ages 4-8 and is set as an origin story that follows Ah-Fu (the boy) as he takes on the fearsome task of bringing home the gigantic family ox for the first time. Working on the webcomic and the adult book, though the volume of illustrations (over 100!) was huge, each one could essentially stand alone. So, I... Read more...
Happy Year of the Rabbit!
The lunar year is celebrated in Taiwan and many parts of Asia on the second new moon after the December (often winter) solstice, signaling the arrival of spring and therefore, new life. According to the Zodiac of Animals, this year is the year of the Rabbit, and soothsaying traditions believe that the animal under which a year falls will be influenced by that animal's personality traits and can impact individuals born under different birth signs in different ways. But how accurate are they? The very human desire to look into... Read more...
The Banyan and World Wildlife Fund to Receive Store Proceeds
Last month, I made the decision to divide and donate my portion of the Oxherd Boy store proceeds from 2022 to two charities. After receiving nominations and suggestions from followers on Instagram (@oxherdboy), two ideas came up to the top: a mental health charity and an animal welfare organization. Looking down the list for nominated organizations, it was very close between two in animal welfare, but the one that received the most votes was the World Wildlife Fund, renowned for their conservation efforts around the world.The mental health charity was... Read more...
Holy smokes, I'm done with the first book.
Last week, I finished the first book, THE OXHERD BOY! It feels a little weird to put a stake in the ground and say, "This is done," when in reality I have a list of 40-50 edits ranging from minor to significant that I would like to make if given the chance. Not to mention: The suggested changes that will come from the publishing team; Tweaks to make when the next set of proofs come in; Potential additions to end papers, acknowledgements, biography; and The all-important cover design. That being... Read more...
New Editor Transition and More
My editor for The Oxherd Boy book for adults will retire at the end of the year. This is a bittersweet transition, because Lindley was the first editor at a major publishing house to express support for the book and played an important part in shaping the book into what it is today. As an editor, she's been strong in her guidance where I lacked knowledge and experience, but she also stepped back to allow me a huge amount of creative freedom to follow my intuition to write, draw, express,... Read more...
Translating an Entire Book
Frankfurter Buchmesse, or Frankfurt Book Fair, is taking place this week in Germany, and it's the first time I've heard of it. Apparently, it's the world's largest book fair, where publishers, authors, readers, literary trade partners, technology providers, and so many more parties interested in books and the dissemination of ideas come together. And, it's the marketplace where books published in one country, go to find publishers in other countries who are interested in translating them into different languages. Very interesting, as I always assumed that a publisher as big... Read more...
Introducing Some New Characters
One of the most interesting avenues that I've been able to explore with the books is expanding the world beyond just the three primary characters. Starting out, I felt that three was enough. Each represented the teachings that I most wanted to convey. In developing their personalities more for the children's book series, their interactions exhibit those basic principles that I had intended from the beginning. But I realized that that might not be enough. One of my favorite comic strips, "Calvin and Hobbes," features two main characters whose life... Read more...
Your Preferred Languages?
After spending the last week recovering from COVID 😷, I am very grateful to have experienced only mild symptoms and to have been able to isolate safely and rest while my family held things down at home. Now I'm rather sluggish working on the book though... I'm not sure if it's the residual feelings of disinterest after being physically ill, or I've simply hit a point of attention overload on a single project. I'm on track and pacing well, but sometimes, I think about the 64 pages left that will... Read more...
Let's Start Selling
Practically six months to the date after signing with my agent Liz at Great Dog Literary, she will begin selling my two-book proposal to editors this week. 🥂 While self-publishing is an option that I had explored before, I am so grateful at this point in the process, to have representation with an agency. Promoting a self-published book is a full-time job that I simply am not equipped to do right now, and having Liz by my side during the last half year has been a great partnership. I wanted... Read more...
Submitting Book Proposals
Before I started getting into the the world of publishing, I had no idea how complex a process it was, especially when going the route for traditional publishing. Signing with an agent is the first step, but it is the first of a years-long process to simply bring a book into the world. I've received so many words of encouragement and excitement, messages asking when the book will come out. To be perfectly honest, it might not even happen. The story needs to be accepted by an editor and then... Read more...