Category: Books

Small Shen: Some Art

Posted on27 Comments

Well, I’ve been crocheting a lot of cool amigurumi toys lately, which I’ll show in the next few weeks, but I also finished pencils for chapter 1 (of 9) of Small Shen, my collaboration with author Kylie Chan. This is a Chinese Fantasy story and is a prequel to her White Tiger series, and people who are familiar with what I like to draw best will probably know that I’m in my element here.

I’m sure you’re all wondering what Small Shen is about, so here are a few sample pages from chapter 1. Some are inked/toned and others are still in pencils, but you can probably get a good idea of how the art will turn out from these samples. Since Small Shen won’t be out (from Harper Collins) until Christmas 2012, I’ll probably show more later on next year.

 


 

NB. And yes, if you know your Chinese mythology, I can tell you that “Gold” and “Jade” are references to the demi-semi-gods “Golden Boy” and “Jade Girl”. The story’s written by Kylie though, so if you want to know more about how she uses these characters, I suggest you read White Tiger, which is the first actual book in the series.

 

Pages 1 – 3

Page 1 from Chapter 1 of "Small Shen"
 
Page 2 from Chapter 1 of "Small Shen"
 
Page 3 from Chapter 1 of "Small Shen"
 

Pages 15 – 17

Page 15 from Chapter 1 of "Small Shen"

 

Page 16 from Chapter 1 of "Small Shen"

 

Page 17 from Chapter 1 of "Small Shen"

#1 New York Times bestseller!

Posted on3 Comments

A whole bunch of stuff to announce this month, thanks to Halloween. I’m currently working on “Odd Thomas” vol3, and at the end of this month, I’m heading off to Turkey for the Turkish International Book Fair, due to the Turkish version of “The Dreaming”. It’s going to be a fun trip and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the sights of Istanbul, as well as visiting some of the schools there for workshops and talks.

Then, onto the two Halloween-themed books I have that’s already out:

 

Odd Is On Our SideThe Dreaming - Omnibus

 

The first book is the next Odd Thomas book, “Odd Is On Our Side”, which came out the 5th October and is #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers list! Does that mean I can now use NYT #1 bestselling as a tagline? Fame by association. Conversely, when the first book “In Odd We Trust” came out, the NYT graphic novel list didn’t even yet exist.

 

#1 NYT Bestseller

 

Also, “The Dreaming: Perfect Collection”, which is all three volumes of “The Dreaming” series (plus a short story) combined into one big brick of a book. “The Dreaming” series was what got me the Odd Thomas job, so if you want to see what the fuss is about, then the “Perfect Collection” is a good investment.

 
 

More about “Odd Is On Our Side”
“Odd Thomas” is a series of books by the best-selling suspense author Dean Koontz, and centers around a psychic fry book who sees dead people. Odd is one of Dean’s most popular characters, thus prompting a few graphic novel prequels (with a few more in the works). The books are a mix of action, mystery and humour, and are suitable for all ages.

I’ve got to thank Dean Koontz for his wonderful characters, and Fred Van Lente for being such a fantastic script writer. This was my first time drawing to someone else’s script (second time was “Boy’s Book of Positive Quotations”), and you can’t ask for a better script than the one Fred penned. I also want to thank my toner Dee DuPuy, who is a way better toner than myself. And ofcourse my editor Betsy, agent Judy and Del Rey for making this book happen.

 

Panel from In Odd We Trust

From the first page of "Odd Is On Our Side", where Odd sits outside his house


 
 

More about “The Dreaming: Perfect Collection”
“The Dreaming” is a 3-volume horror-mystery series set in the Australian bush, about a series of student disappearances in a remote private boarding school. The series ran from 2004-2007, and this 2010 omnibus is a collection of all three volumes (plus a short story) into a single book. The series is suitable for teens aged 13 and up, and there’s no objectionable material in it (not even any gore).

You can read more about this series at my site. A movie’s in the works too.

 

Panel from "The Dreaming" Omnibus

From the short story, Millie's nephew.

Boy’s Book of Positive Quototions

Posted on

Hi all! This book is available on the shelves now and on Amazon.com, and it’s a fantastic gift item for the upcoming Christmas season – the “Boy’s Book of Positive Quotations”, written by Steve Deger and illustrated by Yours Truly. As the title suggests, it’s a book of uplifting quotations, perfect for young boys (but just about anybody), with 33 short self-contained comics interspersed throughout.

 

It’s a 4″ x 6″ bound hardcover book and a super cute gift item, and available from typical bookstores and also Wal-mart. I worked on this from January till May this year, and now that it’s finally on the market with a trailer of awesomeness *points down* that I get to urge you all to get a copy of this book. It’s part of a best-selling inspirational book series, and the first one to have comic inserts – certainly this can only be a good thing for everyone. Watch the trailer down below for all the relevant info, and visit Jazma Online’s interview with Steve Deger and me.

 

 

Some random quotes from the book (and this is a thick book):

 

A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle
– Benjamin Franklin, Inventor, statesman and US founding father

 

Any life truly lived is a risky business, and if one puts up too many fences against the risks one ends by shutting out life itself
– Kenneth S. Davis, Historian

 

Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision
– Stevie Wonder, Award-winning blind singer and song-writer

 

Below are some bios of the people involved in making the video trailer. Considering how awesome the trailer is, by all means check out their websites and their other works! Oh, as for me, I’m finishing the last 1/3 of “Odd Is On Our Side”. Definitely better than the first book, it is!

 
—————————–
 

Steve Deger is a bestselling inspirational author. He is the co-creator of the Positive Quotation series, which has sold more than half a million copies and spent more than two years on the U.S. bestseller charts for reference, self-help, and young adult nonfiction. He is the book publisher at Fairview Press, whose authors have been featured on Oprah, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Today show, and in hundreds of other media outlets. Steve lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Information on the Boy’s Book of Positive Quotations can be found at http://www.fairviewpress.org/
 
 
Lindsey Testolin is a New York filmmaker whose work has been screened or featured in venues such as the Sundance Film Festival, the Vienna Independent Short Films Festival, the Melbourne International Animation Festival and the New Zealand Film Festival. She won two Telly Awards for her direction of Dan Pink’s book trailer “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko”, which featured manga artwork by Rob Ten Pas, who won the Grand Prize Award in TokyoPop’s Rising Stars of Manga competition. Visit Lindsey’s website at http://www.lindseytestolin.com/ .

 
 

The Blind Shake is a punk/fuzz rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Brothers Jim and Mike Blaha—along with Dave Roper—started The Blind Shake and released their first recording in 2004. They have gone on to release two full length albums and a handful of 7″ records with Indie label Learning Curve Records. In 2009, they released a split album called “Cold Town/Soft Zodiac” with noise rock icon Michael Yonkers, whose 1968 album “Microminiature Love” was re-released in 2003 by Seattle’s legendary SubPop records . Visit their website at www.theblindshake.com or hear an archived public radio interview and studio session at: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/08/03/the_blind_shake/ .

In Odd We Trust

Posted on

San Diego Comic-Con: I had a great time at the SDCC this year. It was wonderful finally meeting my agent Judy in person, as well as Dallas, Betsy and all the other fine folks at Del Rey manga. I also got a chance to say hi to Kurt and JuYoun of Yen Press, and pick up a copy of the highly-coveted anthology Yen+. Other than that, I hung out with Svetlana, Dee, Myung, Tacto and Hope (various Wirepop and ex-TOKYOPOP people), and made some good friends.

I also got a chance to have breakfast with Dean Koontz and the Del Rey people, and got to take some photos too. Since Dean was going to his panel at SDCC later on, we all got to ride in a stretch limo and hang out in backstage where the Simpsons/Futurama people were. Which makes it the perfect time to talk about In Odd We Trust, my manga collaboration with Dean which came out in June 2008, published by Del Rey.

 

Group photo with Dean Koontz

From left-to-right: Betsy (editor), Nancy (Dean’s agent), Dean, me, Dallas (publisher)

 

What is In Odd We Trust?
It’s a 180-page single-volume graphic novel, drawn by me and co-written with Dean Koontz. It is NOT an adaptation, but a prequel to Dean’s most-popular series, Odd Thomas. Six prose novels have been planned, with the fourth one, Odd Hours, having just gone on sale.

The story is about a humble psychic fry-cook by the name of Odd Thomas. He can see dead people, and takes a proactive approach by helping them into the afterlife, be it by catching their killers or just keeping them company. In Odd We Trust takes place when Odd is 19, and involves Odd trying to catch the killer of a little boy ghost. Being a single-volume manga, it’s much shorter than an average Odd Thomas novel, but is meant to be a good introduction to the world and the characters.

You can buy it online at Amazon.com, or just about any bookstore that sells Dean Koontz books.

 

In Odd We Trust

 

How is the book selling?
Thanks to the Del Rey team, quite well. When it first came out in the last week of June, it was the #1 graphic novel of the week. It also hit the Publishers Weekly comics bestseller list for the month of July, which means it’s been selling well at bookstores across the U.S.

It was the only OEL manga on the list, but people seem split on how to classify it. Borders categorises it as a manga, while Barnes and Noble lists it as a graphic novel. (It is also one of Del Rey’s best online-sellers, on Amazon.com.) Either way, thanks to consolidated lists, we now know it’s selling in the Top 10.

 

Is a movie being planned?
Interestingly, yes. I mentioned earlier in an interview with Publishers Weekly that I didn’t think Dean was interested in movies, but it turns out I was completely wrong. Dean is actually very interested in adaptations of his work, and all along, it was just a matter of finding the right agent/s to get these projects rolling. As of now, there is nothing promised, but it seems that an Odd Thomas movie is under discussion.

 

How did I get this job?
I was chosen by Dallas Middaugh, the publisher of Del Rey. I knew Dallas from email exchanges, and by the time he contacted me, Dean has already seen my work and liked it (I’m assuming he read The Dreaming, though I’m not sure). I was a fan of Dean Koontz when I was in high school, so it was a nostalgia trip to be sent the first two Odd Thomas novels, though I could see it was a very different kind of story to what he is known for. Anyway, I liked the books a lot, and it all went on from there.

 

Why do a manga?
The aim of the book was to introduce Dean Koontz to teens and young readers – hence why manga was chosen. “Odd Thomas” was unlike Dean’s other series, in that it’s less scary/graphic/gory, and is appropriate for a younger audience.

 

What was it like working with Dean?
Dean was surprisingly easy to work with, and the whole collaboration process went without a hitch. Having now met him in person, I can say that Dean is a really nice guy – personable and funny.

 

What am I doing next?
I’m open to another Odd Thomas graphic novel, but of course that’s all up to Dean and whether he wants to do another. Since the book’s been doing quite well, anything’s possible. In the meantime, I’ve given a story called Soul Shaper to my agent Judy to pitch, and it’s a departure from my published work so far, being an action-adventure-drama-romance story. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this (please wish me luck). And as usual, there’s the usual side projects that I always have, and so on.

 

Reviews/Interviews: