Category: The Dreaming Series

Lucid Walking: The Dreaming Writing Competition Entries

Posted on

Folks, I’ll be attending GenCon in Brisbane from the 4th to 7th July. Enthusiasts, see you there!

 

In Odd We Trust: Is out in bookstores and Amazon, and has been since the 24th June. The book has gone back to print due to requests from Amazon, Borders and Barnes and Noble, so that’s probably a good sign (cue baffled reactions from Koontz fans who can’t grasp the idea of a “comic”). I also have a Publishers Weekly interview with Brigid of Mangablog in regards to the book. Thanks to Brigid and Publishers Weekly.

 

The Dreaming Writing Competition: TOKYOPOP finally announced the winners last Friday, and now I get the honour of posting all winning entries up for everyone to enjoy. I’m cross-posting the content of the TOKYOPOP announcement post, complete with comments and all.

 

—————————–

 

  • First Prize: The Sketch Album by Conda V. Douglas, Boise, Idaho
    Comments: I awarded this because it gave me the creeps—an admirable achievement considering I wrote the story that it’s based on! It’s a fantastic idea, and executed quite well. The other stories were also very good, but I had to give this one the top prize because of the ‘creep’ factor, which I think is crucial because The Dreaming is a horror story after all.
  • Second Prize: An End by by Chelsea M. Smith (18), Woodlands, Texas
    Comments: This was probably my favourite one in terms of writing style—I think it has the best writing out of all the entries (my personal opinion, and I’m biased). I also like the interpretation of Amber’s ‘state of being’ too. I only wish the reader was told the content of the paintings that Amber had in the suitcase—that is my only complaint (because I wanna know badly!)
  • Third Prize: Retrospect by by Xandria L. Johnson (14), Ocala, Florida
    Comments: I liked how this one took the perspective of Miss Anu—it does a pretty good job of exploring her as a character. I loved the way the story ended. It also mentioned some things about the art I never noticed myself, despite having drawn the book!

 

—————————–

 

And here are some of the wonderful honourable mentions:

 

  • The Coffin by Elizabeth Napoletano (26), Cicero, Illinois
  • Records Keeper by Allegra Condiotte
  • The Cost of Living by Sarah Lamb (28), Houston, Texas
  • Walking in the Dreaming by Jasel Cantu (26), Lincoln, Nebraska

 

Thank you to everyone who entered this writing competition. Your entries were all so very fantastic, and I hope you all continue writing. It’s certainly inspired me to attempt writing prose again.

If anyone else has an entry they’d like to be posted up here, please post your email address in the comments, and I’ll contact you to get a digital copy of your story. I think we’ll all love to read the stories – I for one am darn curious about the stories that didn’t quite make “the cut”.

All 6 finalists, please post your email address (again) in the comments, or email me to organise the prizes. I’d like your mailing addresses for sending the prizes to. I’ll be giving out copies of the new “In Odd We Trust” book, and original art from “In Odd We Trust” for the top 3 winners (unless you don’t want art from that, please let me know).

 

Lucid Walking: Borders Appearance

Posted on

Borders in Melbourne: I’ll be doing a Borders talk and book signing for all those interested on Wednesday the 25th June, 5-7pm. There will be a 15% discount on all full-price stock in Borders, so those in Melbourne looking to score some cheaper books (and say hello to me), come on by.

 
Location: Borders
Address: 106 Melbourne Central Shopping Central, 211 Latrobe Street, Melbourne
Date: Wednesday 25 June, 2008,
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 pm
RSVP: Call Jayne Margett on 9663 8909 or email melbcentral@bordersgroupinc.com
 

Cover for The Dreaming - vol1"The Dreaming" vol2 - coverThe Dreaming 3 - cover

 

>>> The Winners Have Been Announced!! Congrats all!! <<<

 

“The Dreaming” Writing Competition: Apologies for the delays on this. I guess you all know that TOKYOPOP is currently in the middle of a restructure, and thus in a difficult situation. I’m unsure whether the marketing department has the time to handle the results of this competition, so I’m going to take matters into my own hands. I’ve sent an email to TOKYOPOP on Friday the 20th, and if they don’t reply by Wednesday the 25th, then I’ll send another email. If that gets no replies by the 30th June, then I’ll announce the winners on my blog on the 1st July. But as we now know, the winners have been announced.

 

But For now…
I announce the 6 finalists in no particular order:
Drumroll…


An End
by Chelsea M. Smith (18), Woodlands, Texas



Records Keeper
by Allegra Condiotte


Retrospect
by Xandria L. Johnson (14), Ocala, Florida


The Coffin
by Elizabeth Napoletano (26), Cicero, Illinois


The Cost of Living
by Sarah Lamb (28), Houston, Texas


The Sketch Album
by Conda V. Douglas, Boise, Idaho


All others who entered the competition: please also email your entries for me to post up (if you wish for it). I would love to read all your entries, since TOKYOPOP only sent me six stories to pick the top 3 winners from.


*An additional 10 people were supposed to get original art pages from “The Dreaming” as prizes. I’ve already sent the 10 pages to TOKYOPOP, but I haven’t heard back from then on that yet either, so I don’t know what’s happening. Personally, I’ll rather sort out the winners first, so thanks for your patience.

The Dreaming: Competition Reminder

Posted on

Odd Thomas: Long time no update. “In Odd We Trust” was finished last month, and well on its journey through production. The release date is mid-July 2008, 2 weeks before the San Diego Comic-Con, where Dean Koontz will be special guest. I also will be attending. More on that as the shelf date approaches.

 

—————————

 

Hopefully most people know, but here’s a reminder for “The Dreaming” Writing Competition:

The Rising Stars of Prose Competition

It’s a writing competition based on the characters and universe of “The Dreaming” manga. TOKYOPOP is running the competition from: 1st February, 2008 ~ 15th April, 2008. Visit their website for the Official rules, Submission Guidelines, and also the entry form.

 

Cover for The Dreaming - vol1"The Dreaming" vol2 - coverThe Dreaming 3 - cover
Buy vol1, vol2 and vol3 off Amazon.

 

What is this competition about?
If the “Rising Stars of Manga” competition was to discover new manga talent, then the “Rising Stars of Prose” competition serves the same purpose. Part of the reason for running this contest is to (hopefully) find some great prose writers who can adapt certain TOKYOPOP manga into novel form. If you have any interest in becoming a professional writer of fiction, this sort of thing may be one of the ways to get your foot in the door and get noticed.

 

What are the Prizes?
The winner gets $500 cash, and a chance to be considered for the novelisation of “The Dreaming” and other TOKYOPOP works (depends on the quality of the winning entry). Other runners-up will get a free copy of “Tarot Cafe”, and also a piece of original “The Dreaming” art. There are 10 pieces of these original art to give away. I never sell my original art, so these will be the only copies out there. Perhaps it’ll be worth alot someday! *laughs*

 

Why does it use “The Dreaming”?
What, you mean apart from the fact that it’s a good story? Well, it’s also to give the fans of the series a chance to flex their creative writing muscles. “The Dreaming” is a good series to base a writing competition on – it has a definate beginning and end, the timeframe of the story stretches over 70 years, and it’s a self-contained universe with its own mythology.

Most of all, it gives an equal platform for all the prose entries to be judged by. This is because a prose competition differs from a manga one. You can ask people to submit 20-page manga stories on anything and judge them somewhat fairly against each other, but such a thing would be impossible to do for a prose contest. A manga is judged on art and panelling as well as writing, whereas prose is judged purely by the writing. How can you ask people to write short stories about anything, and then judge them against each other? The entries would be too diverse for it to be possible. You need some kind of measuring yardstick.

 

Does it have to be a horror story like “The Dreaming”? What does “based on the universe of ‘The Dreaming'” mean?
I don’t think the competition rules mention anything about your story having to belong in any genre. If I’m wrong, please correct me. Your entry has to encompass something from “The Dreaming” universe, be it the characters, mythology or anything else – much like writing fanfiction – but that’s about it. As a final judge, I would much rather look for good ideas, writing skills, characterisations and story structure rather than whether it’s a horror story or not. If horror’s not your forte, then don’t write horror.

Not contradicting the “canon” (ie. the events that occur in “The Dreaming” manga) is also extremely important – it proves that you have absorbed the story properly and can write within a defined set of rules. That’s necessary if you’re asked to adapt a manga into prose form – otherwise, it’ll be like adapting Harry Potter into a movie and getting the characters names/histories wrong. No one wants that.

 

Is this competition open to international contestants?
Sorry. I pushed hard for this, but I’m afraid the complexities of running an international competition is just too great. All those different rules and regulations will make it seem like running parallel competitions, so I’m afraid this contest is restricted to American residents only, much like RSOM.

The Dreaming: The End, or is it?

Posted on

It’s seven days from Christmas Day, and I gotta announce that “The Dreaming” vol. 3 is finally out, both on bookshelves and online! You can buy vol1, vol2 and vol3 here on Amazon.com!

IMPORTANT: Please look on the VERY LAST PAGE of volume 3. There’s a SECRET there, to be revealed on the TOKYOPOP site soon, hopefully January.

 

The Dreaming 3 - cover

So, "The Dreaming" trilogy is officially over (at least the manga written and drawn by me is).

 

It’s been a long and busy three years, and so much has changed in that time. My art has also improved, though the results of that can probably only be seen in “Odd Thomas: In Odd We Trust”, the book I’m working on now.

 

 

  • Along with “The Dreaming”, I was one of the first people to be published in TOKYOPOP’s OEL 3-book manga program, and judging from the changes in their publishing plans, probably one of the last.
  • I started work on “The Dreaming” in October 2004, and finished the last of its pages in August 2007.
  • Book 1 was 172 pages, book 2 was 181 pages, and book 3 was also 181 pages. Each had 7 chapters.
  • This makes a total of 534 mostly greyscale-toned pages, including 21.5 black and white chapter pages.
  • The average chapter length was 25.43 pages. The longest chapter was chapter 20, at 35 pages. The shortest was chapter 21, at 17 pages.
  • I worked a total worktime of 22 months, which makes an average of 24.3 pages a month, 7.33 months for each book. That makes about a chapter a month.
  • In a single month, this means 1 week for the pencils, 1.5 weeks for the inks, and another 1.5 weeks for the tones.
  • My favourite chapter break is chapter 2 in book 1, and my favourite dress is the one the unconscious girl is wearing on the “To Be Continued…” page of book 1.

 

 

————————

 

 

  • First, I’d like to thank all my wonderful fans for your interest and support in this series. I give special kudos to all the people who emailed me – I replied to most of your emails, and will continue doing so. I apologise if I haven’t replied to yours in particular (I get on average 1-2 fan mails a day), but I’ll try my best.
  • Secondly, I want to thank all the editors who worked on this series, namely Jodi, Carol Fox and Paul Morrissey. Carol especially, because she spend the most time on it. Thanks to all the senior editors who kept an eye on things too, and also Stu Levy who greenlit this project.
  • An apology and thanks to Katie Huang and Paul Aeria, who helped me with the toning for book 3, but unfortunately didn’t get their names in the credits because of a printing error. Nobody was at fault – there was some confusion with the 1 month delay in street date because of the SECRET on the last page. So I thank Paul and Katie here instead.
  • A big thanks to TOKYOPOP Senior Editor Jenna Winterburg too, for telling me about the SECRET you’ll find at the end of volume 3. Thanks for the TOKYOPOP marketing folks who came up with that too.
  • Thanks to Emily Shao, for maintaining “The Dreaming” Fanlisting, and also my Normal Fanlisting. I really appreciate it.
  • Kudos to all the librarians who pushed this book, and recommended it to their enthusiastic little manga minions. Thanks to Scholastic for ordering 45,000 copies for their book club too. You’ve got to get them reading when they’re young…
  • May I also thank all the reviewers who gave it a good review, and all the bloggers and journalists who interviewed me for their blogs and/or articles! You can see a full list of them on my site.
  • Thanks to all the news sites I read for mentioning me and my book, including MangaBlog, Heidi at The Beat, ComiPress and the now defunct Love Manga (If a news site I don’t read mentioned my book too, then I thank you as well. Hopefully you were saying something nice, teehee.)
  • Last of all, a big THANKYOU to TOKYOPOP for publishing this series, including every single person who worked on it. If you know anything about book publishing, there’s probably quite a few people whose names didn’t get mentioned because of the “behind the scenes” nature of their job. I want to say: your efforts are appreciated.

 

 

————————

 

I hope everyone (and my fans) continues to support me in the other works I do.
Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy 2008 New Year!!