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Lee: Some advice that I will always be chasing myself is that no work is more important than your body. Lee: Aside from some NDA illustration projects and being on a plane every other week for the book tour, I’m wrapping up my work on THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW with Tina Cho for the Fall 2024 release! I’m also hoping to finish up a little comic that a friend will be publishing in the next few years. Similarly to trans characters, there should be more stories that’s not necessarily about their trans-ness. While I wrote a book about trauma as a Korean-American, I think I’m ready to write stories about Koreans that’s not necessarily about their identity, but as characters who happen to be Korean (and queer! We don’t have a lot of stories with queer poc).

Lee: Haha sometimes I feel like I’m being weirdly performative as a Korean-American, almost as cultural appropriation. Although I’m not involved in game design, it also hit me as one in the creative field-why do we create, and how do we find joy in it again when it becomes a real job, let alone a success in the industry? And even better, Zevin, who is half Korean-American, wrote one of my favorite books growing up, “Elsewhere”, about a girl who wakes up in the afterlife.Ĭhan: How has your Korean American identity changed how you create or write? I recently finished Gabrielle Zevin’s “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow”. They even read my listeners’ story about my high school english teacher being a suspect in the Watcher House this New Years! That being said, the podcast “And That’s Why We Drink” has been a favorite since 2019–it’s half paranormal and half true crime, and one of the hosts is also nonbinary! I really appreciate how self-aware and careful they are, especially with their true crime stories, while having incredible banter. Lee: My toxic trait is that I do enjoy true crime I’m very aware of its exploitative tendencies towards the families of murder victims. In terms of my illustration style, I like to use immense amounts of detail (while still being easy to look at) bold and unexpected color palettes, and a mix of line art and abstract painting.Ĭhan: What is a book or podcast that you’re reading or listening to now that you’d recommend? Maximalist in the compositions of my drawings, and a chaotic internet presence. Lee: Honestly, maximalist in every sense of the word. I’m pretty anxious to see how I write about any sort of other mental illness in fiction, since I’m graduating from the memoir world! But I know that a part of my personal experience will always play out in my work.

Once I understood that about myself, I had to give the book an entirely new skin, with a different arc, dialogue, and characters.

Later I realized that that was far from the truth-it was not the fault of others, but more of how I personally cope with anxiety, loneliness, and depression. The book kept changing as I processed through all my traumas-at first the book, to me, felt like a glorified callout post where I was blaming everyone for my own downfalls. Lee: So far I can only speak for IN LIMBO, but I can say that it’s ever-evolving (since I’m still learning what good writing means!). As I drew for more brands, there came a point where I didn’t need to send self promos anymore I didn’t have to cold email art directors for work.Ĭhan: How does your own journey with mental health inform your writing? The pay was better and I was allocated more time to make a deliverable that I was proud of. I decided that editorial illustration wasn’t right for me, so I focused more on commercial illustration-drawing for campaigns, posters, etc. I quit tech altogether a year later-it was obvious I was going to be more than busy very shortly.Īs for illustration (outside publishing), I don’t think I began getting consistent work until last year, which is also when I finally honed in on what I wanted my artistic voice to be. Right after that I landed another book deal for THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW (Harper Collins, 2024), which was already written by the author Tina Cho. After I graduated and was working in Silicon Valley as a UX designer (my official job title, I was doing some illustration work for them), I basically tripped into the world of publishing-my literary agent found me by chance on Twitter during my senior year and my first book deal for IN LIMBO processed months later. Lee: Simultaneously a slow build and an avalanche.

Adobe illustrator 2020 always have to sign in