Allen: How are you doing Queenie Chan? It is great to interview you again for Jazma Online. Our past interview filled in many details about your self. How have you been since our last interview?

Queenie: Pretty good! I’ve been doing a lot of things, the “Boy’s Book of Positive Quotations” included. I’ve got a short story called “Forget-Me-Not” out with the July issue of Yen Plus magazine, and all this while I’m still working on the sequel to “In Odd We Trust”, tentatively titled “Odd Is On Our Side”. That’s not due until Halloween in 2010, so I’ll be working on that until the end of this year. I’m juggling a few ideas as usual... and to top it all off, I’ve moved back to Sydney.

Allen: What got you interested on working on Fairview Press book “The Boys Book of Positive Quotations”?

Queenie: Steve Deger (writer for the book) emailed me with the proposal for the project, and I was instantly interested because it was something new and different. He’d seen my work for “In Odd We Trust” and liked it. I’m always on the lookout to find ways to bring comics to a more mainstream audience, and this includes things that aren’t strictly fiction or created for trade format. So the idea of doing short comic inserts for a book of positive quotations sound very nice – good for everyone involved!

Allen: Tell me about your art style used in book.

Queenie: My “style” hasn’t changed much from what I was working on previously – since it was for young readers, using the big-eyes manga look would probably go over well with the target readership. There’s something welcoming and non-threatening about the rounded look and simple designs of the characters that I felt suited the project. It’s a book of positive quotations, and accessible drawings are important to maintain that “feel”.

Allen: How long have you been working on this project?

Queenie: I say a total of about 5 months. I started work in January 2009, then finished it early May (deadline was June). Since it was a series of short comics, it’s not that much work in comparison to long-running projects like the “In Odd We Trust” book. I was working on both projects at the same time too – luckily the Odd Thomas book isn’t out until Halloween 2010.

Allen: How did you manage to fit this book into your schedule?

Queenie: It was a bit difficult adjusting at first since I was also working on “Odd Is On Our Side”, but because the majority of the work was single-page short stories, it seemed to go by really quickly. It was juggling my time and working on 2 projects that seemed daunting, but in practice, it was manageable.

Allen: What were some of things you liked most working on “The Boys Book of Positive Quotations”?

Queenie: It was something different, and it was a series of 1-page short stories that were self-contained. I’ve not done anything like it before, and that alone made it fun and interesting for me. Working with someone else’s script instead of my own was also a new experience (for something of this length). Steve was quite easy to work with and we agreed on most of the layouts and pages, so there weren’t a lot of corrections either. Overall, it was a breeze.

Allen: What were some of your influences for creating art for this book?

Queenie: None in particular. It’s still done in the manga-style, so my influences haven’t changed at all. It was the target audience I kept in mind, and tweaked my art slightly to accommodate that.

Allen: Do you plan on working on more projects for Fairview Press?

Queenie: I would like to. Steve was great to work with, and I’ll be happy to work on any future projects that he may have on offer.

Allen: Will Fairview Press or you be offering signed copies of “The Boys Book of Positive Quotations”?

Queenie: I’m not sure... if Steve is interested in doing so, I’ll be happy to sign some copies. It’s all up to what Steve arranges. I did something like this with “In Odd We Trust” where copies of the book was mailed to me, and I signed them and mailed them back, and that seemed to work well.

Allen: What were some of the challenges for you working with Minnesota based publishing company? Did you ever actually meet publisher or was everything done online?

Queenie: Nearly everything I’ve done has been conducted online (“The Dreaming” series, the Odd Thomas books I’m working on now), and this has been no different. I never really get to meet my publisher until after the book is done, but I find that it’s not that uncommon these days in the Age of the Internet. Rare is there such a problem that you have to meet face-to-face. While meeting in person is always the best option (and one I wish I had), I’ve never had any issues communicating via email. So… I didn’t come across any challenges working with Steve that I didn’t already have working with other publishers.

Allen: Who were you named after?

Queenie: Nobody in particular. My English name is derived from the middle character of my Chinese name, which is “Kwan”. It can mean king, queen or royalty, so I suppose that’s where my parents came up with my English name.

Allen: What kinds of comic books or novels are you presently reading?

Queenie: I’m digging through some Vertigo series, like “The Exterminators”, “DMZ” and “Doom Patrol”. I also read “One Piece” religiously every week. Apart from that, I have a whole stack of comics I need to get through, but can’t find the time. You know how it is… everyone has a stack of books like this.

Allen: What are some of your favorite aspects of creating manga stories?

Queenie: Freedom and control, I guess. If you both draw and write, comics can be a very liberating medium, because all you have is a piece of blank paper in which you fill. The possibilities are endless, and manga itself is so accepting of different art style and genres that there isn’t anything under the sun you can’t attempt and still call it manga. Or so I believe anyway.

Allen: I need to ask this in case information has changed. What is best way to contact you? Tell me about your website.

Queenie: My website is www.queenichan.com and there’s a contact form on it where people can email me. I try and reply as much as I can. Apart from that, I have a bunch of short stories from years ago on my site, before I started working professionally. It’s a bit dated, but worth a look.

Allen: What makes you happy with your creativity?

Queenie: Being able to have some spare time to do non-manga related things. That helps, since I get ideas for my manga from other aspects of life that isn’t involved in comics. It’s the feeling that I can express myself creatively with manga as well as with other kinds of art that makes me feel creative. Seriously, while manga has unlimited possibilities, doing some other arts and crafts for a while can help your headspace and help you relax.

Allen: How do you feel if asked to work on cartoons based on your past stories like ‘The Dreaming’ three book series for TOKYOPOP?

Queenie: I would be happy to do so. It depends on the length of the project, but “The Dreaming” still has a number of fans which I’m sure is still interested in seeing stories/cartoons based on the series. It’s unlikely that such a thing will happen at this point, but I never say never.

Allen: What would you like to say to readers that may aspire to create manga stories?

Queenie: Good luck, keep working at it, and persevere. Seriously, perseverance is still the most important attribute in being a comic or manga artist – you can’t really succeed unless you’re willing to keep hacking at it through all the rejection letters. Juggle ideas and do a lot of short stories, as it will come in use later, as will finishing your stories!