Destiny//Career Interview with Amy Ganter

Career Interview with Amy Ganter by Lynn Le

What happens when you start a manga? Do they give you an outline and deadlines? Do you have assistants to help with toning? Do you need a computer to work? Is there a specific procedure?

I make my own story outline and deadlines, then show them to my editor for approval. At first I didn't have any assistants but I had the help of several volunteers at the end of production for the final crunch. There is no specific procedure, Tokyopop doesn't care how you make it as long as the final product is ready for printing. I use a computer, but you don't necessarily need one to make comics.

Where do you work? In a Tokyopop office, or at home? Where did you work before your current job? What's it like working for Tokyopop?

I worked at home for most of Sorcerers & Secretaries, but now I work in a shared artist space with my husband (another graphic novelist), a concept artist for film, a computer programmer, and a gallery owner. Before doing my own comics, I worked at Barnes & Nobles, as a receptionist for a graphic design firm, as an English tutor, and an animator/character designer for a company called Gamelab.

Working with Tokyopop was okay, they mean well and are truly doing the best they can. The difficulty is that many publishers including them are new to producing graphic novels. All this time Tokyopop has been translating work that has already been finished, so the artists and the publisher here in the states have to work together to build an industry that is fair to both.

How long does it take you to create one chapter, or volume, or series? How long did it take you to become published, and how long did it take to publish a manga?

It takes me a month and a half to do one chapter, a year and a half for a volume, and three years for both books in my "series". I graduated from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan with my cartooning degree in 2002, and got my publishing deal in 2004.

How did you choose your career? What influenced you? Did you have any idols and were they the ones who influenced you?

I decided to be a comic book artist when I fell in love with comics, sometime when I was 11 or so. I wasn't sure what format until I was in the middle of college and met other girls who liked manga when they were in high school, like me. Rumiko Takahashi and Hayao Miyazaki are my comic book idols, but I draw all my writing influences from movies and books that I love. I chose to do comics more because of family and friends than because of the artists I admire, though.

What paths, education, and experiences did you have to be in this career? How long did it take for you to get the job you wanted?

(See two questions above for answer)

What classes did you take in college, and which college did you go to?

Most of my classes at SVA were figure drawing and sequential storytelling classes. But my most valuable experiences were in fine art classes, Latin American fiction, Arthurian literature, and storytelling for animation/film classes.

What challenges did you face in getting to this career? Were there any obstacles? What pushed you forward or motivated you?

How hard is it, being a manga-ka? Does it take a lot of time and effort? What influences the manga you make?

…Does it pay good, great, enough to live, or not enough?…

Do you have any advice for me, if I were to apply for a job at Tokyopop in the future?

Friends and family's love motivated me to keep going, as well as readers from the internet. It's very difficult to stick to it when your work only comes out once every two years or so. Imagine locking yourself in a room and trying to fantasize about one story for a whole year. That's the reality of making "manga" in America right now. The industry is still too new to truly support comic artists and no one can pay them a living wage because not enough people buy comics made by Americans. Tokyopop calls it manga, but it isn't really manga. The system of production is nothing like manga, it's like graphic novels and comics. If you were to apply to Tokyopop, I'd say don't go in imagining that you'll be making something like Inuyasha or Naruto. Barely anyone will see your book and it won't happen on the scale of Naruto or Inuyasha unless there's a movie or tv show tie-in, and the chances of that happening are truly slim. You'll have to get a second job, find some other source of income, or live with your parents while you make the books. This is the reality of the comics industry right now. If you want to grow up and draw "manga" in America, you have to look at the history of comics in America first because you'll be working with people that are familiar with production methods of comics and graphic novels, not manga.

Having that said I love what I do and I'll definitely keep working at it. As an artist, comics is one of the only mediums where you can have the freedom to show and tell exactly what you want, but they're incredibly difficult and take a lot of energy, patience, stamina, humility, and imagination to compete and stay in the public's eye. Because I worked very, very hard for three years on Sorcerers & Secretaries, I now can afford a little more in terms of creative control, social life, and workspace. I'm never alone these days because of the new studio space, and I have an agent now that helps me work out contract negotiations with publishers. But I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for hard work and friends I've met over the years who are going through the same thing.

Do you think you can map out my life? Can I make my dreams come true…?

You're the one that will have to map out your own life. Think about what you truly want to achieve in life, and go for it all the way! The comics/manga/graphic novel/whatever industry in America is kind of difficult, but it'll never change if artists aren't there to create the material. Hopefully by the time you're my age, things will be easier for you.

My Reflection

I really learned a lot from this interview, even though in some parts I’m still confused, and some things I already knew. But she told me: some things I’ll have to experience for myself if I want to find the answer to my questions. She may have skipped over some questions, but those words kind of answer it all.

Destiny Vignette//Forever Friends

Forever Friends

I once had a friend who went to Thailand when I was in second grade. I wrote about her leaving and my waiting once. Well, eight years was a long time to wait…. Nine years is longer. I didn’t know it back then, but I would wait that one more year. And so I did. I was a freshman in high school, and the year was almost over.

That’s when she came back. I didn’t believe it—without warning, she showed up. Actually, I had received an email from her about a month before that. She said she was packing up and was coming home, so I wouldn’t be able to talk to her for a while. She came to my school all the time after she finished unpacking and settling into her new home, and she met all my friends from High Tech. My boyfriend, my other sisters, and everyone, and when she was there, it was like she never left. She had changed a lot, but since we always kept in contact, it never felt like so much time had passed. Maybe that’s how I was able to hold on so long. And I still knew her like we lived our whole lives together, which we actually did, since we’ve known each other since kindergarten.

We began trying to convince our parents to get her into High Tech so she could spend sophomore year with me. We spent a lot of our summer together, too… or at least, as much as our parents would let us. We kept talking about what we would do next, like getting jobs and where we would live, like that project I did in eighth grade.

Sure, we had our little disputes; we always did, but I always made up with her quickly, which was strange since I usually took weeks to make up with friends. I guess I didn’t want to lose her again, because like my other friends, her value is priceless and I cherish her so much that I would do anything for her.

We didn’t have to kill ourselves trying to get up early in the morning or staying up late to try and talk to each other anymore. We weren’t across the world from each other anymore. Even if she stayed in Thailand longer, I would still wait, because that’s what good friends do. We were better than good friends, though. Better than best friends, great friends, and maybe we were closer than sisters or family.

It’s a bit childish, but I can’t find any other way to describe it—we were friends forever, and always would be. We would be friends in the next life, and we were friends in the past life. That’s what we both believed.

We were friends then and from then on, and are still friends from now on.

Destiny Vignette//Conjecture

Conjecture

In high school, I was finally able to create great enough works of art that I thought was worthy enough to sell and reproduce and everything. So I went to a small convention called Conjecture, which was run by a friend of a friend’s parent.

I started out small, bought a table, or lot, for a reasonable price with my brother Jonathan, since he was ready to sell art, too. This was our first convention that we were participating in, so we thought of starting together. We had actually talked about this a few years before.

Jon was the smart one; he knew what to do in that place. Me, I was absolutely clueless. He knew how much art we had to sell to be able to make up for the money we spent on the table, the materials we used to make the art. Whatever else we got was profit that we got to divide fairly.

We ended up being quite popular. Me, having the cleaner and more detailed style of the two of us, caught the crowd’s eyes. But Jon’s simple and sketchy style got him sold faster than me, and he knew what to do to get a sale. I was excited that people liked what we did, and we even did some art on the spot. When we did that, Jon and me would take turns managing the sales while the other was sketching, inking, coloring, and the other stuff a piece of art needs. It got some attention for us. Jon owed me for the art supplies afterward.

We weren’t the only ones who were young and fresh at conventions. There were so many great artists there! After a day of selling art, Jon and me went with our other siblings and just enjoyed the convention, and we cosplayed with them, too. Sure, it wasn’t as big as ComicCon, but that was the big idea! We started small, and we’ve risen since then.

Destiny Vignette//My Brother’s High School Sweetheart

My Brother’s High School Sweetheart

My brother Jonathan, or Jon, went out with a girl named Kathleen, or Kat, in his first year in high school. Everyone knew they were going to get married—they always acted more and more like it every time I saw them. Everyone would tease them about it too, but it was all in good taste. Who knew it would actually come true?

Actually, I always believed they would get married. They always looked like they were meant for each other. I hurt my cheeks smiling so much on their wedding day. It was an Asian wedding, just like I would have one day. I never had much taste for the Christian one anyway. Their wedding was a short time after my graduation from college.

It wasn’t long before Hana came along, either. Hana was Jon and Kat’s firstborn, a beautiful little girl. It was their daughter, my niece. Kat had chosen the name for her, though I know years earlier she and Jon had talked about kids already—they even role-played it in high school.

I tried to spend as much time as I could with that little girl, taking her out to playgrounds and babysitting her and stuff; though with my job keeping me occupied often, I couldn’t find much time to do that. That cute little baby soon had a little brother, whom Jon had chosen the name Andy for, after my other brother. My nephew was just as adorable too! I wish I could have spent more time with him, as well.

Hana and Andy were two years apart. Hana was about four years old when I went to live in Japan with my little sister Amanda. It was amazing that when I got back they were so big! They grew up so much, I regret missing it. Around the time I got back, Hana was seven and Andy was five. Andy was still innocent and adorable, and Hana had matured. Jon and Kat did a good job raising a family, unlike what my parents predicted of Jon.

I remember when I got back, Hana asked me about Japan. I had a great time telling her about it, and I learned Kat was starting to teach her Japanese, since Kat had learned for years. I was excited to see how well she would do, and eventually Andy too. I also saw how Hana and Andy were drawing—most likely the talent came from Jon. I was happy to show them what I did for a living, too, and they were excited little kids dreaming they could do that too someday.

Anyway, that’s my brother, my sister-in-law, and my great and adorable niece and nephew.

Legacy//My Grandfather

My Legacy

An interview about my grandfather

My grandpa, Bảnh Văn Trần, was born in Bà Điễm, Vietnam. Bà Điễm was the countryside, and it was very humid and warm there. It was a small providence with many small villages, where people used horses and carriages for transportation, and people were farmers. Everybody grew fruit trees or had a specialty, and raised horses and traded rice and grew crops and other things. They still used horses and carriages for transportation around that area in the modern day, and the people in that area are very healthy because they are hard workers and do a lot of tough work.

He started out as a carpenter, and later he bought his own sawmill and became a sawmill owner because his pay as a carpenter wasn’t enough to support his family. With the help of his friends and family he was able to open his own business, and all of his brothers were in the sawmill business too, his older brothers owned their own sawmills.

His generation started with French invasion of Vietnam. He lived when the French war transitioned to the next war. Vietnam was always in war. When he was around fourteen years old, his brothers had all moved to the city to be with their wives and open their own businesses. When the French tried to get all the young men who were in their early teens to join the army, my great-grandfather told my grandpa to run away to the city because he didn’t want his son to die in another country’s war. He went to the city, Chợ Lớn, and went to work with his brother. He met my grandma there, too.

After a while he had money and his own family and opened his own business in 1953. He went to an empty area and built his sawmill there and named it An Lac. People began to come and gather around, to work for him, and they brought their friends and family with them, and soon it became a town, named after An Lac. Grandpa built the town, and was influenced by the government and other similar businesses when he built it. He built a temple, and he gave money to the town to build a school and later many other schools that still exist today. But he never gave his name when he gave the donations. The person who founded the town in the first place has been long forgotten by the newer generation, but the older people still know, and his family that still live there know, too.

He was wealthy and down to earth. He didn’t care about class and would help out the poor. He played with those who weren’t in his class, unlike the other wealthy men. He was friendly and had lots of friends, and that’s how he was successful in his business. He had to know and befriend and he had helped many people from different sorts of lives. One of the people he knew was my great-grandfather on my father’s side—they were best friends, and great-grandpa provided help to grandpa’s business and was the sawmill’s wood supplier.

It was because of this reason that he was framed after the communists took over Vietnam. He was framed for political reason, mostly, though. Some of the reasons were because he was wealthy and his money should go to the “community” because his workers were the ones doing the work; another reason is because my mother’s cousins were in the U.S. Army, and the communists saw that as betrayal since he was related to them. Basically it was just, “Your son-in-law is in the U.S. Army, so you oppose us,” and they tried to jail him. The government just wanted his property and wealth, mostly because they were poor at the time and many southerners in Vietnam were wealthy. They made up reasons to arrest him to take all his land. There were no laws against it, in fact, there were no laws at all right after the communists took over, but this would later be changed. They took the sawmill and his land, but they didn’t have the deed for it so they made him give it up, and they wanted to kill him. So he had to escape and left most of his family behind, because basically, he would have gotten killed for being wealthy. Maybe they thought he was a “slave owner” because they thought all the wealthy men were wealthy because they had slaves, so they used it as an excuse to frame them. Slavery was unacceptable to the communists and was punishable by death. Neither my grandpa nor anybody else was a slave owner, but my grandpa had to leave anyway. He couldn’t fight back, just run away from them. He had a big family and if he wanted to get killed, he would fight back; but he didn’t and he wanted his family to be safe, so he left.

Life in a war country was hard. He had to constantly worry about it, and get ready to leave home at anytime. After the war and when he left his country, he lost everything, and he had to build everything up again in America, though he struggled due to financial hardship.

He felt scared, lonely, and sad when he had to leave Vietnam. In his life, he was most influenced by his family and children, and his hope to bring back a better life and future to them after they left their home and built a new one arriving in America with his daughters. His worst memories were on the ship to America: where he experienced terrifying storms, pirates, starvation, and other things, all on a small boat going overseas. He once joined the army, but he didn’t talk about it, maybe due to a bad experience.

But he had left Vietnam to seek freedom and a better life for his children after the war, and so he did. He had built everything from the ground up in Vietnam and lost it, but he did it all over again when he got to America. Unfortunately, he was old and didn’t speak English and couldn’t do much, but he encouraged his children, my mother and her sister, to go to school, learn everything they could, and build their lives to be better, just like he once had. His wisdom and encouragement has given his daughters strength to adapt and become successful.

When he passed away, it was in San Diego, California in June 1997, and he was sent back to Vietnam for a funeral in his home country. Everyone from his town and all his friends were at his funeral—thousands of people. He was an honorable and friendly man, a loving father, and my grandpa.

Destiny Vignette//The Love of a Lifetime

The Love of a Lifetime

I had met my second boyfriend in college. We met in one of my Japanese classes and we were good friends at first. It was surprising when I found out he had a crush on me, and this was about a year after I had broken up with my high school sweetheart. He had asked me out in a quiet, kind of shy cliché romance way. I guess he knew I liked that type.

His name was Jaydin Hikari Sasaki. He was Japanese-American, and was only going to a Japanese class to learn about his heritage. From what I found out later, he had approached me one day after class because out of all the other students in the class, he noticed me, and when he first talked to me it was when he finally had the guts to. I think it was love at first sight, but he never admitted it.

He didn’t exactly have any other classes with me, but I found out he was taking a print media class too, but it was different from mine. His career goal was to work in the publishing industry—just like me, only he wanted to publish and edit, not draw and do all the hard and complicated things I had a passion for.

We were together for over half a year when we decided to go to Japan together in our senior year of college. We went during a break in the year, when we didn’t have to go to class, and we were in Japan for about two weeks. It was so different there! And there were a lot of romantic sceneries…. We kept telling our friends how it was there, until they got annoyed and had heard the stories a thousand times.

We stayed together for about nine years, total. When I went to live in Japan with my sister, Amanda, for a few years, we even kept in contact, but with my work at Ribon keeping me busy so often, I barely spoke to him awake. When I was around twenty-nine, though, he surprised me with a visit. What was more surprising—after a few days of becoming a loving couple again, he proposed! It was so sudden. I was expecting it, since we had talked about it before I left for Japan, but I never thought it would actually happen.

So, after finishing the final chapter of the manga I was working on, Nashi Yume, Amanda and I packed up and went back to America with my new fiancé. We began planning our wedding, and I called to get my job back at Tokyopop after the whole event. I was staying at Jaydin’s after we got back, and my sister was there, too. We were also planning to buy a house; we had a good amount of money, since I had won a lot in Japan when I was nominated for some manga and anime awards, plus Jaydin’s steady income from his job as an Author and Artists Relations Associate at Tokyopop.

The wedding was—as every girl says—the most special day of my life. We had an Asian wedding in 2023, and both our families helped pay for it. It was a small, simple wedding—nothing too expensive, but still beautiful. It was a winter wedding, somewhere between the time when the leaves finished falling and the snow began to rain somewhere else in the world. There were flower and tree decorations, firecrackers, ceremonial wine, a very important sacred fruit from a symbolic tree that was part of a legend of love in Vietnam, the phoenix and dragon candles from a Vietnamese wedding, and I wore a bright red Vietnamese dress with a swan-like phoenix and dragon hand-embroidered one it and Jaydin wore a formal silk suit. My whole family was there, my brother and his wife, my siblings, my parents, and all my closest friends: mostly lifelong friends and some people who I’ve kept in contact with who were from middle and high school; and Jaydin’s family and friends were there, too. At the reception, there was roasted pig, too, because of Vietnamese tradition, but I didn’t eat it.

After the wedding, we quickly got back to normal life. We bought a house, and Amanda became our roommate, but it wasn’t much trouble. We liked having her around. I went back to Tokyopop, but worked at home, and Amanda was my assistant sometimes: she did some of the final touches on my manga, like toning and editing. My husband worked at the office, but was my personal manager and agent, since he had to arrange schedules and all that stuff. We were good for a while, life was good, and Jaydin was supporting me all the way as I tried to accomplish my dreams, no matter how hard and stressing it was.

He cheered me up when I was sad, he knew when to make me laugh, he comforted me and kept with me, and loved me. He was kind and caring, shy and quiet, polite and modest, and sweet and strong. He wasn’t exactly strong physically, but his heart was strong. I loved him the most for that. Sure, he had some flaws, like he would stress about his job or complain about some random small things sometimes, but that was what I was there for—to help him out and listen to him, and to return his love and care. I didn’t mind flaws. It was like a habit that was hard to get rid of. I guess I got used to it.

I believe in true love. I believed that if we loved each other in a past life, that was why we were lovers in our life right now, and we were going to be lovers again in the next life, too. I like cliché romances, because they’re sweet and simple, but say everything they need to say. I never knew why, in books and manga and other things, they always made saying “I love you” so hard, but I found it was true—it was hard, till I said it to the love of my life for the first time. I knew it was true, because I wouldn’t have said it if it weren’t. It’s hard finding it in you to actually know that feeling and trust your heart when it says that you belong with that one special person.

I knew it, and so did Jaydin. I think destiny set us up, just like destiny had set so many other things up to make me feel like life was hard—till he came along and made things easier. He took care of me, he loved me, and I returned these feelings without inhibitions, and I never once took any moment I had with him for granted. I regretted every moment I couldn’t see him. Fate put us together because, to put it short, we were soul mates. Fate made us friends at first, but somehow that changed. I couldn’t help it… I fell in love. I fell in love with Jaydin.

What's In A Name? What's In My Name?

My Name
By Lynn Le

My name—it’s something people call me by. It’s better than being called “it” or just “she” or “you” or even “that kid”. It’s something that helps connect people in the way that if you say each other’s names, you know who the other person is, in a way. It’s something personal that has the power to create a bond when I first say, “My name is Lynn.”

My family is Vietnamese—foreign names sounded beautiful to them. So my parents gave me a foreign name—a simple, pretty one, a common one. I’ve known some people to call me “Lynn Le” as if it were my full name, because they thought it was, like a second name; like the name Mary would have Jane at the end of it sometimes.

I like to come up with nicknames for fun, even though I like my given name very much, and mostly my other names are pennames or based off of something I adore. I still wouldn’t give up my name, even if I keep creating nicknames. I can never settle on a nickname, so maybe that’s why I’ve kept my real name, instead of insisting people call me by a name I’ve only come up with.

My name seems to ring, like the sound a bell makes. It sounds like chimes ringing in the gentle winds of life. It’s relaxing, it’s simple, it’s unique to me; but at the same time, it can be the random, energetic, creative, lively monkey of the Chinese zodiac of the year I was born.

My name is the golden sunset and cool, dark evening, just after dusk when the skies are being sprinkled with stars and covered by a blanket of pale purple-blue, and it’s getting darker till twilight, when daybreak rules. It’s a blooming carnation in the middle of a grassy field in the lively air of spring and colors are just all about.

My name is a single ray of light piercing the storm clouds over the disturbed sea of life, and the raging tides are always changing, the once gentle winds whipping me hard as I continue to go and break the waves of time, to rest in the sea of my destiny.

Throughout it all, my name is always with me.

My name is simple. My name is common.

My name is mine.

I Am Poem

I Am Poem

I am an artist
I am a writer
I am a dreamer
I am a person

I always work hard
I always be creative
I always see things others don’t
I always have friends

I like beautiful things
I like uniqueness
I like simple and plain, sometimes
I like hanging out with my friends and living life

I can pick up a pencil and start a masterpiece
I can be someone else, play pretend; create a whole new person to be
I can create an adventure and live the life and any life I want
I can be me, ‘cause there’s only one me

I have a home, a roof over my head
I have a family I love
I have friends I’ll cherish till the end
I have everything I could ever want, and I’m grateful for it

I am weird and strange
I am human
I am a person
I am me

Vignette//Friends for Eternity

Vignette: A description of a certain event or point in time.

Dedicated to that one special person who will always have a place in my heart.

----------------
One time when I was little, I made a friend in kindergarten. At first I was attracted to be her friend because I saw she had a Mulan backpack—Mulan was my favorite movie back then, around the time it first came out. So we became friends, and not only did we have a common interest in that Disney movie, but also many other things. As children, we became friends faster than we would have if we met later. We did all the things children would do—learn how to play hula-hoops and jump ropes and we went to each other’s houses—it was all memorable times. I even knew where her candy drawer was.
She was my first best friend.
Once, I got mad at her in first grade because I thought she wanted to hang out with one of her other friends instead of me. I didn’t know who that other girl was, I was just jealous she knew my friend longer and better. I was ignoring them for a few days, and in the end, the other girl became one of my best friends, too.
In second grade, she had to leave to go to her home country—halfway across the globe. She was allowed to come over as much as she wanted in the weeks before she left. We spent as much time as we could together, but not enough.
In the middle of the school year, she left. I was really sad. “Sad” can’t even describe what I felt back then. I was heartbroken, constantly crying, I had lost my first and greatest best friend, physically. We had emails, but back then was when I had no clue how to use it, so we had lost contact for a while. Until she mailed me a card, and we kept mailing each other, till we had a greater grasp of email and better understanding of the Internet. Every now and then, we would stop emailing each other, and then I would become depressed again. And then when I receive that long-awaited reply from my friend, I would light up like a candle. We would even get up early or stay up late to talk, through new-age technology, but it was hard though, because of the time difference.
We had eight years. She told me before she left in second grade, she said eight years. Eight years till she could come back to America, eight years till she could some home. I thought I couldn’t wait eight years—I wanted her to come home sooner. I didn’t know it back then, but I would wait. Wait for eight years, nine years, ten years—however long it took for her to come back.
Once, only once, did my friend come back, but only for a little. She was on her way to Ohio to visit a sick relative, and she visited me. I was so happy! I was about ten years old, give or take, around that time. I tackled her; we gave each other the biggest hugs, till it hurt. I actually jumped when I saw she was home, even for a little. I had heard before that she was coming, but I thought she wouldn’t because it was supposed to be weeks before when she actually came, and I had given up; and now I know I had given up too soon. We talked, played, got to be little kids again for a time, and when she left, she left with a precious toy I gave her.
Every time I read one of her emails, I get all giddy like a little kid sometimes, other times I feel like reaching out, and I can talk to her about anything, no matter how random or serious. We talk over email like girlfriends do in high school, about out problems, what’s going on, or something totally random; and I’m always begging her to come back almost every time I type to her. We talk about what we would do when she comes back too—live life together; get jobs together, go to school together, and everything we can think of.
It’s been nearly eight years now—eight years is almost up, and then she’ll be home for good. Then we can do everything we’ve planned! But over email, I’ve learned, I’ll have to wait a little longer: about two years longer. It doesn’t matter; I’ll wait for her. I miss her, but I’ll wait for her no matter what—that’s what friends are for. I’ll even wait forever for her return. I’ll wait for eternity for our reunion.
I’d do anything for her, because I love her. I know in some other lifetime, we’d be friends there too. She’s my best friend, my sister; she’s my family.

Remembering 20 Years

Konichiwa! My name is Lynn Le. I am 34 years old as of... well, however many months ago my birthday was. Time to remember what my life was like 20 years ago...

My high school years were... great, I guess. I went to the same place my brother did: High Tech High Media Arts. I remember hanging out with our friends--both my brother's friends, who quickly became my friends or were already my friends, and my friends from middle--at our own little place every lunch. That is, when I wasn't busy being a work-a-holic like I always did... So much happened in high school! And it wasn't that typical or stereo-type thing they show on TV...

I got my first boyfriend. Wow... okay, it's a bit strange at first. I went for cliche romance, hehe. I also got a good-paying job in high school. Too bad I didn't have time for community service at the old elementary school-those were the days! But, now I get payed... it's hard finding a job! I kept it till high school was over, luckily. I still drew and sung for fun, and tried to learn more languages on my own... that was hard. Also, I got my first booth at a convention to sell my art during high school... how fun. I found out how good an artist I was through that.

Anyway, after high school came college. It was hard choosing, and I knew I wanted to go to a good school in southern California, to stay near my family. I wanted to go to a school that taught not only art, but some architecture, writing, graphics, animations, and language. What? I knew I couldn't learn everything on my own. That would kill my brain! So I applied to UCLA. It had most all of that! But it was hard finding the art studies courses that I wanted. I had to study really hard to get accepted! In the end, I got in.

I took arts and print media as my main courses, and Japanese (language, reading and writing, etc.); and I went to the animation workshop, game/programming class, and graphics class when I could (meaning the least... I killed my brain when I stayed up really late to go to those classes and finish assignments!). I also took some extension classes on writing, architecture, web design, music (voice, instrument, etc.), and fashion design; just in case I couldn't make it in the other fields of my choice. I had hoped to become a successful manga-ka (comic maker), either in the US or Japan. I was passionate about all of these subjects, they all either connect and are something that could help me out in any of my other career choices. I remember hoping when I was younger to go to Japan to work and debut as a manga-ka or work at TOKYOPOP, a manga publisher in the US. I remember pursuing all of these subjects at one point!

Of course, my life wasn't all work and no fun. I kept in touch with all my friends! And my boyfriend--yeah, high school sweetheart. I believe in true love and fate and all that stuff, I always will (but that doesn't mean I'll have just one boyfriend my whole life, yes?). As for my social life, I had some college friends and acted and looked as random as I did in high school and middle! And there was my job... but that's not the point. Oh yeah! On my free time, when I wasn't hanging out or working, I was working and entering Tokyopop's "Rising Stars of Manga" competition! I got in once, and that got me a cash prize and I got to pitch my ideas to Tokyopop.

Anyway, when I graduated (with the Fine Arts and Graphics Design degrees) when I was 22, I stuck around LA for a while, sold some art, and took on that job at Tokyopop (thanks to "Rising Stars of Manga"!). It wasn't as exciting as I expected, but hey, I got to see manga everywhere! And my idea was being made into a graphic novel. That was exciting! It only paid enough for me to live, though, but I made it.

I stayed in LA for about 5 years or so, in my own apartment (a small one), visiting San Diego often. I went to my big brother Jon's wedding to his high school sweetheart Kat (she's an awesome sister[-in-law]!), my little brother Andy's graduation, and the birth of my niece Hana and nephew Andy. I went to visit Japan with my current boyfriend, too (I met him in one of my Japanese classes in college, we were friends at first)! He's Japanese, so that was fortunate. We stayed there for a few weeks, then came back to America. It was fun living the Japanese life for a while.

When I was 26, my sister graduated from college. She came to live with me for a while, like we promised when we were younger, practically our whole lives. After a year and a half of letting her learn what life's like on her own (I didn't do much, she had to get a job and learn how to cook and everything on her own), we went to live in Aoyama in Tokyo, Japan. We lived there for a few years in a small apartment, I published a few graphic novels. My friends came and visited for a while too, we were neighbors for a year or two. Then my boyfriend came and proposed, in one of those cliche romance ways, just like I like it, hehheh. After a few months, we all went back to America, I moved back to LA to get my job back at Tokyopop. I took a few months to get back to life, and planned the wedding, and then got married.

My wedding was wonderous! It wasn't the traditional Christian wedding, but my mom made me have a Asian wedding (once again, it's lucky my fiance was Asian too). What was cooler is that Cassie, my great friend since middle school, was also getting married in the same year, so we planned to have an after-party together (after the honeymoon, etc.), to celebrate our new lives and just ot hang out with our friends.

I've been married for a few years now, and I'm making my way to be an independent manga-ka in America, with my husband as my partner and manager, and assistant. My little sister Amanda is an assistant too, and she's living with us! But she pays, like living in an apartment. And my brother Jon, another great artist, is a partner, too! When he's not busy with his own life... Oh, we own a house in LA. A decent one where I can work independently (with my own studio!). Besides Tokyopop, I sell art, but not as a job... more for fun and a little extra money. And lets not forget conventions! Being an adult makes it a bit easier to get a booth at conventions... And I always get to meet my idols and everything!

My fondest memory over all this time was one time in high school--my friend from Thailand, who I hadn't seen in about 10 years at that point, came back to America after spending those 10 years in her homeland. I was so happy! Actually, happy nor any other word can describe what I felt then. She came back during my freshman year, and we both worked on getting her into a school for her sophomore year. Actually, our parents did, we just did a lot of begging and convincing, heheh. And so for our sophomore year, we both went to school together! It was our dream come true; we kept talking about it over email, I remember. I was reunited with my best childhood friend, and that's why this is my fondest memory.

I think my biggest impact on the "world" (or maybe just some countries) was my published work. I am proud of everything I've ever done, and I'm glad my work was good enough for people to read. I'm glad they all enjoyed it and were entertained.

Vignette//A point in time

Vignette: A description of a certain event or point in time.

This is something I was thinking at some point. My thoughts, my feelings, my vignette.

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I remember, during some times at HTMMA, where people were a bit two-faced. Don’t get me wrong, HTMMA is a great place, I love it, it’s just sometimes it’s not so nice.

One time, I performed at a talent show, and I felt so proud because I worked so hard to try and sing a foreign song well and right and I thought I had done that.

The second time was during Resilience Café, it was a night to honor people, a fun night. I had performed there too; with a song I had written myself.

The next day, my friend told me people laughed at me. Not only during Resilience Café, but at the talent show too. They laughed at my voice. It shot me down a little.

When we did Resilience Café the second time, somebody asked me if I was going to sing again, and after I answered and turned away, I heard laughing.

I had heard people liked my songs, and some people came up and complimented me the first time they heard me perform. But nobody told me they didn’t like it, or criticize; instead they talk about me behind my back.

Now, I don’t mind if they didn’t like it, I know not everybody would like everything, and I’m not perfect, I don’t expect everyone to like me or my songs; but I did mind they didn’t tell me directly.

I know they might be trying to spare my feelings, but I didn’t want that—I wanted honesty. If I sucked, I wanted to know, so I could find out how I could get better. I’m used to criticism.

I was thinking about thins a lot—people didn’t like my singing, they made fun of me for getting up on stage and making a fool of myself when I wasn’t trying to.

But I continued singing, I didn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop doing something I loved to do and had fun with just because of what some others said; if I cared about what others thought about me, I wouldn’t be doing anything. Doing what I want, and not trying to fit in with the latest fashion or technology or anything.

I also knew I had the courage to get up and sing. How can everyone sit there and laugh at me for doing that when none of them who are laughing at me had the bravery to do it, too? How many of them could write a song and go and record themselves singing; without being embarrassed about it? So why laugh?

I could laugh at them for not doing what took me a lot of courage to do what I do, but I don’t. That’s disrespectful, mean, and not right. Who would ever like someone who does that?

After singing Japanese at a school that’s supposed to appreciate and learn about other cultures and take interest in it, and singing something I put time and dedication into to a school that’s not supposed to be segregated, I wonder why this school isn’t. But I still enjoy my time here, I ignore the two-faced compliments when I need to, but still acknowledge the insults.

I hope some people realize my feelings, and even be considerate of not only me, but others as well. I don’t cry or get angry when people criticize and insult. I move on, get better, and keep on singing.