Bye Bye 2023 - Part 1

First of many things since the "isolated" years!!

2023 is a year that marks the continuation of healing and recovery from the pandemic. It is also the year of rabbit, which is my native year. According to Chinese beliefs, a person's birth year is characterized by change and growth, which may entail a year of growing pains and trials. Given the chaotic past few years, I didn’t even bother to set any ambitious New Year's resolutions. I would be grateful if the year goes by without any crazy hiccups.

January

As a teacher, I have witnessed the continued healing and recovery from the pandemic. Students are gradually catching up with the lost time caused by the pandemic, and campus life is slowly returning to normal.

Demo from my digital painting workshop

I finished One Perfect Plan at the end of January 2023. WOOHOO!! If you have been following my posts, you may already be overloaded with information about my new release. Let's skip ahead!

February

I signed a new graphic novel deal with First Second. I can’t wait to share next year.

I’m not allowed to talk about my new graphic novel yet. These practice sketches have nothing to do with my book but are a sneak peek of the theme.

The best part of 2023 is that this is the first year since the pandemic's beginning, I get to meet up and reconnect with many friends, families, and relatives.

March

Table at WonderCon, my first big convention since YUP! - the pandemic, and I discovered mentally I am so NOT ready to get back tabling at the convention. I don’t have new merchandise; crowds and talking to strangers all day stressed me out. I felt like I could barely keep up with life, teaching, and books, so I decided to take a break from conventions.

April

Piglet received her very first wedding invitation from her human friends!

May

Making books at home can get lonely sometimes. We don't often get to see our book friends besides the occasional book events and conventions. We see people even less during the pandemic. I felt very disconnected from the book community.

As soon as I saw that the Highlights retreat had reopened, I immediately signed up without any second thoughts!

Have a wonderful, memorable time at the Asian and Asian American Voices retreat at Highlights Foundation, meeting many wonderful new friends and reconnecting with old friends!! 

I’m so happy that local book events are finally back as well.

Attended the Asian Pacific Islander event in Pasadena and met with local community leaders, librarians, and creators. I can't help taking a picture of Marshmallow and Jordan with the Indonesian flag!!

During the rest of the summer, we went on a few big and small trips!

On a fun California coast road trip with my best friend, we took Piglet to San Luis Obispo and Cambria.

JUNE

We drove to the Bay Area for the Children’s Fairyland Book Festival and spent a few days with my uncle. I started my journey as an independent artist and discoverer of my love for children’s book publishing in San Francisco. I have many fond memories of my first experiences in this city.

• First picture book illustration opportunity from Immedium, a local indie publisher

• First writers retreat

• First time learning about the publishing industry from the SCBWI Bay Area chapter

• First big commercial book illustration opportunity with Chronicle Books

• First American Library Association (ALA) Conference

• First time discovered my interest in becoming an author

I used to visit the Bay Area frequently even after moving back to LA, but it has been a while since my last visit to San Francisco. Despite the short trip, we had a wonderful time. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of many more visits to the Bay Area.

We meet my uncle's fur babies for the first time; Piglet is super jealous of her cousins!

At the Children’s Fairyland Book Festival in Oakland, I reunited with old and new friends from the Bay Area.

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Hmm... I have to stop here. Substack is warning me that my post is near the length limit. I will share more stories in my next post.

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