This week YA Author Michelle Lam took over our Twitter as a part of our weekly Thursday Twitter Takeover. Michelle Lam is the author of Meesh The Bad Demon (See YEM’s write up of Michelle Lam here.) See highlights from the takeover below.
Hi! My name is Michelle Lam and I'll be taking over this account today to talk about my debut graphic novel MEESH THE BAD DEMON and my journey as an author/artist. Let me know if you have any questions while I ramble away! pic.twitter.com/GNYONOaq0g
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
My favorite experience was being able to see everything in final color thanks to my amazing colorist Perry Wheeler. The worst was whenever I had to do another big story pass and cut out large sections of panels and repaste them somwhere else x_x #YAauthorTakeover
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
Don't draw! Spend time doing other things and revisit it when you feel more naturally inclined. If it's for hw/work though, I would suggest just putting on a TV show / video that inspires you to watch and maybe you might want to end up drawing in the background #YAauthorTakeover
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
MEESH ended up taking around 2-3 years to finish. The book itself began in 2020, but then some delays happened due to the pandemic. And now it's finally being released in 2023! Final art finished in 2022 though! #YAauthorTakeover
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
I guess I should start off with how MEESH even came to be? I started off in the animation industry as a storyboard revisionist in 2018, so during my free time I would make my own comics and share them on IG at https://t.co/be8jN8qyTW pic.twitter.com/rehmiIpzVS
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
Honestly, complex worlds are great, but I wanted to focus the story more on the characters so I decided to keep the world simple / somewhat close to reality with sprinkled fantasy elements. For example, a city on clouds, a world with giant volcanoes. #YAauthorTakeover
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
I always am drawn by my real life experiences, whatever I experience usually becomes a story, just decorated with fictional elements 🙂 I literally keep a list of every idea I have / thought / opinion I have about something. #YAauthorTakeover
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
Then in 2019, I was reached out to by Penguin Random House Knopf to see if I'd be interested in making a middle grade graphic novel. At first I asked for some time to think about it bc I just started my animation job, but then I eventually said yes (many months later lol)
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
In the beginning I had no idea of what stories to make, so I made 5 different ideas regarding a demon girl. Here are some of the initial sketches I made back in 2019 to brainstorm, but Meesh was a lot older in this version. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/O0mRmjFNPg
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
Eventually, I settled on a simpler fantasy idea. While I wanted the story to be fantastical, I wanted to heart of it to remain human. A lot of it was inspired by my childhood growing as a Chinese-American girl and some of the struggles faced along the way #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/xi45b1tD75
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
And most importantly, Chow, Meesh's grandmother is inspired by my own grandma who was pretty much like a second mother to me. I'm here today because of a decision she and my grandfather made to move to NYC from Hong Kong in the 1980s. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/TqSJOPg3fc
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
One of the first films that inspired me was The Cat Returns from Studio Ghibli. My aunt brought back a Cantonese version from Hong Kong and I think that's when the beginnings of my interests for anime begun LOL…as well as putting animal ears on characters #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/n2ClMtbUx5
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
When creating Meesh, I brainstormed several worlds in which are now known as Mt. Magma, Plumeria City, and Ponderosa. A lot has changed since these artworks were done (and a lot of the characters did not make it lol) #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/cNJXRKvoJH
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
While I wanted to make the story related to my experience growing up Asian American, I wanted to still disguise it or decorate it in a somewhat magical world. A lot of how Meesh feels about being a demon paralleled to my emotions growing up Asian. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/sK8q9ED6oM
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
As a kid a lot of people asked why my grandparents always picked me up from school or found it weird it wasn't my parents. My grandparents / parents pretty much came from nothing and worked a lot of their adult lives away to support me and my sister. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/OjaJuOsOae
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
During my free time, I read a lot of shoujo manga such as Tokyo Mew Mew, Kamichama Karin, and Full Moon wo Sagashite. It was really inspiring for me to read comic books that featured a female protagonist whose powers leaned into their femininity. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/2MI1SU7wD9
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
On the other hand, I also enjoyed more action packed stories like Fullmetal Alchemist and Inuyasha. It was also really cool to know these mangas were written by women. These stories inspired my more adventurous / action side. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/xlx2PeeJE1
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
Something random I didn't expect to inspire MEESH was my trip to Portland in 2021! I was amazed by their food cart pod culture, and had to make that a highlight of the world PONDEROSA (which also starts with a P and an O) #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/UiuqojEqM4
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
And Bublava — one of the demon beverages is inspired by boba. I drank a lot of boba as a kid, but grew more lactose intolerant over the years, TMI sorry lol. So now I lean more towards fruit teas with jellies which brought bublava to be. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/brPlYLBp9X
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
One of the biggest challenges about creating MEESH was portraying difficult topics like racism in a middle grade story. It's hard to simplify a complex topic, but I realized stories are meant to start conversations, and not solve big problems. #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/1lYtvrwt7t
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
There were moments in my childhood I remembered kids in my class saying things like "Wow, that's so asian," in response to things I did as if it should be an insult. Simultaneously, I didn't know it was wrong either and just let comments like that slide : #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/miR292BP1c
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
Even though the world is not perfect now, I'm glad progress is being made for Asians in America. I am proud to be a Chinese-American, and I hope Meesh helps other young folks out there learn to further embrace their identity too! #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/HrtXgdAbwz
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
also yes, i named the flower after my sister LOL #YAauthorTakeover
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
And lemme also tell ya, MEESH did not always looked polished. The rough sketches looked like this with no inbetween LOL. #YAauthorTakeover (I immediately would move onto final art after this) pic.twitter.com/NNTRRyWHD6
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
Currently, I am working on book 2 for MEESH and I'm glad to have the chance to further expand on some of these characters. 👿🧚♀️ #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/ehQbpb99wx
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
When I'm not working on books, I love to travel, hike, and try out random hobbies. That's pretty much how I gain new ideas – once I spend some time in a new environment, collecting new memories, thoughts, opinions, etc. pic.twitter.com/Zx9ItmjwCS
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
Anyway, thank you for joining me today, you can find me @mewTripled on youtube and instagram! You can also pre-order MEESH the BAD DEMON, which will come out on March 21st, 2023 here: https://t.co/zqlmdxMoDN
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
And LASTLY- any LA folks, I'll be hosting a release party at VROMAN'S BOOKSTORE in Pasadena on Saturday 3/25, where I'll be doing an author talk and signing books. Join if you can! See you soon! #YAauthorTakeover pic.twitter.com/W1Rep7cw0r
— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) January 27, 2023
