ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tina Cho is the author of Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans, Korean Celebrations: Festivals, Holidays and Traditions, My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God Around the World, The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story, and God’s Little Astronomer.Her lyrical middle grade graphic novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow, debuts from HarperAlley in 2024. After living in South Korea for ten years and meeting North Koreans, Tina, her husband, and her two kids reside in Iowa, where Tina also teaches kindergarten.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Deb JJ Lee (they/them) is a trans nonbinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. They have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, NPR, Google, Radiolab, and more. They are known for their award-winning graphic memoir, In Limbo, about mental illness and difficult relationships with trauma. Their cat, Marlie, has three teeth.

I had the opportunity to interview Tina and Deb together, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourselves?

T: Hi, thanks for having me! I’m a Korean American living in Iowa. I teach kindergarten by day and write by night and weekends. My family & I lived in South Korea from 2010-2020, moving back during the pandemic. I have five picture books published with two more on the way, as well as this middle grade lyrical graphic novel out 11/12/24.

D: Hi! I’m Deb. I’m a trans nonbinary Korean-American illustrator based in Brooklyn NY. I’d say I’m most known for the detailed and colorful illustrations I’ve done as a freelancer, and for my graphic memoir titled IN LIMBO (2023), which have won and been nominated by multiple awards, including the APALA honor, Eisner (nominated), Harvey (nominated) and Ignatz (winner). I’ve been freelancing since 2020 but previously have worked in Silicon Valley as a product designer/illustrator.

What can you tell us about your latest project, The Other Side of Tomorrow? What was your inspiration for this story?

T: While living in South Korea, I learned about North Korean refugees. After researching their stories on the Internet, I interviewed some and thought children, especially in America needed to hear that there are kids around the world who have to live in hiding and don’t have much food. The Other Side of Tomorrow is about two children who escape along the Asian Underground Railroad out of North Korea to freedom. 

D: I think Tina has worked with North Korean refugees in the past before! I took the story on because the combination of a Korean author writing about the effects of the North Korean regime is a rare opportunity. Not to mention, the Harper Collins named helped, as I was new to the industry at the time (2019)

As creatives, what drew you to the art of storytelling through comics? 

T: I enjoyed reading comics as a kid; however, I hadn’t read graphic novels until my editor suggested my story be told in the graphic novel format. I read some from the library and really enjoyed how the art enhanced the story and made it come alive and be more understandable. 

D: To be honest I fell into comic-making unintentionally! At first I always knew I wanted to be an illustrator, but never took action on it until 2017, when I was about to graduate from college. I spent my senior year basically making my own illustration curriculum (my university was pretty degrading towards illustration haha). However I managed to be in the right place at the right time when I got my current literary agent and an illustration internship at NPR the spring of my senior year. A year later, I began work on my first comic IN LIMBO, and realized that I actually kinda like making sequential art! I haven’t stopped since.

How would you each describe your creative process?

T: My creative process starts with an idea, and like good Asian food, it has to marinate for a while in my brain. I write my ideas down, do research which might involve travel or interviews, and then on Saturdays, which I’ve dedicated solely to writing, I try to figure out the story plot. Thankfully, I have several critique groups that also give me great advice. 

D: ARDUOUS. It’s that way with all my freelance projects too. Because of my illustration background, I have a habit of making everything as lush and detailed as possible. This becomes a problem when suddenly you have about 2000 panels to illustrate! I would say each spread took about 20 hours, which is crazy to think, because I could really only realistically do 1.5 spreads (3 pages) a week to keep up with my other obligations to maintain a steady income!

What was it like collaborating together for this project?

T: Deb and I never really talked until after the project was done. Perhaps you’ve heard that in the United States, the author and illustrator don’t really work “together.” Rather, they go through the editor and art director. However, my editor would send me batches of Deb’s drawings to check. I loved seeing the story come to life. 

D: To be quite honest we didn’t really communicate much during the process! We were only given notes from our editor.

What are some of your favorite elements of drawing/ writing? What are some of the most challenging? 

T: My favorite part of writing is just that—writing the first draft, letting my imagination and muse work together, creating something new. The most challenging part is revising, getting the plot just right. Once again, I’m thankful for wonderful help from my critique groups, agent, and editors. 

D: I have a love hate relationship with color. It’s *such* a difficult thing to get just right, but when it works out, you feel as though you’re on top of the world! Especially to maintain a palette throughout a couple hundred pages. I was so apprehensive about how I can keep it up for this long but realized that changing the palette to depict night, day, calm, and turbulence does come in handy for reader immersion.

Besides your work, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?

T: On Friday and Saturday nights, you’ll find me binging on K-dramas on Netflix or Apple TV, my escape from hectic days with five-and-six year olds 😛 

D: Oh man a lot of my life and self is about my work! I guess in terms of the book, a lot of care was put into this project. Other things about me? My partner and I have started mining (reddit calls it rockhounding, but mining sounds cooler) for diamonds and hopefully later, garnets! You can find a lot of spots in Upstate NY.

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

T: If you could change careers, what would you be? I think I would like to be a librarian, working with books and authors/illustrators, and sharing stories all the time. 

D: I *have* been asked this question but I wanna answer it again just for my own manifestation purposes: my dream projects! A couple involve illustrating a New Yorker cover, to do a wine label, maybe a storefront mural!!

What advice might you have to give for aspiring comic book creators/graphic novelists out there? 

T: My advice is that if I can do it, so can you. In high school and college, I didn’t like writing. But if you set your mind to do something, there are so many ways to learn these days. Never say no to your dreams.

D: I always advocate for illustrators and other artists to be given as much time and money as they need. Most of my book projects needed an extension of at least two years. It’s hard to ask for, especially since it seems like such a long time, but when you really do the math, *and* account for the other projects needed to maintain a steady income, you realize that one and a half years to work on a 200+ page graphic novel is a rush job!

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

T: I have plenty of picture book drafts that I hope someday will be published. And I have another middle grade book out on submission. God’s Little Oceanographer, a diverse faith-based picture book with Penguin Random House/Waterbrook will be out next June. And I’m very excited about The Princess & the Grain of Rice, a Korean retelling of The Princess and the Pea, which publishes Fall of 2025 with FSG/Macmillan. There aren’t many Asian princess picture books so I hope this helps fill a void. 

D: I’m signed to illustrate a picture book called MONSTER SEEK by Rainie Oet, publishing by Astra House. Another one is unannounced so you’ll have to keep an eye out 🙂

Finally, what stories/books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

T: Well, of course, everyone should read my illustrator, Deb JJ Lee’s memoir, In Limbo, with cultural and mental health themes. I also loved MexiKid by Pedro Martín and Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez & Gabriela Epstein. And I just recently finished Jose Pimienta’s graphic novel, Twin Cities. I feel diverse stories and creators are very powerful in opening up perspectives in readers.

D: Graphic novelists to keep an eye on include Molly Mendoza, K Wroten, Alex Krokus, Bowen McCurdy 🙂 I actually have a list of friends on my website I recommend for inspiration-searching!