Sean’s new web site, special SOL preview

I’ve set up a new web site, with a special page on it for THE STORY OF LEE, including a 20 page preview of the book.

Have a wee look why don’t ya: http://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com

These below are from a comic book event in London last year, arranged by ‘the man at the crossroads’, Paul Gravett:

The Story of Lee – digital version!

Comixology, the digital comics site for ipad, iphone, android, etc now has my own book with NBM on it – The Story of Lee. Out this week, just in time for Xmas! You can download the digital version for only $7.99 (a mere snip, the paper one costs $11.99). It’s my first English language digital book, although I have one out already in Japanese. 150 pages, mature manga story, art by Chie Kutuswada. There is also a 12 page free preview there on Comixology, as a taster. Nice!

“Lee, living in Hong Kong, meets Matt, a fine young Scot. Their relationship becomes stronger by the day, despite their deep cultural differences. But there is Lee’s dad to contend with who views this affair very suspiciously. And there is another contender for Lee’s heart, a young Chinese man, whose jealousy takes on twinges of xenophobia. Will Lee and Matt’s relationship successfully cross the cultural divide and overcome the negative odds?”

https://comics.comixology.com/#/issue/18636/The-Story-of-Lee-Vol-1

Sean’s radio interview number 2 – London this time

ANOTHER nice radio/podcast type interview with me went up yesterday – this time in London.
I talk about the writing of The Story of Lee, such as: “It is autobiographical?”And various things regarding AX and being in Japan.

http://panelborders.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/panel-borders-the-danger-of-romance/

Sean’s interview in Ireland

An nice radio/podcast type interview with me went up today in Ireland  – talking about various of my books. I especially go into some detail about  the writing of The Story of Lee, some critics views and my reactions – but also about my books AX and Yakuza Moon and others.

A good mix of serious discussion about comics and also relaxed joking around, but please excuse me sniffing quite a lot, my nose was blocked up that day!: http://thecomiccast.com/2011/11/22/alternative-manga-an-interview-with-sean-michael-wilson/

The Story of Lee, in Scotland (again!)

We’ve had a lovely review of THE STORY OF LEE from the organisers of the north of Scotland’s comic book convention ‘HI-EX’.

In which they note:

“…wonderful artwork from… Chie Kutsuwada. While some of her work at the beginning of the book seems a bit shaky, the reader can almost see her confidence grow after only a short number of pages, and the standard of work just gets better and better as the volume goes on. Her brilliant use of silent panels and understanding of body language (like a heartbreakingly sad panel of Lee’s parents in bed together) really add depth to the emotion of the story.”

and:

“While the arc of the story will, I suspect, not surprise many readers, it is told with such warmth, skill and truthfulness that the reader cannot help but be carried along by it and then lifted by the note of hopefulness at the end. And ending which does a superb job of leaving the reader wanting more. Seek this out!”

(We say: Yes, please do!)

http://hiexcomics.blogspot.com/2011/07/story-of-lee-review.html

The Story of Lee in China

Funny how life is… I was recently planning to get my book with NBM, THE STORY OF LEE, published in China.  A colleague in Shanghai will take it round to various publisher there. And now, this week, a big surprise: TWO of my books are already out in Chinese!

My adaptations of A CHRISTMAS CAROL and THE CANTERVILE GHOST with UK publisher Classical Comics have just come out this month from Chinese publisher FLTRP (Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press).
www.fltrp.com

Nice!

That should help us get THE STORY OF LEE out there too.

Sean Michael Wilson – Axiom Interview

Here’s another interview with me being ‘oshaberi’ as normal (means ‘talking a lot’ in Japanese). This time for the excellent Japanese English language magazine AXIOM:

http://www.axiommagazine.jp/2011/09/10/comic-book-writer-sean-michael-wilson/

(a scene from THE STORY OF LEE in which Lee’s relationship with Matt is discovered, in unpleasant circumstances. Her father’s narrow minded blasts up.)

THE STORY OF LEE is mentioned quite a bit, and they show the cover too. From me in the Axiom interview:

“I have written a comic, which is based in Hong Kong, called the “The Story of Lee.” That one came out Christmas 2010. It’s about a British guy and a Hong Kong lady and it’s partly based on my experiences of Japan too. Not that Hong Kong people and Japanese people are the same, they seem in some ways very different to me, but the contrast between them taught me things too. Some of my experiences in Japan have gone into the fiber of the characters and in their cultural contacts.”

Sean Michael Wilson – new interview

Here’s a recent interview with me, from my hometown of Edinburgh, and mentioning THE STORY OF LEE volume 2 as set there:

http://edinburghleagueofcomics.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/from-scotland-to-japan-an-interview-with-sean-michael-wilson/

I’m getting on writing volume 2 now, thinking about various aspects including the nature of the personality and cultural conflict between Matt and Lee, what and who to show from my Edinburgh. About how make it gleam with interest – for me anyway! – and still tie in all together well.

 

 

 

The Story of Lee – Thats reality part 2

I posted a bit before about some of the real life things and people in SOL, and here is more. On page 146 Matt and Lee go into ‘Page One’ books. This is a real place, in the ‘Times Square’ part of Hong Kong. It’s an excellent bookshop, with a sizeable graphic novel and manga section.  The illustrated version of Proust that Lee looks at is actually published by NBM, and I really did find that in the shop there. On the shelves next to it is ‘Hagakure’, which is a historical manga written by me and also drawn by SOL artist, Chie Kutsuwada. Just my little joke, sticking that in, as it hand not been published yet. Then underneath that is the book ‘As you like it’, which Chie Kutsuwada adapted from our pal Shakespeare, who knew how to knock em out!

On page 147, they go past ‘Chung King Mansions’, an infamous big block full of little, cheap hotels in the Tsim Sha Tsui part of HK. You may have heard of it from the film 1994 ‘Chungking Express’ by Wong Kar-Wai. I stayed there for 3 nights on one occasion, before a friend told me it was a very dangerous place, and several people had been murdered there. I didn’t know this at the time, and thought it was probably a bit exaggerated. But upon checking it out later I found that it does indeed have a rather unsavory character, and not just because of the cheap curries served there!
A Danish tourist was killed in the mansions in 1988 due to a fire and no safety exit. And an Indian lady was murdered in 1995. Later than year more than 40 people were arrested or drug trafficking and illegal entry. On the other hand, it has recently been estimated to play host to people from more than 120 countries and to be a key example of ‘globalization in action’.

As to my experience I found the curries that Indian’s serve on the ground floor to be delicious, and the big mix of people there was kind of interesting. Even though the rooms are VERY basic and small, I was treated well by the old Chinese owner, who even gave me a packet of biscuits for free (for no other apparent reason than kindness). Hence the bit in SOL where Lee says to Matt: “Lucky you – free biscuits and you didn’t get murdered.”

Story of Lee – assorted extras

Here are some bits and bobs of The Story of Lee extras that may be of some interest:

1. The Best New Manga volume 2 that The Story of Lee first appears in. This episode was from volume 2 of the story actually,confusingly (which I am working on now). So anyone wanting to see what happens next can get a glimpse on the 25 page story that appeared in this volume.

 

2. We toyed with the idea for including a badge/button type design on the back cover of the book, and Chie came up with this more cartoony design (chibi style) for that. In the end we decided that this did not suit the more realistic style of the actual artwork and the cover itself, so we did not include it. But perhaps some manga fans might like it?

3. As I’ve mentioned before several of the songs in The Story of Lee are from the band, The Clientele. So here is the album that most of the songs are taken from, with the permission of the lead singer and writer Alasdair MacLean, my old pal from Edinburgh University. A wonderful album it is too!

 

http://theclientele.co.uk/discography/

 

4. Lastly, when I went to last years San Diego comic convention, the full Story of Lee book was not yet finished. So Terry asked me to make up some ‘ashcans’, in the American nifty term. This is what I came up with myself, a little booklet that was given out free to interested people at the booth. It the first time in years I went through this ‘do it yourself’ process and rather got a kick out of it.

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