Yes, that's exactly right. I write prose novels, and I write and draw comics. I also write and draw 'comics-prose', which is a mix of prose and comics, much like illustrated prose, except that the prose and the images are integrated together in a single narrative. I treat 'comics-prose' like a prose novel (and puts these works into the prose section), but at the end of the day, it's all story-telling. Which is what we're all here for - a good story told well.

If one were to ask me what the difference between prose novels and traditional comics is, I'll have to say that they're too different to be compared. Both tell fabulous stories, but work such different areas of the reader's brains that to suddenly jump from one to the other can be disconcerting. That's only if you've never read comics though - thanks to the internet, visual literacy amongst the young is at an all-time high, and many people have no trouble reading and understanding comics. For those who struggle, there's always comics-prose and illustrated prose.

Bento Comics is an artist's collective that six friends and I formed in 2010. At first, we focused on short story collections and making them available in print-on-demand format, but this turned out to be very difficult due to technological constraints. Eventually, we had to shut it down, and we didn't do much for a while - we were unable to, because e-books for comics had yet to come into its own. When the e-book boom happened in 2010, I tried making my own comic EPUBs and submitting them to the Apple iBookstore, but was soundly rejected, mostly because they did not publish comics back then. I was very dejected, and didn't look into comics publishing again until late 2013, when a friend (who wrote prose fiction) recommended Smashwords to me.

I joined Smashwords in August 2013 and was skeptical at first, but it turned out that had just expanded their file sizes to allow 10 MB files. I was very surprised that they had a very good converter, one that was able to convert a bunch of comic pages in a Microsoft Word document into readable EPUB and PDF format (though not Amazon MOBI format). Above all, the service was free, and it ran very smoothly and efficiently, with a generous division of profits to the creators. After making my first few sales via Smashwords, I was thrilled by it and started recommending it to my artist friends. I suggested to them to restart Bento Comics again, this time as an e-book creator and distributor with a print-on-demand option. We would set up as a publisher and a storefront for Bento Comics on Smashwords, and direct traffic from our Bento Comics website to here.

It's amazing that Smashwords provides such a valuable service and is FREE, even for those acting as publishers. I feel very happy to have found Smashwords, and my friends and I are looking forward to running a small publishing outfit here.

This is a question I get all the time, and my question remains the same. I get my ideas from ordinary, everyday things, pretty much the same things you see. This is never a satisfactory answer and people can get quite annoyed, but I maintain that at the end of the day, it's all in your head and about how you perceive the world. I primarily draw in the genres of Fantasy and Horror, and despite these two often being miles apart, good story ideas can often come in the same way. I base my fantasy worlds on the workings of the real world, and populate them with characters that act like real people. Similarly, when I draw horror, I create settings that seem realistic, and populate them with people who are ordinary and mundane.

You can find stories in just about any ordinary situation. For example, in my "Queenie Chan: Short Stories 2000-2010" collection, there is an 8-page romance story set in at two-dollar store. That story is everybody's favourite story, and I got the idea when I went to work for a gaming studio that had another employee who worked part-time in a two-dollar store. This girl would bring in various junk from the store she worked in, and I especially remember a rubber chicken key-ring that she gave to me. I never visited her store, but it made me think: "What would a story set in a two-dollar store be like?" That was how that story started. All in all, it's about putting yourself into new situations and keeping an open mind. I try and expand myself and my knowledge of the world often, and I get so many ideas from that.

I first started drawing when I was 18, much later than most, but what I truly wanted to do was to create and tell stories. I grew up reading Japanese comics (manga), which I was hugely influenced by, so when I became a story-teller, I wanted to share my stories VISUALLY rather than just through prose. I became a professional manga artist from age 24 onwards, but after 8 or so years working in comics, I started to feel boxed in by the very medium I originally loved. It's not that there's anything wrong with comics, it's just that I (and many others) feel that it's become stale. I wanted to do something fresh, something new, and since I worked mostly in the bookstore market as a pro, I wanted to do something that would appeal to prose readers too.

Enter 'comics-prose.' This is a style of story-telling I'm currently doing, which I first started in 2010. I wanted to mix prose with comics, but not merely in the format of illustrated prose. I wanted to go further than that - instead of throwing a bunch of paragraphs and a bunch of pictures into a story, I want to integrate these two separate mediums together and create a single, coherent narrative. There are obviously many challenges to this style of story-telling, but so far it's been pretty good for me. I intend to keep working in 'comics-prose'.

I like to read all kinds of stories, but my favourite genre to write/draw in has to be Fantasy, followed by Horror. I like to draw Fantasy stories because I like to build worlds and populate them with believable characters, cultures, countries and legends. Being an artist who loves architecture and fancy clothes, this is where I really get to shine and have fun as I build character's houses and wardrobes. It has the FEEL of being in a sandbox, with your imagination in free-fall. Also, being the sole creator and hence "God" of that Fantasy world makes me and my god-complex feel good. *laughs*

My second favourite is probably horror, since I have a knack at it. I'm actually terrified of the dark in real life, but I also feel that there is a benefit to plumbing our own fears for inspiration. My horror stories are very "Twilight Zone", with a focus on chills rather than on gore, and I find that there is a large and ready audience for that kind of horror. It's always a challenge to write and draw satisfying stories in that area, so I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I come up with something good.

In terms of writing prose, I write in all genres, and am open to just about anything. I try and do comic short stories in all genres too, but now that I've covered that, I intend to try more things in prose (since, I'll admit, prose takes less time to produce that comics). I've yet to find my favourite genre to write in, but certainly I'm working on it.

People like to image the desks of artists as a giant architect's table, but unfortunately that was something I couldn't afford when I first started out. It's definitely better to work on a drawing table, but all I have is a small computer table holding my laptop and my tiny drawing board. I've been drawing like this, in a tiny cramped space, for over 10 years. I've not thought to change it, because, well, if it ain't broke, why break it?

Most people are extremely disappointed when they see my working space. Due to the things I draw - grand, fantastical architecture, detailed clothing and backgrounds - they expect me to be working in a cathedral (complete with dome-shaped ceilings and Michelangelo painting in the background.) People seem to expect interiors to reflect exteriors, and their first question is "Where does it all come from?" How can you draw such things when you work in such a bland working environment? Well, all I can say is that imagination comes from the mind. Everything I draw comes from my mind, and if people were only capable of imagining their surroundings, "Fantasy" as a genre would never exist. That's the power of the imagination.

Manga was always my first inspiration, especially the work of Osamu Tezuka, known as "The God of Manga." His book "Black Jack" made me realise that manga was a medium and not a genre, and encouraged me to expand what I read. Apart from Tezuka's work, I also like everything Rumiko Takahashi does, Eichiro Oda of "One Piece", Takeshi Obata's "Hikaru no Go", YoshihiroTogashi of "Hunter x Hunter" and "Level E", Takehiko Inoue of "Slam Dunk" and "Vagabond", Kentarou Miura of "Berserk", Naoki Urasawa of "Pluto" and many, many others.

In terms of prose authors, Elmore Leonard has be my favourite from a pure writing perspective. His prose and stories are just so fun, and I'm always so eager to read an Elmore Leonard book. I also like George R. R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" series, Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" stories, H.P. Lovecraft's horror fiction, and Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" series of graphic novels. "Transmetropolitan" by Warren Ellis is one of my favourites as well, and I enjoy Malcolm Gladwell's non-fiction books. There's a whole lot of fiction books I read, but I very rarely follow the authors, so perhaps it's hard to mention them here.

My fans are the most important thing to me, at least from a professional perspective. I'm a published author (see my bio), and I've worked with many wonderful people from traditional publishing who love books and what they do, but I don't for a second think that I'm writing any of my books for them. At the end of the day, it's the fans I write for, and ultimately it's the fans I thank whenever someone makes a purchase of my books. Whether it's the fan themselves who do the buying, or they're spreading the word about me, I really appreciate them and their support.

Outside of work, I spend as much time with my friends and family as I can, because that's what's truly important in life. I may or may not sell a lot of books, but fame and fortune are replaceable. Family and friends are not. Apart from my social life, I also try and get as much exercise as I can. As a writer-artist, I spend 70-80% of my time drawing, and all that sitting can really impact my health and lower back muscles. For that reason, I also try and make time for meditation every day. It helps me relax and calms my mind.

In terms of hobbies, I like to sew, knit and crochet from time to time. I post my little handiworks up onto my website, and people seem to love it. I'm also an avid consumer of pop culture, so I read a lot of books (both fiction and non-fiction), play a lot of video games, watch a lot of TV and movies. I think it's important to be an omnivorous consumer of pop culture.

Right now, I'm working on a short story collection of eight short ghost/horror stories. The collection is titled "Short Ghost Stories: The Man with the Axe in his Back", and it'll be published in prose and comics-prose versions. Currently, the prose version is finished (at around 30,000 words, with editing needed), while I've got two stories for the illustrated version done. I may end up only adapting 4 of the 8 stories into comics-prose due to my other work-related commitments, but we shall see. The prose version should be available @ $2.99 in June 2014, followed by Part 1 of the comics-prose version @$2.99 in August 2013.

After this collection of short stories, I'll be working on an on-going epic Fantasy series with a Twisted Fairy tale bent. I'm very excited about this story, and it'll be in comics-prose, though once again, there will also be a prose version. I've got 3 chapters done so far, and am looking to work on more after the short story collection is done.