by Mike Rhode
At the Small Press Expo, Kata Kane had her own table as usual, but she was also signing books at NBM's table. They have published the first book in a new series
Ana and the Cosmic Race by Amy Chu with art by Kata. We caught up to ask how her career was changing..
After our first interview, you published Altar Girl vol. 2. Did that wrap up the series, or do you have plans to continue it?
Altar Girl is ongoing, and you can read up to Book 4 online at my website
altar-girl.com.
I've also started releasing the series on webcomic sites like WEBTOON
and Tapastic. I'm hoping to do a print version of
Altar Girl Book 3
soon, but for now it's still going strong online!
You've done the art for two new series coming out this fall from NBM's Papercutz imprint. How did that come about?
Papercutz
reached out to me when they started the launch for their new
Charmz romance book line. They saw that my art style and stories were
all-ages/tween/YA and asked me to pitch. My first pitch was for
GFFs: Ghost Friends Forever with
Monica Gallagher [also of Baltimore]. Then they asked if I'd be
interested in doing the art for
Ana and the Cosmic Race, a story already
in production with Amy Chu. I'm so glad I've gotten to work on both
series!
What kind of script do you get? Do you work directly with the writer at all?
I
do work closely with the writers when it comes to collaborating and
world-building, especially with the characters. As for the script, it
varies from writer to writer the level of detail, but I do try to give
suggestions if I see a spot where we could do something fun with the art,
or if there's a chance to insert some great reactions from the
characters. I'm lucky that I've gotten to work with wonderful writers
who have given me a lot of freedom and great feedback too. I think
pacing is one of my strong points, so in cases where I've been given
either a lot or just a little to work with script-wise, I always aim to
get a good flow going with the dialog and art.
Will there be more books in the two new series?
I'm
currently working on Book 2 for both
Ana and the Cosmic Race as well as
GFFs! There's still much more to discover, so I think readers of Book 1
for both of these series will be eager to see what's in store.
My online/social media info:
kata-kane.com | @kata_kane
