Hi, hello.
It’s been a while. Part of me is wondering if I’m shaky about writing on substack because I have to look back at my life before my dog died, or maybe I’m too scared to move forward. Who knows!? We’ll find out together!!!
Last month marked the release of a Superman graphic novel I wrote and drew during the wildest and hardest parts of the pandemic. Superman: The Harvests of Youth chronicles a teenage Clark Kent as he and his Smallville High classmates grapple with incredibly grownup issues. There’s a teen suicide on page 15, and the book doesn’t really let up from there. I remember telling my friend’s mom about the book, and she said “that sounds so heavy” with a deep frown on her face. I promised her that my goal was to lead readers out of the darkness and that the book would end on a note of hope. Based on the reviews and feedback readers have given me, it sounds like I mostly succeeded???
I know that the book certainly saved me. While I was doing a bunch of round table chats with librarians at ALA this summer, I tried out a sentence that ended up hitting hard: “I started writing this book in May 2020, and I turned in the last page of art in November 2022— this book is my entire pandemic, and I made it hoping that I’d be able to go back out into the world and show it to people.” There were precious promo moments wasted to me staring down at an advance review copy of the book realizing that I was sitting in front of people, promoting my special baby. Superman’s mission of hope worked out. He got me through the darkness and to the other side.
Of course there is more darkness waiting. OF COURSE! At the very least, I get to go out into the world again and do the thing I love the most: reaching people.
Touring a book after so many years (pandemic, sick dog) has been equal parts exhausting and exhilarating. The cities I’ve hit so far include San Diego, Palm Springs, Cleveland, Las Vegas, and the greater Los Angeles area. I’ve got San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Chicago waiting for me. It felt so great to sit in front of a room of people who wanted useful feedback on how to pursue their dreams this weekend at the Las Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival (it was also cool to be asked if I was Sina Grace walking out of a concert the next day). Every time I leave a city and think about their many charms (Cleveland hits my heart so hard), I end up feeling torn. Doing this, going out and meeting people and promoting a book and spending time in all the different cities of America is SO fun. Being away from my mom, and not being 100% there while the special people in my life need me in Los Angeles is NOT fun.
If you’d like to catch me in the remaining cities of the tour, I’ve got deets for you right here:
11/15: San Francisco - Comix Experience - 4-6PM
11/17: Portland - Books with Pictures - 4-6P
11/18: Seattle - Phoenix Comic - 1-4P
11/29: Chicago - Graham Cracker Comics (Andersonville) 11a-1230P
Please, if you’ve already read the book and dug it, make my day a little better by giving it a positive review on Amazon or Goodreads. That stuff really makes a huge difference— it lets the algorithm know that I matter, and it lets publishers know that readers give a crud about the work I’m doing :)
Here are some additional links for cool stuff related to the book…