Member-only story
So there I was… bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with my first comic book. It was 2015 and I had arrived, baby! Yes, sir, this 22-page bad boy was my ticket! I wrote a thing!
Norah #1 saw its debut at the Midwest’s largest comic convention, Chicago’s C2E2. Source Point Press’ publisher booth had a cozy corner spot and I couldn’t wait for people to line up and meet me, the AUTHOR! The only problem? No one cared.
In that first hour, I watched fans rush around with bags full of Funkos while fellow writer, Greg Wright, pitched his comic books to con attendees despite their reluctance. When he did get the sale, however, he moved five books at a time! He was quite literally stopping strangers in their tracks to tell them about his all-ages book series, Monstrous. I thought hell, if this neurotic potato-man can do it, I certainly can! I looked cute too, thank you very much!
So I stepped out in my black blouse and Star Wars skirt and decided I’d go fishing too. But before I even could even form words, the crippling feeling of “I’m bothering people” took over and I got gun shy about the whole thing.
Finally, I managed to let an “excuse me” squeak out followed by “can I talk to you about Norah?” That was met with all kinds of NO:
- “No, thanks.”
- “Sorry, I’m in a hurry.”
- “I’m not really a reader.”
