August 2nd, 2023
I did a neat thing last week and it’s out today: the Faribault Daily News published a feature on me + my life + my work!
You can check it out on their website at faribault dot com and of course I have some behind-the-scenes tea for you!
– Pam and I met at the restaurant where I work; I was her server and we struck up a conversation and next thing I knew, I was having coffee with her in Northfield a few weeks later!
– I spoke to Pam like I speak to anyone I meet, whether that’s at my table at a convention or just out in the wild, and to be completely honest I got a little discomfort in my tummy when I saw in print how much I openly share about myself; and then I realized that’s probably why people feel so comfortable sharing things with me, and it’s maybe why I’m okay at art, and that initial cold shock turned into warm awe.
– There is a reveal in the article and I am here to confirm its legitimacy: my next novel is indeed about vampires, and it is called Maple Island.
– There is a partial misquote at the end that I want to clarify: Ted Danson played a character called Sam Malone on Cheers, and their names became a portmanteau of sorts! But I have often called myself the real life Sam Malone.
– I have also never been a podcaster by definition, but I have been a guest on many podcasts!
– The online version of the article gives shout outs to my friends Steven Starks and Cori Miller and their beautiful work, and that makes me really happy.
– Marvel is now newspaper famous and I think we can all get behind that.
We were joking at the reunion that I was “Faribault famous” and today I guess that’s a little true; a huge thanks to Pam and the staff at the Faribault and Northfield News for this humbling spotlight. Pick up a paper if you still can!
I saw the Ninja Turtles movie tonight (probably my favorite film of the summer) and one of its lessons is that you shouldn’t do things for recognition and to get people to like you; you should do things for the right reasons, and then maybe those other things will follow.
I know I create art for the right reasons, so whenever something like this happens — someone else recognizes it, someone else likes it — I never, ever take it for granted.
And I never, ever, ever stop.
All my love.
The Den 