Today, I am celebrating the publication day of my new book by….working, and going to the dentist. That’s okay, because I have a bunch of fun events planned for celebration in the coming weeks. I am thrilled to share this book with you.

This book was a long time coming.  I wrote it over a period of two years, with two different editors and many changes. Originally, it was to have autobiographical graphic narratives, but we opted not to put those in, and instead I made them into a short story for Narrative Magazine (click to read).  For the book, I wrote the content of the graphic pieces into introductions for each chapter. So if you want to know a little about me, look at the written intros.

Of course, every book one does is a reflection of one’s past in some manner.  But this one is more so. It is autobiographical in many other ways, and not just in the written introductions.  Each cartoon has an element of me, it’s impossible to take me out of it.  Some cartoons were inspired by my daughters, some by my mother, some by my sister, my aunts, my  friends, my husband, my editor,  men in my past….and the woman walking down the street. The drawings reflect my anxieties, neurosis, and joy in being a woman.  It’s about finally laughing at myself and the rest of us gals of all ages and the very odd things we do to try to fit in.  It’s about friendship, being snarky, pushing the boundaries. It’s not a book I could have done 20 years ago, because perspective (and age) has freed me up to say a whole lot more.  There’s nothing stopping me now.