Becoming Short & Skinny

 

“You wrote a graphic novel memoir? Who wants to read a story about you?!”

 

This ungallant sentence was spoken to me by a cartooning compatriot when I gave him the news that I had sold Short & Skinny, a mini-memoir of my life in the summer of 1977. You might think my first reaction would be to get indignant and huffy.

 

But all I could think in that shocking moment was: “Holy crap! He’s right! Who wants to read a story about me?!

 

I hadn’t thought of this before! I was so wrapped up in wanting to tell my story and analyzing my life as a detached, outside reporter that I never stopped to think, why was this a story worth telling? Who would want to read this? I forgot to ask myself the first question I always ask …why do I care?