Hi hi!
Welcome to those of you who are new to Closet Dispatch, and big hugs to longtime readers. My new book, All Our Ordinary Stories, came out officially yesterday, and there’s been a big flurry of activity around these parts.
First, there was the book launch, generously hosted by Wordfest, where 80+ people came to celebrate with me. I nearly burst into tears when I walked on stage and realized that the room was actually full (and not just of guests I’d comped, lol). Lots of friends from the past showed up, including former colleagues and even some women I’d gone to high school with—people I hadn’t seen for 30 years and to this day still think of as “the cool girls”—and it felt a little like I was in a time machine, hopping back and forth between different periods of my life. What a trip.
I talk a lot about how getting to make a book is reward enough, but it felt really lovely to present my work in public and share it with such a warm and receptive crowd.
And what the heck was I wearing? Well, a velour jumpsuit with ducks on it, of course. 10/10 recommend.
After the high of the launch event, publication day felt a little wanh-wanh. But that’s also good, I think, because it keeps me from having outsized hopes for this book. And as much as I’d love for All Our Ordinary Stories to change my life in some spectacular way, what’s more likely to happen is that it gets a bit of fanfare for a few months and then I will continue living out my little life as I did before.
I have made peace with the fact that there is no money in books—at least for the majority of us—and very little recognition outside certain circles. And that all the stuff around publication can really mess with my head, stirring up anxiety, envy, and other ugly feelings when I should simply be grateful.
What makes me calm, of course, is writing and drawing, which is hard to do when I’m hustling. But I look forward to finding balance again after I’m done promoting this book.
Until then, though, here are a few ways you can support All Our Ordinary Stories:
Buy the book if you can, or…
Borrow it from a library (if it’s not already in the system, many libraries allow book requests)
Review it if you like it (Amazon reviews matter most, but Goodreads works too)
Tell your friends or post about it online
Come to a book event in Calgary or Vancouver… get details and ticket info for my upcoming events
Invite me somewhere… if you know of organizations who would want an author to come talk (in person or virtually) about graphic narrative, Chinese-Canadian history, memoir writing, making comics, or wandering through malls in the 1980s, please send them my way. 😅
Onward and upward!
:) Teresa
I had literally just finished reading your newsletter when the postman knocked on my door with the delivery of my preorder! It looks gorgeous -- can't wait to read it. (And that jumpsuit is 🔥🔥🫨)
Congratulations on your book! I plan on buying one for myself and one for my cousin who loves clothes. She helped me see how they are important links to times and places and people in our lives. The jumpsuit is beautiful!