> CD #114: Book launch

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.

wordfest

A post shared by @wordfest

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:

1. Buy the book if you can, or…

2. Borrow it from a library (if it’s not already in the system, many libraries allow book requests)

3. Review it if you like it (Amazon reviews matter most, but Goodreads works too)

4. Tell your friends or post about it online

5. Come to a book event in Calgary or Vancouver… get details and ticket info for my upcoming events

6. 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