This past weekend I was fortunate enough to have the
opportunity to share my book with the world in physical form for the first
time. People passed by my booth, they saw my banner and were kind enough to ask:
“so what’s your book about?” I told them the premise, they saw the girth of the
book and on more than one occasion they had to ask twice if I’d written this
book.
Eight years it’s been since I began working on Only Human,
and I was finally able to connect with people and they were able to connect
with my story, or actually stories (plural). I also shared my Daydreams
on the Sherbet Shore and the Blanc Comics. All in all, different
people found something to like in my four offerings and I heard some very
positive things to say about each one.
Of special note was the opportunity to share this experience
with my wife who was there in the booth with me. She has been vital in all my
efforts, is the one responsible for my Facebook page and made it abundantly
clear why I’m so lucky in this life. It’s also awesome to be married to such a
wonderful muse.
Going a bit behind the scenes, the reality is that each offering
has its own story and a reason why they are special.
The Daydreams I actually spent a night compiling the short
stories and preparing the small booklets with my wife, my parents in law and
her grandmother. So basically stories I’d crafted with much love were cared for
with a hands-on touch from my family. This means that people who have read them
got a true family offering.
Blanc Comics are my tribute to my late grandmother and I
heard some really positive feedback from the concept, and I can’t ask for
anything worthier of my grandmother than to be able to touch the lives of
others and show that we can all see through the power of words. I’ll be putting
up a post on Blanc Comics tomorrow morning.
As for Only Human… well it’s been an 8 year relationship, it’s
my first book and people are reading it right now… what can I say, that’s a
hell of a good feeling.
Throughout the Puerto Rico Comic Con, I was also able to
connect with talented artists like Juan
Fernández (who was my booth neighbor and a great talent) and on my other
side was the Cosplayer Nation team
who are still working hard to finish their documentary on Cosplay and its
beginnings. I was also blessed to be able to take photos with some brilliant
cosplayers who allowed me to snap pictures with Porco Rosso, Gandalf the Grey, Princess
Toad, Gimli, a Tardis, K-9 from Dr. Who, Louise from Bob’s Burger and my
personal favorite from the show, the Maitlands from Beetlejuice, not to mention
some other great costumes that also made my experience there even better.
Back at my booth, I was able to connect with people of all
ages who wanted to read my work. Although everyone was special in their own
right, the enthusiasm of my first two sales is a definite highlight. Guillermo
was the first person to buy my book and I’d like to thank him for his
enthusiasm with this blog and my work. It was extremely gratifying to meet him
and I hope to see him in other activities to thank him for the confidence he
gave me to share my work with others. Michael was the second person to buy my
book and thanks to his interest, at least three people came by referred by him
(thanks for the vote of confidence). Like them, Keren, Mariexis, Stella,
Yliana, Rafa, Christian, Harry, Ricardo, Ezekiel, Joey, Héctor, Stella, Eli,
Natalie, Rolando and countless other people were kind enough to buy my book and
stories and some have even connected with me on Facebook and Twitter. Some were
even kind enough to visit me on both days and tell me they liked my book. In
short, the words thank you may only be two words… still, they carry the message
perfectly.
Throughout the Comic Con, I was also able to share thoughts
with fellow Comic Con lovers and I even entered into some fascinating
discussions about the book, about life, about writing, about my process and
about what else I’m working on. I was also surprised by the amount of people
who have a story they are working on and how many young writers I met. There’s
actually one young man I wasn’t able to finish my conversation with and
although people might say, hey it’s just one person, he wanted to share a story
with me he’d written and I hope to have the opportunity to read his work soon
because I truly believe in the power of a word, so imagine the power of a story.
As for the overall experience, it is gratifying to meet
fellow readers and to see young people and people of all ages who want to tell
a story. I am honored to have been able to meet all of you and I promise you
this, this is just the beginning.
So to all of you who passed by, thank you for giving me the
gift of a few minutes of your time and to those whom I was able to connect
with, here’s to being more than Only Human.
Cheers,
J.D.
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