Day One

TEN years ago, I started writing a graphic novel about my teen years, growing up as a total misfit in my beloved home state of West Virginia.

After many false starts and countless rewrites, the first installment of the book, which introduces the setting, main characters, and conflicts, is complete. At least in this stage of production, seven separate installments will follow. Only six of those seven are scripted. The last installment is incomplete--the part where the heroine overcomes the struggle and is triumphant and self-realized.

Truth is: For a multitude of real and imagined reasons, I withdrew from people in my teens, but I haven't quite made it back out yet.

Suddenly I realized that: Crap! I'm in this thing. If I'm going to offer anything more than a soul-crushing message of loneliness and despair, I'd better start practicing what I preach.

And if I'm going to have any inkling of the career that I hope to have, I'm going to have to do terrifying things:

-Talk to people

-Promote myself

-Attend events (and quite possibly even have to learn how to drive a car)

I know that my anxieties are not unique, and others' stories have encouraged me immeasurably. So I'm writing this blog as the metanarrative to my book, for your and my mutual edification. Here I'll share my research on psychology and feral children, my experiences writing a graphic novel, and my personal adventure in overcoming myself.

To read the first installment of the book, visit: http://www.facebook.com/WildChildComics.

Or you can buy a copy here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/96423253/wild-child-1-fight-or-flight-comic.