Before they were rock stars, pt. 1

If you are reading this blog, either you stumbled upon it because of some Google search gone horribly awry or you are interested somehow in the graphic novel series Enlightenment; Either way, the whole self promotion thing is a little bit of an iffy proposition for me and it's always been that way. I'm sorry if you come here with the expectation that I'm going to go on & on about myself and how great I am and how important every fart I make is, returning the world back to some cosmic balance like alot of writers seem to like to do. I'm not that guy.

I'm the kid who always loved words, loved reading, loved making stuff up... I learned how to read when I was around the age in the picture you see here- I have told alot of people over the years that mom taught me to read so young because she had time on her hands, which is half true. I just loved the idea that there were meanings in words on paper and to some extent I forced the issue. If you ask her, mom will tell you I used to drive her crazy in the supermarket, stopping her in front of signs as I worked out the words on them- even when I was re-reading the same sign for the 50th time.

Books were magical at that point. I remember seeing the word Author, and bugging my dad to explain to me how someone could spend all day putting words into sentences. Not that I thought it was a stupid idea- it was an AMAZING idea, and I found my lifelong goal at the age of 5. I attended a Protestant Christian elementary school, and my love of words set me apart quickly; While other kids learned the letter Q, I was reading the nap-time stories to the pre K class. I wrote my first story in Mrs. Zimmerman's kindergarden class and promptly created my first controversy, and although the school principal thought I was being out of line for writing what he felt was a "violent" story, my dad was completely supportive & I've never looked back.

From that point on, I've always found myself writing something- Poems, student film scripts, interviews, short stories, music reviews and lately, comics. I can't help it. It's like some kind of compulsion and I am always working ahead and trying to push myself to be better and write better. Maybe that's why I feel weird about patting myself on the back... because it's such a part of who I am to write, and in some ways I'm still that same goofy kid in the "fashionable" suit that I was when I started writing.

And for the record- Although I wrote & co-created the comic Billy!, Erica Well never saw that picture when she designed the character. That's just greater proof that God has a laugh every now and then...