There's so much so say. I hardly know where to even start.

First thing is this: I'm getting a graphic novel published. For real. It's called "Maglenda's Errand-Girls," and it's a lighthearted all-ages fantasy adventure about two girls running errands for a witch. I conceptualized the story and wrote the scripts, but it won't be drawn by me. (You can see some of my own drawings of it in my gallery.) My artist is "Joeydangerous." You can see some drawings of it in his gallery, too.

The graphic novel will run around 168 pages long, and will be published in sometime in 2010 by Alterna Comics.

Man, I can still remember what it was like. I'd been through the submission process before, but with novels. First, you research the publishers, see who publishes what, (for instance, if you're writing sci-fi epics, don't send them to a publisher specializing in autobiographies.) Then you mail the publishers, introducing yourself, and summarizing what your project is, and see if they're interested. Usually, I just send my submission packets to all the best potential publishers on a list, and cross my fingers.

Alterna's submission process was different from a lot of the other publishers. For one, it was online. I was more used to sending things through snail mail. Second, they weren't interested in seeing the actual artwork. They wanted the summary first.

So I typed up the summary on their online form, sent it out, and put it out of my mind, moving onto the next publisher. A few days later, though, this guy wrote back, saying that the story sounded interesting, but what were the pictures like? I showed him the pictures.

The next day, during my lunch break at work, I found he'd left a publishing contract waiting in my e-mail inbox. I checked it at a Kinko's. I was so happy, I crowed out loud, startling the two employees there. I explained what had happened, and also that I had been working towards an opportunity like this for practically all of my life. To be a published author!

To celebrate, I went to a Subway and bought one of every kind of cookie they had. Then I went to the Starbucks and bought myself the fanciest frappicino they had. Returning to my normal job gradually killed the mood, but it took a while, and it returned full-force once work was over.

What an incredible day that was!