The Launch

The I Don't Like Chocolate launch is finally over, and everyone survived. And could do with quite a lot of beer, thank you! It was fun, although parts of it felt very much like turning up for an exam and realising you've been studying the wrong books all year....

I'm no good in front of microphones, and had to do a radio interview, a tv interview and a speech all in one day. I didn't imagine for a second I'd be able to do a good job of any of these, so I just clung to the knowledge that the only way out was forward, and it would all be over soon. I gabbled, I giggled, and thankfully didn't actually burst into tears. Afterwards I defaced quite a few books trying to sign my name with a very shaky hand. I'm really so much better on paper than in real life!

It was lovely, though, to see so many people I hadn't seen for ages - when you draw comics you tend to stay indoors by yourself a lot. I met a good few bloggers, too! The food, by Karen Dudley, was amazing, and Oshun, who published the book, were wonderful. They made some great posters for the launch; the frames looked completely different blown up.

Speaking of frames, you'd be right in thinking that there really should be photos of the occasion in this post. I was so dizzy I completely forgot to take pictures - yes, really. I noticed a few other people with cameras (and why that didn't jog my memory I'll never know.... my camera was in my bag all the time...) and when I get hold of them I'll post links to the photos. Instead, a photo of the building next door, obviously a lot older than the building we were in, and once the tallest building on the block. Now you can only see this sign from the window I took the picture from, an alley's width away.

Thank you for all the good wishes - it helped a lot!

I'll be listing limited edition digital prints of pages from the book in my jezzeprints Etsy shop for the next while, starting today. And in addition to Loot and Kalahari, the book is also available here.