The Muse Mentor

One year ago today (technically tomorrow, but it WAS a Friday, so why break with tradition?) I completed this comic after nearly 5 years of work, and at the time, I did not appreciate it.

I was intensely burnt out, frustrated with my work ethic and productivity, and had a bundle of life experiences and losses I could tie to specific pages and chapters. Rereading the comic was too painful, because I couldn’t see it for the original message – I could only see 5 years of my life, reduced to the worst parts, the ones I recalled the most harshly. A year ago, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever feel any differently about The Muse Mentor, which seemed a shame, but didn’t necessarily take away from what my original intentions were; that if anyone read it, maybe they’d enjoy it, and with a HUGE amount of luck, maybe they could even take something away from the message. Anything else was icing. For a long, long time, I didn’t feel like I was writing The Muse Mentor for myself. I felt like I was writing it for some nameless, faceless person who maybe needed it. I could only hope they’d find it.

Well, I’m back here today to tell you, I reread my own comic, in its entirety, and not only did I enjoy it, but I could finally process my own advice. When I wrote it, I didn’t ever in a million years think I was writing it for me. I really thought these were observations I already knew. I mean, I wrote them! But now, freshly settled into a new home, in a new place, finally making sense of my future and coming to terms with my past… I actually needed my own advice. I get it, now. I get it better than I did when I first put it down on the page! So, at the end of it all… I did write The Muse Mentor for me. How ’bout that?

More than that, I read, and I mean really read the comments. I can’t tell you how happy they made me. There was real, legitimate joy, there. I’m sorry I am so late in telling you so, but if you ever left a comment, thank you. I had a blast reading through them and was smiling pretty much the whole time – what a gift!

Anyway, all of this made me feel I should give a little update for you on the characters, which you see above! Being honest, I miss them. I think now, more than ever, they deserve to be in print… so I am seeking a publisher to hopefully make that happen. I have already begun reformatting and improving past pages to be better on paper, but of course, I can’t change TOO much… how else will you be able to see all the growing I did throughout?

If this is your first time here, I hope you’ll go back and read through! It’s 180 pages of a quick story about tiny but important successes. If you’re back again after a long time, welcome back, and thank you again. For everything. I still occasionally receive mail or messages from people saying this comic made them start a project or otherwise make an important decision or change in their life, and that is such an incredible thing. I never would have imagined! If you are one of those people, or if you ever become one of them, I am so grateful for you. Go be happy! You deserve it, and you can do it. At last, I’m right there with you in believing that.

I can’t wait to hopefully share good news with you about a print run, very soon.

♥