There’ve been a few profound moments for me over the past few years as I’ve been turning myself into an author.
The first time I had a story accepted, which was into the Nerdvana anthology back in 2009.
The first royalty payment I ever received, which came from Dreamspinner Press in 2010.
Acceptance of my first novel, Hat Trick, by JMS Books/Queerteen Press in 2013.
Holding the Hat Trick paperback in my hands for the first time in 2013.
Doing my first reading at Rainbow Con in 2014.
And now there’s this picture from the GayRomLit that just wrapped up over this past weekend.
Not only does it capture my first major book signing, but it does so perfectly. The image was shot by Madison Parker, the official event photographer and someone whose work I love. There’s something about the concentration I’m putting into the inscription, the other items on the table (especially the Hat Trick books) and the slightly blurry background of the crowd in the room that I find quite striking.
I saw Madison setting up to take this picture. My first thought was Holy crap, she’s really close up with the camera. My immediate next one was that I needed to ignore Madison and focus on the person who had arrived with a book to sign and to talk for a moment. I guess I succeeded at that because Madison was gone by the time I’d finished talking. Thanks, Madison, for capturing a great image of a cool milestone moment for me.
This picture is one I wish I could share with my mom, too. I think she would’ve really loved it as a moment of her kid doing something in the profession he really loves.
