Getting short fiction published can feel like it’s all in your head. You get an emailed acceptance, you get emailed a contract and edits. Getting your copy of the anthology or magazine (or the publication link) is proof that the acceptance was real and your name is in print. It’s building a sandcastle, hoping that someone will see it and praise it before the tide comes in.

Which was why I was so willing to drive the several hours to Delaware for an anthology launch party. How cool is it to actually meet the editors who liked your work enough to publish it? Pretty cool. Especially when the launch is for a superhero anthology, being held at a comic book store.

I’ve loved comics my whole life, from the drugstore three-packs my parents used to bring home for me when I was a kid to the Elfquest comics I was obsessed with in high school and college to the DC Vertigo and Bone books I used to grab from Midtown Comics when I worked in New York (and assorted other stores in New Jersey, when I worked closer to home). Favorite superheroes? Batman and Spider-Man when I was a kid, Ms. Marvel more recently. But I’ll read almost any comic, just like I’ll watch almost anything animated. So it was great to be in a room full of people who also love comics and superheroes.

Happy to report that the Oddity Prodigy folks are a delight—friendly, enthusiastic, clearly loving what they do—and Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark (NewARK, not NEWark, or they’ll know you’re from Jersey) is a really nice store with plenty of space and a good all-ages selection. Turnout for the launch about filled the store, and I got to meet some of the other authors in the anthology as we signed copies.

Regret #1: I should’ve dragged out my old Marvel shirt to match attendees’ superhero dress code. But noooo, I decided to dress “professional.”

Regret #2: Completely forgetting to take photos, because “journalist” isn’t my day job or anything.

Not a regret at all: Wandering around Newark before the launch, because it’s a cute, laid-back college town and I got some writing done at a coffeehouse. Also, buying Tusk Love at the comics store and indulging my Critical Role fandom. (You’re supposed to show up at your own launch and buy other people’s books, right?)

At any rate, Where Legends Walk is available now and it’s got some great stories. Go forth and read it.

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I’ve got another anthology acceptance I’m excited to talk about, but I need to wait for the official go-ahead. Soon, I think? Plus I’ve got a short story in progress that might not go anywhere, but man is it fun to write.

And I’m working on my fantasy novel and metaphorically beating my head on the desk over the magic system. Right, this is why I don’t usually write straight fantasy. But progress is progressing.

In the meantime, I’ll be taking my kid on college visits and doing Thanksgiving prep and Hanukkah shopping and trying not to get too incensed at the news. (Trying. Ha.)

Hope you’re able to do something creative this week, and that you remember to breathe.