I know you've heard that old adage, “if you love something, set it free” probably more than once -- and with good reason. It tends to be true. For so many romance comic book characters, setting a loved one free (for whatever reason) is the best thing they ever did, and most of the time, brings them closer to their true path. I am writing this today because I have set something free in my own life, and I want to tell you about it.

Things have been tough. Really tough, actually; mostly courtesy of “career” stuff, AKA the Day Job. As many of you know, I was trained in museum studies. I was fortunate enough to work in the field for many years at some amazing institutions, but since moving to Nashville, I've been unable to find employment in a museum. After two years of volunteering, networking, meetings, interviews, an intense amount of gumption, and doing everything I could to find a museum job here, it has become clear that it is not in the cards. Frankly, I give up. Now, I don't usually encourage people to give up on things, but sometimes, it can be the best course of action. Allow me to explain.

Giving up hope of working in a museum as a day job (at least right now) has been a recent development. Perhaps not surprisingly, the moment I did give up that hope and expectation for myself, I suddenly felt free. Free to focus on the REAL work that is my life’s mission and passion -- comic books! Now, I still need to find a day job that is at least a little less soul crushing than my current one, but in the meantime, I'm going to try to make the best out of everyday and remember that all those years of museum work prepared me to curate and share my love of comic books and history.

I'm telling you all this because you and I, dear readers, go way back! Plus, I have so many creative friends out there, and I know I always find it helpful to read about their struggles and how they've overcome them to do awesome things. I also want to take this opportunity to segue into telling y'all more about the book I've been working on for a while now.

About two years ago, I began writing a book pitch for a manuscript on a complete history of the 1960s and '70s romance comics. I intended it to be glorious and wonderful, and naturally, so good that no publisher could pass it up. And while I do think it was quite good and I did my very best to make it a stellar document, it straddled the line between too academic and the voice I use here at Sequential Crush. I sent it to a few agents and though not typically advised, directly to a few publishers. I actually got some really great feedback, so not all was lost, but ultimately, no one was interested. After not getting any bites, I retooled the book idea, and decided to really narrow in on one component of the romance comics… the advice columns! It will be a smaller, illustrated book that will cover the wisdom of the romance comics, and show that though some of the advice is dated, much of it is timeless. I still have every intention of writing the larger book in the future, because I believe a complete history of the 1960s and 1970s is vital to the preservation of the genre.

As for the advice book -- I don't have a final title for it yet, but I am done writing the first draft and am in the editing process. Once the writing is polished, I will begin working on the design aspect of the book. I plan on doing a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to help fund the illustrator/designer, as well as help with printing costs since I will be self-publishing. I hope that when that day comes, you might consider donating a little somethin’ somethin’!

I am so looking forward to finishing this book. Not only will it feel great to complete a large project, I feel like this book is just the start and will help get the ball rolling on all the other book projects and ideas I have up my sleeve. In the meantime, I'm excited about my decision to let go of the expectation for myself to have a day job in a museum, and all the emotional exhaustion that went with it. Maybe in the future that love will return, but for now, the comic books fully and completely have my heart.

Thank you all for sticking with me on this journey -- you are the best! I promise it will be worth it!

On Setting a Love Free - An Update