Mind the Gap | ✔️

November 30 @ 9:33 A.M.: Iris

I tiredly lifted my head from yet another query letter I was re-typing for the umpteenth time.

I'd written so many versions this month that I didn't believe them myself anymore!

Grrr!

Why did you have to write a letter when submitting something to a publisher? I hoped whoever had invented the idea would die a slow and extremely painful death.

A southbound Red Line thundered by—both trains at full speed. Even if he were in it, there'd be no time whatsoever to connect.

Mr. Ruffles Bunny was a thing of my past.

And that was fine with me.

It had to be.

I had accepted I would never discover what my meet-cute Train Man was like. Or hear what his voice sounded like.

On the day I had learned he had a family, after my storytelling session, I had gone out of the "Million Year Picnic," and had bought a hot dog from a street vendor.

I had caught a glimpse of myself in the dented metal of the food cart.

Hey, Iris. I had saluted myself. You look good, girl. And you will get past this. You have to look on the bright side! There is always a train ride home.

There will be someone new for you.

It's not the end of the world. It never is.

Maybe he was there to show me Jayden was not the only one, like I used to think.

To teach me I can be attractive to other people. That there were plenty of other fish in the sea.

But he brought colors into your life, the abandoned puppy inside me had whined. Colors are everything to you, in this colorless Boston.

But colors could be found anywhere. I lifted my chin and tossed back my Unicorn Frappuccino mane.

One just had to know where to look for them.

And who better to bring colors into this life than an illustrator herself?

I had decided to focus on my illustration project and forget about the Family Guy.

'Fairy Tails' had a new protagonist now. He'd never be as good as the one I had erased some months ago. But he'd do the job, alright. And that was all that mattered.

I had, of course, studied the Four Giants whose artistic shoulders everyone wanted to stand on.

Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image Comics.

Image was my top pick. They did not contract creators as the other three did, to slave away for them on their corporate projects like dark elves slaving in the mines. Never to see the sun of personal creativity.

No, Image Comics was different. They were only interested in publishing original content.

And my content was original to boot.

I so hoped Image Comics would appreciate that.

This endless query letters typing and retyping frenzy—this was the first step on that journey.

With a last glance at the destination address of my cover letter, submissions@imagecomics.com, I took a deep breath and clicked the Send button.

Okey-dokey. That was it. My query was launched.

Good luck, Fairy Tails.

Momma loves ya!

Not that you need it, because you're fucking awesome.