Well, we're only a month into 2015, and my first book of the year has just been released. It's one I'm really excited about too.
Helium is a comic one-shot I did with Jeff Chin (who you may remember from the book we did together, In the Fallout), and it's published by Read Furiously.
It's a story about the chemical properties of Helium, but also it's the story of a young couple trying to make a long distance relationship work from opposite sides of a planet that's pretty much hell bent on blowing itself up. Surprisingly, the two have a lot more in common than you'd think.
And despite the science-fictiony/science-nonfictiony backdrop, this is actually one of the more personal stories I've written.
See, for the first year and a half me and my wife dated we were long distance. We were both poor college graduates, working full time jobs to support ourselves, and trying to figure out what we were doing with our lives (in my wife's case she was also in grad school to get her Master's degree). We only got to see each other on weekends when I'd drive down Friday after work so we could spend the next two days trying to cram in as much time together as possible.
Now despite that, I know we had it pretty good for a long distance relationship, and some couples don't have the luxury of getting to spend weekends together like we did. So looking back on it, I'm able to romanticize some aspects of it because everything worked out for us.
In reality though, things weren't always easy. As great as those two days together always were, they just made you miss the person even more for the other five days you spent apart. And sometimes making the right decision within the little bubble you exist in for those two days, only makes things in the real world harder.
So while I may have set Helium as far from reality as possible, there's a lot that's still grounded in those early days of our relationship. And all of it is really just a way to remind myself how lucky I am that my wife and I ended up where we did.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Next time I'll share the soundtrack I put together for Helium so you can see some of the musical influences in the book.
Till then, hope you guys enjoy Helium.
It's a story about the chemical properties of Helium, but also it's the story of a young couple trying to make a long distance relationship work from opposite sides of a planet that's pretty much hell bent on blowing itself up. Surprisingly, the two have a lot more in common than you'd think.
And despite the science-fictiony/science-nonfictiony backdrop, this is actually one of the more personal stories I've written.
See, for the first year and a half me and my wife dated we were long distance. We were both poor college graduates, working full time jobs to support ourselves, and trying to figure out what we were doing with our lives (in my wife's case she was also in grad school to get her Master's degree). We only got to see each other on weekends when I'd drive down Friday after work so we could spend the next two days trying to cram in as much time together as possible.
Now despite that, I know we had it pretty good for a long distance relationship, and some couples don't have the luxury of getting to spend weekends together like we did. So looking back on it, I'm able to romanticize some aspects of it because everything worked out for us.
In reality though, things weren't always easy. As great as those two days together always were, they just made you miss the person even more for the other five days you spent apart. And sometimes making the right decision within the little bubble you exist in for those two days, only makes things in the real world harder.
So while I may have set Helium as far from reality as possible, there's a lot that's still grounded in those early days of our relationship. And all of it is really just a way to remind myself how lucky I am that my wife and I ended up where we did.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Next time I'll share the soundtrack I put together for Helium so you can see some of the musical influences in the book.
Till then, hope you guys enjoy Helium.
