Rumy's dream was again pretty close to my life.

I was finally getting a comic book into market (though not, as I would soon learn, a financially successful one), and the question was whether all the sacrifice had been worth it. The answer was "yes," but I still struggle with exactly how much of my life to give up in exchange for the pursuit of the craft. Now that I'm writing professionally full-time, it's only gotten harder.

I wish we'd saved Groucho for the sketchpad; he would have had more impact if that had been his first appearance in the story. Note its empty space, which will be filled later.