Well, last Tuesday night I sprained my knee. Bad.
I need an MRI to find out how bad, but for now I’m doing OK. I’ve got crutches and I’m trying to make sure I don’t injure it more.
It’s wierd, though, I’m pretty lucky. I have a day job with benefits and aside from one sick day and some future time off for doctors appointments, it’s not going to keep me from work.
It does, however, make me think of all those people – like freelance artists – who don’t have insurance, or need to use their legs far more than I to work.
I don’t really have amything insightful to say here. But I’ve got to say right now I really feel how thin a safety net there is in this country regarding healthcare.

Thursday, September 4, 2008, 7 pm, I’ll be doing a drawing program and signing at the Naperville Barnes & Noble, 47 East Chicago Ave.
This is my first B&N event and I can’t wait! And it really is my birthday!
For more information, call 630-579-0200

And it really was on Thursday at my first Barnes & Noble signing.
Originally, we had planned to do a short drawing program then open it up for questions and such. But with the remnants of Hurricane Gustav raining down, hardly anyone was in the store.
Naperville has a nice little downtown, but in the summer it relies heavily on foot traffic so the staff knew people wouldn’t be turning out. They set up a table next to the entrance and probably didn’t expect much out of the evening.
But I came through.
There were probably 20-30 people tops who came into the store over the course of two hours, and that’s a generous estimate. I sold ten books.
That’s close to a selling a book to half the people who came into the store. Half! And the pace of ten books an hour was about the same as the pace I had at Wizard World comiccon here in Chicago, where I sold 65 books over two and half days.
Naperville rocks!
And more importantly, I left the staff of that B&N happy. They gave me the opportunity and I didn’t let them down. I’m so happy about that.
They told me stories of authors who would be in there when the store was PACKED on a Saturday, and they’d sell one or two books.
So, thanks to Kerrilee Meeker and the whole staff of the Naperville Barnes & Noble. If you’re in the area, please drop by and say hello to them. They’re at 47 E Chicago Avenue, at the corner of Washington and Chicago in downtown Naperville.

Here’s some upcoming events:
Featured speaker Sunday, September 7, 2008, 1-3 pm, I’ll be talking about graphic novels for writers at the Midwest chapter meeting of the Mystery Writers of America. It’s held at Centuries and Sleuths bookstore, 7419 W. Madison St. Forest Park, IL. For more information, call (708)771-7243.

Chicago Non-Sport Card Expo on Friday, September 13, 2008, 2-7 pm. I was late contacting them, but they were kind enough to offer me a table for Friday afternoon. It’s at the Carol Stream, IL, Holiday Inn, 150 South Gary Avenue. For more information, call 630.665.3000.

Well, the MRI results on my sprained knee showed no ligment, tendon or muscle damage. That’s the good news.
It’s still swollen and after a day at work I just can’t come home and sit at a drawing board or computer some more. I have to put my leg up and ice it. So, no updates for Children of the Revolution for a while. That’s the bad news.
The really bad news is that in spite of there being no damage to my knee, there’s still something wrong inside that’s causing swelling and fluid build up. So I’m scheduled for surgery on Wednesday when they will go in and find out what’s going on. Arthroscopic surgery, so I should be out of work for a couple of days but hopefully back on my feet soon afterward.
All in all, I’d rather be drawing.

Well, I made it to Carol Stream and hobbled inside. Nearly didn’t make it, though, my car started doing strange things and a back tire looks like it’s on its last leg.
But, I’m here and I’ve already sold a book. More later.