Reality Shmeality

Chapter Ten

I planned a trip to New York for the second week of November and had a meeting with the editorial staff from King Features Syndicate on Tuesday the 14th. They flew me down, and I stayed at the Ameritania Hotel, which is close to their office and in the same building where they filmed the Late Show with David Letterman. I arrived on Monday evening and was on my own in New York City for the first time ever.

My meeting was on West 57th Street at 10 a.m. so I got there at 9:30. I have an obsessive-compulsive habit of not just being punctual, but very early for everything. If I arrive somewhere twenty minutes before something starts I feel like most people do who arrive twenty minutes late. I dressed up for the meeting hoping to make a good impression. I was sitting in the waiting area and couldn't help but stare at the receptionist. She was stunning. A colorful tattoo covered her left arm and seemed to glow in contrast to her pale skin. She caught me looking at her a couple of times and smiled in my direction. The phone on her desk beeped and she pressed a button to reveal a voice from within.

"You can send in Flower."

It sounded very serious hearing my name coming from a stranger over an intercom. For a second I thought I might have been in over my head. The porcelain receptionist looked my way and smiled.

"They are ready for you, Flower. Please follow me."

Hearing her voice address me by my name was a much different feeling than a moment earlier. It gave me the confidence I needed. I stood up slowly, cleared my throat, and followed her into a conference room down the hall. I noticed the tattoo from her arm continued down her back, mysteriously disappearing behind her tight dress.

The door opened exposing a row of middle-aged smiling suits. The porcelain receptionist closed the door behind me and it sounded like a prison cell closing. I looked at the row of smiling suits and they all stood up to welcome me and one of them even pulled out my chair. They introduced themselves and told me they were very impressed with my comics. The envelope I had sent them was next to the fifty comics that were spread across the table, most of them with notes scribbled in red ink.

"Let's cut straight to the point. Our time is valuable and so is yours. We love Reality Shmeality. It is brilliant. Not only is it unlike all the other artists that we represent here at King Features, it is unlike any comic we have seen anywhere. Your artwork is great. The ideas and commentary are clever and cut like a knife. And the consistency throughout your work is impeccable. When we read in your attached bio that you were only seventeen years old, we honestly thought that someone was messing with us. We would love to represent Reality Shmeality, and we are very confident that in very little time we can get your panel into newspapers all around the world. We believe that you have the potential to be the most successful comic artist for your age in the history of print. Believe me when I say, this is a much different conversation than we have with other artists. This is actually the first time we have brought an unsigned artist here to meet with us personally. And to show you that we are serious, we will offer you an unprecedented sixty percent of the cut, just to lock you down as part of the King Features family."

It was a lot for me to take in, especially with everyone staring at me with greedy smiles and beady eyes. I was excited, nervous, a bit intimidated, and actually quite worried. I actually thought for a second that I was going to puke right there on the table in front of everyone. I knew right away I would need to hire a lawyer to go over the contract. I asked if it would be alright if I came back in a few days so I could be in touch with my family and my lawyer. It was actually quite funny in my head for me to use that line with them about needing to talk to my lawyer. I obviously didn't have a lawyer but they didn't have to know that, especially since it was about to change. They said that I could absolutely take a few days and that they would keep me comfortable at the hotel until the end of the week. I thanked everyone for their kind words and optimistic outlooks. I thanked them for believing in me and wanting to work with me to make my dreams come true. They told me to come back on Thursday afternoon and to get my affairs in order. I'm pretty sure I kept my cool as I walked out of the conference room, though, deep down I was a complete disaster on the verge of jumping for joy, laughing hysterically, or crying uncontrollably. It was a lot of emotions for a seventeen-year-old kid to feel at the same time.