Having a conversation with a distant cousin of my husband about graphic novels is about the last thing I expected to happen at my mother-in-law’s funeral service, but it happened. I noticed one of my sisters-in-law talking with a woman who I knew was somehow related to my husband. I remembered her from a past family gathering, but didn’t recall exactly who she was. I think she sent us Christmas cards for a few years, but since we never reciprocated (I quit sending Christmas cards to anyone long ago), stopped after a while. She owns a company called WriteBrain Media that promotes companies in a variety of ways. She approached me and wondered if I might be interested in some of her outsourced work. She and another entrepreneur had also just begun another venture called The Devil’s Candy Store. As we talked, I also learned that her husband (whom I also remember meeting many years ago) is an artist whose work includes familiar Star Wars illustrations.

We talked about Neil Gaiman a little. She mentioned that she and her husband once had a booth next to Charles Vess at ComicCon. She said that Clare should contact her husband if she was really interested in pursuing art as a career — he might be able to help her out.

We’ve not communicated since the funeral — over 5 months ago — even though we exchanged email addresses and telephone numbers. I think I was a little intimidated. Not by Denise — she’s a lovely woman and highly approachable. But by the life she and her husband have — it seems more glamorous than my suburban work-from-home mother kind of life. They seem to be in Holly Black‘s league. Even if she’d emailed me with a web site proposal, I doubt I would have accepted. My work is nowhere near as professional (flashy?) as what an artist or author would expect.

It just goes to show, you never know who you’re going to meet in a church basement in a small town like Pingree Grove.