I just got back from a trip to Toronto for TCAF, one of my very favorite indie conventions! I didn’t manage to get very far away from Yonge and Carlton while I was there, but I did still manage to eat some delicious things.

Saturday night I went to the downtown location of Sultan Ahmet with Grace Desmarais and Alexandra Gallant-Lee and some other lovely comics people. Iskender Kebab, as it turns out, is sliced doner meat in a savory tomato sauce, with sheep’s milk butter and yogurt, all slathered on top of a plate of pita. It was rich and decadent and very satisfying.

Sunday morning I woke up early to treat myself to an Egg Club sandwich, just the fluffiest possible scrambled egg, tons of avocado, and hollandaise on delicate Japanese milk bread. I had one of their sandwiches the last time I was at TCAF - two years ago - and hadn’t forgotten it.

Sunday night I treated myself to a lovely paper plane cocktail and this incredible butter chicken grilled cheese sandwich while sitting on the patio at Hair of the Dog, a delightfully welcoming neighborhood tavern. Niles and I had a super charming meal there the last time we were in town. The sandwich was melt-in-your-mouth glorious and the place itself is a real gem.

Someday I will visit Toronto for an actual vacation, and get more than a mile away from the TCAF venue. From the few blocks of the city that I’ve seen, it’s chock full of great restaurants!

A Little Aside:

So TCAF was not a great convention for me this year! I brought about as many books as I sold the last time I was at TCAF, and only sold half of them. It was terribly demoralizing. And given the cost of flights and hotels, I absolutely lost money on the weekend.

Up until last year, I would not have cared about this: I had a day job, and comics was my sometimes-lucrative side hustle. But I lost that job unexpectedly last December, so now comics is my full time thing. A setback like this weekend can really do a number on the morale. In a dark mood, I caught myself feeling like an utter failure, and wondering if I should even keep trying.

Reader: Just last month I signed a contract for my fifth comic book cookbook! Of course I should keep trying! One disappointing weekend can’t undo the fact that I’ve made four of these books now, and I get to make a fifth.

Imposter syndrome is real, and it can be nasty. If you have brain worms telling you you’re not good enough to make that thing you want to make, just know that it happens to pretty much everyone, at every level. Don’t listen to the brain worms! Make that thing!

Upcoming Events:

I will be at the Kenosha Book Festival on June 21, and in Artists Alley at the ALA Conference in Chicago June 26-28. Come say hi if you’re at either of those events!

What I’m Into Lately:

My book club is reading Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo for Pride month! This one’s been on my TBR for quite a while, so I’m glad to have an excuse to finally pick it up. If I’m being honest, I’m having a hard time connecting with the characters so far, but I’m only a little ways in, and the spooky mystery is definitely intriguing.

What Toki’s Into Lately:

I’ve been home for basically an hour and he’s already being a trash gremlin.