Super Boba Café and Neil Gaiman

At the American Library Association conference I presented on a panel. I shared that every time I start a new book, I ask myself “how do I write a book again?”

13 books in, I thought it would be easier. Turns out, each book is as hard as Pashmina. (Although I did re-draw that book four times because it was my first full length graphic novel, I’m glad to never do THAT again.)

The ideas aren’t hard. Turning my idea into something is very hard.

The idea for Super Boba Café appeared while reading Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere in 2019. It’s about a terrifying and fantastical London Below. As I was reading, I asked myself, what’s below San Francisco?

I answered that question with Super Boba Café. I wrote and prepared a pitch in 2020… but COVID decided to disrupt our collective lives and I focused on survival.

A year later, I sent the pitch. It was early 2021 and multiple publishers were interested. I sold the book to Abrams and began thumbnails that year. I wrapped inks in November of 2022. From idea to finished book, 3 years passed. A book takes time to emerge.

I often wonder what would’ve happened in those years if I never picked up Neverwhere. Would I have written another story inspired by something else?

I’ll never know. Without Neil Super Boba Café wouldn’t exist.

Thank you, Neil.