"Whatever happened to..."

I don't know how many of you read the "Whatever Happened To..." story about me in the Bulletin yesterday.  For those who didn't, here's a snippet:


"After early triumphs selling his three fantasy novels, Duncan let success go to his head.  "I can see now that I walked around with a big chip on my shoulder,' he says now.  "I was in an arrogant mood."

When his followup efforts didn't meet the same success, he started to go into a tailspin.  Drinking every night, wild parties, women and song, hanging around with ne'er do wells. 

Then tragedy struck.  His pet rat, Elmer, who had been his constant companion during his rise to fame suddenly died.

Duncan turned to heroin and cocaine.  "I can see now I was blinded by my blindness," he says with the wisdom of experience.

He spent the next two decades toiling in a dead-end retail job, selling of all things -- comics.

"Can't get any lower than that," he says now cheerfully.

Thankfully, around this time he met the woman of his dreams, Linda, who slowly but surely gave him the confidence to try again.  His cat, Panga, was his constant companion, meowing loudly, telling him to get to work typing again.  MEOW!  MEOW!  MEOW!!

Finally, he dipped his toe in the water, starting off with a humble blog.  "Sure, no one reads it.  But it gave me the confidence to try bigger things."

"I don't care if I have wild success again," he says.  "I just want to do my art."

And so on.  You know, the usual story.