Lackadaisy Volume 1, or, A Lesson in Good Timing

You may recall that, some months ago, my lady and I met Tracy J. Butler at Wondercon 2009. Ms. Butler was offering to sketch a Lackadaisy character with each book ordered at the con, so my lady took the opportunity to order one. She paused a moment to decide which character to request, but we both knew it was an obvious choice. Though she does like many of the characters quite a bit, Mordecai, the punctual, articulate, and ruthless hit man for the Marigold gang is definitely her favorite character (and mine as well). She placed the order, paid the money, and wrote down the address. She also bought a signed poster, and I bought a pin.

Weeks passed, then months, and we began to worry. My lady wrote them to see if everything was all right, and they assured her that they had her order and were getting to it. More time passed, and I started to wonder if she had written the address down wrong, or perhaps the book had been lost in the mail.

You may have noticed that today marks the anniversary of my lady and I seeing each other for six months. How fitting, then, that my lady received something in the mail today.

My lady somehow managed to resist the temptation to open the book until we could open it together. So we brought it to my apartment, opened the package, removed the book from the bubble wrap, and admired the cover. Then we saw the sketch and immediately understood why the book had taken so long.

Somebody seems to have forgotten to tell Ms. Butler how to do a book sketch. You draw a quick, loose-lined drawing of your character in about ten to twenty seconds, then move on to the next book. There is nothing wrong with this, as it allows artists who are already quite busy to create something personal for huge amounts of fans. Instead, Ms. Butler drew, well, this:

I cannot describe how grateful I am for the time and effort Ms. Butler put into creating this image.