This book, "a mixed media art and poetry book with a story told through
email exchange" as I frequently describe it, is as much about what led
me to create it as what happened (and didn't happen) after making my
mind up to write and illustrate a book. As I have come to understand
it, the real "art of wooing" in this day and age is not about
manipulation or trickery. Instead, it involves mastering the art of
communication, the art of taking chances, the art of being real with
other people...

At its core, this book reflects an 18-month period during which I
pursued an elusive poet who came into my life as my kickboxing
instructor. The artwork and poems trace the rise and fall and
reconstruction of my heart. I survived the tumult, as I survive most of
my life, with the support from friends who weighed in with advice and
shared their own experiences in the tricky task of wooing. Their
queries and observations, along with mine, made up an impressive, if
entirely subjective, distillation of insights and analysis about wooing.
And, out of this chronological archaeology arose loosely based chapters,
or themes, which I felt were central to the process, in general. A
unified theory of modern wooing emerged. And I set about carving stamps,
pouring my heart into scraps of paper, and trying to be ruthless in my
editing.