SLG Publisher Dan Vado authors first book "My DIecast Life"

“Every scratch on a toy car tells a story.”

When longtime indie comics publisher and Art Boutiki founder Dan Vado found a carrier full of his childhood Hot Wheels while cleaning out his mother’s attic, his first instinct wasn't to sell them, it was to play with them. After spending time rolling the cars along a dining room table stories began to flood back into his memory.

When he began the task of selling the cars he used these memories to add flavor to his auction listing.  What began as a few nostalgic eBay listings turned into a memoir about growing up Italian-American in late-1960s San Jose.

 In My Die-Cast Life, Vado spins a series of warm, funny, and vividly detailed stories—each tied to a toy car—that chart the collisions between family, friendship, and the first sparks of imagination. From Sunday living-room races on bright-orange track to learning English at home one diecast car at a time, Vado re-creates the sights, sounds, and smells of suburban California childhood with humor and heart.

My Diecast Life will be available on December 18th and will be available at Amazon.com, SLGPUBS.com and most major bookseller websites. A signing and release event will take place at the company's music venue/gallery The Art Boutiki on December 18th. The book can be preordered at Amazon.com at THIS LINK.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dan Vado is the founder of SLG Publishing, an influential independent comics and graphic-novel press, and owner of The Art Boutiki Music Hall in San Jose, CA. His writing has been featured mostly in comics from DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics and of course his own SLG Publishing.  My Die-Cast Life is his first full-length prose collection

Published by SLG Publishing
Trade Paperback | 6 × 9 in | 90 pages
$12.95 US 
ISBN 978-1-59362-330-2
Available December 18 2025 

For more info contact Dan Vado at dvado@slgpubs.com