So, I got a job

Yes, it happened.

I, a college graduate (with a creative writing degree) got a job that actually utilizes my degree. So yeah, I'm kind of a unicorn. I get to work with fashion, designers and editors. I get to be creative in my writing and I feel like I know what I'm doing.

In this job I've been writing a book on the side and working with a designer to make the cover. I have loved that experience so much that I've begun asking fellow writers and friends if they want to publish anything. So far I have a friend who wants me to put together her poems into a book. I can't wait! So the dream job has now become clear: books and publishing. And editing them. You know what, pretty much the whole process of getting a book from someone's head to your hands.

Shameless plug, if you have a novel idea or one in progress or hell, one done, I can help you get it printed. Basically I can design the interior (trust me, cover art is NOT a talent I possess) and put the novel together and off to the printer for you. And of course help with the writing of it, should you want that. But anyway. Dreams over. You may not read this blog just to know about some random girl's life. You probably come here for the other stuff. (jk, I'm just pretending to have a big audience because it helps me sleep at night.)

More posts coming soon, because I'm trying to be adultier. In my own way, thought.

Things are happening, folks

I have quite a bit of news for you, readers. I shall put it into bullet points for the curious and small-attention spanned readers.

• I am an intern at a local publishing group.
• I absolutely love it here.
• I wrote a full novel and have printed it.
• Like, in book form. 
• I'm saving up and taking donations in order to pay for an artist to do the cover art for me.

And here's the more detailed version!

I started interning May 26th. I was given my own desk, computer and phone and my own special email address. I work for Soirée, a Little Rock magazine, and assist in whatever needs assisting. So far, that's cataloging older issues, editing and writing profiles to be used in the magazine, working with the social media and updating the website. And more little things. It's been great! The downside... well, this isn't a paid internship, like all of the other internships here. Which is perfectly fine, I love working here and getting experience! It's just that I can't do it forever. Lately I've been more vocal about employment here. Not pushy, though. Just enough, I hope, to land a dream job.

This year I've written a young adult novel and lately finished it. I just need to do a bit of editing here and there. But it's done, and that's what's important. I used the brilliant site Blurb.com to format and create the book and have it professionally printed, so now I have a copy of my book! It's pretty exciting, tbh. 

The printed book. I designed this cover and you're right, it is terrible.

I am not a designer. That's just not a skill I am advanced in. And in the world of book publishing, especially young adult, the cover is ridiculously important. Luckily, I have found an amazing designer, Kerry Ellis, via 99designs.com. She has my exact aesthetic in mind. I just need to be able to pay her. It'll only be $400! For the full rights to a beautiful cover! And with a professional cover comes the selling. As a self-published author (so far) I can print it in my own time, on my time, but also on my dollar. I'm hoping to get it circulating to some capacity on social media, and I definitely have interest from friends and family. I just need to broaden the audience. 

After the new edition is printed up I am going to be taking it to the local libraries and donating copies for checkout. I'll check all stores that sell books and try to get them to carry my book. It's definitely an exciting time, even if I'm just waiting for the funds to get it done. 

Among other things, this is my life right now. Career and dream focused! I'll keep you posted. 

Be part of the magic!

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It's Coming Up

As you (most likely don't) know, I am to graduate in May. As I keep telling people, that's if I pass my classes. Not that I'm in danger of that. I just like to keep a hint of caution. I will have a creative writing degree. It's, like, my dream degree. I didn't even realize how perfect it was until I had been in it for a while. But it all adds up.

• At night, I was the best bedtime story teller. 
• I ate up books; children's and young adult. Still primarily read those.
• I actually wrote a few 'books,' including a book that I bound in cardboard about a unicorn who went on a journey to find other unicorns. She meets a giant spider in the forest. (I had no idea about that movie, The Last Unicorn)
• I also wrote a little four page poetry book. I wrote on the front who illustrated it (me) and who wrote it (me). It was a thrill to see my name on a cover.
• My senior year of high school I got to take a lot of elective courses. From a catalog, I selected creative writing, and it was the #1 class for me. I spent hours on my portfolio, literally binding ten little books with a work each in them to all fit into one of those decorative books that open.
• In English classes, my essays always had a sense of self. I loved writing days.
• I worked in the library for a class period my junior year. Dear god, the smell of new YA books as they roll in and the satisfying crack as they are opened for the first time... 
• I would get more passionate about the creative essays than the research papers.
• I stay up on all the young adult book trends and authors and titles and such. Always have.

So you see, it was something in front of me all along, but I never really put it together. I wasn't even aware such a degree existed. I heard someone say it in passing and I just reached out and grabbed it. My major used to be vocal performance, because it was something I loved doing, but I didn't enjoy the technical side of it. I minored in it instead and took on the writing degree!

Over the years I have written dozens - if not hundreds - of stories and poems. I have written scripts and written critiques for my peers and worked on my own little novels. I edited other people's work and helped them out with plot and characters. That rush from seeing my name on the cover of something? Still totally there. Now I convert my Word documents into epubs so I can read them on my ereader. Flipping through and seeing my book, even if only I see it, is exhilarating. 

So after graduation, I don't know where I'll go. But I'll always have writing. And I will always know that I majored in something I really love.