Tackle It Tuesday: Another Week Gone

These past few weeks have seemed so busy for me. I've had finals, then my graduation ceremony, then the starting of my final summer classes. I feel like there has barely been time for me to rest my head. I have missed writing these posts. They are something I enjoy and I definitely need to make more time to devote to it, even when my plate is full.

Some good news though, I am starting a second internship this week. I was supposed to start today, but my manager e-mailed me saying she was going out of town last minute for business and needed to reschedule my training for Thursday.

Unlike my first internship, this one is in an academic setting. I will be working with the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA). I will be helping to put together, then run the annual conference and helping with the copyediting of the program. I am really looking forward to it. There should be many skills that I will be learning first hand through this work.

On the topic of learning first hand, I have seen on a lot of job postings that knowledge of InDesign by Adobe is preferred. So in an effort to better myself (and increase my marketability) I am now teaching myself the software. It is surprisingly fun and if I was more artistically inclined, I would love to continue making book covers. As of now though, I am just making mockups of covers and the inside of books. I've already learned a lot.

I am still working on writing up reviews of books I've read and want to post them sometime soon. I'm not sure when exactly they will start showing up more, though. Speaking of which, I've started wondering and worrying that if I get an editing job I will no longer be able to review books, because it may seem like competition or something. I really enjoy reading and reviewing books and would hate to have to stop eventually. Does anyone know if my fears are legit? Or am I just being a worrywart?

I can't wait to talk to you guys through comments and my next post.

Tackle It Tuesday: So Very Busy

My goodness. It feels like it has been forever since I last wrote a blog post. Thankfully for now I have a few days of freedom before "graduation" and the start of summer classes. Why haven't I been around lately? Well first I was out of town with not internet service, then out of country with no internet service, plus during all that up until yesterday, I've been dealing with end-of-the-semster issues like papers and finals. I was so busy I ended up not having the time to finish Camp Nano or the April blogging challenge, though there were some great people I met from other blogs.

I am looking forward to this week of freedom; I have great plans for it. There are a few books I want to finish reading, some reviews I need to write, and working on my novels. Not sure when I am going to get all this done. It's Tuesday and I'm busy all day today, then I have my major's recognition ceremony Friday and the school wide graduation Saturday. Between then I need to buy my books for this Maymester. Oh goodness.

But I can almost promise I won't disappear for so long again. I have a huge TBR list so there should be some reviews coming soonish. These classes for the summer are reading intensive, but it's not four reading intensive classes like I had this semester (the pains of being an English major).

Thanks for bearing with me you guys.

Tackle It Tuesday: Spring Break Edition!

I am officially on the last spring break of my college career. This means I have only two plans for the next week: seeing how many books I can read between now and next Sunday and writing. So far I have finished two books, maybe 50 pages before finishing a third, and have added scenes to and edited a short story.

As I write this post, I am fighting my nerves about posting it to my writing group. I hate when people see my work, but I know the group helps make my work better. They are the best writing group a girl could ever ask for. But that isn't my only writing plan. I hope to be finished through chapter four on my romance and get back fully into the swing of things with my fantasy.

Hopefully this week will be the break I need to take a deep breath before plunging back into the hectic scheduling I so fondly call my life. Short post today, but there isn't much to report, so I will leave you with the recommendation to watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. An amazing modernization of Pride and Prejudice set up as a vlog. Whether you love or hate Jane Austen, you will love this series.

Link for entire series

Tackle It Tuesday: Wait Not Going To Grad School Means I'm More Busy?

Who knew that deciding not to go to grad school would mean I am even busier. Now instead of getting things together for the eight schools I was applying to, I am now researching and combing through hundreds of jobs. And let me tell you, entry-level jobs in publishing are slim pickings these days. I am still holding out hope that the house I intern for will hire me, but just in case I am applying for several other positions.

I describe to my mom that trying to work in publishing without moving to New York is like trying to become an actress, but refusing to move to LA or New York. Despite this I am tirelessly trying to find jobs that will let me stay home in Georgia. Boy let me tell you, if I thought jobs in publishing was slim pickings, jobs in Georgia in publishing and jobs that will let you telecommute are near nonexistent. I would really love to stay in Georgia, I love this state with all my heart and am a true Georgia Peach, but it is looking more and more like I am going to have to give up and hitch a ride to New York.

Even if I do go to New York (which I wouldn't want to do until I have a job in the bag), I don't know how I would afford it. New York is so much more expensive that Georgia and this industry isn't exactly known to be a well paying one. Even worse I am afraid that in order to get my foot in the door of another house or an agency, I am going to have to intern again and I just can't afford that. Especially not living in New York.

All this being said, this Tackle It Tuesday is focused on my trying my hardest to find a job, any job, in my chosen field. And it is as hard as trying to catch a unicorn. Maybe by the end of the year, I will have a fabulous agent, and a wonderful seven-figure book deal and won't need to work! (Wishful thinking I know:))

Do you remember what it was like trying to get your first job out of college? Tell me about it!

Tackle It Tuesday: Busy As A Bee

It has been a tiring few weeks and I am starting to wonder if it is ever going to let up. It keep finishing work, but as soon as one thing is done two more things are piled on or something happens where I can't work on other things.

I like to think I am pretty active in the community, but this past weekend kept me so busy with volunteer work I was not expecting to do, that I ended up falling behind in everything. I planned to also post a review for A Conspiracy of Alchemists today, but things being a they are, I didn't finish it yet. I have another school paper to do (isn't school fun?), but I did finish and turn in another one that I got an A on. So far I only have about 5,800 words written in A Song in My Heart, but I have decided to put my short story away for a little while, because it is frustrating me to the point where I don't think I can do anything productive with it.

With school I also have two novels I need to read and a midterm tomorrow to prepare for. I tell you, I can't wait to be finished. Some good news on that front though. Yesterday I registered for my last undergraduate classes and I have received my graduation invitation. Of course that also means I am going to have to set aside a couple hours to make out a list of who to send invites to and write out all of their addresses. This process takes me longer than most people because my arthritis makes it hard for me to write.

I am actually squeezing the writing of this post berween assignments I should be working on. So though this post is a bit rough and scattered I will post now and make it up to you with a cleaner post Friday.

Tackle It Tuesday: Overwhelmed By Everything

Surised to see me on a Tuesday? I decided to start posting on Tuesdays with the Tackle it Tuesday meme, where I will post about things I have had to "tackle" in the past week. So of course it makes sense that I will start off this tradition with complaining about all of the things I had to complete this past weekend.

Some of you may know that I am in my senior year of college and trying to apply to grad programs for my Masters in Publishing. Well on Thursday I sent in my first application. I still have four more applications to fill out, but this is the second step towards my editing goal (my first step was getting an internship). This is nerve wracking for me. Anyone who has ever tried to get something they really wanted and was forced to play the waiting game knows what I mean.

While I am waiting for that, I have had to finish two editing tests, was rejected for a job, work on a short story I want to submit for a themed magazine issue, work on my novel, help put together a blog tour, homework, and two critiques for my writing group. Wow that's a lot right? I'm not even sure that is the completed list.

I am excited about my short story though. It is my first time trying to do a speculative and horror story so I am kind of pumped. This is also the first time I have had to write something on a deadline outside of school. I really love this story so far though, so I hope it's not my first literary rejection. Even if it is I would still shop it around.

With everything going on I have barely had time to work on Song in My Heart. I hate when I don't have time to work on my major projects because it makes me feel as if I will never finish it. I am the type who likes to see results fairly fast. Kind of surprising for someone who is looking into two careers that take time and patience: writing and editing. But in my defense when I edit I can see the edits I do and when I write I see the addition of words to the story.

Some kind of exciting news for me, though, is I signed up on NetGalley, thinking no one would send me galleys to review. Much to my surprise, so far I have seven requests for reviews and only two declines.  I really did not expect that to happen, but I am glad it did. That means in the coming weeks I will start doing book reviews here. I need a little time to catch up with work and read the books, so the first one probably won't come until mid- to late-March. The books I requested all sound really interesting and  I look forward to reading them. I haven't decided what day to post them on, but I will be sure to tell you before hand.

This post has started to ramble and has strayed from the original topic of how I have been super busy these past few days, so I'm going to just close it out now. See you Friday.