Really, I'm Serious!

It really became clear to me how much of a coward I had become, when I told people my plans, and they didn't believe me.  I guess I don't really blame them.  What isn't clear is when exactly I became the person I am.  The girl that is too afraid to do anything risky that she settles for mediocrity.  I still remember standing up in front of my reporting class and announcing that I was going to move to NYC and work for a fashion magazine.  The exact nature of my dreams may have changed, but my aspirations to do more with my life have not and it's time I recaptured the real me hiding beneath my fears. 

So, when I announce that I am moving to Boston, please don't scoff.   I am no longer going to wait for my dreams to come to me.  If I want to work for a publisher in Boston, then obviously I need to be there.  Do I know exactly how I am going to do this? Not exactly. All I do know is that I am going to transfer my current retail position and couch surf for a while.  The rest I am not sure of.  Do I care? Nope. Why? Because it feels good to take control of my own life and make things happen.  While there is fear of the unknown, there is also freedom to it.  And I am reveling in my freedom. 

So, stay tuned because hopefully this blog is going to get a lot more interesting.

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Okay, first let me say that the Jack Johnson video doesn't really have anything to do with this post.  I just happened to think of the blog title that was the same as the song and couldn't resist sharing this awesome video that I love, but back on topic....

I have now arrived at my least favorite part of the hiring process.  I edited and rearranged my resume to try to fit as much pertinent information as possible and think I accomplished making it the strongest I could.  I wrote cover letters that, well at least I hope, stand out from the crowd and present my qualifications in a unique way.  I spent ages researching companies in the Boston area that have internships available in the fall and I even sent applications to many companies that don't actually have internships posted right now (daring I know). 

So now I have sent out emails to 17 different publishing companies practically begging them for the chance to work for free.  Now what?   All I feel that I can do is sit, wait, and wish that someone will respond.  In the words of Cher Horowitz "I feel impotent and out of control and I really hate that!". 

So, wish me luck and send me good vibes!

The Great (e-book) Debate

A couple of Saturday's ago I was waiting for my oil to be changed reading Sense and Sensibility (I love Jane Austen) on my Kindle.  Adjacent to me, also waiting for his car, there was a guy reading a huge hard-cover book.  We were both minding our own business, absorbed in our stories, when a middle-aged woman walks into the waiting area and asks us if we are together.  At first it amused me that she assumed we were together just because we were both sitting there reading.  But then she started saying (to the guy) how nice it was to see a young person with a book and how she prefers paper books while looking down her nose at me because I was using an e-reader. 

Here's the thing: I prefer printed books as well.  I love just spending time in a bookstore or library surrounded by books.  The smell, the feeling in your hands, the whole experience of physically choosing a book from so many.  I still buy books and always will and I dream of having a huge study one day with walls of built in bookcases stuffed to the brim. 

But I love my Kindle too.  I am always on the go and I used to carry around a book in my purse at all times. That is an amount of pressure that neither my back nor my purse can handle (and I have many ripped and broken purses as proof).  I also like that you can download novels that have become public domain for free.  There are always so many books that I want to read and I never have enough money for all of them.  So I like that I can finally read books that I've always wanted to but got put on the back-burner due to my budget.  Basically, I am a practical person and e-readers are full of conviences that I appreciate in my busy and hectic life.

I don't see why it has to be one or the other.  Anybody should be able to choose the forum that best fits their needs.  The story is what's important here.  I read because I love exploring new settings, meeting new characters, getting lost in the language of a well-written story.  Where I am reading from pales in significance to what as I am reading.  As long as I'm reading I'm happy. 

It's up to you New York?

" If I can make it there       

I'll make it anywhere

It's up to you

New York, New York"

                                                                                   
          
Did Frank Sinatra say it all in New York, New York ?  Is it up to New York to make your dreams come true?

There do seem to be a lot of signs that this is true for me.  After about a week of researching publishing companies with openings for a fall intern, I found 15 in New York (on one site), 6 in the Boston area (with a far more extensive search and 8 in the Boston area that don't have postings but that I plan on trying my luck with anyway.  I have heard that getting any position is a game of odds and that the more rejections you get the closer you are to getting accepted.  Considering this, my goal is to apply to as many positions as possible.  So, the odds seem much higher of getting a position in New York than anywhere else.

Then I found this blog, how-to-get-an-internship-in-publishing-5-tips/ , where the first tip on how to get an internship in publishing is how to live in New York City (or within commutable distance).   Okay, now this is starting to feel like I am being ganged up on. 

Also, as a girl whose guilty pleasures are chick flicks and chick lit, any single girl looking to go after her dream job in the big city has to move to New York.   These books and movies have been telling me for years that this is the only way to go.  Of course, I don't typically let anything with chick in the genre title dictate how I am going to live, but it's all starting to look like this is my only option.

The problem is that one, I don't know anyone in New York.  It seems pretty impossible to me to work for no money in the most expensive place to live in the U.S. without being able to do a little couch surfing or becoming a house guest for three or four months.

                                        

The other problem is that I love Boston.  While I think it would be cool to live in New York in an abstract kind of way.  I know I would love living in Boston.  Not only do I have the most wonderful family ever, who I am sure would be willing to help me out, hint hint.  But it is a city that I have always felt is my true home and where I belong

Of course, I will still apply for as many positions as possible, but I am not changing my own personal theme song from Dirty Water any time soon.  Sorry, Frank.

What am I reading?

It's time for me to wave my nerd flag proudly through the air.  I am a self-proclaimed book nerd, but it goes further than this.  I am a fan of the Harry Potter Series.  No, I do not go to the midnight showing dressed as the lost Weasley sister (although I could easily fit in with that lot of awesome gingers).  But I have seen every movie, read every book and can endlessly discuss minute details of the books vs. the movies.  Since we are rapidly approaching the last movie, I am rereading the series.  

Speaking of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part II, I included for your viewing pleasure the official trailer courtesy of Warner Brothers.  I am not gonna lie, this trailer has definately released my inner fangirl.  She is sooo sqeeling with excitement in that way that only twelve-year olds are capable of.      

 

So what is the appeal of a juvenille fiction series about             

an eleven year-old boy who finds out that he is a 

wizard and his journey through his education at                              

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to a                    

twenty-something female?  For one, the teenager

inside me who never fit in can't help but get caught                            

up in the story of a boy who never felt like he

belonged until, on his eleventh birthday, he discovers

that he does have a place in the world, it was just

kept secret from him his whole childhood.  Perhaps, 

this explains why I would love to own the box-set

in a replica Hogwarts trunk.  Who wouldn't have 

loved for something like that to happen to them as a 

child. 

I am also always a sucker for a good coming of age story.  This, beyond witchcraft, is the story of a boy discovering who he truely is and making friendships that will last his whole life. I love discovering each bit of Harry's past right along with him as well as watching him figure out where he belongs while struggling against the evil threatening to take over the magical world.

But what probably reels me in the most is J.K. Rowling's writing.  While this is written in a way that juvenille readers can follow, over the course of seven books the plot becomes quite intricate.  Each book weaves in details from the previous ones while still able to stand alone as a finished product.  This is what stands out to me most on repeat readings is how the books are interwoven by the smallest details and how every single detail is purposely signifcant.  Her writing also creates an entire unknown universe, but does so in a way that you can picture exactly what this magical world looks like.  It makes it easy to get lost in this fantasy world that she has created. 

Bottom line is that the Harry Potter series is just plain fun to read.  That is all I really require of a good book.

                                 

What is this all About?

Go Back to the Start

The other day I stumbled upon some information that, while I am sure I knew, I had not acknowledge to myself.  I graduated from college 4 years ago, and I have nothing to show for it.  Scary thought.  My career path has meandered so far off the road that I am completely lost.  Not only am I not working in the area of my major. My current position doesn't even require a degree.  How did I get so off track?  At this point I am not even sure I know the answer to that.   There are so many things I could have/should have done differently and there's really no telling what could have happened if I changed this or that.  What I do know is that it is time to get back on track.  So I am starting over.  Since nothing I have done since college is working I am going back to being a recent graduate.

How do you Know?

My first step is to define my dream job.  This was the start of my previous undoing.  Well, the advantage to my situation is that I know what I don't like to do, which makes it easier to narrow down where I will be happy.  Now maybe we never truly can be sure that our dream job will be just that, but there is one thing I know for sure.  I love books!  My favorite thing to do in any spare moment is to curl up with a book. My favorite place to be is in bookstore or library surrounded by so many new adventures waiting for me to pick them up.  I love discovering new things, getting lost in a world that is not my own or even gaining knowledge of my world through a good book.   The other thing that I know is that my dream career will not be easy to get.  So where does that leave this "recent graduate".  My new path is to find an internship, impress them with my amazing skills and hopefully this will eventually lead me to my dream job. 

You Call Yourself a Writer? 

The other issue I have is that I like to call myself a writer.  Books are my hobby, my passion and will hopefully become my career.   I studied journalism because I thought it was more practical than being an English major, but literature was where my heart was (and still is).  And like many journalism and English majors I harbor a fantasy of becoming a best-selling author (with production companies clamoring for the movie rights, of course).  But despite all this, I never seem to actually write anything.  I love to write and yet I never seem able to.  I either lack inspiration or find my inspiration lacking.  My solution: to start this blog which will track my journey to land my dream job in publishing, discuss some books along the way and hopefully entertain someone in the process. 

Hope you will come on this journey with me!