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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Catch

Attention, all readers!

Last week was boring, at least on the book front. Still incredibly pleased with SA, but until Leticia writes back with news about those other manuscripts of mine, or something comes out completely out of nowhere, I don't think there's going to be a lot of new for a few weeks.

But I do have a bit of publishing news. Last trimester I'd entered a short story of mine into Catch, which is my college's highly esteemed literary magazine, and I was picked! This Friday was the official publication date of that issue, and like with each issue, there was a publication party with finger food and writers reading their work. I got to read part of my short story, "He, She, and They", which is about a day in the life of a lower middle class couple. I wanted to read the whole thing, but unfortunately there was a five minute limit for reading time, so I simply read half, and some people told me I did really well. One of my friends phone-taped it (my own phone was dead), and I'll post it here as soon as she emails it to me. I can also insert a copy of the story if you want. :)

So that's a little not quite book/publishing news for you.

Weekly (Dis)Likes:

Like 1: The publication party. See above.

Like 2: I had a meeting with an advisor at the career center to work out a game plan for what to do concerning job looking from now til June. She says I have a good start, and the thing I should work on is building connections with LinkedIn to provide a greater job search. She's also going to send me a few links regarding job search sites, and we'll be looking over my resume as well. So glad I did it. (Yes Mom, I'll admit it.)

Dislike 1: I had my first quiz in my Mythology class this week. I'm nervous if I did well or not, because though I studied, I just hope I wrote everything down like I was supposed to.

And quote!

"The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first." -Ginger Rogers

Bye,
Colleen

Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Interview

Say hey!

So my prediction was right; the interview I talked about last week did come out yesterday. Here's the link to the online version (though don't ask we why the page format is weird):

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/KCStar/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=S0NTLzIwMTQvMDEvMTE.&pageno=NTU.&entity=QXIwNTUwMQ..&view=ZW50aXR5

It's really good. I like how Jennifer wrote it out and really incorporated all the questions she asked, and it's all just so flattering. I hope I don't sound too arrogant at the beginning though, with the whole 'proof' statement thing. It's just when you're autistic (I have Aspergers), people do you at you and your potential differently, and I can't fault people for that. But this shows that despite my difficulties, I was able to write a book and do what I want to do for the rest of my life. Just as it should be with everyone else, regardless of what difficulties they face. :)

Also, I never did know that my book was considered 'a gem' over at SHP. I mean, I knew it was different with the original monster concept, but I wasn't aware that's what Rich thought of the whole thing! Thank you Rich for your kind words!

And thank you also, Mom. Love you lots. And thanks to all the nice Facebook posts.

Weekly (Dis)Likes:

Like 1: New Nintendo games! I used some of my Amazon gift card to get some video games, and now am just starting Pokemon Y. The graphics are amazing.

Like 2: I got a call back from a potential employer I was doing follow-up on. He says I don't need to do anything now, but it'd be nice to meet up again during spring break.

Dislike 1: I think my bamboo plant's dying. I basically went a month without watering it 'cause of Christmas break (stupid), and when I got back the stem was wrinkly and all but the topmost leaves were brown. I stripped those away and refilled it, of course, but the stem's still wrinkly and I think one of the leaves is browning. I hope I can save it. :(

And quote!

"Strength does not from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." -Mohandas Gandhi

Cheerio,
Colleen

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Newspaper Interview!

Good day, readers!

Big news this time around. To my complete surprise, my grandmother got in contact with the local newspaper and told them about my book, and one writer wrote back saying she wanted to interview me. This hasn't been my first interview--I did one with a book blogger about a year ago--but it is my first interview for a paper!

The interviewer's name was/is Jennifer, and we did the interview over the phone last Monday. She asked me all sorts of questions, a lot of them being the usual things you ask during an interview: what was your inspiration, what was the publication process like, etc., but I also talked about my feelings on writing and a few of my personal feelings when it comes to words, such as that I feel everyone should try writing something for publishing. Yes, it's hard, but if you can do that, you learn that you can do anything. That's what it taught me, at least.

When the interview comes out, I'll post a link if it's available on the web and talk about it some more. I'm not exactly sure about the publication date, but I believe Jennifer said something about this coming Saturday. Can't wait to read it.

Weekly (Dis)Likes

Like 1: The interview. Yay for publicity!

Like 2: Back to school. There are positives being in college.

Like 3: We're having a blizzard up here, and so far my Mythology tomorrow has been cancelled 'cause my teacher's stuck in Chicago (hope he's staying warm). Granted, we still have work to do, but now there's more time to do it.

Dislike 1: The return of homework. Gross. :P

Dislike 2: It's EXTREMELY cold. According to the weather report emails I'm getting, tomorrow's going to feel like -40 degrees with windchill. Yuck. >(

And quote!

"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." -Bertrand Russell

Stay warm,
Colleen