An Observation

So today was my first day as an author's assistant for Linda Castillo. I feel totally cool being able to say that (especially since I technically have two jobs again, but one of them is way more fun. And easier). I was also amused when I ended up telling our Customer Relations Manager at Barnes and Noble, because he knows all the local writers as well.

In short, I'm stoked.

There's a lot to be done at this job, especially email captures from fanmail. Unfortunately, I'm limited to about two hours of work every Friday (just so that I don't end up costing too much). But there are going to be plenty of fun, writerly projects to keep me busy. I'm really looking forward to the experience. It'll be useful when 1) I'm a published writer myself and 2) when I also take the position of an editor.

Which leads me to a bit of reflection on how I got here. Naturally, being able to read story books by age 5 and loving it led to trying to write, which led to writing fan fiction, which led to trying to write original pieces. After that, I took an internship program through my high school that allowed me to intern with three local writers. Because of my experiences, I'm now an editor on the staff of my college's creative arts journal. And through my connections with one of my mentors, I'm now an author's assistant for another writer. As well, I've finished the outline of a fantasy trilogy that I've begun to write.

I'm highly satisfied with how far I've gotten. And it'll only get better from here.

It seems that writing is not a solitary profession, as so many think. It requires a lot of networking, as well as reading and a (ton) of writing (obviously). The networking part is turning out to be a lot of fun. I can only hope that it will lead me to new experiences in the writing world. And I definitely think I will.