One of my best friends in high school, Hannah, insisted I read The Mortal Instruments series. I put it on my reading list and eventually I read the first book, City of Bones. This was years ago already. City of Ashes, the second book, is only becoming one of the top books on my list now.
The timing is perfect. I finished the first book significantly before the first movie, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, was released. I saw it when home on break one year, it happened to be on TV. It was OK. I thought it was a pretty faithful adaption, but nothing about it really jumped out at me. I figure that if the second book was turned into a movie, I'd probably watch it on TV or get it from a Redbox. It didn't matter enough to me to see it in theaters or to make sure I read the book first.
Recently, I joined Instagram. I thought I was going to need it for #busmm, so I decided to get familiar with the platform over winter break. Aside from people I know in real life, some of the first people I followed were YouTube personalities I follow. One of these was Christine Riccio aka PolandBanana20. She had barely been posting on her main channel for the last year or so because she made a second channel, PolandBananaBOOKS, where she put a ton of videos, becoming a staple of the BookTube community. I didn't follow this channel, surprisingly enough. I have mixed feelings about BookTube, but that is a story for another post.
Anyway, a ton of her Instagram posts were about this show, Shadowhunters. She was posting reviews on PolandBananaBOOKS, she was meeting the cast, she was dressing like a Shadowhunter. Simultaneously, I started getting an influx of gifsets from the show on Tumblr, mostly of people shipping the main character, Clary, with Isabelle, one of her friends. A few weeks back, I had a free night and started catching up online just to see why everyone was so excited.
This adaption is less faithful. It mixes up the timeline. For example, Clary's best friend Simon becomes a vampire towards the end of the book. In the show, he becomes a vampire much earlier, around episode 7, about 1/3 of the way through the length of a normal season. It allows him to develop as a character post-vampiring, like his story almost parallels Clary's own. Having a parallel structure always helps with pacing of shows because then you don't watch the same 3 people the entire time. It takes liberties that actually enhance the storyline and relationships.
What I really like is that the show isn't whitewashed like most mainstream media I see. In fact, it uses race to make a statement about power structures. The elite, powerful Shadowhunters are all white, with the exception of Isabelle and Alec, who are half white half Hispanic, but mostly white-passing. The twist? Their parents were reformed traitors. So they're not in as good of graces with the Clave as they thought. The Downworlders are all people of color. Luke, a werewolf, is black. Raphael, a vampire, is Puerto Rican and Jewish. Magnus, a warlock, is Chinese. Meliorn, a fey, is Lebanese.
This is no accident. It's a commentary on the way our society is structured. White people are disproportionately powerful. Oh, those people can't have any say in our society. They have inferior blood. Downworlder blood. Even the fey, who have half downworlder blood and half angel blood (Shadowhunters are half angel half human) are excluded. Systems like this feed into themselves and are cyclical. This is how the rich and powerful get richer more powerful, but the poor and powerless get poorer and are silenced.
Overall, I'm liking this show. I got behind during spring break and caught back up last night. Just be happy this post wasn't me fangirling over #Malec. I will definitely keep watching- and now I want to read the second book before the second season comes out.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Musical Parodies
Recently, Team Starkid announced their new show, Firebringer. I love how they've finally decided to make a woman-centric show, and it looks like Meredith has a huge hand in the creation process, which is great because she's hilarious.
As I watched the video asking for money for the kickstarter to fund this production, the harmonies brought me right back to the first production of theirs that I saw, A Very Potter Musical (AVPM). Hannah, one of my best friends in high school, insisted I watch it, and I was instantly hooked. Soon, I was watching their other shows online and taking the train into Chicago to get in a line to hope to score tickets to a live show and going to C2E2 (it's a comic book convention- something I never thought I'd have any interest in) just to get autographs and attending their concert tour. I have two of their tshirts.
In addition to literature, one of my passions have always been theater. I started going to theater camp when I was four years old. I've been in countless shows, and even took to writing plays, though I never actually produced them. My dad had a little workshop in the basement and I was taught how to use tools from a young age, so when I was old enough in one of my theater troupes to have a shop requirement, I thrived there too. I even student directed my high school's production of RENT. I never cared what I was doing, I just wanted to be a part of the production.
Given my passion for both literature and theater, what could be better than a musical based on a book I love? Now I must contend that AVPM is a parody, not a direct adaption. To be honest, I think it's all the better for it. When it comes to adaptions, I can be a bit of a purist. When Harry Potter moved from page to screen, I was upset about so many missing details. The missing potions task to get to the Sorcerer's Stone. The wrong teacher revealing information about the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbeldor's reaction to Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. The fact that Peeves was cut entirely. The list goes on and on.
The fact that AVPM is a parody allows it some wiggle room. They keep the heart of the story while simultaneously making fun of it. A sorting hat? That's ridiculous! Is there a scarf of sexual preference too? Well, there is in our version.
I don't know if a musical parody would be quite the right adaption idea for many great stories, but I do wonder if it would be for the fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian fiction types of work that tend to be hot right now for Young Adults. These works require the audience to suspend their disbelief. A good parody just points out where you do, and pushes it.
If you're not familiar with AVPM but you like Harry Potter, I suggest you watch it now. You won't regret it.
As I watched the video asking for money for the kickstarter to fund this production, the harmonies brought me right back to the first production of theirs that I saw, A Very Potter Musical (AVPM). Hannah, one of my best friends in high school, insisted I watch it, and I was instantly hooked. Soon, I was watching their other shows online and taking the train into Chicago to get in a line to hope to score tickets to a live show and going to C2E2 (it's a comic book convention- something I never thought I'd have any interest in) just to get autographs and attending their concert tour. I have two of their tshirts.
In addition to literature, one of my passions have always been theater. I started going to theater camp when I was four years old. I've been in countless shows, and even took to writing plays, though I never actually produced them. My dad had a little workshop in the basement and I was taught how to use tools from a young age, so when I was old enough in one of my theater troupes to have a shop requirement, I thrived there too. I even student directed my high school's production of RENT. I never cared what I was doing, I just wanted to be a part of the production.
Given my passion for both literature and theater, what could be better than a musical based on a book I love? Now I must contend that AVPM is a parody, not a direct adaption. To be honest, I think it's all the better for it. When it comes to adaptions, I can be a bit of a purist. When Harry Potter moved from page to screen, I was upset about so many missing details. The missing potions task to get to the Sorcerer's Stone. The wrong teacher revealing information about the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbeldor's reaction to Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. The fact that Peeves was cut entirely. The list goes on and on.
The fact that AVPM is a parody allows it some wiggle room. They keep the heart of the story while simultaneously making fun of it. A sorting hat? That's ridiculous! Is there a scarf of sexual preference too? Well, there is in our version.
I don't know if a musical parody would be quite the right adaption idea for many great stories, but I do wonder if it would be for the fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian fiction types of work that tend to be hot right now for Young Adults. These works require the audience to suspend their disbelief. A good parody just points out where you do, and pushes it.
If you're not familiar with AVPM but you like Harry Potter, I suggest you watch it now. You won't regret it.
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Women of Shakespeare
As you may or may not know, I have a
YouTube channel. I share it with my best friend, Claire, and we post a
video every week. Last summer, Claire and I decided to create the biggest project we had ever done. It was a choose your own adventure video. We created situations and figured out how the Women of Shakespeare would react, giving options. After each question, you find out who would have said the same, and are brought to another situation. The video is below, if you'd like to play.
The women included:
We also each created a character of our own, who were the narrators of this story. Since we were both home for a couple days for Spring Break, we decided to do a Q&A as our characters. We asked our friends to ask us anything, and as a result, it had absolutely nothing to do with Shakespeare or literature. But it sure was fun. You can watch that video here.
The women included:
- Beatrice and Hero from Much Ado About Nothing
- Titania from A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
- Katherine from The Taming of the Shrew
- Celia from As You Like It
- The Princess from Love Labour's Lost
- Ophelia from Hamlet
- Desdemona from Othello
- Lady Macbeth from Macbeth
- Viola and Maria from Twelfth Night
We also each created a character of our own, who were the narrators of this story. Since we were both home for a couple days for Spring Break, we decided to do a Q&A as our characters. We asked our friends to ask us anything, and as a result, it had absolutely nothing to do with Shakespeare or literature. But it sure was fun. You can watch that video here.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
LIW Awards: My Final Votes
The nominees for the LIW Awards went up about a week ago, so I thought I’d you a run down of who was nominated along with my thoughts on the subject. Click here for the nomination videos to get a better idea of who/what I’m talking about.
How cool is it that they made videos? It’s like a real awards show.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated: Holly Truslove as Frankie Price in From Mansfield With Love. She got the nomination, so I will definitely be voting for her.
Other Nominees: Bonnie Simmons as Freddie Kingston in Lovely Little Losers, Laura Eklund Nhaga as Anne Shirley in Project Green Gables, Sophie Giberson as Mary Lennox in The Misselthwaite Archives, and Mandy Harmon as Anne Shirley in Green Gables Fables.
Thoughts: I defy the idea that Freddie was a main character. She was the flatmate with the least screen time, and we didn’t really get to see her development. I think it’s a little early to judge Laura’s Anne, as the show is still relatively new, and while Mandy’s Anne is wonderful, the stand out episodes have been in 2014 and 2016, not 2015. Thus, my second choice is Sophie as Mary, because she was awesome. I heard that a lot of my favorite lines from this show were her improvising.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated: Jeremy Stewart as Henry Tinley in Northbound, who did not get the nomination. I didn’t really come up with any backups.
Nominees: Jake McGregor as Benedick Hobbes in Lovely Little Losers, Caleb Wells as Peter Donaldson in Lovely Little Losers, Tanner Gillman as Gilbert Blythe in Green Gables Fables, Bryce Earhart as Declan Sowers in The Misselthwaite Archives, Wesley Buckeridge as Edmund Bertrum in From Mansfield With Love.
Thoughts: Again, I defy the idea that Declan was a leading role. He was mostly there as the nature guy. Jake won as Benedick last year for Nothing Much To Do, and I feel like his performance in Lovely Little Losers wasn’t nearly as good. While Caleb had his shining moments, his performance largely circled stereotypes and other characters regarded it with biphobia and slutshaming that were never addressed. I know that’s more of a script problem, but it still makes me not want to vote for any character involved in it. Sorry, I’m biased. That leaves it between Edmund and Gilbert.
My Vote: I’ve got to go with Gilbert, for the amazing performance trying to woo Anne and dealing with Ruby’s death (I know that was 2016 but it was SO GOOD). Edmund was an idiot who just kinda went with things.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated: Annie Briggs as Lola Perry in Carmilla, but she didn’t get the nomination. My backups were Jessica Stansfield as Margaret Winter in Lovely Little Losers and Elise Cantu as Cara Graves in Classic Alice, both of which were nominated.
Other nominees: Abigail Snarr as Ruby Gilles in Green Gables Fables, Ella de Vito as Callie Craven in The Misselthwaite Archives, and Harriet Marie as Beatrice Duke in Lovely Little Losers.
Thoughts: I didn’t really pay any attention to Ruby until recently. I feel like Callie was a lead role, not supporting. I forgot that Beatrice was a supporting role, because she won best actress in a lead role last year for the same part in Nothing Much To Do. I would actually put Harriet’s performance above Jessica’s.
My vote: I was ready to vote for Harriet until I saw the Cara clip chosen for the awards. I actually forgot how good Elise’s performance was until watching it. Elise gets my vote.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated: Kaitlyn Alexander as S. LaFontain in Carmilla, but they didn’t get the nomination. One of my backups, Phosido Dintwe as Kitso Harper in Lovely Little Losers did get the nomination, so I’ll be voting for him.
Other Nominees: Steven Christie as George Bates in Call Me Katie, who I’m also totally in love with, Thomas Bjork as Rory Rushworth in From Mansfield With Love, who I would also love to win, Robbie Nichol as Costa McClur in Lovely Little Losers, and Brett Veil as Art Craven in The Misselthwaite Archives.
Best Chemistry on Screen
Nominated: Adam Bowes and Steven Christie as George Gleeson and George Bates in Call Me Katie and they got the nomination. They’re my OTP, so none of the rest of this really matters, does it? But for consistency’s sake…
Other Nominees: Alice Hale and Jeremy Stewart as Catherine Morland and Henry Tinley in Northbound (who I identified as one of my backups), Caleb Wells and Rueben Hudson as Peter Donaldson and Balthazar Jones in Lovely Little Losers, Bryce Earhart and Sophie Gibson as Declan Sowers and Mary Lennox in The Misselthwaite Archives, and Mandy Harmon and Tanner Gillman as Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe in Green Gables Fables.
Thoughts: OK, so I want my vote to win really bad. But It’s pretty much a tie between all of the rest of them for second…
Best Transmedia Experience
Nominated: Green Gables Fables, and it got the nomination, so I’ll be voting for them.
Other Nominees: Northbound, which was one of my backups, Call Me Katie, which I probably should have made a backup because one of the first accounts I followed when I got an Instagram was the George Squared account from this show, despite the having been over for months, Classic Alice, which to be fair did a lot of nontraditional transmedia (diary entries, school paper, etc.) and The Misselthwaite Archives, which also did nontraditional transmedia (emails, college rejection letters, etc.). My second choice is still Northbound, but these all deserve it.
Best Costume and Set Design
Nominated: The Misselthwaite Archives, which got the nomination, and I will be voting for them.
Other Nominees: Green Gables Fables, Carmilla, which was my second choice, The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy, which could have been my second choice if they didn’t have a set dressing sponsor (lootcrate) and a costume sponsor (Modcloth), which I felt gave them an unfair advantage, and Lovely Little Losers.
Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated: The Writing Majors, which did not get the nomination, nor did it get a nomination in any category, which is a shame because it’s wonderful. My second choice was The March Family Letters, which also wasn’t nominated in category. For shame.
Nominees: Call Me Katie, Green Gables Fables, Lovely Little Losers, From Mansfield With Love, and The Misselthwaite Archives.
Thoughts and My Vote: I’m going to be honest, I really struggled with this one. I debated for hours between From Mansfield With Love and The Misselthwaite Archives. Ultimately, I went with From Mansfield With Love because sibling relationships is one of my favorite features of web series, and this show does a good job showing that sibling dynamic between the four Bertram siblings, the two Price siblings, and the two Crawfords. But damn, I also loved that relationship between the Sowers.
Best Script
Nominated: The Misselthwaite Archives, which got the nomination, so I’ll be voting for that. I was disappointed that the clip wasn’t just a bunch of Mary zingers, but it did have the line “I’m going to Beyoncé the hell out of this glade,” so it wasn’t a complete loss.
Other Nominees: Call Me Katie, Green Gables Fables, Lovely Little Losers, and From Mansfield With Love, my second choice.
Best Literary Inspired Webseries
Nominated: From Mansfield With Love, which got the nomination, so I will be voting for it.
Other Nominees: The Misselthwaite Archives, Lovely Little Losers, Green Gables Fables, and Call Me Katie.
Thoughts: My backups were not nominated, but I think you can probably tell that my second choice of these options is The Misselthwaite Archives.
In sum:
The Misselthwaite Archives: Nominated in 10/10 categories
Lovely Little Losers: Nominated in 9/10 categories - with TWO categories dedicating two nominations to them.
Green Gables Fables: Nominated in 9/10 categories
From Mansfield With Love: Nominated in 6/10 categories
Call Me Katie: Nominated in 6/10 categories
Classic Alice: Nominated in 2/10 categories
Northbound: Nominated in 2/10 categories
Carmilla: Nominated in 1/10 categories
The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy: Nominated in 1/10 categories
Project Green Gables: Nominated in 1/10 categories
Three shows have been nominated in all or nearly all categories. Two shows have been nominated in about half. five shows have been nominated for one or two categories. There were over 40 shows eligible, and only ten were nominated into fifty slots.
These are all great shows, and deserve recognition. Here’s to hoping that no one show wins over half the categories again.
How cool is it that they made videos? It’s like a real awards show.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated: Holly Truslove as Frankie Price in From Mansfield With Love. She got the nomination, so I will definitely be voting for her.
Other Nominees: Bonnie Simmons as Freddie Kingston in Lovely Little Losers, Laura Eklund Nhaga as Anne Shirley in Project Green Gables, Sophie Giberson as Mary Lennox in The Misselthwaite Archives, and Mandy Harmon as Anne Shirley in Green Gables Fables.
Thoughts: I defy the idea that Freddie was a main character. She was the flatmate with the least screen time, and we didn’t really get to see her development. I think it’s a little early to judge Laura’s Anne, as the show is still relatively new, and while Mandy’s Anne is wonderful, the stand out episodes have been in 2014 and 2016, not 2015. Thus, my second choice is Sophie as Mary, because she was awesome. I heard that a lot of my favorite lines from this show were her improvising.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated: Jeremy Stewart as Henry Tinley in Northbound, who did not get the nomination. I didn’t really come up with any backups.
Nominees: Jake McGregor as Benedick Hobbes in Lovely Little Losers, Caleb Wells as Peter Donaldson in Lovely Little Losers, Tanner Gillman as Gilbert Blythe in Green Gables Fables, Bryce Earhart as Declan Sowers in The Misselthwaite Archives, Wesley Buckeridge as Edmund Bertrum in From Mansfield With Love.
Thoughts: Again, I defy the idea that Declan was a leading role. He was mostly there as the nature guy. Jake won as Benedick last year for Nothing Much To Do, and I feel like his performance in Lovely Little Losers wasn’t nearly as good. While Caleb had his shining moments, his performance largely circled stereotypes and other characters regarded it with biphobia and slutshaming that were never addressed. I know that’s more of a script problem, but it still makes me not want to vote for any character involved in it. Sorry, I’m biased. That leaves it between Edmund and Gilbert.
My Vote: I’ve got to go with Gilbert, for the amazing performance trying to woo Anne and dealing with Ruby’s death (I know that was 2016 but it was SO GOOD). Edmund was an idiot who just kinda went with things.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated: Annie Briggs as Lola Perry in Carmilla, but she didn’t get the nomination. My backups were Jessica Stansfield as Margaret Winter in Lovely Little Losers and Elise Cantu as Cara Graves in Classic Alice, both of which were nominated.
Other nominees: Abigail Snarr as Ruby Gilles in Green Gables Fables, Ella de Vito as Callie Craven in The Misselthwaite Archives, and Harriet Marie as Beatrice Duke in Lovely Little Losers.
Thoughts: I didn’t really pay any attention to Ruby until recently. I feel like Callie was a lead role, not supporting. I forgot that Beatrice was a supporting role, because she won best actress in a lead role last year for the same part in Nothing Much To Do. I would actually put Harriet’s performance above Jessica’s.
My vote: I was ready to vote for Harriet until I saw the Cara clip chosen for the awards. I actually forgot how good Elise’s performance was until watching it. Elise gets my vote.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated: Kaitlyn Alexander as S. LaFontain in Carmilla, but they didn’t get the nomination. One of my backups, Phosido Dintwe as Kitso Harper in Lovely Little Losers did get the nomination, so I’ll be voting for him.
Other Nominees: Steven Christie as George Bates in Call Me Katie, who I’m also totally in love with, Thomas Bjork as Rory Rushworth in From Mansfield With Love, who I would also love to win, Robbie Nichol as Costa McClur in Lovely Little Losers, and Brett Veil as Art Craven in The Misselthwaite Archives.
Best Chemistry on Screen
Nominated: Adam Bowes and Steven Christie as George Gleeson and George Bates in Call Me Katie and they got the nomination. They’re my OTP, so none of the rest of this really matters, does it? But for consistency’s sake…
Other Nominees: Alice Hale and Jeremy Stewart as Catherine Morland and Henry Tinley in Northbound (who I identified as one of my backups), Caleb Wells and Rueben Hudson as Peter Donaldson and Balthazar Jones in Lovely Little Losers, Bryce Earhart and Sophie Gibson as Declan Sowers and Mary Lennox in The Misselthwaite Archives, and Mandy Harmon and Tanner Gillman as Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe in Green Gables Fables.
Thoughts: OK, so I want my vote to win really bad. But It’s pretty much a tie between all of the rest of them for second…
Best Transmedia Experience
Nominated: Green Gables Fables, and it got the nomination, so I’ll be voting for them.
Other Nominees: Northbound, which was one of my backups, Call Me Katie, which I probably should have made a backup because one of the first accounts I followed when I got an Instagram was the George Squared account from this show, despite the having been over for months, Classic Alice, which to be fair did a lot of nontraditional transmedia (diary entries, school paper, etc.) and The Misselthwaite Archives, which also did nontraditional transmedia (emails, college rejection letters, etc.). My second choice is still Northbound, but these all deserve it.
Best Costume and Set Design
Nominated: The Misselthwaite Archives, which got the nomination, and I will be voting for them.
Other Nominees: Green Gables Fables, Carmilla, which was my second choice, The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy, which could have been my second choice if they didn’t have a set dressing sponsor (lootcrate) and a costume sponsor (Modcloth), which I felt gave them an unfair advantage, and Lovely Little Losers.
Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated: The Writing Majors, which did not get the nomination, nor did it get a nomination in any category, which is a shame because it’s wonderful. My second choice was The March Family Letters, which also wasn’t nominated in category. For shame.
Nominees: Call Me Katie, Green Gables Fables, Lovely Little Losers, From Mansfield With Love, and The Misselthwaite Archives.
Thoughts and My Vote: I’m going to be honest, I really struggled with this one. I debated for hours between From Mansfield With Love and The Misselthwaite Archives. Ultimately, I went with From Mansfield With Love because sibling relationships is one of my favorite features of web series, and this show does a good job showing that sibling dynamic between the four Bertram siblings, the two Price siblings, and the two Crawfords. But damn, I also loved that relationship between the Sowers.
Best Script
Nominated: The Misselthwaite Archives, which got the nomination, so I’ll be voting for that. I was disappointed that the clip wasn’t just a bunch of Mary zingers, but it did have the line “I’m going to Beyoncé the hell out of this glade,” so it wasn’t a complete loss.
Other Nominees: Call Me Katie, Green Gables Fables, Lovely Little Losers, and From Mansfield With Love, my second choice.
Best Literary Inspired Webseries
Nominated: From Mansfield With Love, which got the nomination, so I will be voting for it.
Other Nominees: The Misselthwaite Archives, Lovely Little Losers, Green Gables Fables, and Call Me Katie.
Thoughts: My backups were not nominated, but I think you can probably tell that my second choice of these options is The Misselthwaite Archives.
In sum:
The Misselthwaite Archives: Nominated in 10/10 categories
Lovely Little Losers: Nominated in 9/10 categories - with TWO categories dedicating two nominations to them.
Green Gables Fables: Nominated in 9/10 categories
From Mansfield With Love: Nominated in 6/10 categories
Call Me Katie: Nominated in 6/10 categories
Classic Alice: Nominated in 2/10 categories
Northbound: Nominated in 2/10 categories
Carmilla: Nominated in 1/10 categories
The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy: Nominated in 1/10 categories
Project Green Gables: Nominated in 1/10 categories
Three shows have been nominated in all or nearly all categories. Two shows have been nominated in about half. five shows have been nominated for one or two categories. There were over 40 shows eligible, and only ten were nominated into fifty slots.
These are all great shows, and deserve recognition. Here’s to hoping that no one show wins over half the categories again.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Applying for the Denver Publishing Institute
I did it! I finished my application for the Denver Publishing Institute.
DPI is a graduate certificate program through the University of Denver. It’s for those who are singularly interested in entering publishing, and will cover editing, publicity, marketing, and sales, to give a full understanding of the business. It focuses on textbooks, trade publications, reference books, and children’s books. While I don’t have a particular interest in those areas, this program is unique in that it even focuses on books. The most similar program is at NYU, but it sounds like it focuses on magazine publishing.
I’m kind of worried. I have put so much weight on this opportunity. I heard about if for the first time last summer, and immediately knew I needed to apply. My mom keeps telling me not to put all my eggs in one basket, so I have been applying for publicity and public relations jobs as well, but not nearly as much as I probably should have.
I just don’t know if I’m what they’re looking for. They expect English majors who spent their free time working on publications; the school newspaper or literary magazine. I’m a PR major. Yes, I have an English minor, but it’s not quite the same. I didn’t work on publications. I didn’t want to write for the school paper, and I had a bad experience working on one of my high school’s literary magazines. Long story short, I ended up putting the whole thing together more or less by myself the second year under the instruction of a teacher I didn’t particularly like, and by the time I was done, I no longer wanted anything to do with literary magazines.
I joined National Novel Writing Month club because I want to be a literary agent and thought that I could meet some authors and make connections. When I spoke with the Program Director in August, she informed me that they’re not looking for writers. I worry that, even though I explain that I don’t actually do much writing in the club, I’ve been keeping authors on track, promoting events, editing their work, and running exercises to improve their writing, that they’ll just assume that I’m a writer who wants to get an inside look to the publishing industry. This is not the case.
It’s out of my hands now. Well, except my personal statement. Still editing that.
DPI is a graduate certificate program through the University of Denver. It’s for those who are singularly interested in entering publishing, and will cover editing, publicity, marketing, and sales, to give a full understanding of the business. It focuses on textbooks, trade publications, reference books, and children’s books. While I don’t have a particular interest in those areas, this program is unique in that it even focuses on books. The most similar program is at NYU, but it sounds like it focuses on magazine publishing.
I’m kind of worried. I have put so much weight on this opportunity. I heard about if for the first time last summer, and immediately knew I needed to apply. My mom keeps telling me not to put all my eggs in one basket, so I have been applying for publicity and public relations jobs as well, but not nearly as much as I probably should have.
I just don’t know if I’m what they’re looking for. They expect English majors who spent their free time working on publications; the school newspaper or literary magazine. I’m a PR major. Yes, I have an English minor, but it’s not quite the same. I didn’t work on publications. I didn’t want to write for the school paper, and I had a bad experience working on one of my high school’s literary magazines. Long story short, I ended up putting the whole thing together more or less by myself the second year under the instruction of a teacher I didn’t particularly like, and by the time I was done, I no longer wanted anything to do with literary magazines.
I joined National Novel Writing Month club because I want to be a literary agent and thought that I could meet some authors and make connections. When I spoke with the Program Director in August, she informed me that they’re not looking for writers. I worry that, even though I explain that I don’t actually do much writing in the club, I’ve been keeping authors on track, promoting events, editing their work, and running exercises to improve their writing, that they’ll just assume that I’m a writer who wants to get an inside look to the publishing industry. This is not the case.
It’s out of my hands now. Well, except my personal statement. Still editing that.
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