I love it anyway.
Markus Zusak on being a writer
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Monthly Archives: June 2013
Life of a Recruiter
Random 5 Friday is a weekly meme over at A Rural Journal.
Today I want to tell you five random facts about my job as an admission counselor, as several people have asked about this.
1) There is no Admission Counseling major. In my office, we’ve had recruiters with degrees in communications, psychology, history, journalism, physical education, kinesiology, and business. What we’ve all had in common though is great communication skills and a deep love for Northwestern College (soon to be University of Northwestern — St. Paul this coming July!).
2) We go where the teenagers are: high schools, college fairs, church youth groups, youth events, and music festivals. When we’re there, our job is to collect names and make people love Northwestern. My goal is always to have people walk away from my table or booth or tent thinking, Those people were awesome.
3) Admission counselors wear a lot of hats! At various times, I work as a salesperson, class advisor, friend, guidance counselor, public speaker, scholarship advisor, and shoulder to cry on. (Yes, I’ve had a lot of people cry in my office– kids and parents!)
4) Recruiters are always on. It’s not a 40-hour-per-week kind of job. Any time I meet a quality teenager, my mind is already thinking, I wonder if he/she has made college plans… I end up answering college-related questions at home, church, coffee shops, any random place.
5) I love working for a small school that I truly believe in (my own alma mater!) because of all the incredible relationships I’ve developed through this job. Some of my past recruits are now my closest friends. (Did you know I was my roommate Desiree’s admission counselor back in 2003-04? I didn’t know then that I was recruiting a future best friend!)
I’ve written elsewhere about “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of recruitment, but the most beautiful thing about this role has been all the friendships. I feel really blessed!
P.S. If you know of an amazing teenager who is looking for a top-tier Christian education, send them my way or direct them to Northwestern’s website.
Prior to July 1, 2013: http://www.nwc.edu
After July 1, 2013: http://www.unwsp.edu
On the writing front …
I thought I’d give you all a little update on what I’ve been up to, creativity-wise.
I just attended a children’s and YA writing conference. It was held right here in Minneapolis, so I thought I’d take advantage of its being local, and I’m so glad I did. The keynote speakers (husband-and-wife team David Small and Sarah Stewart spoke on Saturday, and Donna Bray of Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins spoke on Sunday) were all absolutely incredible. I also attended four classes, including one on Sex and YA Literature, which I think I’m going to blog about soon.
I have a draft of my novel that is ready for line edits. I will be working with Ben again, the same editor I’ve been working with since last Christmas. At the time, I blogged about how risky it was for me to purchase that mentorship, but I am so glad to report that it was MORE than worth it!
I am in the middle of writing a short story. It’s about four teenaged wards of the state living in hospice care. Morbid much? But I feel very invested in these thirteen pages, very passionate about these four friends who have no one but each other as their time is running out. My writing group is helping me with the next draft, and I’m hoping to enter it into a contest before the month is over.
I started another new short story just this week. This one is about two half-sisters, Fightest and Lou, and, in the words of Judy Hougen, I’m writing till I know.
I am trying my hand at short works of poetry and flash fiction. It’s helping me to keep limber while I wait to dive back into novel work.
I have put hours upon hours of research into creating a list of agents to query. My list is about 80 deep. I am so hoping that someone in that group will take an interest in my manuscript– but who knows? No matter what, I will not stop writing.
I have been researching hooks and re-drafting my query letter like crazy. The query letter is proving to be more difficult than writing the novel itself– and far less enjoyable. The “hook” is a short sentence that is intended to pique the interest of the reader; it’s usually the tagline on the front of the novel. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anything more difficult to write.
Plus blogging, always blogging …
My word isn’t law … but it should be.
Someone recently asked me what order she should read The Chronicles of Narnia in. C.S. Lewis didn’t originally plan for Narnia to be a series, and the order in which the books were written differs from the order in which they were published, and both of them differ from the chronological order of the story of Narnia. So, which order is correct?
I argue for an entirely different order than any of the three. As someone who reads a little Narnia almost every single day, I feel qualified to make a recommendation (ha!). For maximum enjoyment of the series, here is my suggested sequence.
Agree? Disagree? Need me to lay out my argument? 🙂
What is Wrong with Me?
from Kissing Doorknobs by Terri Spencer Hesser
Before I was diagnosed with OCD, all I knew was that I felt wrong all the time.
We Need to Talk by Taylor Griggs
Most controversial/edgiest submission to date in Crux Literary Journal’s short history!
He hadn’t seen her naked in a year and three days; he had kept careful count in his misery, in his loneliness, in his anger and rage and horror and careful, calculated, intricate sadness that had nicked his heart moment by moment like a metronome with a blade. She had left—she had said all those things, and then she had left …
But she was here now. Did it matter, everything else? There was a part of him screaming that he needed to sit down and talk through things, to sort everything neatly into the appropriate categories, to hear the words “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you,” even though he wasn’t sure which phrase really belonged to which of them—maybe each to both.
But he couldn’t think, could hardly breathe. Didn’t want to think. Just wanted to be with her, touching her, letting their skin press together, letting their…
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Books Featuring Travel
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme over at The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is
TOP TEN BOOKS FEATURING TRAVEL.
10. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness | Does “escaping” count as travel? Todd and Viola are fleeing an army from Prentisstown on their way to the safety (they hope!) of Haven.
9. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis | Especially Voyage of the Dawn Treader (destination: the end of the world)!
8. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green | Amsterdam, baby!
7. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi | Aria and Perry making the hazardous journey through “the Death Shop,” the unprotected world outside her biosphere!
6. East of Eden by John Steinbeck | From Connecticut to the Salinas Valley, though the journey is not the main feature of this story, as it is in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.
5. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta | Finn has been trapped outside of Lumatere for 10 years, but there are rumors that the Lumeteran king is still alive, so he and the young novice Evanjalin begin a crazy journey back. So good.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling | The only book of the series that doesn’t take place primarily at Hogwarts, this book was at first frustrating to me but has grown to become my favorite of the lot!
3. The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle | Our magician-cook-and-unicorn trio makes its way toward King Haggard’s country … and toward the Red Bull.
2. Perelandra by C.S. Lewis | Dr. Ransom travels to Venus! Fascinating novel that will make your brain hurt.
1. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger | Reuben, his sister Swede, and their dad set off across Minnesota and North Dakota to find Davy, their outlaw brother/son!
These words make me want to read a book.
How about you?
Preparing for ERP Therapy
Lately, I’ve been talking to some brave, amazing people who are planning to tackle cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), specifically exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP). I know it’s the right next step, they tell me. Any advice?
Glad you asked. Here are my suggestions as you prepare for ERP.
1. Read and research! Don’t go into this (incredible but difficult) therapy with your eyes closed. I believe that the more you know about what ERP entails and what will be expected of you, the better. In fact, I have a friend who had done enough research on it that he realized only one or two sessions in that he knew more about ERP than the therapist did– instead of wasting time, my friend was able to stop meeting with that therapist and find an expert in ERP.
2. Have an open heart. ERP is not the same as talk therapy. You will be given homework and made to go through exposures that are intended to spike your anxiety. Before I started ERP, my psychiatrist gave me this advice: “Think of a mother, Jackie. A mother would do anything to help her child. You must be willing to do anything to help yourself.” By its very nature, you will be expected to do things that you do not want to do (AT ALL). Do them anyway.
3. Surround yourself with the RIGHT support system. What you need are cheerleaders, people who will be your biggest fans and encouragers. What you absolutely do NOT need are enablers– because they will only be hindering the ERP process. Educate your closest friends about what ERP entails and ask them upfront to not baby you or enable your OCD. When they offer you reassurance or do anything to enable your obsessions and compulsions, they are siding with your disorder against you, instead of with you against your disorder. This is going to be hard for both sides. Tough love is not fun … but it is good.
4. If you’re the kind of person who prays, pray hard.
For those of you who have experienced ERP, what advice would you add?
Young at Heart
Did you know that 55% of the people purchasing YA books are 18 and older?
I did. I’m one of them. 🙂
Know what else? I think I enjoy The Chronicles of Narnia more and more with each year I add to my age.
I write YA primarily for teenagers, but I hope to write in such a way that my stories will appeal to adults too.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!
JACKIE LEA SOMMERS 