Meet Our New Editorial Intern, Jordan!

We feel super lucky here at NaNo HQ to be able to work with some excellent interns! Today, meet our newest Editorial Intern, Jordan Leigh. You’ll be getting to know him better throughout Camp, but today he’s here to tell you a little about himself:

In the third grade I wrote and illustrated the dramatic tale of a little child who wanted a horse because I was a little child who wanted a horse. Several adults applauded this apparently unparalleled ingenuity and told me that I should be a writer. I just wanted a horse.  

In the fifth grade I wrote and illustrated the story of a little mermaid because I really loved to swim. The adults heaped praise on my derivative originality and told me that I should be a writer. I really just wanted to be a fish.

In the tenth grade I wrote about being stranded on a deserted island because every child knows instinctively that this would be the pinnacle of grand adventure. My teacher expressed amazement at my description of eating a coconut, which I had never eaten before, and told me that I should be a writer.  I really just wanted an island. And a coconut.

The truth was, I had a dark secret: I knew that I could never be a writer.  No matter what anyone said, what they didn’t know was that I found the writing process to be painstakingly difficult.  So I decided to be an animator.  I scarpered off to animation school just as the industry pulled the rug of hand-drawn animation out from under me and married itself indefinitely to 3D modeling.  Also it was a for-profit school that broke its promises, so I annulled my vows and absconded to L.A.  But that is another adventure.

One fateful day as I was muddling through a tricky bit of computer code and found myself rather relishing the interminable ordeal, a little incandescent lightbulb appeared over my head and miraculously illuminated itself.  In that moment I knew that I was, had been, and would always be cursed to reside in the inescapable glow of a writer’s halo.  But a writer, nonetheless.  Because things being easy aren’t always the same as things being agreeable or intended.

Although I’ve yet to acquire my gills, I grew up to be a gender-centaur, sometimes called a unicorn, who keeps company with small tigers and draws comics.  I am also widely regarded as the best story-slinger this side of the living room couch by anyone who listens to me, and occasionally don that brassy badge as the acting Editorial Intern for this here town of WriMo.  So let’s get writing!