End of Semester & Start of New Job

A lot has been happening lately! Here’s my update and a promise that these updates will be more frequent.

The first big announcement: I got a new job! I think I posted already about how teaching did not work out. It wasn’t the students or the job itself, but the lack of in-classroom support teachers are given. It was the single most stressful and thankless job I think I’ve ever worked. Whatever teachers make, it is not enough. I have nothing but the utmost respect for teachers and all that they do.

My new job is as a Project Coordinator for a tech install company. I’ve worked as a Project Coordinator before, so I was thrilled when I was offered the job. I’m now in my fifth week of the position, and I’m learning the ropes. Coming back after the holiday weekend means that things are a bit hectic, but the company is a fantastic place to work and I consider myself very fortunate to not only have consistent work, but to also earn a living wage. I’ve been earning enough to start paying off some of the debts I’ve accrued since the school year ended and I took summer off.

The bulk of what I do is coordinate the different facets of a bunch of different jobs for the Project Manager I’m assisting. I set up and update all of his jobs; I communicate with the clients and any contractors; I’m learning how to set the schedule for our techs, and will soon be doing that all on my own; I’m also learning how to do the billing and invoicing for the different clients, and I’m familiarizing myself with the different types of projects we do. It’s been a lot to learn, but I’ve been told I’m already taking a huge load of stress off of the Project Manager’s plate, and that means a lot.

I’m also in the process of finishing up my final semester of grad school! I finished my these over the weekend and now just need to read through it for any minor edits and proofreading, and then it’ll be ready to submit by next week. That will be one class done with only one class remaining until I can say that I am finished with my second masters degree!

I have no plans to start another graduate degree any time soon. I never say never, because knowing me, I’ll find a new program that interests me and I’ll try and get into it, but as of right now, I have no plans. I am very excited to no longer have assignments to work on, especially since I’m trying to finish up the rough draft of my sequel novel on top of now starting a brand new series.

Yes, that’s right — I am in the process of starting a brand new series. This one will be exclusively on Kindle Vella and isn’t going to take place in my fantasy world, so the two series are not connected. But this series is going to be of short novels/novellas were I retell different myths from Ancient Greece and overlay them into a Regency setting. Think Bridgerton meets Troy, and you’ll have a good idea of what I will be writing. This series is especially exciting to me because there are so many amazing myths I can use, so the series could go on for a long time.

My plan is to publish two novellas/short novels in this series every year. Kindle Vella is a booming platform for independent authors right now, and there is the chance to make a good amount of money if I keep my postings consistent and keep the marketing going. So that’s why I’m talking about it now. My hope is to publish the first episode of the first book in April of 2024. We will see if I meet that deadline.

So, I am a soon-to-be graduate with a full time job working on more than one writing project. I am so excited to see where all of these things take me in the coming year.

I also have a lot to say about the most recent event I participated in. It was a local sci-fi/fantasy convention, but I’ll save those details for another day.

I hope you had a great holiday!