Hello all, my name is Vanessa, and I am Janice’s new intern at Beetle Press. I will be focusing on her creative work, specifically on editing and pitching her new book, with a working title of The Sun Drifters.
Janice talked a lot about fate. Well I am a strong believer in fate as well. I believe fate brought me to the western part of the state.
I moved to western Mass to live with my partner, Jenn, and transferred from Bridgewater State to Westfield State in the process.
At Bridgewater State, I was aimlessly slugging through an English degree. Did I want to teach? Did I want to edit? I had very little guidance from my advisor at the time and was more or less left to my own devices to sort out the pros and cons of each career choice.
Upon transferring to Westfield State, meeting the phenomenal staff in the English department made me feel instantly at home. Never before had I felt such a community connection within a school, and I was pleasantly thrown for a loop. People knew my name before I met them; professors welcomed me to the department and ensured that if I needed anything to be sure to ask. My advisor did more than arrange my schedule, guiding me in making the best decisions for my future plans in ways that made the most sense in my daily life.
Talk about fate.
But it gets better.
My career goal, which I finally narrowed down, is to edit books for a publishing company, but there really aren’t any publishing companies in this area.
I was referred to Beetle Press mainly because Janice is highly regarded in western Mass as being extremely knowledgeable in all things editing; I was told she could give me a solid foundation of the ins and outs of the multi-faceted editing field.
When I showed up at her house that October morning, and she proposed that I be her motivation to finish the work of fiction she had been working on, my jaw dropped!
All she was saying was exactly what I wanted to hear. This is the epitome of the best internship ever. This is all I could have ever asked for to learn from Janice because this is all I want to do with my English degree.
Did she see me coming? Am I really the carrot on that infamous stick, or is Janice the needed breath of clarity in my ceaseless whirlwind of undirected thoughts? Or is it a bit of both?
Something has brought us together for a reason, and I cannot wait to see just how amazing our results will be.
Welcome to western mass!!!!! Your newsletter is uplifting with much passion behind it…..I wish you much success in your field. We are a local business In westfield mass….czar energy solutions, a hearth shop …..I write blogs on our website as an amateur. .words are powerful…..follow your dreams….vicki
Thank you so much for the welcome and for the well wishes Vicki! I agree that words are very powerful, and what we do with them can make such a difference. I’m glad you blog on your site as well, it’s a great way to connect with people, just like we are now! – Vanessa