#WritersLife: Query Process Update and Slow Bloggers

#WritersLife. Let's talk writing in real life.

I finally started my querying process for my YA Contemporary piece currently titled A Second Chance. I sent it in to three agents: Rachel Brooks of the L. Perkins Agency, Erin Harris of Folio Inc., and Kim Lionetti of Book Ends Literary Agency.

It was completely nerve-wracking when I sent these off on June 26, 2015, but I received much love on Twitter from other writers because let’s face it: the writing community is golden and wonderful and I am so glad I’m in this industry.

American Teenagers are Desensitized and it’s Breaking Us

In March 2013, a young man stood up in my journalism class and politely stopped our instructor from lecturing to inform her, and all of us, that a bomb threat had been made to our campus and that we were all required to leave immediately to safer ground.

I pulled out my phone and sure enough the text message I had ignored said the same thing. I gathered my bags and clung to one of my friends as our professor told us to be safe. My friend and I left the building into a swarm of slow-walking students heading to the dorms. I called my roommate and she and I walked downtown to do some window-shopping.

We later heard that students who had parked in the garage spent more than 3 hours trying to get out. There was a student directing traffic because the police couldn’t get there in time. We all joked that if there really was a bomber, it would have been wise to plant it at the garage because everyone would rather wait on campus for it to blow before leaving their precious cars.

#WritersLife: Paid Internships and Why They are Awesome

#WritersLife. Let's talk writing in real life.

I recently made some changes and moved 600 miles from my alma mater back to my hometown. It was bittersweet, but very much necessary. Within two days of being back, I had an interview and a job offer. Look at me, being all productive! Seriously though, I'm going to talk about paid internships (which this job is) and give a few reasons why more student writers need to look into them.

How I Lost my Connection to Dystopian Novels

How I lost my connection to dystopian novels isn't something that I thought I could pinpoint to a specific time frame or event. However, months after the aftermath of my personal apocalypse, I realize there is probably a reason I clung to dystopian novels so desperately last year and now feel as though I can and want to read other genres.


A dystopia is a world where hope is needed to survive, and I needed hope to survive. Okay, maybe not survive physically like in the wilderness with bears, mountain lions, and geese (those geese omg!), but survive emotionally. Reading Divergent, Delirium, and Legend (not to mention the dozens of others I hoarded) taught me that I needed to keep my hope alive until things got better.

Cover Reveal: Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Photo courtesy here

The cover reveal for Passenger, the latest from Alexandra Bracken, has arrived, and I am so happy!!

I read and reviewed Darkest Minds late last year and adored it! I haven't been able to get a hold of the second book in the series, Never Fade, but I plan on finding it for the summer. This novel has been haunting me on Twitter, and this cover is absolutely stunning.

#WritersLife: Expanding as a Blogger and Reader

#WritersLife highlights my writing career and ambitions (I promise I will find a tagline that sounds good before the next dystopian apocalypse). I've been dabbling in other areas of book reviews, and I want to spend some time on that to better explain why there haven't been as many reviews up on the site as there should be.

#WritersLife: Working as a (Creative) Writer

#WritersLife follows my escapades as a writer (duh). For this installment, I wanted to share some news about one of the businesses I work for, and for you guys to better understand it I needed to share some of my writing career past with y'all. 

Amber's Career Summary in 3, 2, 1!

Working after College

I graduated in May 2014 with my Bachelor's in Creative Writing, and I imagined I would just find some little job while I worked on my latest masterpiece before I was magically picked up and lived my life in a log cabin writing. Needless to say, I still thought life was more similar to Disney than Pixar.

I had some sense knocked into me by my good friend Eric and found some work before I graduated. Over the course of the next year, I would write copy (advertisement) for a sneaker company and a wine decor business, tutor writing to students in community college, start a blog, and intern for a literary agency reading YA/MG manuscripts.

While none of these jobs involved writing fiction, they did require my creativity and willingness to share the love of writing with others. In fact, writing things other than what I love is what has allowed me to appreciate fiction writing that much more. I'm still aiming to be a bestselling YA author, but in the meantime I'm loving the marketing and publishing aspects as well.

Now, to get to the matter at hand...

Wine Decor Business Progress!

I work for a wine decor business called Beth's Wine Designs, which was founded in October 2014. We focus on up-cycling wine bottles and various other types of alcohol bottles (which are donated and not consumed entirely by us) into beautiful art pieces for homes, offices, or celebrations. My work includes writing product descriptions and managing the social media pages. 

I am very excited to announce we just got our first reviews on Etsy and it feels AWESOME!

Aren't these the most stunning reviews you've ever seen?!

We have been on Etsy for months and have made some sales in person, but these were our first official Etsy sales. We had a squeal fest when the reviews came up. 

This is the other part of being a writer that is just as rewarding as seeing your work published. I may not be weaving stories, but my work has allowed my boss to see her work "published" in the sense of it being posted, seen, and adored by her customers. Writing has always been about bringing people together, and marketing is no exception. 

Working as a creative writer doesn't mean you're writing fiction or poetry; sometimes, it means you're working writing jobs in a way that still show off your creativity.