I love storytelling in all mediums, though books hold the most special place in my heart. Something I've realized about myself is that while I love few things, I love them deeply. My love of reading books grew into a love of writing them, and an interest in the publishing industry as well.
I had this idea for years that I would get some kind of job when my youngest child started school and I suddenly had more free time every day. Of course, my daughter started kindergarten in August 2020; I was doing online school for 3 kids, and slowly losing my mind. Getting a job got shunted down my priority list.
When school started again this fall, I decided to give more serious thought to the whole job thing. I decided not to get a job unless I would truly enjoy doing it, which is a privileged position to be in. I thought about what kinds of things I liked to do, and what I was already good at (because no one is going to hire someone for something they aren't good at when they haven't had a proper job in 10+ years, no matter how cool their master's degree is). I really wanted a job in publishing, but so much of publishing is based out of New York City or other large cities--none of it is based out of Wyoming, that's for sure! So it would have to be something I could do remotely.
To make a long story short... (not one of my strengths, as my writing group will tell you) I am now working as an administrative assistant for Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency. It is pretty much the perfect job for me. My deep abiding love of spreadsheets and databases is married to my love of books and how they get made. I get to work in my pajamas, at my kitchen table, while my kids are in school. My boss is kind and considerate, on top of being a rockstar agent with amazing clients.
I am really grateful that I've landed where I have.
