[towntravis]

James Bond sleeps with a gun under his pillow. I sleep with my iPhone. Ergo, I wake up whenever the sleek device vibrates in my hand to announce a new email. Last night’s email was from one of my Medill friends, providing an update on her post-grad activities and requesting similar information in return. I sent her a paragraph this morning, but it’s likely that others might want to know what I’m doing as well – in more detail than one could glean from between the lines in what I’ve previously posted. So here it is.

I interviewed in December 2008 for a “Gadgets” internship with Wired magazine. The interview, with products editor Mark McClusky and associate editor Joe Brown, went well and I was apparently one of the top choices for the internship; however, I was not hired for it. In addition I have applied for jobs/internships with: Texas Monthly (which I haven’t followed up on in quite a while, since Evan Smith never returns email), Amazon (hoping to work with the Kindle), Facebook, and numerous editing positions with magazines and publishing companies. Results? Nada. (Truthfully, in the footsteps of my grandfather, I was hired as an editor for a vanity press… but the pay/work ratio was atrocious.)

The past few months have been increasingly boring, although admittedly restful. I occasionally work on The Cinder Path, my book about my grandparents. However, after almost 20 rejection letters, my faith that it is worthwhile is difficult to maintain. My mother has an entire bookshelf filled with notebooks, which contain the handwritten evidence of her life’s work – a 10-part saga. It’s really, really good; bestseller quality if I ever saw it. Unfortunately, in order to seek publication, she must have it typed. So I’ve been helping out with that from time to time. Otherwise, my time is spent reading (currently Jean M. Auel’s Earth’s Children series), watching movies, working on my mom’s property, etc. Not the most exciting period of my life.

I have no idea what my next move will be. Aside from all the things I’ve already applied for, I’ve considered returning to school. Maybe a Ph.d. in soc. Maybe med school. Who knows. It’s too late in the year to apply for much in that area. I want to live in Texas, but would settle for Arizona, California, or Washington. I’m too particular about my writing to work for your run-of-the-mill news organization, so unless I’m hired by one of the few magazines I respect, I doubt I’d be happy as a traditional journalist. I like technology, but I don’t have enough certifications to work in most tech jobs. I like editing. I like books. I like blogging and Twitter. I have a B.A. in sociology. So where does that leave me?

If it weren’t for my massive student loans, I’d be content to work on my own projects indefinitely, while pursuing other interests (I want to buy a kayak). However, my wallet grows slimmer every day, yet bills continue to arrive. I’m not overly concerned. Things have always worked out for me in the past and I imagine they will again.

Love always,
Town