Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing? I recently heard from my fiction professor at SMU, C.W. Smith. After a disappointing Intro to Fiction Writing class with one of those elitist dipwads who think genre fiction is beneath them, I almost didn’t take the intermediate course. It was SMU. I figured all of the writing professors would be like that. But all of my classmates liked my weird stories (to be fair, the teacher liked my writing, he just tried to talk me out of my genre leanings) and many of them were going to take the class, so I gave it a shot. That’s when I met C.W. He was awesome and supportive and didn’t try to kill my love of horror and fantasy. I went on to take the advanced level of the course with him as well. Those were two of my favorite classes and he was one of my favorite teachers. Anyway, his new book Girl Flees Circus is due out on September 1st from the University of New Mexico Press! So, I’m shamelessly promoting it. I can’t wait to read it! Here’s the publisher’s promotional flyer:
I’ll remind everyone about this via social media on release day, just so you don’t forget. Congratulations, C.W.!
Hello, hello! I was at a loss over what to write for today. My usual plea for topic ideas proved unfruitful this time. Then, I realized that I have never shared my journey to writerhood on here. At least I don’t think I have. Feel free to stop reading if you’ve heard this story before.
I’ve always written. Stories, poems, the occasional attempt at a comic strip (but my drawing skills failed me there). I never really wanted to be a professional, though, so I’m a little different from my friends and fellow writers who have wanted to do this forever. My crazy job goal was always a fashion designer, but when I figured out that wasn’t going to happen, I set my sights on more obtainable professions.
Dallas Hall at SMU. This campus is where my plan tumbled down.
I went through most of my time at college (both community and university) waffling between psychology and English. With psychology, I could help kids like myself. After all, all the psychologists I saw walked into the room and presumed to know how I felt. It never seemed right to me. At least I would appear a little more relatable than they did to me. I also kept returning to English because it was easy and I enjoyed it. In fact, by the time I transferred to SMU (I went in as a Junior), the only degrees I had time to finish were psychology and English.
Since I had a semblance of a plan with psychology, I initially decided to go with that major. It was going well. I passed all my classes with fairly high grades (never less than a B). I really got into abnormal psychology, especially the class that focused on disorders in children. I aced my research class paper. But I still kept taking English classes as well.
Try having the debate with yourself. I still secretly prefer APA.
Then, that fateful day came. Dad was walking me to class after a stop at the campus coffee shop and we were talking about majors and what I was planning to do, when he asked the question that shattered my little plan. “How’re you supposed to be a psychologist when you don’t like people?” He was right. I’m not a people person. I don’t like to pry. I’ll offer advice when asked, but beyond that you’re on your own. What kind of psychologist would I be? I could go into research, but I don’t even like that. Thus, I became an English major.
Don’t fall for the hype!
What was I supposed to do with an English major? I had zero desire to teach. So, I took some creative writing courses, found out that I still enjoyed writing, and dipped my toe into the big bad world of writerhood. And that’s how I found myself on a path that would take me to Stonecoast and onto a place where I could live with the voices inside my head without having to worry about people.
How did you decide to pursue the path you’re on? Did you always know you wanted to do it or did it spring itself on you? Tell me your story in the comments or on my social media pages!
Shawna's Blog of Doom 