Katie Bachelder

I write this blog post on Friday, April 26, 2019. I usually write my blog posts a month beforehand, so if I don’t finish it quite on time, I don’t have to risk falling behind or publishing my posts late. It doesn’t usually matter, but I think this time it does. With any luck, five weeks from now, I’ll be settled in, content in the beginning of the newest chapter of my life. But five weeks is a rather long time, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, five weeks from now, if all of my hopes and fears have any foundation.

It has been a long, yet eventful, past four years. I try to live by a no-regrets policy, because everything that happens, whether good or bad, has shaped me into the person I am today, and I’m not ashamed of who that person is. So when I say I never intended on going to college, growing up, know that I mean it when I say now that I’m glad I did.

There are so many things that I’ve gotten the chance to learn about during my college career, so many ancient epics and contemporary novels I may not have read otherwise, and so many people I had the honor of meeting and befriending. Having a Creative Writing major made me a better writer, of course, but while being an author is a major part of who I am, it’s not the only part, and the other classes I took let me learn more about who I am beyond a writer.

In addition to going to school, after my first year of college, I got a job in retail. It’s something I’ve dedicated myself to for what will be a full three years come June. I know that a lot of people just find jobs in retail because it’s a good place to earn some money while in school, and it’s not a particularly glorious occupation, but sometimes you get lucky, and find yourself working for and with people you actually enjoy being around.

So here’s the thing. People can make a living writing books. Some especially skilled authors can make more than enough money whilst writing books. Not that long ago, I celebrated having finished the final revision of Dire Fate, but that was really only the final solo revision. You can only make your story so good on your own; at some point, it’s going to help to bring in reinforcements. Shortly after, I sent it to an interested acquaintance to get her comments, and now I have another revision to complete. Hopefully, it’s not the whole thing, but it will need a lot of help to make the adjustments she’s suggesting. And, while people can make a living off of writing books, you can’t really make a living off of revising books. Not your own, at any rate.

That’s where my retail job comes in. What was supposed to be only a summer job quickly became a steady part of my life, and it is even enough to make a living, at least for the next few years while I wait for my books to get published and start gaining traction. Some of my family might find it a little concerning that, having spent four years at college trying to earn this degree, I’m not trying to go find a job where I can earn money with that degree. You may even be thinking the same thing. Well, I see college as investing in my writing career, and I promise you, no matter how wild things get, I’m not going to stop writing. I’m not even sure I would know how to stop writing, at this point.

So I’m excited to see where this goes, both with my writing and with my day job.

Perhaps slightly more terrifying is the fact that I’m finally moving out on my own. Well, I’m moving in with a friend into some nicer apartments, but living with a friend is going to be so much different from living with my family. So whereas my new job has been a prevalent part of my life for the past two and a half years, moving out is going to be a completely new experience. To me, this is where the true test of adulthood comes in, what with bills and other responsibilities.

At the same time, it’s also liberating. I’ll get to chose how my apartment will look. I’ll be able to do things in my own time (assuming it doesn’t get in my roommate’s way, of course). Maybe I’ll even get to see what kind of person I am, without my family’s influence to sway it. It’s like that quote: “What if I fall? / Oh, my darling, what if you fly?”