Interviewing Alumni: Sarah Karasek on "The Little Punk Princess"

This week we interviewed alumnus Sarah Karasek about her upcoming book The Little Punk Princess: A Fairy Tale started as an URSCA project (that's Undergraduate Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity if you don't know), that took off. Take a break from studying for finals this week and give this quick little interview a listen.

The Little Punk Princess: A Fairy Tale synopsis: 

Princess is the heiress to the Presidency of America, but she has a dark secret - a deep love of metal, punk, and ska - all illegal contraband under the new ultra-conservative government.  When her secret stash of music is discovered, she is faced with the harsh decision of fleeing her country or giving up her only pleasure forever.

Unable to stand the prospect of a mind-numbing life full of Top 40 playlists, Princess departs through slums, sewers and swamps in search of a mysterious land beyond The Wall. With the aid of several magical friends and a little bit of luck, she makes her way to a place where music and culture flourish. A carnival village where great bands play 24/7 and Princess is invited backstage. But the culture clash may be more than she expected: her designer clothes get dirty, everyone thinks she’s a poser, and she’s asked to wash dishes like a lowly commoner. But if Princess can find a new way of existing in the world, she might just help change it for the better.

(Amazon.com)

Sarah also graciously expanded a little more via email after the interview Check out what she had to say about the editing process and the how the URSCA project helped her: 

"Because I edit as I write, it took me about two and a half months to write my final draft. One of the most interesting things I learned was that my double-spaced word document was seventy-some pages, but the book-form is over ninety. For some reason I always guessed the page count would be about the same.

"Editing is soothing to me. When I edit, it's mostly making sure all the pieces connect. If I don't already have a chapter title, this is when I come up with one and make sure it fits the theme/s.

"I said on the phone that I couldn't have written the book without the URSCA project, but more exactly, I couldn't have written the book so early in my writing career if I didn't have the previous incentive to hardcore study the genre I was writing. This ties in with my emphasis on writing for an audience. If you're writing horror or romance or whatever else, make sure you've read enough things in that genre that you adore so that writing for yourself is that same as writing for that audience. Pay attention to the publishers and journals that you find really awesome pieces in. If you haven't quite found what you want to read yet, try digging deeper. I found bizarro (a very new movement) from surrealism, mostly spurred on by E.T.A. Hoffman who passed away in 1822.

"Shameless plug: Follow me on Twitter @haunted4always. I don't have an author profile on Goodreads yet, but I'd love to see what you're reading there, so feel free so friend me. I go by my usual name, Sarah Karasek."

Be on the lookout for this book in May!

Tips to Stay Sane During Finals Week

Yeah, finals are coming up next week. We all know what that means. The beginning of the semester feels like it happened eons ago, and you can’t remember how to spell basic words. Instead of feeling stressed out trying to remember facts from your seven different classes, try these helpful tips:

Study Advice:

Stop studying the night before – At some point you need to tell yourself “It’s past 1 in the morning, I’ve crammed all I can into my head”. Space out your studying this week. Sleep is important.

Take breaks – People can generally study between 20 minutes to an hour before they start to “crash” or get distracted, so try to absorb knowledge in 30 chunks and take 10 minutes in between to grab a snack or take a lap around the library.

Use all your senses – The more senses you use when studying, the more likely the information will stick in your head. Try reading them out loud, rewriting them by hand, or even singing them. One thing that helps a lot is re-teaching them. Call your parents or siblings, sit down with your roommate, and “teach” them about what you learned this semester.

Test-Taking Tips:

Clear your head – take a few moments before going to your final to close your eyes and breathe, especially if you’re anxious. You don’t have to purge every thought, just take a second to calm your thoughts down.

Get in there with an “I don’t care attitude” – it sounds counterintuitive, but going into a test without worrying over whether it will make or break your grade in class will help you calm de-stress a little.

Self-Care: 

Sleep – If you ignored my advice about not studying the night before—why? Sleep is important!

Eat something – Eating is also important. You’re not you when you’re hungry (Snickers Logo). Hydrating falls under this one, too.

Clean up – Especially important if you’re traveling to go back home for winter break. Take a five-minute break to make your bed, put away some clothes. Decluttering the space around you can help declutter your thoughts.

After Finals?

This is de-stress time. Take some time to celebrate or commiserate with your friends and/or family about how you did, but don’t obsess over it. Let yourself relax. No matter how you did, you just got done with your finals! Good job.