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!

Interview with Shawn Rosler: The Coarse Grind

This week, we interviewed Shawn Rosler, Bloomsburg University alumnus, about his podcast "The Coarse Grind." Listen to the end for info on a special giveaway.

Find out more about Shawn Rosler and "The Coarse Grind" here:

the coarse grind podcast
youtube
twitter
instagram

Law (Enforcement) Career Expo: Not for English Majors?

Dr. Decker’s English 488 class went to the recent “Law, Legal and Government” Expo to see what job opportunities they had to offer and what experience they could get from this event. The expo was held on the 9th of October in Kehr Union Ballroom, from 11:30 to 1 pm.

While the expo had numerous opportunities, the majority of them were for law enforcement rather than the other titles stated in the name of the event. Several students interviewed about their experiences after the event, including Jose Gamboa, Madeleine Malley and Anna Jaskiewicz all said that it was “not anything like the university advertised.”

One job representative at a booth there outright said “we’re not hiring teachers.” After the students said that they even though they were English majors, they were not focusing on teaching, the representative only repeated their initial statement.

Another student started a great conversation with a representative from another law enforcement table. Unfortunately, when he learned this student’s major, he dismissively said that they weren’t looking to hire English majors.

Despite these negative interactions, the experience was still instructive. The main lesson these students learned was to actively scout out potential employers and inform potential employers about all the skills that English majors have to offer besides being “teachers" (all those critical thinking skills learned in reading analysis are helpful in many legal careers, for example). Hopefully, this experience will help the university as well as its students in holding and attending more successful career expos in the future.

Rosemont College Info Session

Interested in grad school? A representative from Rosemont College is visiting to talk about their program options. Check it out here:

Reserve a Spot on the Husky Career Road Trip!

English majors in all tracks who are juniors and seniors should consider the Husky Career Road Trip sponsored by ProfessionalU to WebFX on Friday, April 12. The Harrisburg-based company is ranked as one of the top "Best Places to Work for Millennials" in the nation. WebFX (http://www.webpagefx.com) is a full-service internet marketing company offering innovative web marketing solutions to mid to large sized companies across the globe.

Megan Berbaum, a 2014 Bloomsburg graduate with a Creative Writing major and Professional Writing minor, has worked at WebFX since 2016. Megan says she really likes working there and encourages upcoming graduates to check out the company because they are hiring content creators. Megan would be happy to answer questions for any current Bloomsburg students about WebFX. Her email is mberbaum@webfx.com.

To find out more information, or to reserve a spot on the trip, follow this link to Handshake:
https://bloomu.joinhandshake.com/events/287377.