Interlude

So the Christmas holidays in Oxford are rather dull. Due to an extended argument with the UK Border Agency, I was unable to fly back to the US over the holidays, and therefore spent it here. Damn near everyone was gone, so it was quite boring. People started coming back last week though, so it's improving.

I've just sent off my CV (as in half an hour ago) to Solaris, completely unsolicited, asking for work experience. The entire reason I want to go in to publishing is because I want to work in sci-fi/fantasy, and when I found out there was a sci-fi/fantasy publisher right here in Oxford, I about died. They're small, but I actually view that as a plus. They also publish some authors I've read, some I want to read, and some that are on my shelf waiting to be read, so fingers crossed on this one. It would be quite awesome, but as they haven't said they're actually looking for any help that may lower my chances. We'll see.

I've also just had an email saying that Oxford University Press (OUP) is looking for someone, so I'm going to apply for that. My flatmate just started there this week, and she says so far it's a really great place to work; they give you real, meaningful work, and free lunch. Fingers crossed on that one as well. I have two days off a week this next semester, so theoretically I could handle two placements.

In other news, yesterday I found myself accidentally doing research for my dissertation. And even stranger, once I realized what I was doing, I didn't stop. I'm surprisingly excited about the whole thing. I want to do mine on co-authorship in fiction, so if anyone knows of books or writing teams I should add to my list, please do let me know.

Results from semester 1 are out on the 24th, and I think we're all a bit nervous about that. Classes start back up on the 31st, except for the people doing Children's Publishing, who have their first lecture on the 28th. We've also been warned that due to things like Easter and Prince William's wedding they may need to add additional teaching times to cover what we're going to miss. That's not exactly thrilling, but they're quite good about not wasting our time with useless lectures, so I can't complain too much.