February 20, 2020

It has been a lot of years!

I am sorry that I abandoned my fics, but things became infinitely busy and complicated. Many things have happened since I last updated. I earned my Master's in Library and Information Science, right about the time everything tanked. I couldn't get a library job to save my life, despite having library experience and a shiny degree. I moved back home and began desperately applying for jobs in the field of librarianship. After nearly a year I finally succumbed to the inevitable and took a retail job at a place that will remain nameless. Worked there 4 years too many, while also holding down a part-time job as a library assistant. That helped me get experience, but what I needed was full-time work.

I finally landed an entry-level youth librarian position about 2 hours away from home. Found an apartment, spent beaucoup bucks moving and getting settled, and they decide to screw me over. After barely a month they informed me that it wasn't working out. I knew the system they were using, I knew libraries, I was upfront about the aspects of the job I had little experience in. They hired me anyway and then refused to give me any training or support. The director said that my personality wasn't a long-term fit and then refused to give me any concrete examples from co-workers who seemed happy with me. She lied to unemployment about why I was laid off, claiming that I needed too much direction and that they had given me a written performance review. Two weeks in I was working by myself and doing just fine when one co-worker called in sick and the other had a meeting. And I never received a performance review.

I moved back home again but was not able to land even a part-time library position. I ended up in a series of retail positions that ended one way or another. Where I lived it was hard to get a job that wasn't retail if you didn't have experience. I would have excelled at an office job, but I had never actually held an office job before.

There have been many, many interviews during this 10-year span. I just may have interviewed at least once in every library or system in the states of Oregon and Washington, and even once in California.

But then, while working at Macy's (more retail), I interviewed for a position in a smallish library on the Oregon coast. This was done by telephone and then by Skype because it was February and trying to cross mountains in the middle of winter is not easy. I had interviewed for a different position with them nearly a year previous but hadn't gotten it, of course. But this position was for a Youth Librarian, my dream position! Somehow I pulled it off and they actually liked me. I think that actually working at Macy's helped because the assistant director had worked at a Macy's once upon a time. Needless to say, I got the position!

I had to move again, of course. I have never been happier or busier. It's been almost a year now since I started this job. The days are filled with storytimes, programs, and so much more.

I haven't done much writing in years. I still beta for a few people, but I haven't completed anything of my own in a long time. Mostly I've moved toward working on my art and being too tired and uninspired to write. I may come back to them someday. I even have a few chapters of an Inuyasha fic that I never posted. I want to thank everyone who's stuck with me and those who are just discovering me. I am pleasantly surprised when I get a notification that somebody favorited one of my stories or left me a review. You guys are the best! Life isn't over yet. Who knows what the future may bring. There's always a chance that I will find my long-lost writing muse, probably hiding under a rock.

Until next time!

The Literary Dragon