Well folks. I’ve done it. I am here. I have officially moved cross-country from Houston to DC. The drive was long but relatively painless, except for the fact that I started feeling under the weather in the last couple days of packing and by the time I reached Virginia I had a full-blown cold. It’s still kicking my ass several days later. My mother and I did the drive together, for which I am very grateful. And I visited the George Washington campus for the first time on Tuesday, with my mom, my dad, and even my stepmother tagging along to follow me around while I gaped at everything lol. I’ve been on a decent number of college campuses by now, but this one is very impressive. And a bit intimidating, as it is right in the middle of DC and just a few blocks away from the White House!
My mother went home yesterday (I feel bad that she had to drive back by herself). And I am currently sitting on campus awaiting orientation. More specifically, I’m sitting in the Flagg building, which was built in the 1890s (I believe?) and houses the Corcoran School of Art and Design. I’m still a little flabbergasted that I’ll be taking courses in this very beautiful old building!
And then classes officially begin next Monday. Unsurprisingly, I am both excited and nervous. Very nervous. People who know me well know that I am an anxious person by nature, so nervous is my default mode. But still. I’ve also chugged like half a bottle of Dayquil (slight exaggeration) to make it through orientation today. Hopefully, I’ll be able to properly rest and recover over the weekend so I’m not a zombie during my first class on Monday.
I’m still very much in a state of confusion right now, with most of my stuff in boxes and an unsettled routine and all that. But once I’ve gotten a handle on the first week or so of the semester and started settling in, I’ll make an effort to get a book review or two written and posted. Lord knows I’ve read enough in the last few weeks. It’s just finding the time to sit down and write about any of it is even more challenging than usual right now.
Hello all! It’s been quite a long time since I touched this site or posting anything new to the blog. I have no illusions that I will be able to start actively updating the blog on a regular basis again, though I keep telling myself I should, and want to. That said, I felt it was time to update a few things and make an effort to at least drop a line from time to time. As such, please indulge me while I share some news of my life.
First, I am about to embark on a new adventure. I have been accepted to the Master’s Program in Museum Studies at George Washington University beginning in Fall 2025. I will be moving from my home in Texas, where I have lived now for nearly 17 years, to Washington, D.C. to attend graduate school full-time. Again. I am both excited and nervous to be returning to grad school and an academic environment nearly 7 years after I left my PhD program and adjunct teaching position to work in the private sector. Ok, terrified. The word is ‘terrified,’ but it’s a good kind of terrified. A “getting out of my comfort zone”/”going on an adventure” kind of terrified. It is my fervent hope that this new degree path will lead to work in the museum field, though where specifically I will end up is anyone’s guess.
Due in part to this new adventure, I have made the difficult decision to start phasing out my freelance editing services, with plans to officially close shop at the end of August. This is not an easy decision, but a necessary one. In addition to returning to school, this decision is influenced by the rise AI and decline meaningful work. While I had some mild success working with self-publishing authors, and certainly enjoyed what I do, in the last year the work has dried up primarily due to the rise of AI options. I am against all forms of generative AI in writing, editing, or artwork, etc, and not only because of the threat to my own work. I firmly believe use of AI is unethical. It is theft of others’ art and intellectual property. And the quality is sub-par anyway. On top of that, it is enormously damaging to the environment.
That said, I can’t control if other writers choose to use AI for their writing or editing needs. It is certainly much cheaper (though you get what you pay for). I and many other freelance editors have seen a drastic drop of available work and a concurrent increase in potential clients who willfully misunderstand what kind of work editors do and what a fair price is for their services. In any case, I’m waving the white flag. I will continue taking on new projects through the end of the summer, with completion dates no later than end of August or early September. After that, I will be closing shop.
My third bit of news is that, in addition to my freelance work and preparing to return to grad school, I also completed revisions of the novel I’ve had in progress for some time, The Supernaturalists. I am now officially querying with agents in hopes of traditional publication. It’s taken me such a long time to get to this point and I am hopeful that I will be able to pursue publication while working on my new degree. (Fingers crossed). I am already hard at work writing the sequel, and I’m about halfway through the first draft. I hope to have a finished draft by the end of the summer, before the Fall semester starts. I also have a couple short stories out on sub with literary magazines and will share news if/when either of them are picked up for publication.
THE SUPERNATURALISTS: In 1920s Cleveland, empath Thomas wants to be left alone with the ghosts of WW1. Former spy Sebastian needs to find the Wall Street bomber. When mobsters & magical terrorists throw them together, they’ll need to find the line between trust and attraction if they want to survive.
Of course, my life has been strange and busy the last couple years and there is much more I could (and may later) talk about both good and bad. But these are the big life developments I wished to share for now. While I know myself well enough to realize I will not be able to keep up any kind of regular blogging schedule, I currently plan to post at least a couple things in the new future. First and foremost, I wanted to share some of the best things I read in 2024 and the first half of 2025. My main goal has always been to talk about books, so I want to do that! From there, we’ll see how things go!
Hello all! If you take a look around, you’ll notice that I have been tinkering with the site a bit! I have a new static landing page, and I have added other pages as well. Don’t worry! The blog is still running and will be easy enough to find under the “Blog” tab. And if you subscribe by email you’ll be sent directly to the new post anyway, without having to navigate anywhere.
However, I’d love it if you folks took a look around when you have a chance. As mentioned in my previous post, I have gone ahead and added an information page specifically for freelance editing, for which I am now open. Even if you yourselves are not in need of such services, I would greatly appreciate if you could share the word with any writer-type friends who might be!
In addition, as you may see in the “Featured” column on the Home page, in the coming days/weeks I will be adding a separate page/tab for my personal writings (not blog posts or book reviews, but poetry, snippets of fiction, and creative nonfiction kinds of things). AND I will be linking to a new little side project shop I am in the process of putting together on Etsy.
In the meantime, you can definitely still expect a full book review post from me this upcoming Friday!
(Also, I’m not entirely happy with the header image still, so that will likely continue to change for awhile.)
Amanda Haimoto Rudd 