A Little Bit About Me
Hello! My name is Gabriela! I am 22 years old and live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
I graduated from Stony Brook University in 2023 with a Bachelor’s in Linguistics. I have always been fascinated with how language is used, and that came from an early love for reading. As a kid, I was amazed at how an author could craft entire worlds with their words, and how those words could evoke such strong emotions. I wanted to learn more about how our words shaped society, and be able to use that knowledge to continue storytelling eventually.
I have always known that I wanted to go into a career in books. For a while, however, I didn’t know if that meant in the publishing industry or as a librarian. It took me a long time to figure out which was the right one for me, but I realized I wanted to be part of the process of getting the books on the shelves. Through this internship at Alpha Book Publishing, I can start this journey. I want to learn all I can about the industry so I am ready to find a career in the field.
As a reader and a writer, my favorite genres are Contemporary and Literary Fiction. I am drawn more to characters rather than worldbuilding, however, I don’t stray away from popular fantasy novels. I am a big advocate for diversity in stories, so I try to read books with LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color. As someone who is in both of those identities, I strive to be able to incorporate all kinds of characters rather than the ones who are always represented.
In terms of career goals, I am the most interested in editing. Due to my linguistics background, I have gotten more interested in the literal words on the page and making sure they are the best they can be. Editing is also the part I like the most because it means getting to see the first draft where I get to see the author’s original state of the story. Through editing, I can see the process from the start to the end.
Although I have not gotten any professional publications for my writing, I had two pieces (a short story and a personal narrative essay) published in my high school’s literary journal in my sophomore and junior years. Looking back on those pieces, however, I’ve realized my writing has come a long way since then. Back then I was still trying to find my voice and writing style, or even what exactly I wanted to be writing. But I always knew I wanted to be writing, so I took the only creative writing class at my high school three years in a row because I loved it so much. I was able to take even more writing classes in college.
I hope in the future I can finally have the courage to put some of my work out for publication, and with this internship, I can take that leap of faith.
Comentários