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MBryn

Reader and Writer Extraordinaire
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Hello, all.


For those of you who still check this page, I am very much alive, just not very active on most of the social media pages that I once called home. I update pretty sporadically, but I'm considering getting back into social media in a more casual sense. Thus, my newest update here.


I mentioned in my last journal entry that I was getting a website for my editing services up and running. Well, that website now exists!


If you go to www.brynschutedits.com, you'll be able to read about my mission statement, my goals for editing writing, and my rates. Eventually there will be a few more sections (such as a blog, and an announcements section where I'll post info about giveaways and special rates).


If you or someone you know is looking for an editor for their writing, there's a contact form on the website where you/they have a chance to tell me a little about your needs and your project.


I have experience with the following genres, though these aren't the only ones I work in or with: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Memoir, LGBTQIA+ Fiction, Literary Fiction, and Paranormal Romance.


If you have any questions, or if you want to talk about your project and my rates, please drop me a line on my website!


Thanks for reading.

-Bryn

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It's been nearly three years since my last update. So, what's changed for me?


Let's go back to 2018. I started work at a college writing center and was reasonably happy there for a couple of years. In December 2018, my dad (who some of you might remember as the source of a number of my issues while I was younger), died. I was able to see him before he did, and though he was unconscious, I got to tell him all the things I'd been bottling up for over a decade. It was cathartic, and it's the best I could have hoped for under the circumstances.


In 2019, I was still working at the community college writing center. I was overworked, but it was important stuff.


In February 2020, I turned 33. In March 2020, COVID-19 forced my campus to move to remote operations. From March to June, I tutored from home via email and video conferencing.


In May of 2020, my partner, Tom, got a job offer for a company in Virginia. It was too good to pass up, so I quit my job and we resolved to make it work. Despite the pandemic making things difficult, he and I packed up our stuff and our cats in June and drove across country. For the record, neither of us had been to Virginia, and we had to rely on the Internet to find us housing since we couldn't fly in the pandemic. We got here, got the keys, and then I had to fly back to CA to finish up the last of the packing and the cleaning of our California place. In July, I made my second drive across country, which was mostly uneventful save for the tire I popped in Wyoming and a couple of stops where I was berated for wearing a mask like "one of those goddamn sheep."


The Virginia house is...odd. It's a rental, but it clearly hasn't been maintained well. I have a list of about 25 things that have been fixed or need to be fixed in just the 6 months we've been here. In conversations with friends and family, I've taken to calling it, "This F*cking House." Amongst other things, we dealt with a mold removal and repair that took five months despite the fact the mold was removed in month two.


I've been working with a female and femme-led Star Wars fansite called Project Stardust since about August. I haven't written much for them yet, but I have four articles in progress that will hopefully develop over the next month or so.


Since the pandemic is still very much an ongoing thing, Tom has been working from home. I was leery of getting a public-facing job while everything felt unsafe, so I finally took the plunge and decided to pursue editing as full-time work. My website isn't live yet, but I hope to have it up next week. I'll post it here when it's ready.


All of my family in California caught COVID. Thankfully, all of them have (knock on wood) survived so far. My mom was hit the hardest and is still in recovery, but my two siblings and their families have returned to normal. Considering how devastating this can be and has been for others, I'm grateful they're all right.


Next month I'll be 34. Let's hope it's a good year.


-Bryn

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Short answer: a total lack of creative output.

Longer answer: okay, a total lack of creative output is a bit of a stretch, but not by much. These days I'm not posting much writing, which is pretty unfortunate. Grad school kind of burnt a lot out of me, and even three years out I'm struggling to get back to the place where I love writing.

In the meantime, I've published a total of two short stories. The first is "Threshold" and was in The Apocrypha Files: From the Ashes, Rise, which is a post-apocalyptic anthology that you can buy on Amazon. The second is called "Exchange" and will soon be available in the second volume of The Apocrypha Files: A Fitting End; that one is full of remixed fairy tales, and is available for preorder at www.ensopub.com.

I've also been trying to get my novel, Visioner, picked up by a literary agent. So far four have said no, and I'm currently waiting on responses from two others. And I've got a long list to get through if those two say no. It's a slow, demoralizing process, but I'm trying to slog through it.

I'm working as a substitute teacher and trying to get a full-time, regular job elsewhere so as to have a little more financial security. So lots of job applications that aren't resulting in callbacks just yet.

I'm a lurker on Tumblr these days (username is problemseeker) and I've got an AO3 account (also ProblemSeeker) where I've been posting fic of the Elsewhere University webcomic. I've also got a twitter (MBrynSchut) where I tweet sporadically.

This sounds like a lot of downer news, but I'm mostly doing all right aside from my usual mental health struggles. I don't even know if anyone is still following me here; I just thought it might be a good idea to update in case anyone wondered if I fell off the face of the Earth. Nope! I'm still here, doing grown-up things and trying to stay sane!

In any case, I hope you guys are doing well. Feel free to track me down on any of the platforms above and say hi; I check those a little more frequently than I check this.

-Bryn

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Hi, all, things have been busy lately, and I'm excited to show you one of the reasons why!

I'm one of a handful of writers who gets to contribute to the first installment of The Apocrypha Files, an anthology of fiction stories. There's more information about the project as a whole below and at the Kickstarter page, but suffice to say that I'm excited and honored to be one of the writers.

If you've enjoyed my writing here, I would really appreciate it if you'd contribute to the Kickstarter, or share it across your social media accounts.

We've set a pretty modest goal for ourselves, we have some awesome rewards set up, and we're offering both ebook and hardcover editions of the anthology. All we need is your help!

Check out the info below, and help us reach our goal!

-Bryn

www.kickstarter.com/projects/c…



The year is 2165.  

Our world has been devastated by nuclear war, profound climate change, rampant disease, accidentally manufactured plague, and authoritarian regimes. 

Every Supreme Country has their version of what happened; each claiming victory and dominion over the ashes.  

Before the Blast, delusion guided civilization. They pursued art, engineering, and war without thought of consequence. They believed themselves gods with the power to usher in utopia everlasting.  

Today our lives are dictated by tyrants and the death throes of a crumbling world.  

Enclaves of civilization wrap themselves in dense labyrinths of rules desperate to reclaim utopia from the wasteland. Deviation is not tolerated. Justice is indiscriminate and brutal.  

These are stories the leaders don’t want you to know.  

These are stories that challenge the rules.  

These are stories about the people.  

These are stories of life.  

These are the Apocrypha.

From the Ashes, Rise is the first installment in the annual fiction anthology The Apocrypha Files. The mission of the anthology is to explore genre fiction from a subaltern perspective, prod the edges of fantasy, and give voice to the stories that go untold.  

From the Ashes, Rise kicks off the anthology by exploring the popular genre of post-apocalypse fiction. Our goal is to challenge our authors to break free of their perceptions of the genre and venture boldly into terra incognita.  

Strap on your gas mask and pick up your pack and dive into realms of the apocalypse you’ve never been before.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/c…


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Hi, folks, long time no chat.

Let's do a quick rundown of what's happened since my last journal, shall we?

Short answer: SO MUCH.

Longer answer:

1) My novel Visioner is still being considered by a publisher, but I haven't heard anything since April. I'm going to be emailing them soon to see what's going on. I need to figure out if I'm going to be writing more query letters and trying to send it elsewhere, or if they're picking it up.

2) I have been unemployed since February. I put in lots of applications which didn't even get me interviews. I finally got desperate enough to apply to substitute teach, and now I have an Emergency Credential and am waiting for my application to be processed so I can start work. There has been a lot of stress leading up to this point.

3) Tom and I moved to Sacramento County. The house is great and we love it, but the surrounding town is possibly the most boring place on the planet. Lots of beige and lots of Republicans. But I do have my own office, which is fantastic. I love having my own workspace again.

4) I sent out a short story to a literary mag and got a nice rejection. I'll be doing another submission before the end of the month.

5) I have a rough writing schedule! I have actually made time to go into my office and work, and it's been resulting in a lot of good writing. I'm trying to knuckle down even more, though. Room for improvement!

But here's the biggest news of the batch: I AM WORKING AS A WRITER!

Since I've been unemployed, money has been tight. Tom ensures I don't starve or end up homeless, but the monthly bills like car payments and such have been awful. I started looking for ways to make money quick, and I ended up creating a profile on a freelance site and applying for writing jobs. A few never responded, but one of the jobs I applied for was writing product descriptions for a novelty mug shop. I got an overwhelmingly positive response from the owner, and he asked if I would be interested in doing a lot of work for him. I said I very much would be.

So now I'm working as a copywriter for www.mugdom.com.

I've written descriptions for four mugs so far (the Self Stirring Mug, the Doctor Who Mug, the Wide Awake Mug, and the Prescription Mug) and there's supposed to be more work coming my way soon. Since I don't have previous copywriting experience, I'm still fine-tuning my work, but I'm enjoying the challenge and the creativity that comes with the job.

Thanks to the copywriting job, I'm actually a working writer and using my M.A. in English!

So my presence here is going to be sporadic as usual, but please know that it's for good reasons this time.

Go check out Mugdom! There are lots of cool mugs and t shirts, and if you buy something you'll be supporting the business that's employing me (which is something I pretty selfishly support).

That's it for now! I'll keep you guys posted!
-Bryn 


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