Author Archives: Brooke

A New Approach

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I’m embarrassed that it has been so long since I have posted on my blog! All I can say is that I have endured a lot of changes in my personal life that kept me away from my passion for longer than I would have anticipated. But I’m back! And excited to be here.

I’ve learned so much over the last few months, but I want to focus on what I’m going to apply to my writing. Time goes so fast, and one thing I have realized is how much I love to laugh. Humor is a key ingredient to life happiness. It is also a key ingredient to many successful books! I was lucky enough to attend both the annual SCBWI winter conference in New York and the Midwest Wild, Wild West conference in Chicago this past spring. One thing I love about conferences is the opportunity to network and re-energize. The positive energy at conferences is contagious; if you have never experienced it, give yourself the gift of a conference! You will be motivated like never before.

I am trying to work from an angle of humor in my stories as often as I can. It is very challenging to revise stories I felt confident in previously; however, once I can do it successfully, often infusing humor in a variety of ways, the story is much richer. I am having fun with new angles and innovative inferences; the sky is the limit! If you haven’t considered humor before, it can deepen your characters and enrich your plots and subplots. Read Troy Cummings Notebook of Doom series. Troy is the master! I love the angle he has used in these books. There is humor on every page. They are worth your time!

Okay, time to write again. Cheers!

 

Happy Fall!

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Wow! Halfway through November already. I can’t believe how quickly time goes. Thanksgiving will be here next week with the craziness of the holidays not far behind. Despite the Indiana dreariness, this is one of my favorite times of the year – and not for the shopping. More so to remind me that I have many things to be grateful for in my life, and at the forefront of that my beautiful, talented 5-year-old ball of fire. He reminds me every day of the important things in life. I love him to the moon and back! 🙂

It’s amazing how quickly things can change, and you just never know what life will throw at you. In the last month I took the risk leaving a position I loved at my university for a new position that holds a lot of potential for me. While I think it will be a good fit, navigating unfamiliar territory is always a challenge. I miss my pharmacy family the most, but new opportunities are on the horizon and I find that to be exciting. Most of all, the potential to write more is at my fingertips, and that makes the losses worth it.

In true fashion of our good Lord, an article showed up in my inbox today that was just what I needed during this emotional roller coaster ride. I encourage you to check this post out.  This very insightful article was a great reminder of why I do what I do each day…because honestly, sometimes I forget.

I haven’t focused much on my writing today, but there are exciting things in the works. My first academic article was published in AJHP last week – you can find it by searching ‘Linn’ on pubmed. I have a second in the peer-review process, and I am in the infancy stages of developing a series that will be targeted at healthcare professionals. In addition, my first novel will be available on Amazon before the end of the year. Exciting stuff…stay tuned for the results! 🙂

Boiler Up!

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I can’t believe how fast the time goes! It is football season again, and I’m gearing up for more book signing events with all the wonderful Purdue stores! Today I will be at Ross-Ade for the first home Boilermaker game this fall. I am signing books at the stadium team store all morning. We’re just getting started, but the place is already hopping! I love the energy around here…Boilermakers dressed in black and gold that are excited for today’s game. If you’re not busy, come by and join the fun! 🙂

What’s New?

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What’s up, writing world?! Life is busy as ever for me. This week I get to present for the first time at a regional conference for a national advising association, so that’s fun. It’s all about integrating career and academic advising. If you work in this realm and haven’t explored that option, message me!! What we are doing at Purdue is pretty awesome, and I’m happy to share the ideas. Boiler up!

As for my writing progress, the BoilerMAKER book has been a giant ball of stress while also being a fun project that I will never regret tackling. What a learning experience! I was ready to poke my eyes out midway through tax season, but I survived. The conferences, book signings, and community outreach events have been fantastic. I know it’s a lot of time, but every time a child’s face lights up when I turn a page, I know it’s worth it. My next event is May first in the afternoon at Barnes & Noble in Lafayette. If you’re bored, come on out!!

So what about my other stuff? Well four of my manuscripts are out on submission, so that’s good news. I have a fifth manuscript that’s a bit of a special project, and that one is about to get really interesting. I can’t say much yet, but I’ll fill in with more details as soon as I can. Right now, I want to focus on looking for new ideas. If there’s something you feel is missing in the market, send the idea my way and I will see what I can do!

Well, it’s off to bed for this busy mama. Cheers!

Academic Writing…who knew?

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Good afternoon! I feel like it has been forever since I’ve been on here. I’m terrible at blogging…my apologies if you visit often! Unfortunately my website was under attack for awhile, but thanks to my tech-savvy sister I am up and running again!! So it’s finally time to get back on track. Today’s topic? Academic writing.

This is not an area I ever thought I would be interested in. However, due to the nature of my ‘desk job’ and the wonderful faculty that I collaborate with, this door opened to me recently. I accepted the invitation (begrudgingly, I admit) to be an author on an article about institutional tracks for pharmacy rotation students and their subsequent post-graduate positions. Part of my position is collecting the post-graduation placement, so naturally the faculty member working on this project came to me for numbers. After learning that I have a background in writing, I was asked to help put the document together. Considering my first love is fiction writing, I wasn’t super excited about the idea, but at the same time it could lead to another publication, so I went for it.

I have to admit…it was fun! I enjoyed the statistical analysis and writing about the results. I guess I am more of an academic than I once thought. 🙂 We found out last week this article has been accepted in a top-tier journal for health-system pharmacists. I can’t wait to see it in print! And the ideas for additional articles are already flowing. I never thought I would say this, but I can’t wait to start on the next project!

This has been a lesson learned for me – writing means writing no matter what genre it is, and when I’m writing I am happy. I spend so much time talking with our students about the importance of networking and making connections – you know just never know what doors might open up. It’s exciting that I now have a personal story to back up my claims during class. I may be well-established in my career, but it is still important to practice what I preach if I want to learn and grow as a professional.

So my advice to you today – if you are afraid to try to write something new and different than you’ve ever written before, take a risk and jump off the ledge! The worst that could happen? It doesn’t work and you abandon the project. But one more tip – don’t try it alone. Collaborate with others you work with who have done it before and will support you through the process. There’s no better way to learn. And if you have that support, chances are you will be successful. But if not…there is still a lesson to be learned.

Go for it…it will be worth it!

What’s Next??

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Wow. Yesterday was an amazing experience. My first book signing! I want to start by thanking everyone that came out to support me. It meant the world to me! My very first customer was a little boy named Jacob from Zionsville. I had a blast talking to him and all the kids that came after – including my cousin’s kids Aidan, Kendal, and Parker. Other visitors included Eric, Matthew, Ben, Lydia, and Alex, who all belong to colleagues of mine. Of course, my little boy Noah and his cousin Colby also came to join in the festivities. Thank you all!! I hope this is the first of many signings for many different books that I write. Which leads me to my topic today…what’s next?

So when I first wrote BoilerMAKER, I didn’t think I would have any interest in doing another school–unless it was Seton Hill where I completed my MFA. But the idea has been thrown out there by several to do something similar for other campuses. With the overarching goal of getting kids excited about the idea of going to college, I am open to the option of creating something for other universities.

So the big question is…what school should be next??? I know what I am thinking, but I want to hear what you have to say. Let’s take a vote! Which institution of higher education will be the most popular and should be the next on the list for a children’s book??? Please post your answers in the comments section. I’ll be anxious to see what you all come up with! I’ll be back… 🙂

Jobs…Careers…Jobs

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The definition of an accomplished career is different for everyone, depending on individual goals. I think I have a unique situation in which I have a career I strive for, but an every day job that is fantastic. A job that I am very happy in, regardless of the fact that it isn’t totally in alignment with the career goals closest to my heart.

So what makes a job different from a career? Why is a job for one person a career for someone else? In my opinion, it depends on what you pinpoint at the very depth of your development as a lifetime career goal. What activity brings you fulfillment beyond any other? What will you continue to work toward even if it isn’t something you can step into immediately after college? What makes you truly happy? And what is it that at the end of your lifetime you will be truly proud that you accomplished? Regardless of your answers to these questions, we all have one thing in common – the goal of no regrets.

Now that can mean a lot of things in the various aspects of our lives. For me, it’s to write and publish books when it comes to a professional career. That dream is slowly but surely coming true. But not without the help of colleagues in my every day job. The connections I have significantly contributed to the solidification of that dream. The support and feedback I have received has been invaluable. Too many people work in jobs they consider mundane and pointless to pay the bills while working to fulfill their real career dreams in their free time. I feel blessed that I am not in that position. I’m excited to go to work every day, even if it is work. And sometimes hard work. But it is worth it because it has lead me to develop wonderful relationships with people I consider irreplaceable.

So for those of you I work with (if you read this), thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your interest in what I am doing outside of my every day job has propelled me forward, and I could never repay you for that support. If I can return the favor using some of the skills I’ve developed in this fabulous job, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Okay…I’ll stop rambling. I’m feeling very humble this evening for a variety of reasons. I saw a quote on a student’s computer last year that has stuck with me – one that I would venture to say I may live my life by these days. I’ll end with that tonight…I hope it gives you something to think about.

“Build your own dream. If you don’t, you will live your life working to build someone else’s.”    -Unknown

I’m an ENFJ…what are you??

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Today I conducted my second MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) workshop with my own colleagues. It was fantastic! The more I learn about this assessment, the more intrigued I become. I find it amazing how accurate the descriptions are, as well as how predictable the answers are to the questions. It’s so much fun to see the recognition on people’s faces when I describe a certain dichotomy and give examples to illustrate the differences. My colleagues were very gracious; I know I’m lucky because we have a great mix in our group. I don’t often see groups that interact as well as we do, and I think that is a blessing.

So of course because I have a personal preference for Intuition (to the extreme), I’ve been thinking about how I can apply this information to my writing. For those of you that don’t know, I went through an intensive certification process to become an MBTI certified practitioner. I think every writer can enhance their characters by defining their personality types. This will help you understand your characters better and predict their responses and actions. So my next project…develop a workshop that applies MBTI to characters. Seton Hill be prepared…I’m submitting this for a residency module in the summer of 2015! 🙂

Time to put my baby boy to sleep. If you have any questions about the MBTI, please email me at brooke@brookelinnbooks.com or respond to this post. Happy writing!