Trying to psych myself up and not out. Same coffeeshop, same mix CD. We’ll see how it goes.
P. S. If you’ve been reading me for a while, it will probably not surprise you that I very strongly recommend the latest in the 33 1/3 series, John Darnielle’s Black Sabbath Master of Reality, whether or not you think you have any interest in Black Sabbath. Here’s Darnielle talking about how his past work influenced the book:
“I worked in the psych biz for most of my adult life until the Mountain Goats took over, and much of my work life was devoted to children and adolescents, and it’s pretty impossible to describe just how heavy an impact that kind of work will have on you if you’ll only let it. The trick is in not getting jaded, in not succumbing to the punching-the-clock aspect of things: staying engaged, staying vulnerable, being able to understand that every kid you work with is his or her own story, all new, not the same story as the similar kid who just left last week. Trying to understand them instead of bringing some pre-configured understanding into how you deal with them. I don’t think you can really sustain that kind of attitude toward the work over an entire lifetime without going crazy, but I tried, and it left marks on me, so I kind of tried to conjure up the spirit of those marks when I was writing.” Via Popmatters.
P.P.S. Why yes, you could apply that quote to being a YA author. And/or librarian.