I am a 2013 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and am pleased to say that my life since then has been a whirlwind of exciting experiences.  In the two years since leaving Bloomington, I have spent time employed at three different nonprofits (Camp Courageous of Iowa, the Human Rights Campaign, and most recently Year Up Bay Area), lived in three different regions of the United States (Iowa, Maryland/DC, and California), and performed spoken word and music at slams and cabarets.  IWU was one of the best times of my life, but I’m thrilled to say it wasn’t the best time of my life.  My phenomenal college experience set me up to live a thrilling and fulfilling life after graduation, and it only gets better.

A childhood dream of mine is about to be realized, something that would not have happened without IWU.  On July 15th, my debut fiction novella, Edenfall, was released by Ceti Publishing, a house begun by another IWU alum, Chris Francis ’13.  In addition to IWU being the place that brought us together, this work of fiction itself is indebted to IWU.  The initial drafts of the story were written for an upper level fiction class I took with Brandi Reissenweber in the spring semester just before I graduated.  The class was themed around “Write What You Don’t Know” and Edenfall was my final project.  After receiving my final grade, she encouraged me to push the work further than just the classroom.  Now, I have a publication date.

If you would like to read the first chapter (it’s a novella, so the first chapter is only 2 pages), it is available for preview and to order at http://www.cetipublishing.com/edenfall.

J. Y. Strain