Multi-tasking is a talent that most students are forced to acquire during their college careers. Fourth-year College student Jacqueline Culver has certainly mastered this skill.
Culver has successfully managed to double major in Biology and Spanish, hit the courts as a member of the club tennis team and secure a seat in dental school for the fall -- all the while writing and publishing a book entitled "Mrs. Walker's Bubble."
In her own words, Culver describes the novel as being "a lot about how people judge one another."
"Each of the Walkers [the family at the center of the novel] are covered in a bubble, which can represent anything really," she said. "People pass judgments on others for so many different reasons, which you can see here even at U.Va. Behind the fictional story is that message."
"Mrs. Walker's Bubble," available for sale online as of this spring, was published by iUniverse, an independent company. iUniverse is a company for writers who want to have their books published and open to online retailers such as Amazon.com.
For Culver, the process began last spring when she took time out of her already hectic schedule to sit down and write the novel she had been drafting in her mind for some time. She said she came to the decision to write it when she realized, "If I have time for tennis, then I have to time to publish a novel. I think of writing as a stress reliever!"
Culver carries a tape recorder around with her where ever she goes.
"My ideas come in spurts, and I like to keep a tape recorder around to keep track of them because pen and paper are too slow," she said.
Culver said she found it particularly useful to carry the recorder on her car rides back and forth between Charlottesville and her home in Northern Virginia. "Mrs. Walker's Bubble" was particularly easy for her to write down because she knew how the story would end long before she began to write it down.
"In my mind I have so many stories, but with this one I had such a clear cut idea with what I wanted to do with it and the details came so easily to me that I wanted to get it down on paper," she said.
Culver has never taken a fiction writing course at the University because she said she prefers to work without deadlines on her stories and has enjoyed taking her Spanish and Biology courses.
While Culver did enjoy the entire process of getting her book into print, she admits that securing a publishing deal was stressful. After she finished writing, Culver researched how to get the book published, mainly online and through writing magazines. She read up on several companies and also came across a fellow University student who also had published through iUniverse. Culver and her mother acted as the editors of "Mrs. Walker's Bubble," as she went through the publishing process in the fall with the iUniverse.
"The editing process was long and filling out dental [school] applications at the same time as turning in revisions for the novel was difficult," Culver said.
One of the reasons she was able to get through the process was thanks to the help of her mother, who Culver credits as providing her with creativity and the ability to maintain a busy lifestyle.
"I definitely get my creativity from my mom and she has always been someone with a full plate," she said.
Since her novel has been published, Culver has been promoting her book and talking to other publishers. She had a booth at the recent Virginia Festival of the Book and had a chance to meet several editors there. "I just would go up to them, shake hands and introduce myself. Many of them were very receptive," she said. This summer Culver will continue her efforts to network with publishers.
Because Culver was considered a slow reader when she was younger, teachers from the elementary school she attended have asked her to come and speak to schoolchildren about the novel. The teachers hope she can inspire kids with her story as well as communicate the novel's message. Culver said she has also been contacted by Alma Powell, Colin Powell's wife, who showed interest in helping to promote the novel.
This coming fall, Culver will attend dental school at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Dentistry in Richmond, but does not intend to give up creative writing.
"I definitely am going to continue writing in the future, but I am going to have a career in dentistry," she said. "If I made writing my career then I would have to deal with deadlines. Keeping it as a hobby I can keep up the creativity which comes most easily when I am relaxed. Being at school and interacting with people constantly brings ideas into my heads. If I was sitting at home with just my laptop I would have a lot harder time coming up with anything."
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