Introducing Rebecca Carpenter

Our first press intern!

This fall, we’re excited to have our first intern at the press! Rebecca Carpenter is a senior English major and Professional Writing minor at Oklahoma Baptist University. She plans to use her degree to work in the field of editing or publishing and is also interested in becoming a librarian. Rebecca lives in Shawnee, Oklahoma and recently celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary. While school takes up much of her time, she also enjoys reading, writing, and photography.

As a primarily remote internship, Becca will be learning about a variety of areas related to writing and the wider publishing industry, as well as helping develop our Substack content.

Read on below to learn more about Becca.

Tell us about your hometown, home places, etc.

• As the child of two teachers, our family moved around a lot. My parents are originally from Austin, Texas, but moved to Lexington, Kentucky for my father’s PhD program. I was born there and lived there until I was around 3. My father got a job at OSU as an English professor, so I lived in Oklahoma until I was 5, when we moved to a small town in northern Georgia called Royston. This is the place I lived the longest and where I grew up, so I consider it my hometown. When I was around 15 years old, my father got a new job at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, OK. We moved back to Oklahoma, and this is where I am currently attending school.

What got you interested in publishing?

• I have always followed in my father’s footsteps when it came to academics. He is an English professor, and I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an English major in college. I absolutely love books and anything related to literature, and I decided that I wanted to pursue a career that I would enjoy. The process of creating a book or a collection of poems is fascinating to me, so I am naturally drawn to the publishing industry.

Who are some of your favorite authors/books?

• My all-time favorite books have been the Harry Potter books since I was 12 years old. I reread the 7 book series 13 times and have never stopped loving them. However, as I have grown older there are other books that have become important to me as well. Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors, and right now I have a hyper-fixation on Persuasion, the last book she wrote before she died. Every time I finish it I want to pick it back up again.

What have been some highlights in your college experience?

• One of my favorite moments in my college experience is my study abroad trip to Italy and Turkey. This trip was my first independent trip from my family; I knew almost no one, and I was terrified. However, I met some of my best friends on this trip and saw so many sights that I never thought I would be able to experience. Florence and Venice were my absolute favorite destinations, and I have stories from that trip that I will be telling for the rest of my life.

Tell us about your own writing (genres, styles, etc.).

• I enjoy writing, but as of now I haven’t put a lot of time or effort into working on my own work outside of classes. Most of the writing I have done has been related to my degree, so after I graduate next spring I hope to write more for myself instead of for my professors. That being said, I enjoy writing short stories and news pieces for my school newspaper.

Who are some mentors or models for your work?

• I find it hard to choose a mentor or model for my own writing because I don’t feel like I’ve fully explored the kinds of things that I would like to write. From what I know of my writing and my reading tastes combined, I would say that Flannery O’Connor’s short stories are a huge inspiration for my own writing. She has such an interesting combination of themes in her works, including her Catholicism, Americanism, cynicism of people and the world, and an almost gothic nature to her writing. I also really enjoy Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories and poetry.

Where is your favorite place to eat in Oklahoma?

• My favorite place to eat in Oklahoma would have to be a small fried pie shop that is off a small highway about an hour from my house. I visit family in Texas frequently, so when I’m traveling I always try to stop by my favorite fried pie shop. The chocolate is my favorite.

What do you hope to learn during this internship?

• I hope to learn more about the process of making and publishing a book. Publishing has so many different steps other than just editing, so I don’t feel like I have a full understanding of what happens when a book is written and needs to be released. I am excited to learn more about those areas and how they work.

Is there a particular area of publishing that you hope to focus on in the future?

• I hope to focus on being an editor in my professional career. I find the entire editing process interesting, but helping authors perfect their writing and shaping their stories is what I am aiming for. I took a professional editing class a couple of semesters ago, and it was one of my favorite classes I’ve ever taken. That experience solidified my interest in editing and working with authors on their writing.

Keep an eye out for interviews and other posts from Becca this semester. We’re grateful for this growing partnership with the OBU English Department!