Thanks so much for hosting me, Lauren! My triple-parked
bookshelves like your blog name J.
Today I thought I’d talk a little about my day job. I
have to admit, I have a kinda cool one. Okay, most people would probably hate it,
but I happen to like it. By day, I’m a molecular anthropologist, which for me
basically means I study dead people’s DNA. It’s a great way to start a
conversation at a party, so long as the other person isn’t too squeamish, hehe!
I’ve talked a little about this before (http://meradethhouston.blogspot.com/2012/02/day-job.html)
if you want to stop by for some of the nitty-gritty details.
The long and short of what I do is try to get DNA out of
old teeth and bones from samples taken from archaeological sites around the
world. The goal is to use this DNA to piece together information about the
population they came from, who the person was related to, and all kinds of
other nifty facts. It’s pretty fun, though also quite possibly the most tedious
job of all time. Granted, I like tedious, so that all works out! The other part
of my job is teaching at a university—also a very fun job. Well, if you count
attempting to entertain 200 undergraduates about the basics of evolutionary
theory fun…thankfully I do J.
Most of my days are spent attempting to get my lab set up
at my new university, perfecting my inability to smell bleach (for
decontaminating stuff of foreign DNA), and putting together teaching plans.
Also, I try to fit in some writing in there somewhere. There are plenty of
things that writing and The Day Job have in common, the first of which is
research. Both leave me spending lots of times reading obscure articles and
getting friendly with Google. Another is pulling together lots of little pieces
to make a bigger whole. Whether it’s figuring out what happened at an 800 year
old archaeological site based on the inhabitant’s relationships, or weaving
several hundred pages worth of story together, the skills are pretty similar.
And it makes both a lot of fun!
Someday I’ll write a story that incorporates both worlds
a little more, someday!
I have total job envy right now, Meradeth! :)
I have total job envy right now, Meradeth! :)
Julia has a secret: she killed the guy she loved. It was an accident—sort of.
Julia is a Sary, the soul of a child who died before taking her first breath. Without this 'breath of life' she and others like her must help those on the verge of suicide. It's a job Julia used to enjoy, until the accident that claimed her boyfriend’s life—an accident she knows was her fault. If living with the guilt weren't enough, she's now assigned to help a girl dealing with the loss of her mother, something Julia's not exactly the best role model for. If she can't figure out a way to help her, Julia's going to lose her position in the Sary, something she swore to her boyfriend would never happen.
Available from MuseItUp Publishing.
A bit about Meradeth Houston:
Meradeth’s never been a big fan of talking about herself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about her:
>She’s a Northern California girl. This generally means she talks too fast and use "like" a lot.
>When she’s not writing, she’s sequencing dead people’s DNA. For fun!
>She’s been writing since she was 11 years old. It's her hobby, her passion, and she’s so happy to get to share her work!
>If she could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because she’s terrified of heights.
To find out more about Meradeth and her book: website/ blog/ twiter/ Goodreads/ Shelfari/ Facebook fan page/ Pinterest/ teaser trailer/ book trailer/ Amazon page for CLM/ Barnes and Noble page for CLM/ Smashwords page for CLM/ MuseItUp Publishing page for CLM
Thanks so much for hosting me Lauren! I'm always happy to meet other science-peeps and book lovers :)
ReplyDeleteThat does sound like a really interesting job (I don't always like science that much but I think because I like history, that I find this kind of science interesting). Colors Like Memories has a great title and sounds like a good read, too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! My job is the best mix of cool history and science (well, at least imho! :)
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