Graduating in the spring of 2015, Ceillie Simkiss earned a degree in Communications with a concentration in journalism, and a minor in art. Although she originally majored in art and hoped to focus on photography, Simkiss realized during her second semester of college that she wanted to make the switch to enter the journalism program.
“I got into my second semester and realized that I was miserable, and I couldn’t get my grades in the drawing classes above a B-. It was very frustrating, so I looked at what I was doing for fun – reading and reviewing books for a blog and working as a photographer for the Western Carolinian, which was a full newspaper at the time. I’d always loved to write and kept very up to date on the news, so I decided I’d give the journalism program a try,” said Simkiss. “I knew from the first few classes that it was a much better choice for me.”
Some highlights of her time at WCU include working for the Western Carolinian and for the Western Carolina Journalist. Simkiss also built great relationships with several people and professors that she said have made her life significantly better in the long run. “I also met my husband there, so being at WCU also set me up with a life partner. Cheers to that!”
While studying at WCU, learning how to time manage prepared Simkiss for life after college. “It gets a little bit easier when you have one full-time job instead of five or six classes that all require large amounts of work outside of class, but you still absolutely have to be able to manage your time and actually get some sleep while you’re there.”
Time management includes completing your required internship, which Simkiss completed at a tiny company that resided out of a woman’s kitchen! Even though the company no longer exists, Simkiss was able to use her writing and social media skills to market the company, which helped her in her professional career.
“I love getting to use my skills to help make the world a better, more informed place, and that’s something this degree allowed me to do. It’s so important to know what is going on around you and why what’s happening is important, and there is nothing like journalism to help you do that,” said Simkiss.
Today, Simkiss self-publishes queer romance novels in many different genres, both under her real name and her pen name. Simkiss said this requires her to make use of all of the skills she learned at WCU along with many more. In addition to working as a freelance writer, Simkiss uses both her writing and design skills to design book covers and digital graphics for a variety of products.
Hoping to continue building a sustainable career out of writing is Simkiss’s number one goal. “I’m not sure exactly what the future will hold for my career, but I’m very excited to see it happen,” said Simkiss.
Simkiss would like to tell Communication students, “What you get out of your degree depends on what you put into it. If you do the absolute bare minimum for all of your classes and don’t make the connections and build the portfolio that is expected of you, you are going to have a degree, but you aren’t going to get the full experience that you could be getting.”
You can find more information on Simkiss at Ceillie Simkiss and Candace Harper, both of her pen names. Using both names you can find her on social media as well.
Simkiss also recently released a lesbian romance under her pen name in February, which can be bought on Amazon under this link, MRS. MIX UP.
