Friday, December 28, 2007

Blogging!

I really suck at this, but I'm going to try and improve. Logging onto Blogger this morning, I was shocked and pleased to see that Liz and Cathy had posted a response to my last blog. I didn't really think anyone read these things. LOL. But I do believe that this is probably a very good marketing tool, and I've decided to become more attentive and to return the favor and post on other people's blogs...to the best of my ability.

I probably won't blog everyday. And I'm going to focus on my writing and career and all that goes into being who I am as a writer in the hope that maybe somewhere down the line I'll pass on a few nuggets of gold that will inspire and assist newbies. I remember when I first decided to write seriously, I combed the web for any inkling of insight into what it takes to do what I dreamed.

I also have some awesome writer-friends that have commented on my measly three blog-posts. Now if I can just figure out how to do that linky thing...

Julie - the blog challenged writer

Monday, December 17, 2007

Freedom!

I realized while college hunting with my daughter this past fall that I'd allowed my life to fall into a vicious circle of survival. As I encouraged and urged my child to reach for the stars, follow her dreams, pursue a career she'll love -- it occurred to me that I wasn't much of an example. Oh yes, I am published. This is a dream. I am grateful. Yet I was spending five days a week in an over-the-top stressful job and using my weekends to recoup from the damage the stress had created on my psyche.

I thought long and hard. Because of the aforesaid college-hunt, it's obvious my income is very important and quitting was not an option. So how to fix this current dilemma? I stepped outside the box. I answered an advertisement for a paralegal in an area of law that I wouldn't exactly classify myself as an expert in -- actually, novice would be an apt description. I wrote a great cover letter that showed my intelligence (I hope), flexibility and commitment to learn the new. Then I forgot all about answering the ad and continued on my very unhealthy and mentally excruciating existing career.

A week or two later, I received a telephone call requesting an interview. Gobbersmacked would be an understatement. To make a long story short, I have this new job. It's package-perfect for me. Stress has been eliminated. Writing is now fresh and unfettered. And I feel that I finally achieved what I can only dream of for my daughter.

My holiday wish for all is that you, too, can find that perfect blend of income, goals, dreams and reality. It's an unbelievably wonderful feeling.

On the writing end of the scale -- I'm soaring. Four very different projects are being written simultaneously. I'm not certain why I'm writing this way. I never have in the past. But it seems to be working and the pages are adding up. I'm writing my next commercial fiction for submission to Medallion, a second book in my Dragon Dancer series, a young adult (which is an amazing experience) and a chick-litty type piece that's really just for me and will probably never be submitted anywhere. It's a little bit of cathartic release about my mixed up emotions regarding my mother's decline in life through early onset Alzheimer's. My main character is a bit wacky and I'm having fun with her.

RIP Dan Fogelberg.