Tag: looking for work

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writer & editor at large

As we start a new week, I find myself very worried about money, but still optimistic overall. I have a little bit of work, with a vague promise of more on the horizon.  I haven’t been paid yet for  my first week, just submitted my hours for the second week, and we embark on the third.

The other job I was supposed to start is on hold, due to the fact that they can not complete the background check, because the courts in San Francisco are not open.  So that means I have space for more editing or writing work, if you happen to know of any work that needs doing.

I’m on Upwork, but will work with folks outside of that as well.

So other than that bit of the work I’m doing for one client, I’ve been working on The Blood Witch.  I hope to have this final edit done by the weekend.  Which is when the work to sell the book begins.  Which starts, as most things do, with research.  Then query letters, which will  hopefully lead to an agent, who can help with that whole selling part.

As I do, I’m also watching a lot of documentaries, particularly true crime documentaries.  I found a motherlode of new-to-me tv shows and movies on Hulu.

I hope you and your families are staying safe and not going a little stir crazy.  Be smart, as we start opening things back up.  This virus has not yet done its worst, and I fear that loosening restrictions too quickly will send a wrong message to too many people, opening us up for a strong resurgence of victims.  Mask up. Wash your hands.  Stay home if you can, and don’t let people closer than 6 feet.  You never know whose life you might be saving.  It could be your own.

I love you, Readers!  Happy Monday!

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it’s okay…to not be okay

Earlier this week, I was feeling great about the possibilities of getting a job offer today.  Late yesterday I got an email saying that, like the last three jobs I felt sure I was going to get, the job has gone on hold while the company re-evaluates what they genuinely need.

To some degree, I’m used to it, as a technical writer. But, I have to admit that this time, it’s hitting me pretty hard.  The job boards have the same ten jobs or so that they’ve had for a month.  Everyone is re-evaluating.  Jobs are getting really scarce.

Earlier this week I was feeling pretty optimistic and I was happy to reach out to my extroverted friends, and read poetry on Facebook and help people get through this.  Today I’m feeling fairly hopeless.  Today I’m afraid.

Logically, I know these things come in waves, but I also know that we haven’t seen the worst of this.

I need to pay bills.  I need to pay rent.  But at the same time, I’m afraid to spend anything because I’m so unsure of when there will be more money.  If I spend nothing of my last unemployment check, or of the next two unemployment checks, I will just make my rent in May.

On Tuesday, I have an interview at Target to work overnights stocking shelves because it pays slightly better than unemployment, yet at the same time, I don’t want to take the job from someone who might need it more than I do.

I know we’re all in the same boat.  We’re all doing our best to keep that boat afloat in an ocean of uncertainty and fear.  And I know that I’ll find my optimism again, but for today it’s okay to not be okay.

I’m going to finish up this coffee and wait for the recruiter to call me for a remote tech writer job I heard about late yesterday.  Maybe this is the one?

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this is not the dystopian future I imagined

Hello, Readers!  I hope you are all taking good care of yourself as we isolate ourselves and hope this virus situation doesn’t get any worse.  I’m trying to stay optimistic, but I’ll admit it can be hard.

It’s so weird to see the traffic map completely green!  I’ve been in the SF Bay Area for twenty years, and I’ve never seen it before!  My town, which is normally filled with people out walking is a ghost town.

As someone who has read a LOT of dystopian stories, I’ll admit, when I considered what our future might look like, how our society would fall apart, I did not have my money on virus-caused-economy-crash.

So, how are you occupying your time, Readers?  I hope you have coffee and good books to read.  I’m still job hunting, and in a time like this there are still a lot of job postings, but not so much with the hiring.  It’s going to get worse before it gets better, so remember to wash your hands, stop touching your face, and take care of one another.

This crisis can make us better people, if we let it.  It is already helping out Mother Earth.  Check in on the elderly and vulnerable in your neighborhoods, and remember to keep your distance.

Meanwhile, I have a short story to write and a novel to start editing.  Hopefully some more editing work will be coming my way soon.  Happy Friday, my friends.

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sleep, glorious sleep…or lack thereof

For most of my adult life I have had bouts of insomnia.  There are just times when my body isn’t tired or my brain won’t turn off.  They used to be nights of no sleep.  Lately, they have been nights of sleeping super hard and deep for two to three hours, then waking up and off goes my brain into hyper space.

Some nights I lay there plotting, or fixing plot holes, or world building.  Some nights I lay in bed and stare at YouTube until my eyes close again…or more often, until I’ve come to the conclusion that we are done sleeping (we being me and my brain), and I get up, start some coffee and go sit at the computer hoping to get some of whatever I was plotting or building down on paper.

Last night I was awake around 1:30am, for no apparent reason that I could see, and my brain took off plotting the second book in the Blood Witch story.  There’s a whole new world, you see, that needs proper world building attention!  I watched Bob Ross paint for a while and started to doze, but as soon as I turned him off again, I was awake.

Took a while to finally sleep again, but sleep I did.  For at least an hour and a half.  Having no clue what time I went to bed last night, I’m not sure how much sleep I actually ended up getting, but I guess that’s what coffee is for.

And that coffee is tasting mighty good right now.  I’m taking the day off of the job hunt for an outing with my sister-in-law and niece, which I suppose means I have to wear real clothes, and I probably should finish cleaning out the car.  Part of my Disneybound costume from January is still in the back seat.

So, I’m going back to my coffee before it gets cold.  I hope Wednesday is wonderful and filled with blessings for you, Readers.

 

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the impostor

My beta readers have started to come back with their feedback on the zero draft of The Blood Witch, a thing that always makes me both nervous and excited at the same time.  A lot of people think that writing the book is the hard part, but for me it is always that first flush of feedback.

This is the time when impostor syndrome ratchets up my anxiety into the stratosphere.  What if I’m wrong and the story sucks?  What if people are lying to me about my ability to write?  What if none of them like it?

Then when the actual feedback starts coming in, I have to work overtime to keep my brain from saying “See, I told you.  You suck.  Even they think so,” when in fact the feedback is largely positive, with the bits each reader thought needed more information, or didn’t quite work, which is, after all, the reason for beta readers.  Eyes other than mine, able to pick out the places where the story needs work.

Some of what I’ve heard so far are things I knew, things already on my list of “needs fixing” and/or “needs work”.  Some of it comes from folks who are not US natives, which helps a lot, because I don’t think about things like “non-US folk won’t know how our foster care system works” while I’m writing.

I’m still waiting for a few folks, so I’m not going to start edits just yet, just update my lists and maybe start a read through of my own to add to those lists as well.

The day job continues to be elusive for the moment, but I’m hoping something is coming my way soon.  Had a pretty decent interview on Friday, and I submitted a bunch of applications in the last few days, including one to Lucasfilm for an editing position (fingers crossed).

Did you remember to spring forward this morning?  It’s later than you think it is!  Time for coffee and a peruse of Facebook and Linked In before I go start some laundry and other fun chores.

Happy Sunday, Readers!  May it rain kindness upon you.

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writer / editor for hire — inquire within

As I sit here in this office for the last time today, I have an eye on the future, but I’m not stressing about it.  I have some time, my rent and bills are paid for the month and at least half of March.  And there are opportunities.  Just yesterday I set up an in person interview for Thursday and two phone interviews by the end of the week.

I know the perfect opportunity is out there for me.

If only I had a sugar daddy or sugar momma who would take care of me so I could stay home and write!  But that isn’t happening.  And honestly, I don’t think I could be that person.  That isn’t a slam against anyone who is that person.  More power to you.

I’ve known for a long time that I’m not cut out for that kind of relationship.  When it comes to romance, I’m extremely deficient.  I also take an inordinate amount of pride in taking care of myself.

Wow, I wandered off on a tangent.  I was talking about the career.  I’ve been in the work force in some manner since I was 16, younger if you count babysitting and the like.  I’m 51 now.  I have a lot of experience, so I have faith that the right job will present itself.

Maybe I should hang out my shingle:  “Writer / Editor for Hire.  Inquire Within”

Happy Tuesday, Readers!  Go out there and grab the day with kindness.

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day job needed…again

So, I’ve been trying out this whole “independent contractor” thing for  almost a year now. My thoughts are that I could get used to the money, but not the responsibility for my own insurance and taxes.  My contract is up on the eleventh of February, so it’s time to buckle down on that search for the next thing.

Honestly, I’ll take another contract position if I have to, but I would prefer a regular, full time position.  The freedom is nice, but the security is better, in my opinion.

It really is a full time job looking for work.  Add it to the day job I’m still working, and hitting the gym (because it’s good for me), and writing and any side editing jobs, and I need a second ME to get it all done.  Forget any promo on the books I’ve already published.

So what’s a girl to do?  Dress up like Han Solo and go to Disney, of course!

I also have a Princess Leia on Hoth outfit planned.  Because I’m a dork.  My niece just sent me a picture of her First Order outfit and it is SMASHING.  I am really looking forward to a couple of days of child-like fun!

Anyway, I’m back to applying to every Technical Writer/Editor/Content Manager job I can find on the interwebs.  Think good thoughts for me, Readers!  I’ll have Feb and March rent and bills paid by the time the job is done, but that doesn’t really give me a lot of leeway.

 

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into the fire

I’ve been struggling all day to come up with something to write about today that wasn’t just about my terror over money and work, or the impatience of not knowing when or if the unemployment information would come through, or how I’m going to manage healthcare costs if I’m not employed before the end of the month (or if I’m forced to take a contract job where benefits won’t start for 2 months).

I could tell you about my frustration with recruiters who can’t read a map and realize that a six hour drive is not a doable commute, or the ones who think that two hours one way is totally normal.  Or how it seems like all of the people with their hands out seem to come out of the woodwork when you’re unemployed.

It isn’t even that I don’t have work to do.  I currently have a number of freelance editing jobs that will feed me and keep my cats fed for a while, especially with how little I eat these days.  I also have wonderful friends who brought me a bunch of food yesterday, in an effort to help out.

So, if I’m not talking about any of that, what do I have left in me to say on this gorgeous Wednesday afternoon?  If my ankle is done being cranky with me, I was hoping to get out for a hike this afternoon, after a wonderful two mile hike on Sunday (which is probably the cause of my ankle pain).  There is something wonderful about hiking up big hills and over rocks, and through trees that helps settle my soul.

It makes me wish for long weekends in the mountains, and good food cooked over an open fire.

And I think I’ll leave you with that notion, Readers, and get back to my editing.

 

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trusting the universe to deliver

Sometimes, just when you think you have it all figured out, life comes along and delivers a solid punch right to the gut.  That was my life this week.  I’d just gotten a nice raise.  I had my budget for the next six months sorted, giving me all the spending money I would need for my planned vacations.

Then, out of nowhere, my company was hit with a financial blow and in order to survive it, they needed to make some hard decisions.  I was one of quite a number of people who were let go…laid off.  Unfortunately, the technical writer is always one of the first positions on the chopping block.

I’ve been here before.  In fact, I’ve been laid off of every job I’ve had since I left El Paso, Texas in 1999.  Of course, I get asked at times like these why I don’t pursue any of my other skill sets, since writers get the brunt.

I do have other skill sets.  I’m a good manager, of both projects and people.  I could brush up my rusty data analysis skills.  I could upgrade any of a number of skills.  But, writing and editing makes me the happiest me I can be.  Writing and editing is where my heart beats, and it always will be.

So, I’m on to the next opportunity, with a hope that it is at least half as great as the last one.  It’s a pretty good market right now, so I’m not overly worried.  I fielded a ridiculous number of recruiter calls yesterday, though most of them were for contract jobs in locations that I can not, in good conscience, commute to.  Driving anywhere during rush hour here in the San Francisco Bay Area is nuts, let alone to a job on the other side of the bay and south of me.

Today I am not going to worry.  I’m going to focus on the editing work I have in front of me, and maybe indulge in some Star Wars movies.  My next thing is out there.  I trust the universe to deliver it.

Happy Saturday, Readers!

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