Hey writer friends,
I had a day last week where I turned in two articles, looked at my schedule, and realized I had zero assignments. None. I mean, I had editors looking at pitches, of course (always!), several of my regulars send me assignments regularly, and I do have a business with courses and clients that ensure I won’t starve, but as a freelancer, seeing a calendar of nothingness can be unnerving. Predictably, the very next morning, I got four new assignments from my regulars with two more maybes from editors who’re considering pitches, and now I’m kicking myself for not enjoying the day off when I had it.
Sigh. Such is the freelancing life.
In book news, I’ve put the novel on hold for a couple of weeks as I get some systems in place for this newsletter so that I’m not scrambling to put it together each week. (Thursday ends up being more stressful than I care for. Was I really doing this daily at one point?!) I’ve got 50,000 words remaining on the novel and NaNoWriMo is just around the corner, so I’ve set myself a challenge to finish the novel during that time. Thankfully, Diwali’s in October this year, which means I won’t need to take a week away for celebrations.
And oh, there won’t be a newsletter next week. It’s Diwali on Monday and my in-laws are coming in from Wales for a long overdue visit. I plan to spend the entirety of next week eating my body weight in gulab jamun, especially now that I’ve discovered an Indian supermarket that’s so dodgy, some of the prices are still in Rupees.
Happy Diwali to those of you who celebrate, and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with more on writing, publishing, and surviving it all while keeping your sense of humor intact. (Given that I’ve just been asked to report on British politics, I’m going to need it!)
Cheers,
Natasha