We write to taste life twice

A sure sign that I've bitten off more than I can chew? I no longer have time for leisure reading.

I've been reading The Thirteeth Tale for weeks (perhaps even 2 months). I don't think I'm even halfway through it yet. And it's not because I don't like the story, because the story is great. I just haven't had the time.

And I'm trying to finish up another book that I need to review. I'm about 30 or 40 pages from done. This is a non-fiction book about house decorating, so it's not the most riveting read, but it has a few kernels of wisdom that I can take away for our own house. I always find that mileage varies with these types of books because everyone's house is different.

I just got another book from my editor a couple days ago - Emily Arsenault's The Broken Teaglass. It seems to be a literary mystery, and I've been getting into those lately. I'm looking forward to reading it.

I just sent my resume and a small excerpt from an undergraduate literature essay to an academic company that is looking for writers to do book summaries of canonical and popular fiction and nonfiction. They specifically asked for a sample from a literary analysis and they want people with teaching backgrounds. So I seem to fit the bill perfectly. They pay for the reviews too...not much, but I don't get paid for the reviews I do now (I get free books, which is why I do it...because I mostly spend my disposable income on books anyway. Well, that, and I sometimes get the chance to interview an author I really admire, like Susan Vreeland).

ETA: I just got an email from the editor for this academic website. It's eNotes. And I'm already an approved editor with them, so he says I can go forth and start writing reviews! I didn't realize they had these assignments open.

Anyway...I have some stuff to do this morning for class tonight. I have to edit part of the group project that hit my inbox a couple days ago. And I need to look for clipart having to do with airline travel. And I still need to do my day job stuff. I was just given a new assignment to work on yesterday, so the article format is different and I'm trying to get used to it.

Oh...I got through the peer review last night. We had a class chatroom session on Blackboard, since my document design class is entirely online. It went well. Honestly, I thought my poster was the most boring of the bunch, but I was mostly focused on accomplishing the 4 required design elements to make the poster easy to understand. I didn't give it much flair (as my instructor likes to call it). I got mostly positive feedback. So I'm happy with it. As the instructor said, it's our first assignment anyway, so she didn't expect perfection.

I have to leave early today for campus because I have a meeting with my academic advisor. We're going to discuss what electives I might take and what direction I might take this program to fit in with my goals.

Back to the grind...

For lo, I have received a badge of honor for itinerantwriter, or to be more specific The Itinerant Writer...because it's the actual blog and not the syndicated site that received it.


And the my blog entry is posted to their site here, although it links back to my blog anyway. Ruba has gotten a significant following, so this is a pretty nice plug for my blog. I'm stoked!

Just finished work for the day...for one job. I still have to write up some content for the real estate website - another neighborhood review. Will probably work on that tonight when Lance is studying.

And I have to take Reece on another very long walk today. Lance has to commit to 2+ hours of study a night since he finally wants to get his degree over and done with, so I'm now committed to getting Reece out of the house as much as possible. Good for both of us. As long as I have some music with me, I can stay out for a long time. I only started listening to music last night as I walked her...I can't seem to stay interested in the walk for as long without it. And it keeps me from having to stop and let the neighborhood kids pet Reece. She gets mobbed nearly every time we go out, and if I have ear phones on, they ignore me. Which is probably for the best, since Reece gets overly excited if anyone pays her any attention.

It really irritates me that I have to weed through so many bogus freelancing jobs just to find one that isn't.

I got another potential gig today, but upon further research, it's another scam.

Things that ticked me off:

- the link that was sent to me with more info about the job said, "Most people on the Internet read at a ninth grade level If you can write at a ninth grade level then you can be a freelance writer." W.T.F? No. It's not that easy. I'm not of the opinion that anyone can be a writer or that everyone is a writer already (some writers make that argument, but I taught College Composition for 2 years, so that's enough to convince me that it's total crap). And methinks we have a missing period in that statement, by the way. (This statement says a lot about the quality of writers they would like to hire, IMHO...meaning, people who will work for next to nothing.)

- this link also said that freelance writing is a stress free job. What? Ever heard of deadlines? Ever heard of writing things according to style guides? Ever heard of multiple drafts? Ever heard of having to wait to hear back about queries/on spec articles that you send in? Stress free...right. Keep on telling yourselves that.

And there were all these "the sky's the limit" promises...the more you write, the more you make...blah blah...no explanation whatsoever of how long the required articles must be for the pay you receive, or that you could be spending 12 hours a day cranking out these articles for a mere $12,000 per year. Come on!

And here's my favorite part...you click on the "register now" button, and it opens another page, which tells you that you can become one of their writers for the great low registration fee of $2.95.

*headdesk*

It bothers me that the ads they post on craigslist seem fairly legitimate. They get mixed in with all the truly legit ads and it's hard to know which ones are for real and which ones are not. And then they end up on the freelancing job forums - the good ones - and people end up wasting their time applying for these, like I did.

And then of course, I get a response (which was actually in my Spam folder and should've stayed there), and it turns out to be this.

Grrrrrrrrrrr...

I'm getting a bit frustrated with the craigslist postings now, and I hate that, because I've always had great luck with them in the past. That's how I got the sidestep gig, and that was the best steady freelance gig I ever had. I miss writing for them. City guides are fun.

I've been regularly perusing craigslist, looking for just the right opportunity to break back into a freelance writing career. I want to re-establish it slowly. The goal is to eventually work up to full-time...something I wish I had done when I was in Germany. But it was more of a hobby to me then. I didn't take it seriously enough to pursue it full-time.

I stumbled on what I think is the most perfect opportunity for me. So I'm giving it a shot. We'll see where it goes. It's part-time, but it appears to be a long-term contract position. And it pays pretty well. And it will get me back into what I love the most - travel writing. Which I am still doing, only I'm now focused on the local area. Which is perfect, because that's exactly what this opportunity is about.

For the first time in a long time, I'm feeling optimistic.

I am writing the article for Geotimes. My one condition was that I retain the rights (they normally do), which was granted.

Now...700-1000 words (roughly 1 and a half to 2 pages)...6 photos. A piece of cake after the stuff I've been working on.

The editor said she is personally looking forward to reading this article. She has a great interest in it.

Now...I just need to schedule a day to go out to Valkenburg.