dot-com memory

Many thanks to Shane McEwan (yes, Rosie's Shane from Weta Digital) for his help with today's Waiting For Frodo. :-) Two years ago, I posted one of two Blatherings I made in December (cute picture of Parki and me in that entry). What I didn't say in my Blathering: I downshifted to working four days a week instead of five days on the advice of my family doctor. I was totally burned out. She had actually told me I needed to take an extended leave of absence from work, but I told her that I couldn't. The idea of leaving Inkspot completely in the hands of senior management at the company was unbearable. It turned out not to matter in the end, but I didn't know that at the time. Something else I didn't say in my Blathering: When I told my supervisor why I was downshifting and why, he never expressed a single word of commiseration. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, but I had at least expected a feigned word of sympathy or two, just for form. I still remember being floored, however, when his first words to me were, "Then I guess the first thing we should do is adjust your employment contract to reflect your reduced salary." He got out a calculator and figured out my new salary, said he'd send me the new contract once it had been approved by HR, and that was the end of our meeting. By then the dot-com craze was well on its way down to the basement. I sold Inkspot just as dot-com companies were starting to regret their wild spending sprees, and the company I started working for was no exception. Also, by the time I arrived in Philadelphia, a half dozen senior managers had been hired who had never heard of Inkspot. I clearly remember the first one-on-one meeting with my supervisor (different from the the one I mentioned earlier), who was the VP of Marketing. "I have to confess I don't know a lot about Inkspot or how it's supposed to help the company," he told me. "But I'm hoping you'll tell me." I think I must have written over a dozen reports about Inkspot during the six months I worked for the company at the request of various senior managers, my "wish list" for Inkspot, numbers and staff needed, etc. Two times, my supervisor had lost the report I had given him and wanted a new one. I went through several different supervisors, each of whom wanted a new copy. The other times, I was asked to make minor tweaks. In hindsight, I realize that it was just a makework project to keep me occupied and hopeful; I don't think my supervisor ever actually read any of the reports I gave him, or at least he never gave me feedback. I've summarized some of my frustrations during the whole experience in my Woodpile Philosophy, for those interested. :-) Had a very lazy and enjoyable day yesterday. Jeff and I bought some new games at a shop on Front Street: Cathedral and Lost Cities (reviews of both in a future Blathering). Went to see Die Another Day (my second time) with Jeff, Parki and Angela in the afternoon. Today's Blatherpic: Updated Waiting For Frodo.

50,000!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Luisa. :-) YAY, I passed 50K yesterday! I still have about a chapter to write to finish the book. I'm going to spend December (and realistically, part of January) editing/revising my two books before sending them to my agent at Curtis-Brown. Despite my comic today, I did get a lot out of the whole experience, namely the knowledge of how much harder I can work if I push myself and NOT let myself edit while I'm writing. My tendency has always been to over-edit as I write, to the point where I'll sometimes rewrite an entire chapter several times before moving on to the next one. It also confirmed my suspicion that my fiction writing output increases dramatically if I work outside of the apartment (i.e. where I can't get on the Internet). Unfortunately the experiment also got me hooked on lattés; I'd walk into my favourite coffee shop, and the woman behind the counter would start pouring my coffee even before I got to the cash register. I'm going to try experimenting taking my laptop and working on the dining room table (not connected to the 'Net) and see if that could be a good compromise. Went out with my friend Cathy last night. We saw Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets (my second time) and then had a bite to eat at The Red Tomato. Links/News: I added two new strips to Waiting For Frodo yesterday. One year ago, Allison, Jodi & I performed a ritualistic, gastronomic F2F. Three years ago, I introduced Aqua's "I'm A Barbie Girl" to Sara and Annie, much to Ruth's and Kaarel's horror and amusement. Four years ago, Inkspot had over 44,000 subscribers. Today's Blatherpic: Updated My Life In A Nutshell.

Jodi's new pad

NaNoWriMo update: 47,686 words written, 2,314 left to go. I'm hopingHOPING to finish today (!) so I don't have to work tomorrow. Thanks to Chris Conway for his help with today's Blathercartoon. :-)

Went to Newmarket last night to check out Jodi's new house. It took me an hour by train, which is about the same time it takes me to go to Allison's by local transit. LOVE Jodi's new place, and am especially jealous of her office. And holy cow, I was drooling over their storage space. It seemed like every room we went into, including her home office and that of her husband's, had a closet in it.

We had a leisurely dinner at the Keg, hung out for a bit at Jodi's place, then she dropped me off at the bus station since there no trains back to Toronto after rush hour. Took me an hour and ten minutes to get home, which is not much more than it usually takes when I come home from Allison's.

Allison, Jodi and I still aren't quite sure how Urban Tapestry practices will work out from now on. Normally Jodi picks me up at Finch subway station, then picks up Allison, then we drive to a restaurant for dinner, then (if we have a gig coming up) back to Allison's for a practice, then Jodi drives me back to the subway station. Yes, Jodi has always done ALL the driving in the nearly ten years that Urban Tapestry has been together, since neither Allison nor I drive. THANK YOU, JODI!

Now that Jodi lives in Newmarket, it would be more of a hassle for her to drive to Richmond Hill every week, and it's a hassle for Allison to get to Newmarket during the school year. So we'll probably plan our get-togethers on a week-by-week basis, exchange tapes/MP3s to practise with, and get together whenever we can. We were able to do this when I lived in Orangeville, so we can do this again.

Geez. Typing the above made me realize: next year, Urban Tapestry will have been together for TEN YEARS. That's a long time for a band. We should really do something to celebrate, y'know? Like maybe putting out a new CD. :-)

To you Americans: Happy Turkey weekend!

Links/News:

One year ago, I helped my friend Helen go wedding dress shopping.

Three years ago, we went to a housefilk at Sally Headford's place.

Four years ago, I went bead-shopping with Allison, and Inkspot was highlighted in PC Novice Magazine's "Best of the Web" issue.

freelance writing

NaNoWriMo update: 45,612 words written, 4,388 to go! Deadline: Saturday. You can see a list of Toronto area NaNoWriMo participants listed by wordcount in descending order here. I'm listed as "Inkygrrl". If you're curious about who's working on a NaNoWriMo novel in your city, scroll to the top of the page and enter your city name, then press "GO".

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Almost every day, at least once a day, I have marvelled at how much I love being a writer.

There are a zillion reasons, and I've already expounded on many of them. But one of the reasons I love being a writer is because it's so ideally suited for my personality. For one thing, I'm pretty antisocial when I'm in workmode. I like immersing myself completely in my writing, shutting out the rest of the world (unless a part is directly relevant to my writing), not talking to anyone, not seeing anyone.

Don't get me wrong. Though I hated (HATED) working in a cubicle environment in Philadelphia, I did enjoy the social interaction with my team. But then again, I wasn't working on my own writing; I was doing Webstuff, management stuff, project planning stuff. I did find myself missing that interaction once I moved back home and started fulltime freelancing.

I've been fulltime freelancing for a full year now. In that time, I've come to some conclusions about personality traits necessary to be a fulltime freelance writer, at least from my own experience. These are:

You have to be disciplined in your work habits. This is the first essential; you don't have a hope otherwise. This also applies to anyone who wants to work from home. I found this incredibly tough in the beginning.

You need to be able to work alone for long periods of time. Having been self-employed for years now, I'm used to this. I revel in it. I suspect this would be far tougher for those who are used to a regular office environment.

You need to develop a tough skin re: rejection. Unless you're incredibly lucky, you're going to be facing a lot of rejection slips in the beginning. The first few times I got rejected, especially after the nasty ones, I felt like just curling up in a dark corner somewhere and never sending anything out again. Now I don't have the luxury of wallowing. It's still an ego blow when someone says no, of course, but if I pause to lick my wounds each time, I'm going to be wasting valuable writing and marketing time.

You have to be somewhat crazy. A necessary trait for anyone preferring a highly unpredictable and unstable career like freelance writing! :-)

Tonight I'm going to Newmarket to hang out with Jodi and check out her new place; she and James moved in last weekend.

Links/News:

For those on Livejournal, I've created a Blatherings update page. If you link to this via your Friends page, then you'll know whenever I update my Blatherings and be able to click a link to see the entry. It's not a true feed, so it won't cost you any Livejournal points.

My December Press Kit column for Writing World is online, for those interested.

One year ago, Helen Waters gave a Guest Blather.

Two years ago, I went to a memorial for Lloyd Landa.

Three years ago, Jeff, Jodi, Allison & I went to a Great Big Sea concert.

Five years ago, "Earth: The Final Conflict" was filming in our area.

43,498

Wrote and sent in my Press Kit column for Writing World yesterday. Didn't get much writing done on my NaNo novel, sadly. NaNOWriMo update: 43,498 words written, 6,502 words left! FOUR DAYS left.

Links/News:

One year ago, I considered switching my Blatherings over to Livejournal. I actually did start the conversion and even transferred my old archives (which took a LONG time), but in the end opted for Movable Type because I didn't like the fact that you can't modify certain templates in Livejournal, just the main page. LJ is apparently working on this. I also kept running into bugs and broken user pic links.

I'm completely happy with MovableType (and hey, just noticed that there's a new version available), so plan to keep Blatherings as is, but confess I've been intrigued by the linked journal community aspect of Livejournal and RSSfeed-like potential. So now I have my own Livejournal, which I'll be using as a cartoon journal. It also enables me to post in filker friends' Livejournals as a real person instead of as "Anonymous". :-) I also have set up a Blatherings Update Livejournal, to make it easier for those in Livejournal who also read my Blatherings.

Four years ago, I went to Casa Loma with Sara and Annie and Ruth.

Five years ago, I had a phone conversation with my niece Sara, who was 3 years old at the time.

Today's Blatherpics:

A collection of cartoon self-portraits I've made for when I'm posting comments in other people's Livejournals. I plan to add more over time.