Back in the Saddle

In the beginning of 1994 I spent a glorious three months as a freelancer. In my mind I have romanticized this period extensively -- at the time I was probably a wee bit more worried about money than I remember, as I was not freelancing by choice, I was in between jobs. But it was a snowy, snowy winter, one of DC's worst, and I loved never having to leave my house, answering calls from my bed, and writing at my desk in various stages of undress. Noah was landscaping at that point, and so he too had the winter off -- I mostly remember his staying up all night long to play video games on my computer, while I used the computer to work all day. We overlapped for a few hours of sleep, and for a few hours at the end of my day when we watched episodes of Twin Peaks in order.

It was a pretty fantastic time. It also taught me that I could survive as a freelancer. Knowledge that I held in the back of my head for as long as I needed it until the fateful day where I up and quit my job.

But the thing is this -- even though I made enough money in those three months to survive, I received every check I'd earned AFTER I'd already found a new job. It was a lesson in the major time delays that happen when you write. Seeds you sow early take a long time to come to harvest.

I was reminded of that over these last two months. I spent the last half of 2004 on a mission to get more magazine work. I sent in queries, I attended workshops, I gave regular updates to my writing group, I had informational interviews with editors. And nothing really happened until suddenly EVERYTHING happened. The last few months have been really lovely, because I got to do the fun part -- the interviewing, the writing. All that business of trying to meet editors and come up with good stories was behind me. I've loved writing the pieces I've had to write lately. They just flowed. I've felt really good.

But I'm at the end of the line.

When I finish the story on dolphins for which I went to Japan, I'm done.

Oh, G-d, I have to start pitching again.