Covered Up!

When the local paper asked me in November to start writing the crime blotter, I jumped at the chance for several reasons, despite the fact that blotter is drudge work and they called me b/c all the employees, who have clout as opposed to stringers (freelance writers) who have none, refused to do it. Here are the reasons I accepted:

• It pays money
• It's a regular gig, until they decide otherwise
• It's work in the newsroom, which gives me exposure to them
• It's work in the newsroom, which gives them exposure to me
• It could evolve into more work
• It allows me to keep my own schedule, which is important to me as I pursue other writing opportunities
• Did I mention it pays?

Finally, and most importantly of all, they called the morning after I mentioned to DH "If only I could find regular work that paid $xxx a month, it would enable us to meet our goals faster." The money they offered is exactly $xxx a month, based on one morning a week. It was just too weird a coincidence to ignore. If I refused the opportunity, no telling what type jinxes might befall me.

So I took it. Initially, they indicated it would be one morning a week. I selected Monday. The second week, the managing editor called and asked if I would be coming in on Friday, as well. Hmm. Sure, I said. (The pay is based on how many mornings I work.) So by the second week I had doubled my pay. Yes, I doubled my work, too, but that's ok by me. The work is easy.

The third week they asked if I would do crime blotter for another paper they own. Hmm. Sure, I said, and added that to the mix. Started coming in three mornings a week. Likewise an increase in the pay.

DH and I had anticipated that my visibility in the newsroom might make me a likely candidate for more work as it arose, as opposed to the other free-lancers who are home in their bunny slippers working at their own computers.

The paper, like papers all over the country, is struggling for survival, and has had a hiring freeze on for some time. The freelance budget is flush to cover the overload.

So now it's the 8th week and I have been asked to carry the work left behind when the education reporter left to go work for the Raleigh News & Observer. Hmm. Sure, I said.

In the past, I have worked at 1 or 2 articles in a week, at home in my bunny slippers, sometimes having weeks with no articles to work on at all. This week I have 10 articles and am writing in calendars, making notes to myself, leaving voice mails to myself, and generally working hard. It's great.

We had thought it would happen but did not in a zillion years, realize it would be so soon.

So now I am at the newsroom twice or three times a week for sure, dropping in when I need to, and working from home in my bunny slippers otherwise. I can walk the dog when I want to, get my nails done, and generally meet the routine of the family, except when School Board meets or other stuff intrudes. So far DH has been extremely supportive, pitching in when I have to be out. This is good. It's not a hobby, after all, it's work, and there isn't a question of my covering everything while he is at work. It sort of grates on my nerves that I am appreciative at all. I should just take it for granted. I am going to try.

The education stuff is different. It's news. All the other articles I've written over the past five years have been Lifestyle stuff: light, airy. I talk of this and that. I wax rhapsodic. Sometimes I gab on.

In news, I have to be terse. I can't say, "The board decided that they would implement..." Nooo, I have to say, "The board will implement..." There are a zillion things like that, and I have to come up to speed on them. I can't say, 7%, but seven per cent. The first news article I did, Monday night, ran about 400 words, and it took me TWO HOURS. Really. Two hours. It's insane! I fretted over each and every word. Finally I turned it in at 10pm and stood behind the editor as he cut and cut and cut. I asked him if he minded my staying to watch. No, he said, but you can go on home if you want. It was late, after all. Thanks, I said, but if I go home now, I won't be any smarter when I go to sleep. I need to see what to do next time.

I did learn from the zillion edits he made, and when he finished, it was a much better article. Nothing fancy. No Pulitzers on the way. But I tried to learn from it all.

So yesterday, I sent another article. They ran it today. Same editor. Hmm. He modified my title a bit and removed one sentence. I am relieved -- quite an improvement over the zillion edits the night before.

So, one baby step at a time, I'll go on. Sigh. Nine more articles to go, for now. Bully Busters, a wedding festival on Saturday, reading scores, a food page, middle school inauguration observations, a young woman returns from Kenya with stars in her eyes, it's diverse and I am busy.

Guess I need to go write.

Sunday Morning

DH and LO are away on their male-parent-and-child camping trip this weekend. They have one in the spring and one in the fall. Doubtless I have shared this in other posts, um, in the spring or fall. We have friends who have 100 acres on top of a mountain in the western part of the state, and twice a year, they invite about a dozen dads/grandpas and their kids. They have a 40' zipline that crosses a creek; a huge rope swing, a 40' square roof-on-poles for safe haven in case of rain. The children shoot skeet, run in the woods and generally act like crazed kids with no crime or childsnatchers or homework or overprotective moms/nanas to worry about. EVERY photo from these trips shows bedhead, dirty nails and huge smiles. LO even drives DH's car in the pasture.

Their trips used to always include a man named Tom who carefully taught them how to shoot. Real. Guns. He made sure they had on ear protectors and that all the kids were behind the line of hay bales. Across the way he had more hay bales with tin cans on them. Then he carefully and quietly worked with the child holding The Gun and taught him how to aim, how to squeeze. Bang. Next kid.

Tom passed away this summer from sudden and massive heart problems. He had been sweet and kind to all our kids and it was quite a loss. His generous and sweet wife shared some ashes with DH and the other men so they could have a service for Tom this weekend and leave a tiny bit of him there in the beautiful NC mountains.

Last spring, the dads prepared a treasure hunt that involved compasses The directions told each team to proceed x feet to the northeast, turn due west and go x feet. At the end there were token treasures, tiaras for the girls and I forget what for the boys, but the kids talked about it forever. They had to use math to calculate how many strides equalled how many feet and work as a team. There were two teams. I was so impressed with all the facets of this exercise.

Of course, this weekend also provides some lovely and shall I say highly deserved alone time for the women in the family. I believe most of the younger women get together for a night of wine and gossip, but I'm not in their crowd and likely wouldn't be comfortable even if they did think of me. No, I went Another Way. Serendipity provided me with a FREE writers' conference yesterday in a Nearby City. I drove the hour alone, enjoying NPR and a cup of tea, attended the conference, and drove home in the evening. Each and every speaker provided helpful information. At one point I abandoned my notepad and just turned on my iPod recorder; the guy was that helpful.

His name is John Hart and he grew up here in Small Town USA, although he doesn't live here now. His books are set here in this very town. He was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel for his first novel, but did not receive it. Last year his second novel was nominated for the overall Edgar Award, and he WON. He is published in 16 countries in 13 languages. He did not share specific dollar amounts, but said his income is exactly ten times what it was as a successful attorney. He spoke on how to find an agent, find a publisher, what to ask for, what not to ask for, how it all works, and so on. He tells everything with this self-deprecating humor and it was not only informative, but hilarious.

One speaker spoke on the different formulae for plot. She had diagrams and so on. I made scads of notes on my own novel and learned so much. Fortunately, I will not need a total rewrite, as some at lunch said they did.

One speaker talked about scene. I knew much of what she said, but hearing it out loud was a great reminder and I made tons of specific notes about how this character will need to x and this one needs to y, and so on.

At the end of the day they had a panel to share the Ten Things Authors Do Not Want to Know, and the panel was made up of three published authors, one being the fellow from our town. The other two painted a dreadful picture of how unlikely it is to get published at all, and the fellow put it in a much better light. He said it's amazing how many prisoners write books and send them in. They have time on their hands, access to computers and think they can write. He told about all sorts of people who can't write but think they can. Then he contrasted it to us, the people who think about our writing and care about it and travel to a conference to learn more, and, hey! you stand a much better chance of being published than someone whose only credential is lots of time on his hands. Without his perspective it could have been a depressing end to a nice day.

These kinds of things are typically great for networking, and although I met a few people, we were busy all day, and had little time to talk. I did run into another person from our town and she happens to be the best friend of someone I know. We had each heard quite a bit about the other from our person in common, so it was good to finally meet.

The day cost me $7 for the (veggie! Yay!) lunch, the cost of diesel to get there, (102 miles / 27 mpg * 3.40 for deisel = say, about $12...), and of course I sprung $20 for someone's book. I would say the day was well worth the $40 I spent and I felt so liberated, not having to feel as if I had abandoned my job back home.

Last night I splurged on veggie sushi and curled up to watch a Japanese classic movie that my DS2 recommended. It was quite depressing, however, and I had to turn it off about halfway through and go to bed with the newest Smithsonian.

I woke up this morning with a terrible cold; it has been coming on for a few days now. I can't seem to quit sneezing. So here I sit in my candycane pj's with a dog in my lap and the cats nearby waiting their turns.

It's my month to shake hands, distribute bulletins, and pass the plate at church, at the 11:00 service, and I regretfully had to call and cancel. Many of the 11:00'er's are 100 years old and I would hate to spread a cold.

Later today I have to tackle LO's room. I have to catch up on the laundry and put out our Halloween decorations. For now though, I plan to stay right here and write.