
Monday, March 19, 2012
Waning Moon
Mars Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant
It’s been so busy that I can’t even remember back to Friday! 😉 Anyway, I know I spent a lot of time with students both Friday and Saturday, because, by dinnertime Saturday, I was caught up on everything that had been posted to that time, and I could take yesterday off with a clear conscience.
I finished the materials for Confidential Job #1, and this morning I send off the report. The next assignment will probably come while I’m out on assignment this week, so I won’t be able to start it until next week, but that’s okay. I like what I’ve been sent, lately, which makes it more fun.
Got out some proposals, dropped off a press packet on ASSUMPTION, got a few more leads on potential new clients that I need to follow up on. Considered a blogging job, but, really, there were so many red flags in the ad, I decided to pass. When the employer says that a low price is a “high” price paid for top-quality content and then says it’s an “easy” job for the right person — run like hell. I would have liked to write about the topic — I know it well — but not at those prices.
Killion Slade brought up a good point in the comments to Friday’s post — bartering. I’m a huge fan of bartering. When I lived in Seattle, the arts community survived a lot by bartering with each other. Here on the Cape, it happens, too, and it’s a lot of fun as well as being useful. The thing about bartering is — you get an even exchange between two individuals, each with a skill the other needs. So the energy/karmic exchange is balanced. And I also have a couple of pro bono clients on the roster, and will, once or twice a year, contribute to an anthology that gives its proceeds to a charity I care about. That’s all part of the flow of the work. What gets my goat (and all the other animals in the barn) is when someone who claims to be a legitimate employer wants my skills for nothing, giving nothing in return, but “exposure”. Generally, these are the same “employers” who say the work is “easy” (yet, somehow, they can’t do it themselves) or ask for unpaid, project-specific “samples” (which means everyone gets a piece of the project, does it for free, gets told they weren’t hired, the “employer” absconds with all the unpaid elements, changes the company name and has unpaid labor for a finished product). The lines are different for everyone, but this is how I pay the bills. I’m perfectly happy to barter, if the other half of the equation has something that I need. But I’m not just throwing my work out for “exposure.”
We never made it out of the house for the art opening on Friday night — it was raw and rainy. We’ve been catching up (or, for me, re-watching) the first season of TORCHWOOD, which has been a lot of fun, from a structural, writer’s perspective as much as from a viewing perspective.
The weather was gorgeous yesterday. I should have been out doing yard work. Instead, we went over to a friend’s house (an artist who moved up here from New York last year and now just lives a few blocks away), catching up around the fire pit. It was good.
This week is busy — finishing up a few things around here, including the edits for HEX BREAKER, which have to go out in a couple of days, working with students, etc. I have a site job for the last half of the week, and then, when I get back, it’s time to start working on the taxes! My payment came through, along with the “official notification” of the change in payment terms (biting my tongue), and some other issues that I’m just not getting into here. I’ve also got to set up a possible project for mid-April — if that works, I will post about it here shortly. If that goes well, there will be more along that vein. I also have to update my workshop page on the website, and some of my other pages. Lots to do!
I played with some short story ideas over the weekend. They’re still a little vague — almost like dream images, or just snippets of a scene. They need more development before I can figure out what they are. Two submission calls hit my desk to which I’d like to respond, so I hope the stories hurry up and starting forming!
Back to the page.
Devon