Looking for a New Job

 I'm looking for a new job. Me and my current job are incompatible. I've known this for twelve years, but it's only now that I realise I've got to go.

"But Heidi," you say, "Don't you work at the library?"  

No. I do not. I haven't worked there for twelve years. I'm glad that's the image you see of me, for when I did work at the library, I loved it. I'm glad you think of me during a time when I was happy with my job.

So, what happened?

A library is run by the local government. At the time, I was hired by the library, and worked for the Directorate that runs the libraries. Then somewhere, certain someones decided libraries didn't need their own dedicated IT specialist (how wrong they were!), so my position was eliminated. Now that I look back, maybe it would have been a kindness to simply let me go and let me fend along a different path. Instead, I was transferred to the general IT Help desk up at Council. 

Boy, did I NOT fit there! Yet, I persisted, because I had schoolies at the time. The hours fit in with their schedule and it was a source of income. Ignore the fact that I'm not really an IT Professional, at least, not the way the position wanted, nor was this a job that could be done part-time, in a team that I never fit in with. A whole lotta other crap was also going on in this job.

Eventually, it all got to me. As the last of Their Ladyships grew up, I transferred to full time hours. While that solved a few issues, it created others. Also, being a local council, they have Many Issues. This is not unique to this particular council. Every council has a whole lotta issues. I'm surprised councils don't implode.

Two things happened that tipped me over into BEC territory: perimenopause and five weeks of Long Service Leave.

Perimenopause is like going through puberty backwards. Now I understand the fearlessness and lack of filter on middle-aged women. It's hormonal and unapologetic.

Long Service Leave. Now, I've had several bouts of LSL before. I usually took November off for NaNoWriMo, but treated it more like a mini-holiday.

Not this time. This time, I told myself I was going to spend those five weeks as a full-time professional in my real career. I spent those five weeks doing audiobook narration for a three-book epic Romantasy series.  Yep. I did it full-time and loved it. Deeply, madly.

I loved it. I loved it so much, when my LSL was over, I didn't want to go back to the Day Job. My love broke me. That was several months ago and I have not been the same since.

What on Earth am I doing working this IT Job when I should be doing something--anything--else?

Reasons I haven't quit the Day Job yesterday:

• After ten years, the Service Desk Team is actually a functional, non-toxic team. It's only been like this for the past two years. I really respect our excellent Team Leader. Supervisor one level up is also good. We've only had him a few years.
• They pay me money regularly. 
• It's geographically convenient.

The second point is really the main reason I stay at all. I can't just quit without some sort of alternative income. Lottery win would be nice. Sudden inheritance would be nice. Financial independence would be lovely. My real career actually turning a strong, steady income would be best, but we're not there yet, and won't be for a while. And as long as I have a Day Job, that while gets longer and longer. See, my real career depends on how many books you've got out there. The more books you have, and the more robust your marketing plan, the better you perform, financially. But writing takes time. I don't have time because I frickin' have to give it to the stupid Day Job!! I resent all the time it takes and the energy it demands.

I am willing to compromise on the third point as long as I'm not compromising too much on the other two points.

But yeah. I've had enough. I've been at this Day Job too long and need to move on.  Alas, I am not financially independent yet, nor have I been able to convince any university to take me on for a PhD (they come with a living stipend).

So, I'm looking for a new job. Been actively looking for a few months. Have had some interviews, but nothing has panned out. I shall continue to look, even though I don't know what I should be looking for. I only know what I'm NOT looking for.

Thank you for listening to my TED Talk on Fine Whine.

Comparisons - the Bad and the Good

The other day I was doing a regular review of my career path. (This is a good thing, if one wants one's career to go in the direction one wants it to.)  I asked myself these questions:

Where am I?
Where do I want to go?
What do I need to get there?
What's stopping me?

This last question is rather important. It reflects upon those things that keep me from where I want to be. Without stoppage, any career would be stellar and magnificent.

Right now, mine's not.

It's a necessary question, but comes with pitfalls. One of those is comparisons.

Comparison can be a useful tool, but only if applied correctly. It is all too easy to fall into a false comparison trap. Fr'ex: one of your peers had three books released last year, one of them award-winning. It's too easy to look at that, look at the pathetic one book you just managed to eke out and wonder why your career's in the dumps.

Or maybe you did release three books, but none of them won awards, or sales weren't that great, or you have no idea when your next book will be written, nevermind come out. Or maybe you realised you needed a Pullman option for your ticket for the Query Train as you watch fellow travellers hopping off left-right-centre.

I gave in to a moment of self-pity. Why is my writing career not where I wanted it to be? We all have twenty-four hours in our days and I only spend eight of them sleeping. What have I been doing instead of turning out high-quality books at a phenomenal rate?

Then I look at the products of my Twenty-Year Plan. They have grown up to be strong, capable, respectful and respectable members of society.  When I compare them to the products of others, the real truth comes out. All the energy I've been pouring into this project rather than into my books has paid off better than if I'd turned it the other way.

I have five more years left of the Twenty-Year Plan. Then, when that's done, I can turn myself fully to the Fifty-Year Plan.

But for now, I shall be mostly content with the process I've got now.

(Mostly.)

________________________________
Her Grace is doing NaNoWriMo this year. She will have a publishable book at the end of it.

Octavia Butler once said...

"I will be a bestselling author."

Yeah. Mee too.

What Writers Want You to Know About the Writerly Life

I've got a head cold that's not going away. When I get sick, I get a bit ditzy, so the simplest things make me giggle.

I'm getting a kick out of the Twitter tag #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter. Yeah, it's awfully long for a tag, but writers are adapting just fine to the truncated tweet. Give it a read and have a window into our secret world...

Journalists are getting a kick out of watching their fellow writers moan about how their writing careers are perceived by non-writers: BBC has a good article, and The Observer was pasted all over the place.

So, here is my list of things that we writers would love you to know about the writerly life:

1. We write because we can't not write. That, and variants on that theme, are the primary reason we do it. Stories fill our heads. Characters natter in our ears. We are perpetually plagued by the question, "What if...?" Something in our souls yearns to be released, and it's through writing.

2. Money is not our meter stick. Granted, it's nice when we get paid for our work, and many of us aim to become financially independent, but it is not the primary driving force behind our career choice. (See #1) This is not a career you enter expecting to be well and equally compensated. But if you want to tap into the more lucrative side of writing, try magazine articles or copywriting. Just know that most of us are in it more for the love than the lucre.

3. We write more than novels. Early in my career I wrote short stories, non-fiction articles, screenplays and more. (If you're still stuck on #2 above, know that my biggest paying job to date was a non-fiction article for a popular parenting magazine. Less than a thousand words, more than a thousand bucks.) Writing covers all sorts of things. This is why writers squirm when, after telling you they're a writer, you ask, "So, what novels have you published?"

4. Publication is not the justification gold standard. Just because a writer is unpublished (or pre-published) doesn't mean they're a bad writer. It simply means they have not (yet) been published. That's all. Took me a few years.

A cold, hard, sad fact is that most writers have to put in some serious chops working and perfecting their craft before publication comes along. Also, publication doesn't automatically happen once you've finished something. It's a demand market, and often there are more really good pieces than there are publication spots.

That said, the deghettoisation of indie publishing has gone a long way towards giving many, many good writers an opportunity to reach readers. I've read some spectacular indie-published books. Don't let the fear of getting a dud keep you from picking up an indie book. Like agents and editors are the vetters for traditional publishing, your fellow readers vet indie works very well. Check out a book's ratings on Amazon or Goodreads if you want an indication of its quality.

5. Writing is a real job. Sure, lots of people have it as a hobby. But some of us make a career out of it. Because it takes time to go through our apprenticeships and journeyhoods before we are able to write a quality novel, we are putting in a lot of work before the financial payoff (if any) arrives. Until that happens, we need to source money sufficient for putting food in our bellies, a garret over our head and clothes on our backs.

Gone are the days of rich, titled patrons who sponsored us. Now, it's a tolerant spouse with a full-time job, or arts grants, or working what we fondly call, "The Day Job". So yeah, often we are working at least two jobs so we can pursue what we love and still eat.

6. Writing is not easy. Especially if its good writing. Heck, even slapping down horrible first-draft copy can be difficult at times. A novel is a complex piece of art with many components. Don't think that it's a doddle to write, and the first words that flow from our fingertips are brilliant works of timeless prose. It takes much effort to get it to the lovely stage you see in a printed novel.


Dear readers, we love you. We love you very much and we write marvelous stories to lift your hearts and take you away. A career as an author doesn't follow the same career path as a middle manager or an accountant or schoolteacher. We are the children of the muses and dance to a different tune.

Just thought I'd let you know.

_____________________________
Her Grace is a career author. She's got two novellas currently published, another novella coming out in February and a full-length novel out sometime near the end of the year, followed by a second in the new year.

Go buy her books. Otherwise, convince someone else to buy her books:

AS GOOD AS GOLD - historical fantasy romance - 4/5 stars
FOR RICHER, FOR POORER - SF/Fantasy romance - 4.5/5 stars

Out from The Wild Rose Press and available where all good ebooks are sold.

Patronage, or "How the Author Gets to Eat"

Antonio Verrio had the patronage of William III.

Until very recently in human history the Artists (aka painters and playwrights and composers, etc) were supported by Patrons (aka the King, the Lord, the Rich Men, the Bishops of the Church, etc). In exchange for the basic necessities of  life, artists painted or wrote or composed whatever their patron wished.

Down side: they didn't get much choice in what they had to produce. He who has the gold makes the rules.

Up side: at least they were doing their art, and there was time to work on their own projects, if permitted.

The 20th Century changed much of how humanity functions socially. Patronage, in the old sense, has all but disappeared. However, nothing will ever change the fact that an artist needs to eat.

Where does the means for food & shelter come from? The modern-day equivalent of the patron.

Artists need patrons to support them. In the beginning of the career art isn't financially self-sufficient, so the money to feed and house the artist/writer has to come from somewhere, whether that be a Day Job, a supportive spouse, investment funds or even grants. These are our modern-day patrons.

Until the art/writing can bring in enough money, patronage is how an artist eats.

Patronage isn't free money (unless you're a trust fund baby). You've got to give something back to the patron in exchange for their support. In the old days (oh, 200-plus years ago) patrons supported artists, writers, composers, etc in exchange for them painting/writing/composing what the patron wanted them to. There are many a great composer who wrote brilliant music, but not necessarily the music they wanted to write. They were at the whim of their patron. They patron wants a series of chamber music sonatas? The patron gets a series of chamber music sonatas, even if the composer has dreams of composing a symphony.

Now, many an artist has what they call the Day Job. This is a job that is most likely not related to their field of art. The novelist is an accountant by day. The artist works as a secretary. The actor turns to waitressing. 

Others may have something more akin to the traditional patronage pattern in the form of a Supportive Spouse. Your engineering husband doesn't mind you staying home with the kids and your novels. Your actuary wife is okay with you working on your music all day, as long as the house is clean when she gets home.  Some people might dream of a Sugar Daddy, thinking that all he would do is throw money at you to do whatever you want. Unless you're the spoiled, pampered princess descendant of a rich, indulgent father, ain't no way you getting any money from anyone without them expecting anything in return. (What does the Sugar Daddy want from you?)

Then there's the grant model.  Modern Patrons of the Arts do provide scholarships and grants to allow an artist to pursue the project they want. However, grants often require projects to fit certain criteria. If your pitched project doesn't fit what the grantor is looking to support, you might not get funding.

Crowdfunding fits in under the grant model of funding. You pitch your idea and whoever's fancy it tickles will toss money your way.  Does your idea have enough merit to attract funding?

Currently, I am using a combination of a part-time Day Job and Supportive Spouse to enable me to have enough writing time. As the children get older, the necessity of my staying home during those crossroad  moments isn't as necessary. As soon as the kids old enough to not need their mommy, I will no longer have a reason not to seek out full-time employment.

However, I don't want to go back to a day job. I want to proceed to that fourth, most glorious, free-est category of artist there is: Self-Funded Artist.

This is the mode we all dream about. Imagine, not having to be dependent on a modern-day patron for your day-to-day needs! Wake up in the morning without the stress or grief of having to put aside your artistic desires so you can go fix someone else's computer, answer someone else's phones, give someone else fries with that.

There are two modes of Self-Funded Artist: Financially Independent and Income Generating.  

A Financially Independent artist has a source of passive income, usually from investments, patents, trust fund, etc that provides a steady flow of spendable, regardless of what they do. If they wished to sit around all day and write the word "Wibble" ten thousand times, they could.

An Income Generating artist is one whose artistic work has enough value to bring in enough income to live on. Full-time authors with a decent backlist. Steadily-employed actors. Essentially, this is the Day Job in your chosen field of art. Lucky is the artist who can unlock this achievement.

My ultimate goal is to become a Financially Independent artist whose capital arose mostly from earnings from my Income Generating art. Not only will this free me from the Day Job but will also free Supportive Spouse from his so he can pursue his own projects.

After all, he has dreams too.

__________________________________

Help Her Grace achieve her dreams; buy her books, review them honestly and tell your friends to buy her books as well. If you don't buy her books, buy someone else's or give patronage to an artist.

Dear Richard, you so can do a Romantic Comedy

Y'all know how fond I am of Richard Armitage. Lovely chap. Brings joy to so many.

There are many of us who would love to see him play a softer role--something like Harry Kennedy in "The Vicar of Dibley". Or possibly even a full-on Rom-Com. He doubts his ability to pull off such a role, but isn't above considering attempting comedy.

I think he could pull it off, as long as he plays the foil or the straight man. We (his adoring followers) are confident enough in his mastery of the craft to support him in an effort to attempt a comedy. He, however, isn't so sure, as he claims he's "probably not very good at rom-com."

It's because you're out of practice, dear. Here you are, playing all these dour roles with little chance to do some serious exploration of lighter roles.

We'd love to see him in another romance because despite some of the really nasty roles he's successfully pulled off, we still think of him as the original Mr Thornton (Mr Darcy's brooding twin). Even when he played sinister Guy of Gisborne in BBC's Robin Hood, he still managed to make hearts throb, not to mention loins ache.  (Admit it. BBC's Robin Hood was really The Guy of Gisborne Show.)

Even when he played Paul Andrews (cheating bastard), Ian MacAlwain (bro-code breaker), Percy Courney (adulterous bastard), Lucas North (lying spy), Heinz Kruger (evil spy), John Proctor (bad husband) and now Francis Dolarhyde (serial killer), our hearts still beat for him.

Possibly because in real life Richard's a sweetie. He's always got a kind word for us, encourages us to be better people in the world, and has that lovely un-self-centred attitude about him.

So yeah, he keeps getting cast in these "tough guy" roles. Not only get cast, but pulling them off rather well. No wonder he's not getting offered anything sweet and gentle. Unlike many actors, aspiring, mid-lister or well-known, he's not a one-trick pony. This guy played with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Hands up, everyone who loved him in The Vicar of Dibley?

Could Richard pull off a rom-com?

I believe he can, and not just because I adore him to bits. Give him the right script, and he could do wonders.  He wants to play a romantic lead. We want him to as well.

Richard needs a high-brow comedy with erudite humour and a comedic love-interest who has great chemistry with him. The jokes must be three-stage, and every once in a while, Richard needs to deliver a punchline with a wry little grin. He would totally go to town on a project like that.

Alas, too many rom-coms are twee little things with pratfalls and cheap jokes and Seth Rogen and Jennifer Aniston.

Richard needs a comedy of cleverness. He needs to play opposite a female lead whose role is educated, clever, and not self-conscious. Oh, and a few subtly naughty jokes. Subtle being the key.

I wish I had the time to write a script like that.

That said, if ever one of my Romance novels fits that bill, I'll have my agent include a rider in my film rights contract that offers Richard rights of first refusal for the male lead.

______________________________
Her Grace must ask Richard for a kiss some day. But not while he's wearing his Dolarhyde teeth.

Go away and let me write!

You always hear the stories of writers who sit down to write and don’t, because they let themselves be distracted.

I’m not one of those.

Instead, when I sit down to write, by gum, I write! 

HOWEVER…

(There’s always a however…)

I still get distracted. Unwillingly so.  No, I don’t want to be distracted. No, I don’t want to stop writing. Go away.

My distractions usually begin with, “Moooom…”  or “Honey..?”  or “Meow.”  And occasionally fire alarms.  Sometimes phone calls.  Other times, with “Zzzz….”  (usually when I can’t help it).

If the distraction is ignorable, I’ll ignore it.  But if I can’t, I grumble and acquiesce to whatever the distraction wants.  (Really?  Laundry? Now?)

Last November I took the whole month off the Day Job so I could be a professional author.  I sent the offspring to school, the co-parent to work and me and my laptop sat down and we wrote.  Sometimes for as long as six hours.  Oh, it was glorious!  I got so much wordage done.

But the Earth still turns and kids come home from school and the circadian rhythms ebb.  Sooner or later, I’ve got to stop what I’m doing, save my WIP and go make dinner.

You’d think by now the loinfruit would have figured out how to fend for themselves.

Alas, this year, no November off. I've gotta squeeze NaNoWriMo in between everything else, just like everyone else. 

So, y'all?  Go away and let me write!

_______________________

Her Grace dreams of the day she can write full-time without being interrupted.  She's done it before and thoroughly relished it.