General life update plus new book covers

 As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much.  On the whole, blogs are on their way out and Social Media is the big thing right now.

I've had lots to say over on my YouTube channel about writing and other cool things. Feel free to check it out, drops some likes, maybe a subscribe if my topics catch more than a passing fancy in your heart.

Recently a cousin of mine, who is a Historian by profession, was speaking about the archiving of one's personal history--journals, diaries, that sort of thing. She's been working on a particular project that involves reading diaries from over a hundred years ago. She experiences some vicarious regret that more people did not leave more imprints of their lives. She has a story about how the record of some people's lives were little more than an entry in the local gravedigger's diary.

That's why I popped into here. I came to make an archive of this blog's contents for posterity's sake. Back when I needed to discontinue my LiveJournal for a very good reason, I learned it had an archive feature that permitted me to download my content and save it on my hard drive.

Blogs are good like that. They're about the retention of information--hopefully useful--for the sake of others. YouTube (as I mentioned before), also acts as a repository of information.

Social Media, on the other hand, isn't so much focused on storing information in the long run, but focuses more on interactivity between humans within the moment. "What are you doing today?" is the question.  Then tomorrow comes, and yesterday becomes forgotten.

But what happens to all that information you've put up on social media? Where is it stored, how can you search it, where does it go? In ten years', a hundred years' time, would historians be able to trawl through the repositories (if they exist) of social media and put together a picture of your life? 

We don't have that guarantee.

Sure, the social media sites do store the information. And why not? Information is useful. It's worth money, potentially lots of money, to them, for various reasons. Is it worth money to you? Not really, no. You are the commodity being sold. You are the eyeballs in which they drop adverts.  (Oh, buy my books.)

If you are interested, here's my social media links:

• Website: https://heidikneale.com.au/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Heidi-Kneale-author-682340831889134/
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hwkneale
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hwkneale
• Twitter:  long gone. Ditched that as it became more of a cesspit.
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/hkneale
• Blog: http://romancespinners.blogspot.com/ (Clearly self-referential)
• Authorly Monthly Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/c9vM9L Consider this the replacement for a blog.
• BlueSky: hwkneale.bsky.social
• Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2899577.Heidi_Wessman_Kneale
• Amazon profile: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Heidi-Wessman-Kneale/author/B01890EKFI

So, what's been happening in my life:

Well, I got a new job. Took me several months after my previous blog post, but I did it. It took some time because I had a question I needed answered: was it the Old Job or the Career that I didn't like?

Applying to new places would answer the first half. Applying to non-IT jobs would answer the second.

But when I applied for non-IT jobs (even if they were similar fields), I got no nibbles. It seems the world thought I had to be placed in a niche.  That sucks, because I am a polymath. Not only do I have knowledge in several fields, I'm experienced in those fields. 

Eventually, I gave in and applied for IT jobs. Bah. Within three interviews, I scored myself a position. Am now gainfully employed.

Benefits of the day job:

• It's in an Educational Institution. This suits my personality better. (Not sure if it's because or in spite of the fact that Educational Institutions tend to be run by Chaos Gremlins.)
• It's a step down in level (from 4.4 to 3.1).  If I was building an IT career, this could be considered a detriment, but for me, the responsibility burden was much less, and I like it like that. Another reason I don't mind is...
• It's a step up in pay.  Yeah, you heard me. A 3.1 position (same area, same skill set) at this new place was paying $5K/a more than a 4.4 position at the old job. 
• It comes with incrementation. With my old job, I'd reached my maximum earning potential. But here, I'm at the bottom and only way to go is up. I've had several pay increments already, much to my delight.
• It's a larger organisation. This means more opportunities for career growth (if I wanted to go that way) or lateral movement (if I get bored of IT). I didn't have that at the old job. Now, I am in the process of tapping into some of that lateral movement opportunity, but this will take time.
• It comes with some built-in writing time, should I choose to take this up. This is not part of the job itself, but due to the commute. Yes, I write novels whilst on the train.

Detriments of the Day Job:

• It is not geographically convenient. It takes me approximately an hour, sometimes longer, depending on which campus I'm at. While this does afford me an enforced downtime in which I can read/write a novel, edit a short video, or even just zone out should I choose, it does take a significant chunk out of my day in which I can't re-devote to something else.  I can't just pop out for an hour for a doctor or dentist appointment, that sort of thing.  
• It is run by Chaos Demons. This is not unique to this one organisation. But sometimes it does have a negative impact.  Fr'ex, I had an opportunity to move up into a Level 4 position permanently. While it would have made me a lot more money, and it is, in previous practice, work I can do, the structure of this one particular role was so chaotic and undefined that it made it almost impossible for me to carry out this work. (Yeah, I did cover for someone for a month during leave, so I had first-hand experience. It was nuts.)
• I'm getting too old for this type of work, at a full-time schedule. My body has hit Mid-Life. It's starting to fall apart. Some of the physical demands needed from me for this job are taking a toll on my poor limbs. Now, while there is something medical going on that my doctor and I haven't been able to figure out yet, until we do, I'm working my body a little harder than it can handle, and I'm paying the price. If my doctor and I can't diagnose and treat whatever it is that makes my legs go Ow!, I'll be needing to find a work alternative in another couple of years anyway.  It's a good thing I've got a couple of plans already set in motion.

And that's my update. 

Books

I wrote these two books on the train:

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.

Finally deciding what I want to do

Over the past few months I've been busy working on audiobooks (and I taught a class on the same in June).

Finally, a job that uses my bachelor degree!

After spending quite a bit of time recording, editing, and mastering audiobooks, I realised something very important.

I want to do this. I really want to do this. Like, permanently. I know what my career change needs to be. I want to work on audiobooks.

What I Like About It

• The Solitude. Really, I love working in isolation, which is why writing books has suited me so well for so long. But with audiobooks, I also get the cone of silence I crave. I shut myself away in the home theatre with its soundproofing and comfy chair and muted walls and I can shut away the world. I can't begin to tell you how much this pleased me. I got to sit alone for hours and Get Stuff Done. Interruption were rare, and feline (or occasionally canine--not my own).
• The Performance. I get to perform. I get to be dramatic. I get to read a book aloud and make it come alive. And if I make a mistake? Pshaw! Do-over, and any issues like coughs or pauses get edited out of the final product.
• Focus Time. One of the things I hate about my current day job is the interruptions. It's my job to solve problems, but it's also my job to answer the phone. When I'm in the middle of doing something and then the phone rings, I must pause what I'm doing to pick up the phone. I can't ignore the phone and finish what I'm doing.
  But with audiobooks, I can ignore everything and focus on my work. I was able to work for hours without interruptions. It was great!
• My Own Pace. Sometimes I can work for hours on end. Other times I'm good for about thirty minutes and then I've got to take a break. This pace varies depending on what else is happening in my life. That Time of the Month, a bad night's sleep, digestive issues, A Better Offer, can all take up the energy I might have devoted to work. At least I can proceed at my own pace and therefore ensure that the performance I deliver is top-notch. I am not so experienced an actor that I can turn it on 100% if I'm not feeling 50%. (Believe me, that's a real skill, and one well-admir'd.)
• Living Wage.  When you've got work, you make more than minimum wage per work hour. SAG-AFTRA members make even more.
• Music Composition. I can compose my own lead-in music. 
• Mad Skillz. It's not enough to be a good narrator. Many of us have to be producers as well. Lucky me, I've got lots of experience in sound editing and I regularly upskill.

Downside

Every job has a downside.

• Irregularity.  Jobs come when they do, and you can't always get work all the time. While I'd love to be working on audiobooks every week, sometimes it just doesn't happen.  With irregular work comes irregular pay, and that can make budgeting require more spoons.
• The Sound of my Voice.  Yeah, I do get sick of it, from time to time.
• Isolation?  While it hasn't gotten to me yet, I can see the potential to feel isolated in my work. However, with the advantages of the Internet and being able to set my own pace, I can manage to get the socialisation in that my mental health requires. Fortunately, I don't need much to maintain good mental health.

The big challenge is getting regular, steady work. It is doable. I've seen other narrators get it.

I can has my turnz, pls?

______________________________
Her Grace is happy to contract with you to deliver ACX-ready high-quality audiobook recordings.

My weekly budget (a metaphor)

I envision the time I have each week as money. I earn $168 per week. Unlike real money, however, I cannot save any surplus for the next week, nor can I borrow on credit. I can only use what I'm given and hope I budget wisely.

So, my budget is thus:

Taxes (at a preferred rate of 30% of my income): $56 
This is the amount of time I choose for sleep. This also includes any pre-bed rituals, like brushing teeth and maybe reading. Unlike real life, I can borrow from the taxes I pay to fund something else, but I end up regretting it. (Okay, maybe that is more like real life than I want to admit.)

Tithing: $12 
Being religious, I believe in giving over a certain percentage of my income to my God. I have a three-hour church block on the Sabbath. I teach Early Morning Seminary five days a week, plus lesson prep time, an hour on Monday for Family Home Evening, and time  here and there for my own scripture study, meditation, prayer and ministering service. Turns out I devote about twelve hours. If this was a true tithing analogue, I should up it to about seventeen hours a week.

Bills:  $36
Gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues. These are time obligations I must fulfill:
Day Job:  $12
School:   $12
Writing:  $12
I try to balance these out. Sometimes school takes up more time, especially if I have a project due; sometimes work takes up more time if they ask me to come in more hours to help complete a project. Sometimes the Day Job feels heavier than it is, because it takes up more spoons than it should. Don't get me wrong; my day job is a perfectly good job. I work in a good environment with a great team. If IT Support is what I wanted to spent the majority of my budget on, it's one of the better jobs out there. But I don't want to do IT Support any more. My issues with dealing with other people's problems are growing. This increases my tax demand, as I burn too much energy on the Day Job.

Travel: $10
This is literal. While I put petrol in the car, I also put time into driving places. On a quiet week, not so much. If I have an occasional dash to Perth or somewhere, that can take a bit more out of my budget.

Child Support & School Fees:  $16
When one has offspring, one must care for them. Your kids need your time, more so when they're younger, but not as little as you'd think when they're older. Help with homework and practice, listening to them, spending time with them, and more are required. While much of my child support budget is spent on individual children, at least there are a few things that I can group together.

Food:  $14
One must nourish the body. One must also nourish the soul. Self-care is essential for good mental health, which then enables one to pay one's other bills.  Things like dedicated meal times, reading time,  piano practice, a nice, hot shower, exercise and other personal-care things are a bill one cannot neglect to pay.

Spousal support:  $10
Gotta support the spouse, or one finds one no longer has a spouse. While some activities (like watching a movie together) can be covered under the Food bill, other things like just listening to how their day was or helping them pull weeds in the garden is purely spousal support. Many people neglect this bill, sadly.

Chores:  $7
As much as I loathe it, chores still need to be done. Dishes, kitty litter, laundry, vacuuming, you name it. One has to keep one's environment tidy. One of these fine days I'll earn enough spendable money to afford to pay someone else to clean my house for me. (Buy my books and make this dream of mine come true.)

Now, at the end of all this, turns out I have approximately $7 left. That appears to be one hour a day. Alas, this one hour a day gets nickle-and-dimed away in the interstitial moments.  Stop to chat with someone at work after a shift, that could be a good fifty cents gone. Waiting at the train station for the daughters after school? Another twenty-five cents spent. Little by little, these few precious dollars evaporate. A minor mishap leads to the Chores bill demanding another dollar. A late child nibbles away twenty cents. Traffic slowdown takes another twenty cents. Another child needs to go shopping to buy something for school? That can take two whole dollars.

Before you know it, those seven dollars are gone, and you're wondering where the money went.

Then there are those weeks where some big event takes over your life, forcing you to borrow from or even abandon some of these bills.  My last week was like that.  A child had a massive homework project she couldn't do alone. An expected death of an uncle gave me a few hours' pause while I gave over to grieving. A planned weekend away, while welcome, meant that many hours I could have spent on other projects went somewhere else.

As you know, Bob, I completely did not blog this week, as my time needed to be focused on other things.  I'm hoping you'll forgive me for this, for I was prepping the final copies for the print version of God of the Dark and getting Bride of the Dark prepped up as well.

And then there were the times I didn't want to do anything at all, but trawl through my cousins' memories of their awesome father.  The thing with an expected death from Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer is that one has plenty of time to come to terms with one's graduation from mortality. Also  helps to be Mormon with the belief that death is not the end, merely a pause.

Now, if only there was a way I could earn more money in a week.

Job update

So I got called in for an interview at Dream Job last week. 

EEEEE!!

Now, I haven't interviewed for a job since... wow. What century is this?

Was I nervous? Yes. Did I comport myself well?  Seems so. I don't think I stuck my foot in my mouth too often. I handled all questions well, except for the two I wasn't expecting: current salary and expectations, and when I could start.  The first was awkward because this job was a serious step-down in hourly salary. But I let them know I was okay with that. After all, I was moving from a part-time job to a full-time, and the money in my pocket would increase for doing more of easier work.

The second question I had no idea. I tentatively offered them an average two weeks' notice period, only to learn from my current HR that because I've been at my current job for over a decade and a half, my notice period really needs to be four weeks. (I updated Dream Job with this info as soon as I got it.)

Sidebar: From the very beginning I was open with my current job that I'd applied for Dream Job, because that's how we roll. Everyone knew what was going on and were following the adventure.

So, today I'm in a big important departmental team meeting when my phone rings.  (Bad me, for failing to put it on silent in a meeting.)  I had one look at the number and my supervisor goes, "Is that The Call?!"

I slip out to take it.

Alas, I did not get the job. Everyone they'd interviewed was more than qualified to do the work, and they went with the person who would have been the best fit.

Went back into that meeting to a dozen expectant eyes.  "Nope. You all have me for another couple of years."  Commiserations all around.

ETA: I requested and got feedback from DJ's HR. Nothing wrong with me or how I interviewed. Just for their selected candidate, a couple of things were a better fit, like salary expectations and geographic location, etc. Ah, well. 

Coincidentally, my Annual Performance Review was this afternoon. There, I learned that a proposal to make my position full-time was included in the Annual Budget, pending approval. Should that happen, I'll most likely take it up, and comfort myself over not getting Library Dream Job with the 50% more salary I'll get.

(Also, my review let me know I was doing pretty good in my job and am seen as an asset to the team. Good to know.)

Now, I also made it clear that I didn't plan on staying in this job forever. They know my ambitions towards being an author, but also that I'd love to get back into the Library system. I'm in my current role by accident.  Happy to do well while I'm here, but it's not the career track I want to be in.

But these things happen. Most people spend some time in a job that's not their dream career. It's normal and not a sign that one's life has gone wrong. We end up in these jobs because they were needful in the moment. Sometimes this side quest take a bit longer, but might be necessary to keep us alive until we can get back to where we wanted to go.

To that end, I'll have career news in the upcoming Quarterly Newsletter. If you're not subscribed to the QN, do so now before 30 Dec so you can get yours.

Rare Opportunity Job

Yesterday was the deadline for applications for a Rare Opportunity Job. You bet your sweet bippy I submitted my application.

A Rare Opportunity Job (sometimes called a Dream Job) is the kind of job you want to be working at, but aren't, because the opportunity to get one rarely comes up.

I'd love to be a Google Doodler. I'd love to be a score composer. But these opportunities aren't going to happen any time soon, so I've let my dreams settle into more realistic aims.

A ROJ at a library recently arose. While I'm not actively job-hunting at the moment, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to apply.

I got my first library card at age 3. We attended at least once a fortnight or so. Would have gone more often, if a library was within my underage commute distance without needing to rely on someone to drive me there. As an adult I've worked at three libraries and loved it. Currently I do part-time IT Support peripherally to a library, but it's not quite the same as working in a library itself.

Last week a Rare Opportunity Job arose at a library. What makes this the ROJ it is?

• It's in a library. After having worked straight IT for a while, I realised I'm much happier working in a library. I really want to go back.
• Location. Granted, it's a good hour away. But it's close to a daughter's school, and it's in a neighbourhood I wouldn't mind working in. Besides, long-term plans involve us moving into that area anyway. 
• Money. Sure the hourly rate is lower than what I'm making now, but as it's a full-time job, the actual amount of money that will be going into my pocket will rise. I need more money, but I also need less stress. This job will give me both.
• Work Load. Unless this job ends up being an outlier, the work load pace and stress will be less than what I'm doing now. I'm ready for a job where I'm a wheel cog and not a fire extinguisher. I'm feeling the faint edge of burnout nibbling at my heels at my current job. While my hours keep that at bay, this leaves me stuck in a corner. I could make more money if I could get more hours, but then I'd definitely burn out faster.
• Schedule. I confess I was considering going back to full-time work in 2-4 years time, now that Their Ladyships are much older and don't need their momma so much. Still, there's a few things they do that require me to be Mom. The work schedule, as posted with the job application, will allow me to continue being there for them when they need me. There's also the opportunity for the eldest to come to the library after school for some quiet study time, before going home with Mom (as long as she doesn't bother me too much and lets me get on with my work).  Only downside is that I will have to work one Sunday afternoon a month, and we've got afternoon church next year. 
• One weekday RDO (see previous). This one weekday off is a boon. This will be a block of time I can use for study and writing, plus daughter support.

"Wait," you say. "Isn't being an Author your Dream Job?"

Well, yes, dear reader, it is. However, unlike a regular 9-5 Day Job, the opportunity to succeed as an author doesn't come along as a job application that you score an interview and then a job offer and then you're in until ded or fled.

Writing's one of those things where to succeed you need Luck, Persistence, Talent (pick two; or rather, two will pick you. Only in Persistence do you have a choice).  Even if you do score a success, you're only as good as that moment of success, and you're back to the struggle. 

It's going to be several years before writing income is sufficient to replace a day job's income. Until then, I engage in that longstanding tradition of Author with a Day Job. I know more AwDJs than I do authors who make sole income from writing.

Library jobs are rare enough as it is. The last library job I applied for received over 800 applications. Eight. Hundred.  The chances I'll get called for an interview, never mind get this job are rather slim.

But those odds are better than if I'd never applied at all.

________________________
Her Grace daydreams about going to her new library job and spends idle time working out the logistics.

More state of the union

When I am quiet online, it is because I am busy in real life.

My latest newsletter went out a few weeks ago. If you haven't signed up for the Quarterly Newsletter, you missed out on some stuff I don't mention on the blog.

The Day Job is so-so, and I can't wait to transition to full-time author, but for now it provides a steady income without too much stress. Alas, it's not quiiite enough income to support my writing habit, so I've applied for a grant once more. Probably won't get it, as the grant-givers don't appear to support genre fiction. They seem to prefer the literary stuff. Is that prejudice on their part, overt or unconscious? They definitely support Australiana, which is something I expect them to do.

I am working on outlining two possible NaNoWriMo projects. Not sure which one I'll end up with. Depends on which one is ready to go on 1 Nov.  Are you doing NaNo this year? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I know it's only October, but all the End of the Year stuff is happening. Australian school terms go from Feb to Dec, so Their Ladyships are in their fourth term. So much to think about, so much to do! I am looking forward to the end-of-year concerts.

Meanwhile, enjoy this brilliant Microwave Chocolate Cake in a Mug recipe from Cleobuttera. It is the best one I've found.


_____________________________
Her Grace has a perfect plan for a novel trilogy. Only thing it needs is money, or time. 

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.

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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.

Head in the Game

I confess April burned me out a little when it comes to blogging. Fret not, I'll get back into a regular posting schedule in June. May is a very busy month for me, with the end of the Semester and about ten family birthdays and the onset of Winter (Makuru). The big rocks demand all my spoons this week.

The other day I was at work reading a manual. I got to the end of the page and couldn't remember a thing I'd read. It was just after lunch and my brain was drifting about. I couldn't stay focused. I kept thinking about my novels. I had to go back and re-read the page two more times. It took a lot of energy, but I got it done.

While daydreaming is a very important tool to the Artist, and it's good that a brain wants to sort out the WIP, doing it while I'm on someone else's dollar is not the done thing.

Most writers have the Day Job--that reliable source of income that enables a roof over our heads and food in our bellies and electricity to our computers. It is, essentially, our Patron. And as our Patron, you need to give it proper respect if you wish it to continue supporting your creative lifestyle.

And that means when you're at the Day Job, you focus on the Day Job. That's the etiquette.

But man, some days focus can be harder than others.

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Her Grace's marketing tip: If you're allowed to put up stuff in your cubicle, put up pics of your book covers. Also, a Post-it saying, "Buy my books!" doesn't hurt either. Otherwise, head in the game.

How difficult it is NOT to be an artist...

It's finals week for me at school. It's also the penultimate week for NaNoWriMo. It's also the week before Thanksgiving, and five weeks before Christmas.

I cannot concentrate on any of that.

Saw this cartoon today, and it reminded me of a recent lawsuit involving an acquaintance of mine. I can talk about the lawsuit now, because it's over, though I'll keep various details vague.

www.savagechickens.com

A certain person with a BA in something arty applied for a non-arty job with a particular company. During the interview the departmental interviewer (not someone from HR) expressed subversive prejudice against this person. The certain person left the interview with a bad taste in their mouth.

They didn't get the job.

The certain person called up the company for a bit of feedback over why they didn't get the job. As HR had no idea, they put CP through to the departmental interviewer. In short, DP told CP that they didn't get the job because they had an arts degree, and people with Arts degrees were unreliable.

Well, CP was in the habit of recording all their phone calls for an unrelated reason. They took this conversation to a pretty good lawyer, who agreed they had a case.

So, off they go to court.

During the proceedings DP's side of the case presented evidence that showed that employees of this particular company with degrees in the Arts tended to be dissatisfied with their work and leave their jobs sooner, whereas those with Engineering degrees or related fields tended to stay long and be happier.

CP's excellent attorney countered this with evidence that people with Arts degrees, when hired in related fields not only stayed longer in those fields and expressed greater job satisfaction, but tended to remain in those jobs well past the retirement age.

In the end, CP won their case because of the prejudice expressed by DP. (I wonder what happened to DP and the company. If they found dissatifaction with Art majors, I wonder if they would have changed their job criteria?)

The case is over so now I can talk about it.

It did get me thinking: It's not that Arts majors are unreliable as a whole, but that their passion lies in certain areas other than Engineering.

If someone loves Engineering and studies Engineering and gets a job in Engineering, naturally, they're following their passion and they'll probably love their job. But stick that engineer in a Front-of-House job in the local Repertory Theatre, and they'd probably hate it.

This is what happens to all the lovely Arts/Theatre/Music majors. There simply aren't enough Arty-type jobs to go around, so we're stuck having to take the tedious little soul-sucking positions such as Data Entry, Accounts Receivable, Call Centre, Receptionist, etc.

There is no art here. It's hard to find joy in such a job. Can you blame us for not staying on a career path we are not suited for? I had several of those early on in my working life.

At least the technologies of the 21st Century succors the Artiste. Thanks to places such as Etsy, iTunes and Smashwords, there are creative outlets that can bring in some money, maybe enough to supplement or even replace the dreaded Daye Jobbe.

If only we didn't have to eat while we built up sufficient income from our Art.

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Her Grace is involved in the glacially slow Publishing industry. She works hard, but it may be years or even decades before she sees the financial fruits of today's labour.

Someone's Gotta Do It

A co-worker recently resigned from her Day Job to become a full-time writer.  This news absolutely thrills

me!  Being able to see a fellow writer transition to the Dream Career makes me believe it is entirely possible.

We’d spoken about our desires to be full-time writers. We knew it was only a matter of time and diligence.  It’s nice to see hers pay off this soon.

My day will come.  Just need a bit more BIC.

Meanwhile, go read one of her books.

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Her Grace loves to see other authors succeed. It only proves that it can be done.

A Real Job, Really.

So here it is, November, and I'm deeply into NaNoWriMo.  (I'll post sporadic updates as I go along.)

I've prepared for this by drafting an outline, dreaming about scenarios and developing characters.  BIC, and away I go!

I've also prepared the people around me: family, friends, Relief Society...  I've told them what NaNoWriMo is, and what it means.  They understand, the way a dog understands when you explain mathematics to them--accepting, if not completely sure what it means.

But come December, I don't plan on slowing down.  I intent to continue my writing pace. (Here's a secret: it's the same pace I've been using for several months prior to November.  Nothing's changed, except I get public accolades for work done during November.)

For the past few months, while I've been training myself as a professional writer with a Day Job, said Day Job has had me working full/school time.  Yep. All my weekdays have been spent working the Day Job (and getting paid for it, but that's irrelevant. it's the TIME that matters).   People have asked me, "Can you do this at such-and-such a time?"

"No, I'm working."

"Are you available for that other thing?"

"Nope, sorry.  Working."

But come the end of November, I go back to my part-time hours at the Day Job.  What I'm not working at the Day Job becomes Writing Time. And in my career plans, that qualifies as Working.  Within the next five years, I plan on acquiring an income because of that Writing Time.  In a lot of people's books, that qualifies as Working.

So what if my current writing income is minimal (but present)?  One's job is not necessarily measured by one's hourly wage.

I need to train up the people around me to know that when I am writing, I am working.  This isn't some hobby, or some cute little creative outlet because Mommy Doesn't Want to Forget Herself.  It's not something I'll cheerfully put aside the moment someone or something wants my attention.  You wouldn't bother an accountant when they're auditing.  You wouldn't bother a librarian when she's shelving.  You wouldn't bother the Helpdesk guy when he's troubleshooting (well, actually, you do, and it drives me nuts!) You don't bother the author when she's tapping way at a keyboard.

This is an actual job.  I have a schedule. I have project planning days. I have deadlines. I have external people expecting my work. I have to produce a certain amount of quality product at a certain rate.

So what if I'm doing all that work from home?  Doesn't make it any less a job than if I went to an office.

But if it bothers you so much, I'll head out to an office.  That's what Dome is for.  That's what the University Library is for.  Ain't nobbut gonna bother me there.
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Her Grace has a plan.  You will respect the plan. All glory to the hypnotoad.